Managing Superdome Complexes: A Guide for HP-UX System Administrators

Planning Superdome Configurations
Building Blocks and Definitions
Appendix A298
What is a Partition?
Terms:
• Cell: see “What is a Cell?” on page 303.
• Complex: see “What Is a Complex?” on page 292.
• CPU cabinet: see “What is a CPU Cabinet?” on page 299.
• I/O chassis: see “What is an I/O Chassis?” on page 317.
Full Glossary on page 287 .
A partition corresponds roughly to a single, standalone system. Each
complex can be subdivided into several partitions, each containing one
or (usually) more cells and running a single instance of the operating
system (at first release, HP-UX 11i only).
Partitioning the resources of the complex in this way makes it easy to
run multiple applications on the same physical system; you can allocate
physical resources and tune the operating system running on each
partition depending on the needs of the application (or the most
important application) you intend to run on it.
Alternatively, you can configure the complex as a single partition,
allowing all the resources to be focussed on a single set of tasks, for
example a large online transaction-processing application.
At first release, the maximum number of cells in a single partition is
sixteen (two CPU cabinets containing a maximum of eight cells each);
the minimum is one. Similarly, the maximum number of partitions in a
complex at first release is sixteen (sixteen single-cell partitions); the
minimum is one (a single partition containing any number or cells from
one to sixteen).
Each partition must contain at least one cell that is attached to an IO
chassis; see “Partitions, Cells and I/O Chassis” on page 333 for more
information.
You can increase or reduce the processing power of a partition by adding
or deleting cells (at first release, you must shut down the operating
system running on the affected partition(s) before moving cells, and
before configuration changes will take effect). Though HP-UX 11i does
include commands for some configuration tasks, HP recommends you use
the Partition Manager (parmgr) to configure partitions.
There are performance and high-availability issues you need to consider
before you install a new cell or move an existing one or re-assign it to
another partition; see “Choosing Cells for Partitions” on page 325.