Windows nPartition Guide v5.5

might be reset or powered on at different times. The main steps that occur during the cell boot
phase are as follows:
1. A cell is powered on or reset, and the cell boot-is-blocked (BIB) flag is set. BIB is a hardware
flag on the cell board. When BIB is set, the cell is considered to be inactive.
2. Firmware on the cell performs self-tests and discovery operations on the hardware
components of the cell. Operations at this point include processor self-tests, memory tests,
I/O discovery, and discovery of interconnecting fabric (connections between the cell and
other cells, I/O, and system crossbars).
3. The firmware completes self-tests and discovery, reports the hardware configuration of the
cell to the management processor, informs the management processor that the cell is “waiting
at BIB,” and then waits for the cell BIB flag to be cleared.
nPartition boot phase
After its cells have completed their self-tests, the nPartition is booted. The nPartition rendezvous
occurs during this phase. Not all cells assigned to the nPartition need to participate in the
rendezvous. Only one core-capable cell that has completed its cell boot phase is needed for the
nPartition boot phase to begin. By default, all cells assigned to the nPartition that have a “y”
use-on-next-boot value are expected to participate in rendezvous. The management processor
waits for up to ten minutes for such cells to reach the waiting at BIB state. Cells that have a “n”
use-on-next-boot value do not participate in rendezvous and remain waiting at BIB. The main
steps that occur during the nPartition boot phase are as follows:
1. The management processor provides a copy of the relevant Complex Profile data to the cells
assigned to the nPartition. This data includes a copy of the Stable Complex Configuration
Data and a copy of the Partition Configuration Data for the nPartition.
The Complex Profile represents the configurable aspects of a server complex. The Stable
Complex Configuration Data contains complex-wide configuration details and the Partition
Configuration Data contains details specific to the nPartition. For more information, see the
HP System Partitions Guide.
2. The management processor releases BIB for all cells assigned to the nPartition that have a
“y” use-on-next-boot value and complete the cell boot phase in time. The management
processor does not release BIB for any cell with an “n” use-on-next-boot value or for any
cell that did not complete the cell boot phase within ten minutes of the first cell to do so.
When BIB is released for a cell, the cell is considered to be active.
3. The nPartition rendezvous begins, with the system firmware on each active cell using its
copy of complex profile data to contact other active cells in the nPartition.
4. The active cells in the nPartition negotiate to select a core cell.
5. The chosen core cell manages the rest of the nPartition boot process. A processor on the core
cell runs the nPartition system boot environment (EFI). The core cell hands off control to an
operating system loader when the operating system boot process is initiated.
Choosing a management tool
You can manage nPartitions using the following tools:
Partition Manager Partition Manager provides a graphical interface for
managing nPartitions. You can run Partition Manager on
the complex itself, or on management stations used to
remotely manage the complex.
nPartition commands You can manage nPartitions using commands such as
parcreate, parmodify, parremove, parstatus,
parunlock, fruled, frupower, and cplxmodify. As
with Partition Manager, you can run nPar commands
directly on the complex nPartitions or from a management
Choosing a management tool 15