difference between vpar and npar

[mkhan_1]

Hi guys, i wanted to know what is the difference between vpar and npar.
Thanks

[Dave Hutton]

NPars are hardware partitioning. Taking one cabinet and combining either all the cell boards to make one host or splitting them out to make a few hosts.

VPars are software partitioning.

[Murat SULUHAN]

Hi

npar provides electirical isolation between pars. you can create vpars in npars. You cannot move hw components between npars
npar needs cell based server. you cannot create more than one vpar in a cell. but you can create npar with more than one cell

vpars provides OS level isolation. The main advantage is you can move CPU and RAM between vpars (RAM move operation comes with latest version) vpar needs at least 1 cpu, ram for OS+apps, I/O subsystem and disk on nonshared bus. You can create more than one vpar on a cell, you can distrubute vpars on more than one cells

Each vpar and npar has its own patch levels, kernel setting and application
Each vpar and npar can reboot, boot, shutdown freely

[Pete Randall]

As Dave says, NPARS are accomplished through the hardware. You have to purchase a cell based system that is capable of being partitioned. With VPARS, it's software based and you have to buy the VPAR software product:

http://h20392.www2.hp.com/portal/swdepot/displayProductInfo.do?productNumber=T1335ACE


Pete

[Murat SULUHAN]

Hi

errata

you cannot create more than one vpar in a cell.
must be
you cannot create more than one npar in a cell.

[Geoff Wild]

Extra! Extra! Read all about it!

HP has many docs on Virtualization right here:

http://docs.hp.com/en/vse.html

Rgds...Geoff

[Torsten.]

The idea is to create smaller partitions than nPars. Read the introduction on one of the manuals:

http://docs.hp.com/en/oshpux11iv2.html#Virtual%20Partitions

[Asif Sharif]

Hi mkhan,

An nPar is a Node Partition, sometimes referred to as a Hard Partition. An nPar can be considered as a complete hardware and software solution that we would normally consider as an HP server. When we think about the basic hardware components in an HP server, we commonly think about the following:

At least one CPU,Memory,IO capability,An external interface to manage and configure the server, i.e., a system console,An operating system

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++A Virtual Partition (vPar) is an independent instance of an Operating System running on a subset of hardware components taken from an existing server or Node Partition. Each Operating System instance runs completely independently of other instances, and as such, a primary reason for using vPars is to offer application and Operating System software fault isolation. Additional benefits include:

Increased system utilization by partitioning previously unused portions of the server. Typically, a non-vPars server is only using 50 percent of its capacity.

Greater flexibility of resources through:

- Multiple but independent operating environments per server (with as low as one CPU granularity per partition)

- The dynamic movement of CPU power between virtual partitions depending on workload requirements.

Increased isolation of applications, their operating systems, and assigned resources (CPU, memory, and I/O) with individual reconfiguration and rebooting of the individual partitions without affecting other partitions and their applications.

Increased product integration with other HP-UX offerings that includes iCOD, Partition Manager, Online Diagnostics, and Virtual Partition Manager.


Regards,
Asif Sharif

[Michael Steele_2]

I think you mean:

a)  You can not have more than one vpar per core, and,

b) You can not have more than one npar per cell.