nPar and vPar on HPUX

[Shivkumar]

Dear Sirs;

What are the advantage of nPar and vPar system over the ordinary hpux server ?

Thanks,
Shiv

[Thayanidhi · Accepted solution]

Hi,
Server consolidation!!
When you server(s) which has more processors/memeory, a single instance may be under ytilizing the system resources. Using npar (if the h/w supports) you can divide the system in to multiple small logical servers. Each logical server will have it's ow resources, one can be shutdonw or reboot while the other one still functional.
vpar is similar to npar but works from bdc level. Means you can have vpar's under npar!!

For more information look at the docs.hp.com

For example if you need 24 servers each requires 2 processors and 2 GB RAM, you can go for Superdome which has 48 (or64)processor and divide accordingly using npar/vpar combination.
The cannot be moved from one npar to another, where as within one npar, the resource may be moved between vpars.

Explaing by the post may be difficult, refer to the documents for most current information.

Regds
TT

[Zigor Buruaga]

Hi,

Take a look at the benefits part on these links:

http://www.hp.com/products1/unix/operating/manageability/partitions/nPartitions.html

http://www.hp.com/products1/unix/operating/manageability/partitions/virtual_partitions.html

Regards,
Zigor

[Hakan Aribas]

Each npar or vpar is a separate machine. You can transfer CPUs between vpars on the fly, but in a serious hardware failure you can lose all vpars. npar is more solid than vpar but you cannot transfer CPUs on the fly, it needs reboot and you can transfer only cell boards, I mean single CPU cannot be transfered to another npar.

[Mahesh Kumar Malik]

Hi Shiv

1. nPar allows physical partioning of server
2. vPar allows logical partioning of server.

In both the above cases one server box can be devided in multiple servers, thus allowing consolidation.

Following link may be of help


http://h21007.www2.hp.com/dspp/tech/tech_TechDocumentDetailPage_IDX/1,1701,6983,00.html

Regards
Mahesh

[Raj D.]

Hi Shiv,

nPar is Node Partition.
Basically distributing the IO ,CPU , Memory , and creating a virtule node within a single box.
Superdome , V-Class , RP84XX 86XX , are nPar capable.

v-Par : Virtual Partition.
With Virtual Partitions (vPars) you can take almost any HP 9000 server and turn it into many "virtual" computers. These virtual computers can each be running their own instance of HP-UX and associated applications. The virtual computers are isolated from one another at the software level. Software running on one Virtual Partition will not affect software running in any other Virtual Partition. In the Virtual Partitions you can run different revisions of HP-UX, different patch levels of HP-UX, different applications, or any software you want and not affect other partitions.



To create npar: you can use :
# parcreate ...

EXAMPLES
Create a new partition myPartition with 2 cells. One of the cells is
located in cabinet 2, slot 4. The cellType for the cell is base. The
failure_usage policy for this cell is ri - reactivate with interleave.

The other cell is located in cabinet 2, slot 6. The cellType is base
and failure_usage policy for this cell is ri - reactivate with memory
interleave. The use_on_next_boot for both cells is y.

parcreate -P myPartition -c 2/4:base:y:ri -c 2/6:base:y:ri
-b 0/0/52/2.6 -t 0/0/52/3.6 -s 0/0/52/4.6 -r 2/4

Create a new partition nextPartition with 2 cells. The cells are
located in cabinet 0, slot 4 and slot 6. This example uses the
default values for the cells.

parcreate -P nextPartition -c 4::: -c 6:::
-------------------------------------



To create vpar :

# vparcreate ...


Cheers,
Raj.

[Devender Khatana]

Hi,

N-par is a physical partitioning of the system. Which means that hardware once allocated to one partition will remain belonging to it always. Here the atleast one cell board is required for each partiotion. The hardware belonging to that particular cell will always belong to that partition.

In VPAR you can relocate hardware in various VPARs online. You can free some memory from one VPAR and add it to another VPAR online bases on the requirement. Same is true with CPU as well.

Also a superdome or other highly scalable server with good configurations can have multiple NPAR, with more that one or more VPAR within each NPAR.

