vPARs 6.1 or VMs with i2 blades

[aravindangk]

If I am planning on implementing virtual machines on my new Integrity (i2) blades, should I use HPVM 4.3 or go with vPARs 6.1?

Thanks,

[Patrick Wallek]

vPars are not supported on blades.  See Chapter 4 in this document for supported system:

http://bizsupport1.austin.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/c03231915/c03231915.pdf

The Integrity VM is your only option on a blade, but make sure you have the capability for sufficient system resources for your VM's on the blade(s).

[pradeep m]

HPVM v4.30 & vpar v6.0 is now bundle as single product and named as Vpar v6.1. Customer can get this software bundle and configure the I2 Blade server either as virtual machine or vpar's

HP-UX vPars and Integrity VM 6.1 including the following new features:

The features in the following list have been included in this release of vPars and Integrity VM V6.1:

• Support both VSP (formally HPVM host)  and vPars/VMs support:

• Support for vPars and Integrity VM functionality in a single, common, easy-to-use management
  environment.

• Support for the direct I/O (DIO) networking functionality.
• Support for Matrix OE 7.0 fluid cross-technology logical servers with virtual machines. 

For additional information please refer the HP-UX vPars and Integrity VM 6.1 release notes 

http://bizsupport1.austin.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/c03233044/c03233044.pdf

If you would like have the new features, then you can go with v6.1

[James Reed_3]

As with many questions, the answer depends on your particular circumstances.  The path forward with respect to features and improved performance will be embodied with HP-UX vPars and Integrity VM 6.1.  So, if you plan to deploy 11i v3 guests and want the flexibility of supporting either virtual machines or vPARs, 6.1 is the way to go.  If however, you want to build 11i v2 guests, HPVM 4 should be your choice.  My recommendation would be to get the pertinent release notes and review these in detail before making your decision.

[Danny Petterson - DK]

We recently upgraded from 4.3 to  6.1, and saw a small IO perforamance-increase, about 5-8 percent. Beside that, the VM-part of 6.1 is very similar to 4.3.