HP Instant Capacity Version 10.x User Guide (5900-1581, March 2011)

rights to enable all the memory attached to the cell. You cannot activate a cell board without
activating all attached memory, so when you purchase an RTU for a cell you need to purchase an
RTU for the cell’s memory. These are normally bundled together in a single purchase.
Depending on the need, you might want to activate one or more cores at the same time the cell
and memory are activated, so you might also need to acquire additional core usage rights. After
a cell board is activated, all of the cores on the cell board are available for activation if the complex
has enough available core usage rights or temporary capacity. Since usage rights for all types of
components can be conveyed with a single RTU codeword, it is particularly useful to anticipate
the core and memory needs when purchasing cell-board usage rights.
As with other components, the Instant Capacity software enforces compliance for memory by
comparing the actual amount of inactive memory with the expected inactive memory.
IMPORTANT: You must have one active core for each active cell board.
Global Instant Capacity
Global Instant Capacity, or GiCAP, provides HP customers with the flexibility to move usage rights
for Instant Capacity components within a group of servers. It also provides “pooled” temporary
capacity across the group. This provides more cost-effective high availability, including disaster
recovery capabilities, more adaptable load balancing, and more efficient and easier use of
temporary capacity.
Global Instant Capacity is built on the concept of a server group, or GiCAP group. A GiCAP group
is a list of servers that are allowed to share Instant Capacity usage rights. In addition, at least one
HP-UX system running Instant Capacity must be designated as the GiCAP Group Manager. The
Group Manager hosts the GiCAP software that maintains a database of information about the
group and about group resources (usage rights and temporary capacity). A GiCAP group is
managed using the command icapmanage on the Group Manager system.
While GiCAP is part of Instant Capacity and is installed at the same time as Instant Capacity, it
is not enabled during installation. To create groups and share resources across groups, you must
purchase GiCAP sharing rights, acquire the GiCAP codeword from the HP Utility Pricing Solutions
portal, and apply the associated codeword to the Group Manager system. Application of the
sharing rights codeword to the Group Manager system enables the addition of members with
Instant Capacity components to groups. In addition, you must acquire grouping rules from the
portal and apply those rules to the Group Manager system. GiCAP sharing rights and grouping
rules are described in Chapter 7 (page 71). All GiCAP Group Manager systems and group members
must run Instant Capacity version 9.0 or later.
Instant Capacity allows deactivation of cores on non-Instant Capacity systems (those without any
Instant Capacity components), allowing such systems to participate in a GiCAP group and loan
usage rights to Instant Capacity systems. A GiCAP group consists of servers that are allowed to
be grouped together according to a set of grouping rules defined by HP. These grouping rules
must be acquired from the Utility Pricing Solutions portal and applied to the Group Manager system
before groups can be created. For more information, see “Global Instant Capacity Grouping Rules”
(page 74).
Instant Capacity Codewords
Instant Capacity uses codewords for several purposes: to adjust available usage rights for system
components (RTU codewords), to apply temporary capacity to the system, and to apply sharing
rights to a GiCAP Group Manager system to enable the creation of one or more groups.
All types of codewords must be purchased as specific product numbers from HP. After purchase,
the actual codeword (an encrypted string) can be retrieved from the Utility Pricing Solutions web
portal. When you retrieve codewords from the portal, you must provide the sales order number
for the codeword purchase and the serial number of the system. For more information about
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