Author: Glenn Robinson
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Using the Storwize CLI: processing data using arrays
In my previous article, I showed you how to use WHILE READ and the FOR loop to process multiple items in the Storwize CLI. To refresh your memory, this is an example of how we can use a WHILE READ loop: When the WHILE READ processes a stream of data – in this case, all…
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Masterclass: Using the Storwize CLI for repetitive commands
In my last article I introduced you to running some basic commands on the Storwize CLI such as lsvdisk and lsmdisk. I also showed you how to use the -filtervalue command to display a subset of items. Quite often, we want to execute a specific operation on a selection of items. So in this article…
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How to use the SVC/Storwize CLI
Over the last five years, I have worked with both SVC and the Storwize Vxxxx family of products with IBM i and AIX on Power Systems. SVC and Storwize share the same software stack and GUI. There are some functions which are only available in SVC but, predominantly, the configuration and management is the same.…
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VIOS: How to create multiple virtual disks in a Shared Storage Pool
I recently installed a Power8 system with VIOS 2.2.3.4 and used this opportunity to configure a Shared Storage Pool (SSP) cluster. I needed to allocate around 34TB of storage space across 2 x IBM i LPARs which necessitated me creating 245 x 140GB virtual disks. While the simple option is to use the HMC GUI…
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Masterclass: advanced vSCSI disk monitoring (includes scripts)
In my previous article, I showed how you can use nmon in VIOS to display the performance statistics of hdisks that are mapped to client LPARs. This is achieved by creating a file which nmon reads and then displays the relevant performance data. The script I used required that the virtual target devices (VTDs) mapped…
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Masterclass: how to monitor VIOS vSCSI disk performance
In my previous article I showed how you can use nmon in VIOS to display the performance statistics of hdisks that are mapped to client LPARs. This is achieved by creating a file which nmon reads and then displays the relevant performance data. Let’s look at a script I created to automatically generate the file…
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How to monitor client LPAR vSCSI disks in VIOS
Many customers use vSCSI disk-mapping in VIOS to present external storage volumes to their client LPARs. There are proponents of vSCSI, NPIV and Shared Storage Pools. These all work very well. I find that AIX-minded technicians will lean towards NPIV because that’s what they have used traditionally. IBM i technicians will tend to use vSCSI…
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Creating an Etherchannel adapter for resiliency with VIO Server
An important aspect of VIO Server design is high availability and resiliency for your client LPARs. However reliable the equipment is, failures do occur and there is always human error. Etherchannel or LACP allows you to provide enhanced network availability and throughput for your LPARs by bundling a number of VIOS Ethernet NICs together to…
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Masterclass: VIO Server Networking Tips & Techniques
Over the past few years, I have picked up a number of tips and techniques to help when working with LPARs on Power Systems that use VIOS for networking. VIOS can provide highly performant, resilient and redundant networking capabilities to IBM i, AIX and Linux LPARs. While customers are comfortable with VIOS networking capabilities once…
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How to make IBM i work with VLANs
Prior to its 7.2 version, IBM i had no concept of VLANs. They had to be managed externally. However, I am going to show you how to get IBM i to cooperate in a VLAN environment pre-v7.2. I am also going to demonstrate how simple it is to set up a v7.2 IP interface to…