Every now and then you see something which takes you completely by surprise. This is even better when it’s something new to Power systems and makes life a whole lot easier. The HMC Enhanced+ GUI is getting a lot of stick, mostly from people who are used to the classic GUI and don’t want to […]
Customisation for the VIOS CLI
Something I’ve discussed previously but have refined recently is customising the VIOS CLI take make using the CLI and navigation a little easier. Whenever I install a VIOS LPAR the first thing I do is add in a couple of files I keep handy to do a few things for me: ● Amend the CLI […]
Creating and Mapping multiple LUs in SSP
If you’ve read any of my previous articles you’ll know that I’m a big fan of VIOS shared storage pools (SSP). I have been lambasted by a number of IBMers for using SSP instead of NPIV but my arguments are: SSPs are fast and will cope with 95%+ workloads on Power Why continue to use […]
Using the VIOS VMR for system backups
My previous article discussed how you can upload and load ISO images into the Virtual Media Repository (VMR) to provide virtual optical images to the client LPARs. You may recall that the mkvopt command has an option, -ro, which forces the access mode of the image to read only. When a VMR image is set […]
Tech tip: populating the VIOS Virtual Media Repository
One of the most useful features of VIOS is the Virtual Media Repository (VMR). This allows us to create and import ISO images and then map these to virtual DVD drives on our client LPARs. Most customers will use the VMR to store their IBM i and/or AIX install media and PTFs. Many AIX sites […]
Are you using the correct disk driver for your Storwize storage?
With so many customers now using Storwize and SVC storage in their Power environment with VIOS, it is important that we get the configuration of the system correct and supported. In the last few months, I have been involved with customers who already have their Power and Storwize systems up and running. Something I’ve found […]
How to take advantage of the new, smaller IBM i 7.2
With the release of IBM i version 7.2 Technology Refresh 1, Big Blue has reduced the size requirement for the load-source disk for virtualised storage implementations. “So what?” I hear you cry. “All my disks are physical, they are bigger than 70GB and have been for years. What’s the big deal?” Well, for production workloads, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]