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You can arrange Superdome system components, such as cells
and I/O chassis, both physically (by configuring hardware) and logically
(by defining partitions using software). The following sections discuss the hardware requirements and configuration
guidelines for partitions, and the procedure for assigning cells
to partitions. The way in which you configure your system hardware and partitions can significantly
affect the system's performance and reliability. For this reason, HP
recommends and sells only specific Superdome hardware and partition
configurations. In most situations you will physically configure each HP Superdome server
once, when the system is installed. You can change the partition configurations,
which define the cells and settings for each partition, without hardware
changes. The following list provides a high-level overview for planning,
installing, and configuring an HP Superdome system. Plan your overall Superdome hardware
and partition configuration. Consult with your Hewlett-Packard sales or support representative for
assistance in planning your Superdome complex. Also refer to Appendix A “Planning Superdome Configurations” for rules and guidelines for planning your system configuration. Configure the partitions. Your partition configuration should exactly match the overall configuration
you established with your HP representative.
| | | |  | NOTE: To ensure that your chosen Superdome configuration is
recommended by HP and will match your requirements, check with your
HP sales or support representative for assistance. | | | | |
Partition Hardware Requirements | |
The physical hardware prerequisites, shown below, determine
which cells and I/O chassis are eligible to be configured in a partition. Every partition you configure must meet the following
basic hardware requirements: Each partition must have at least two
cells. The same firmware revision must be present on all
cells. At least one cell in every partition must be connected
to an I/O chassis that has a core I/O card installed in PCI slot
0. Note that only one core I/O card is active per partition. If multiple core I/O cards are installed—that is,
if a partition has multiple cell-to-I/O chassis connections with
more than one chassis having a core I/O card—then only
the core I/O connected to the core cell is active. The I/O chassis containing the active core I/O card
also should have the following devices and cards installed: The HP-UX boot device (and FW SCSI
or FibreChannel card) DVD-ROM (and Ultra SCSI card)
All cells in a partition must have the same processor
revision level and processor clock speed. The memory configuration of all cells in a partition
must be identical to achieve best performance and availability. This means that each of a partition's cells should
have: the same number of
DIMMs, preferably a multiple of 8 DIMMs the same capacity (size) and
the same locations (population) of DIMMs
Also refer to Appendix A “Planning Superdome Configurations” for further hardware planning information. Partition Configuration Guidelines | |
HP offers the following general partition configuration guidelines
in addition to the hardware prerequisites listed in the previous
section. These guidelines are incorporated in the procedure that follows (“Procedure for Assigning Cells to Partitions”). Use these guidelines to help determine which cells to assign
to the partitions you create. Allocate partitions
in order of size. Assign cells to the partition that has the largest cell count
first, and the partition with the fewest cells last. This provides more appropriate cell assignments for larger partitions (those with
more cells). Any smaller partitions with fewer cells are more easily
accommodated in the remaining, available cells. Place each partition within
an empty cabinet, if possible. This applies to partitions in Superdome 64-way systems only. Assign the partition cells from a cabinet whose cells have
no partition assignments, if possible. Do this before assigning
cells from a cabinet that already has cells assigned to another partition.
Doing so can help minimize contentions for using cabinet backplane
connections. Assign each partition cells
from an unused "cell quad", if possible. Each "cell quad" is a set of four cells
that share the same cabinet backplane connections (crossbar chips). Cell
slots 0-3 comprise one cell quad, and cell slots 4-7
comprise the second cell quad. Cells that share the same crossbar chips (cabinet backplane connections)
have the best cross-cell memory performance. Partitions with cells on different crossbar chips have higher
memory latency (worse memory performance) than partitions whose
cells all share the same crossbar chip. This applies to partitions
that have all cells in the same cabinet and to partitions that include
cells in different cabinets.
Procedure for Assigning Cells to Partitions | |
Use this procedure to help decide which cells to assign to
partitions in your Superdome complex. The following steps provide a basic procedure for selecting
cells for the partitions you will create on your Superdome complex. Determine the sizes of the partitions you
will configure in the Superdome complex. Before configuring any partitions, determine how many partitions
you plan to configure and establish each partition's size
(the number of cells). Your HP representative can assist you in
this step. Select the largest unassigned partition. If you will configure multiple partitions in the complex,
assign cells to the largest partition first and configure the smallest
partition last. You will choose cells, confirm their eligibility, and assign
them to the partition in the following steps. Choose which cells you will assign to the partition
by using the following partition configuration charts: These charts list which cell slots HP recommends assigning
to partitions, based on the partition size and type of Superdome
server. For partitions for which HP recommends multiple configurations,
select the first available set of cells. For example, for a two-cell
partition select configuration 2A, if possible, before selecting
2B or 2C. Confirm that the cells you have selected are eligible
to be assigned to the partition. For the cells to be eligible, they must meet these requirements: The cells must be present (installed)
and must not be assigned to another partition. The cells must meet the hardware requirements listed
in “Partition Hardware Requirements”.
If one or more of the cells does not adhere to these requirements,
go back to step 3 and select a different set of cells for the partition. Assign the cells to the partition. You can either create a new partition that includes the selected
cells, or you can modify an existing partition so that it conforms
to the partition configuration recommended by the configuration
chart.
ExamplesThe following example cell assignments show how the procedure discussed
above selects cells for two sample complex configurations. Refer
to the procedure, above, and the recommended partition charts that
follow. For reference in the following examples, Figure 4-1 “Superdome 16-way and Superdome 32-way
Recommended
Partition Configurations” and Figure 4-2 “Superdome 64-way Recommended Partition
Configurations” list
a unique number for each partition configuration set.
(For example, config set 4 shows the four two-cell partition configurations that
HP recommends for Superdome 32-way servers.) Example 1 Superdome 32-way—Six-Cell Partition and Two-Cell
Partition A Superdome 32-way server with a six-cell and two-cell partition would
be configured with partitions 6A and 2B, as shown in Figure 4-1 “Superdome 16-way and Superdome 32-way
Recommended
Partition Configurations”. In Figure 4-1 “Superdome 16-way and Superdome 32-way
Recommended
Partition Configurations”, configuration
sets 4-10 are eligible to be assigned on Superdome 32-way
servers. The assignments are: 6A (config set 8), the recommended
six-cell partition. 2B (config set 4), because cells 0 and 2 (2A) are
assigned to 6A. Partitions 6A and 2B use all cells in the complex.
Example 2 Superdome 64-way—Seven-Cell Partition and Two Four-Cell Partitions A Superdome 64-way server with a seven-cell partition and
two four-cell partitions would be configured with partitions 7A,
4B, and 4E, as shown in Figure 4-2 “Superdome 64-way Recommended Partition
Configurations”. In Figure 4-2 “Superdome 64-way Recommended Partition
Configurations”, configuration
sets 11-29 are eligible to be assigned on Superdome 64-way
servers. 7A (config set 20), the first recommended
seven-cell partition. 4B (config set 16), because cells in 4A are used
by 7A. 4E (config set 17), because some or all cells in
4A-D are assigned. Partitions 7A, 4B, and 4E use all cells except one
(cabinet 1, cell 4).
The following example illustrations show how the two example
complex partition configurations would be selected, using Figure 4-1 “Superdome 16-way and Superdome 32-way
Recommended
Partition Configurations” and Figure 4-2 “Superdome 64-way Recommended Partition
Configurations” to determine which recommended partitions to use.
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