Virtualization with IBM i, PowerVM and Power Systems

Overview

Benefits

AIX, Linux and Windows¹ applications

Reduce complexity and costs with innovation

IBM Power™ servers are based on 1 to 64 POWER6™ processor cores supporting virtualization and system management innovations. IBM PowerVM provides advanced virtualization technologies for small, mid-sized and large companies with almost any type of IT environment. An example is PowerVM dynamic logical partitioning, which enables a single Power server to run multiple operating systems simultaneously— including IBM i, AIX®, Linux®, as well as Microsoft® Windows Server®, Linux and VMware via integration with IBM System x™ or BladeCenter® platforms. Essentially, it offers businesses of any size true enterprise-level functionality in a business computer. This means fewer servers and associated staff so you can save money and reinvest in growing your business.

Maximize computer resources usage

The Power Systems family gives you the freedom to run a wide variety of business applications without the costs and complexity often associated with managing multiple physical servers. PowerVM can help eliminate underutilized servers because it is designed to pool resources and optimize their use across multiple application environments and operating systems. Through advanced dynamic logical partitioning (LPAR) capabilities, a single partition can act as a completely separate IBM i, Linux or AIX operating environment. PowerVM can automatically adjust pooled processor resources across multiple operating systems, borrowing processing power from idle partitions to handle high transaction volumes in other partitions. With PowerVM on the Power Systems, you have both the power and flexibility to address multiple system requirements in a single machine. PowerVM Micro-Partitioning™ supports up to 10 dynamic logical partitions per processor core. So, depending upon the Power server, you can run up to 254 independent servers—each with its own processors and memory resources within a single physical Power server. Consolidating systems with PowerVM can help cut operational costs, improve availability, ease management and improve service levels, while allowing businesses to quickly deploy applications. PowerVM technology can even enhance your ability to simplify networks and centralize multiple business operations. In addition, Power Systems running the IBM i operating system makes it easy for you to include powerful integrated System x or BladeCenter options to manage your Intel® processor-based servers. These flexible and cost-effective offerings deliver a tightly integrated and easily managed solution that helps provide an efficient alternative to running Windows® Server, Linux or VMware on multiple standalone servers.

Simplify management of IT resources

The Power Systems family with the IBM i operating system delivers an advanced storage architecture that can provide you with more flexibility than other UNIX®, Windows and Linux server environments. Typical server farm implementations have dedicated disk drives attached to every server, meaning that your server administrator must manage each server's capacity separately. With the Power Systems family and IBM i operating system, all disks can be managed as a single pool of RAID-5 or mirrored, protected storage, which helps simplify data administration and improve productivity by boosting storage utilization rates. One pool of disk drives can be managed by the IBM i operating system and space can be allocated to each of the multiple operating environments. One consolidated backup can greatly reduce the cost and effort required to protect your valuable data stored in applications on a variety of servers. Through storage virtualization, the IBM i operating system can deliver excellent performance to multiple workloads, maximize the utilization of the storage resources and reduce the storage management costs typically associated with server farms. IBM i 6.1 (formerly known as IBM i 6.1) can now provide storage for additional IBM i 6.1 partitions on POWER6 processor-based servers as well as AIX and Linux partitions. Logical partitions and integrated System x and BladeCenter solutions can also use Virtual Ethernet technology on Power Systems. Over 4,000 individual virtual networks can be defined to provide fast, very secure connections among these multiple operating environments for effective application-to-application communications. Additional devices such as tape, CD-ROM and DVD drives can be used by logical partitions and integrated System x or blade servers. This can help minimize the hardware requirements for deploying IBM i, AIX, Linux and Windows applications and maximize the utilization of these resources. In addition to sharing physical I/O resources, this integration enables you to extend your IBM i management skills and best practices into these additional operating environments.

¹ Windows applications are supported via integrated System x or BladeCenter offerings.