Itanium server Boot sequence?

[rveri]

Hi ALL,

(i) Can any one explain the boot sequence of Itanium server.

(ii) What are the points that it differs from PA-RISC servers, from the following prospective:

(a) Installation of the server :
(b) Hardware replacement, like Harddisk/io card etc.


(* Each good answer will have highest pts.)

Thanks,

[Torsten.]

Hi,

(i) yes

after power on , the system will do the selftests (POST) and start EFI. After this it can boot the OS.

(ii) it is very similar, the boot menu on an integrity server is EFI shell (like a simple DOS), on PA servers it is the boot console handler.

a) for installation see the install manual on http://docs.hp.com

b) it depends on the particular server model, not on the CPU type.

[Jaime Bolanos Rojas.]

rveri,

This doc in the itrc site explains the boot sequence on itanium:

Document ID: IA64UXKBRC00014416


Also this old thread talks about boot sequence too:

http://forums1.itrc.hp.com/service/forums/questionanswer.do?threadId=986047&admit=-682735245+1167848193237+28353475

Regards,

jaime

[Steven E. Protter]

Shalom,

Info on boot sequence:
http://docs.hp.com/en/B2355-91049/ch10s02.html
For more, pick the doc your model at http://docs.hp.com

2)Hard disks are hot swapable and can be replaced without system shutdown. I/O cards and all other components require you to shut the server down and open the box.

SEP

[Torsten.]

If you want to know the tech details, see this document (e.g. page 31):

http://download.intel.com/design/Itanium/Downloads/24535907.pdf

The "default" EFI is common for this architecture, but HP has added some extensions.

For different OS you will need different boot loaders (HP-UX, Windows, Linux, OpenVMS).

[rveri]

Torsten,
The document you given contains PAL , SAL , EFI , with code flow, registers and vectors flow. And it is hard for me to understand.

But the doc ( IA64UXKBRC00014416) from Jaime, makes more sense.

[Torsten. · Accepted solution]

"... makes more sense."

This is your opinion.

The complete boot sequence (your first question) is described in the document I gave you. All this things will happen between power on or reset the server and the OS start. It is good to understand this in case of problems.

Depending on your point of view, the server is already booted if the EFI shell is reached. This shell is like a little OS and able to do some actions (e.g. ftp) already.

Based on this "little OS" you can load other applications, in most cases an OS loader like the HP-UX loader named hpux.

This boot process is described in the KB document.

So it depends.

And again, the question regarding the hardware depends only on the type of server, not on the CPU type.

If the server supports online replacement of IO cards, you can replace the cards - regardless if there is a PA-RISC or Itanium CPU installed (e.g. sx1000 based superdomes).

But a very significant difference is the layout of the boot disk and the way to mirror this disk.

See this document:

http://www1.itrc.hp.com/service/cki/docDisplay.do?docLocale=en_US&docId=200000079976529

[Raj D.]

Also you can check this,


http://docs.hp.com/en/5990-8144/5990-8144.pdf

cheers,
Raj.