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Re: rp8400 re-partitioning

 
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Jean Couri
Occasional Advisor

rp8400 re-partitioning

Our rp8400 is currently made up of 1 npar running HP-UX 11.23. We are planning to split it into 2 npars with 2 vpars in each of them running HP-UX 11.11 (this old version is due to the requirements for the application which will be installed.)
In view of the attached ioscan output, could you please tell me whether this reconfiguration is feasible?

We will add FC and Ethernet adapters but no additional internal disks.
We will allocate to the vpars the current available CPU and memory.
We will mirror the LV of the system VG for all 4 vpars. Since we have only 4 disks, we will have to install the system VG on SAN and boot on SAN for at least 2 vpars.

Do you see any problem with this?

What will be the key steps for this reconfiguration? I have read the npar/vpar documentation, but I'm not sure I haven't overlooked some essential point since I am new to this hardware.

Thanks a lot in advance!
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Joshua Scott
Honored Contributor

Re: rp8400 re-partitioning

What you want to do is certainly possible. I would strongly discourage you from using the SAN to boot from. Two DS2120s is usually what I recommend my clients use for boot disk with vpars for full redundancy: when booting from a SAN, you add additional cabling as well as switches in between the server and its disks, so troubleshooting a non-booting system becomes more difficult.

Some things to keep in mind:

vpars can't share an io card, even the Core I/O, so you may have to add cards to connect to DVD or tape drives.

There are only 16 I/O slots, so you have about 4 for each server, and most people want redundant FC, Network, and SCSI (for the boot disks + DVD/Tape). You may need to purchase Combination FC+SCSI or FC+Network cards to fulfill these requirements.

If you only use 1 nPar, you won't be as limited in what you can do configuration-wise. You can move CPUs between servers on the fly when you have the appropriate software loaded.

Josh
What are the chances...
melvyn burnard
Honored Contributor

Re: rp8400 re-partitioning

well this looks ok, but you must ensure you have a second MP card, as this gives you the physical console for the second Npar.
Make sure that you get and print off an ioscan of each Npar BEFORE crfeating your Vpars, as you will need to know card I/O paths and also what the address of your boot disks will be.
I also usually use olrad -q or loar -q (depends on OS) to give me a correlation between slot numbers and I/O H/W paths as seen in the OS.
My house is the bank's, my money the wife's, But my opinions belong to me, not HP!
Jean Couri
Occasional Advisor

Re: rp8400 re-partitioning

Thanks Joshua and Melvin!

Is there a way to check out remotely if there is a second MP card? (I'm not on the same site as the server.)
I thought this MP capability was available on each of the core I/O.

Regards,
Jean
Torsten.
Acclaimed Contributor

Re: rp8400 re-partitioning

Hi,

the card is a combination of core I/O and MP.
Many options to find this out.

One of them:
log on to the MP and run

MP:CM> sysrev

You will see all firmware level inside the system.

At the end of the list you will probably see something like this:

FPGA MP
------- -------
Primary Core IO : 2.008 4.025
Secondary Core IO : 2.008 4.025


In this case there are 2 MP/Core I/Os


Hope this helps!
Regards
Torsten.

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Torsten.
Acclaimed Contributor

Re: rp8400 re-partitioning

What will be the key steps for this reconfiguration?

- re-config the nPars (if needed)
(see man parmodify / man parcreate)

- plan your layout

- install HP-UX (if needed)

- install vPars software

- configure first vPar

- start first vPar

- configure additional vPars

- install HP-UX on the add. vPars (using ignite golden image taken from the first for example)

Hope this helps!
Regards
Torsten.

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Torsten.
Acclaimed Contributor

Re: rp8400 re-partitioning

You may also have a look at the ioscan:

lan 0 0/0/0/1/0 gelan CLAIMED INTERFACE HP A6096-69001 PCI 1000Base-T Built-in I/O

lan 2 1/0/0/1/0 gelan CLAIMED INTERFACE HP A6096-69001 PCI 1000Base-T Built-in I/O

These are the 2 built-in LAN interfaces on 2 different core I/Os.

Hope this helps!
Regards
Torsten.

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Jean Couri
Occasional Advisor

Re: rp8400 re-partitioning

Thanks a lot for all these inputs, Torsten!

Since the present npar is running HP-UX 11.23 with its system VG installed & mirrored on all 4 internal disks, and since all 4 new vpars will be running HP-UX 11.11 with their system VG on some of these very internal disks or on SAN, I gather that I would have to make a configuration from scratch, by:

-creating a Genesis Partition (using MP)
-installing HP-UX and vpar software onto the Genesis Partition on 2 internal disks (using BCH and an Ignite-UX server over LAN), which will become vpar 1
-creating 2 vpars (using HP-UX vpar commands) from the Genesis Partition
-rebooting
-installing HP-UX and vpar software onto vpar 2 on SAN disks (using HP-UX vpar commands on vpar 1)

-creating another npar (using HP-UX on vpar 1 or 2)

-installing HP-UX and vpar software onto npar 2 on 2 internal disks (using BCH and an Ignite-UX server over LAN) which will become vpar 3
-creating 2 vpars (using HP-UX) from the npar 2
-rebooting
-installing HP-UX and vpar software onto vpar 4 on SAN disks (using HP-UX vpar commands on vpar 3)

Is this all right?

TIA
Jean Couri
Occasional Advisor

Re: rp8400 re-partitioning

Could anybody tell me if this action plan is the proper one for this reconfiguration?

Thanks in advance!
Torsten.
Acclaimed Contributor
Solution

Re: rp8400 re-partitioning

Sounds good.

You don't need to create a genesis partiton - you can modify your current configuration.
But you can do it if you want.

Just be aware if you install a second vPar while another vPar is running, you MUST install HP-UX AND vPar software all at a time (ignite with depot or golden image), because without vPar software the instance is not able to start.

Hope this helps!
Regards
Torsten.

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