HTH,
Devender

[Shivkumar]

For which type of requirement nPar is suitable ? and for which of requirement vPar is suitable ?

warm regards,
Shiv

[Shivkumar]

I believe only nPar and vPar are supported on superdome ? or is it supported on some other model of the server ?

[Shivkumar]

What is the equivalent of AIX' DLPAR on hpux ? Is it nPar or vPar or something else ?

Thanks,
Shiv

[Devender Khatana]

Hi,

If your applications are tested and you know the resources they are going to consume then you can do put them in n-par if you want floating resources then v-par is more appropriate.

Mean you want to run muliple tested applications on one system isolated from each other, make it a n-par. And if you intend to run applications with variable load or for which you are not sure how much resources it will consume then opt a v-par.

A benefit of a v-par will also be that in the scenarios when you have more user load on one system in day and more on another in night due to scheduled reports or backup. In these case you can float resources.


HTH,
Devender

[Devender Khatana]

Hi,

Partitioning is supported on many other models as well. Here is the link. See chapter two

http://docs.hp.com/en/5991-1132/5991-1132.pdf

I do not have any experience of working on AIX so can not differentiate between the two.

HTH,
Devneder

[Joseph Loo]

hi shiv,

there should be enough materials here:

http://h71028.www7.hp.com/enterprise/cache/257389-0-0-0-121.aspx

regards.

[morganelan]

nPar supports the following HP 9000 servers:Superdome, rp8400, rp7410.

VPar supports the following HP 9000 servers:L Class, N Class, Superdome, rp8400, rp7410.

Why choose vPars over nPars?
â vPars provides:
â ¢ Dynamic processor movement without rebooting the partition
â ¢ Single cpu granularity without need for iCOD
â ¢ Can run within an nPar

[Arunvijai_4]

Hi Shiv,

This doc should help for you regarding requirements and more info about nPAR and vPAR

http://www.hp.com/products1/unix/operating/manageability/partitions/library/vPars_Intro_WP_26Aug05_final.pdf

-Arun

[Bharat Katkar]

Hi Shiv,


Table 1-2. HP Servers Supporting nPartitions

HP 9000 Servers. HP 9000 servers have PA-RISC processors.
The original HP 9000 servers supporting nPartitions include the following models:

· HP 9000 Superdome servers, including the SD16000, SD32000, and SD64000 models. These models support up to 16 cells in a server complex.

· HP 9000 rp8400 model, which supports up to four cells in a server complex.

· HP 9000 rp7405/rp7410, which supports up to two cells in a server complex.

For details see "Server Hardware Details: HP nPartition Servers" .

The following HP 9000 servers use the HP sx1000 chipset and support nPartitions. For details see "sx1000 Chipset for HP Servers" .

· HP 9000 Superdome servers, including the SD16A, SD32A, and SD64A models. These models support up to 16 cells in a server complex.

· HP 9000 rp8420 model, which supports up to four cells in a server complex.

· HP 9000 rp7420 model, which supports up to two cells in a server complex.

For details see "Server Hardware Details: HP nPartition Servers" .

HP Integrity Servers. HP Integrity servers have Intel® Itanium® 2 processors.

The Intel® Itanium® processor family architecture was co-developed by Hewlett-Packard and Intel.
All HP Integrity servers that support nPartitions use the HP sx1000 chipset; for details see "sx1000 Chipset for HP Servers" .

· HP Integrity Superdome servers include the SD16A, SD32A, and SD64A models. These models support up to 16 cells in a server complex.

· The HP Integrity rx8620 model supports up to four cells in a server complex.

· The HP Integrity rx7620 model supports up to two cells in a server complex.

For details see "Server Hardware Details: HP nPartition Servers" .

Supported IA/PA servers (with 11iv2May2005) for VPARâ s are:

A-Class/rp2400 series except A180 and A180C, which had 32-bit processors
L-Class/rp5400 series
rp3400 series
rp4400 series
All N-Class/rp7400 series
All rp8400 series
All HP 9000 Superdome
All Current HP IA Integrity Server Family

Also have a look at my similar thread.
http://forums1.itrc.hp.com/service/forums/questionanswer.do?threadId=941744
One more thread:
http://forums1.itrc.hp.com/service/forums/questionanswer.do?threadId=914173

Hope that helps.
Regards,