Need clear info about GSP in superdoms/partitioanable servers

[Sreer]

Hi Gurus,
Could any one pls tell me what exactly the GSP function in a partitionable complex?

What I know gsp in midrange serrvers is its for giving console aceess and is locating in core i/o card is nr it?

But when I read about superdoms it is heard /read that its not at all part of core i/o but a seperate unit!!!! and is part of backplane....is it??? I got confused..

pls provide me the exact location and function of GSP in partitionable systems

thnks &regds
Sreekumar

[Johnson Punniyalingam]

http://forums13.itrc.hp.com/service/forums/questionanswer.do?admit=109447627+1269184221631+28353475&threadId=557752

[Michael Steele_2]

Hi

The function of a GSP on either superdome / nPar or stand alone is still the same. The only difference is the nPar GSP's abilty to switch between partitions. The underlying HW is transparent to you, the admin, until you start building vPars, or firmware updating, or adding in new cells.

You mentioned I/O and I/O on an nPar is handled in a separate cabinet. Here is where all the HPAs, PCI, SCSI, cabling, etc., would be located. The other superdome cabinet, (two is the superdome minimum, one for an rp84## I think), stores the cpus, memory, partitions, etc. and the GSP board.

The GSP board easily plugs in and out on a superdome. This acts as a form of reset.

There are approx. 8 firmware upgrades to perform on a superdome, verses maybe two including the PDC on a standalone GSP.

I am concerned that you know nothing about offline, online diags. or event logs. All are important to me as a SA. Event logs in particular from a GSP often list the only clue to a panic.

[Torsten.]

From user manual:

"Introduction to Service Processor Interfaces
The service processor (MP or GSP) utility hardware is an independent
support system for nPartition servers. It provides a way for you to
connect to a server complex and perform administration or monitoring
tasks for the server hardware and its nPartitions.
The main features of the service processor include:
-Command Menu
-nPartition Consoles
-Console Logs
-Chassis Code Viewer (on HP 9000 servers with HPPA-8700
processors)orEventLogViewer(onserversbasedontheHPsx1000
chipset)
-Virtual Front Panels (live displays of nPartition and cell states)"


It is located in the middle at the rear side of the cabinet 0 in a superdome, on the right back side on the smaller cell based servers (up to 2 in the main cabinet).

[Bill Hassell]

The GSP (also known as the MP Maintenance Processor) is actually a separate computer in all the N-class, L-class, rp-class and SuperDomes. It does provide a connection to the HP-UX console but its primary purpose is to interface directly to the processors, backplanes, I/O cards and peripherals. The GSP can power off (and back on) the entire computer, create an inventory of the machine (fans, cells, processors, I/O cards) and logs and coordinates selftests during power up.

As mentioned, it can connect to different cells (in a cell based system) which is required to boot and install the OS for partitions. When you want console access to the OS, the cell based systems will ask you which cell to connect.

Note that the command that are available and the format of the information differs between the many different models. There are manuals for the GSP and MP processors in each model.