aix 5.3 workload partitions

© 2011 IBM CorporationAll statements regarding IBM's future direction and intent are subject

to change or withdrawal without notice, and represent goals and objectives only. Some features require the purchase of additional software components.

AIX 5.3 Workload Partitions

Mark McConaughyWorkload Partitioner

2© 2011 IBM Corporation

IBM Power Systems

• The Essentials– WPAR Overview– AIX 5.3 WPARs

• Limitations• Considerations• Advantages• References


IBM Power Systems

AIX Workload Partitions (WPAR)

WPARs have much lower memory resource requirements: 68 MB vs 1GB for an LPAR

WPAR takes seconds to create and LPARs minutes

Application mobility much simpler to organize than LPM

Lots of WPARs on one AIX is simpler to monitor and control than monitoring across many LPARs.

Rapid cloning is easy and lets you use "disposable images" - simple to create, experiment with and throw away

Virtualized AIX operating system environments within a single AIX image

Each WPAR shares the single AIX operating system

Applications and users inside a WPAR cannot affect resources outside the WPAR

Each WPAR can have a regulated share of processor, memory and other resources

Two types of WPAR

- System WPARs have separate security and appear like a completely separate OS

- Application WPARs are manageability wrappers around a single application

WorkloadPartition

ApplicationServer

WorkloadPartitionWeb

Server

WorkloadPartition

Billing

WorkloadPartition

TestWorkloadPartition

BI

NetworksDisk or NFS storage

AIX global Instance

WorkloadPartition

ApplicationServer

WorkloadPartitionWeb

Server

WorkloadPartition

Billing

WorkloadPartition

TestWorkloadPartition

BI

NetworksDisk or NFS storage

AIX global Instance

Top reasons to use WPARsWhat is it?


IBM Power Systems

Workload Partitions Isolation

• Network environment– WPAR has separate IP addresses, hostnames, domain names and hostids

– To others the WPAR looks like a stand alone system

– For applications within a WPAR it appears to be a stand-alone system.

– Users may login to the System WPAR using telnet, ssh, rlogin etc.

• Process environment– Processes can only see and signal other processes within a WPAR

– Processes can only construct IPC mechanisms within a WPAR• Pipes, shared memory, semaphores & message queues

• File system space– Non-read-only filesystems are created & WPAR processes are chrooted to

these.

– Processes see files only in these filesystem within a WPAR

– Typically contains a unique copy of /, /var, /tmp, /etc separate users and groups.


IBM Power Systems

Workload Partitions Environment

• Security– WPAR root is less privileged than global root– Configurable privilege profile applied to WPAR– Included as part of AIX Common Criteria certifications

• System services– Mail, NFS client, inetd syslog, cron … are executed independently

for each WPAR.

• Resource Controls– The amount of system memory, CPU and other resources allocated

to each WPAR can be set.

• WPAR Servicability– Error Logging, Trace, Auditing, Accounting from within a WPAR– WPAR aware statistics and performance tools


IBM Power Systems

AIX 5.3 WPARs for AIX 7

• Allows a legacy AIX 5.3 environment to be run inside a WPAR on POWER7 processor-based systems with AIX 7

– Simply back up existing environment and restore inside of an AIX 7 WPAR

– Must be at least 5.3 TL12 SP3

• Processes run at full speed – no instruction translation is involved

• Includes how-to and limited defect support for the AIX 5.3 operating system running in the WPAR

– Does not require legacy extended support

• Mobility is supported• Can be managed via IBM Systems Director Workload

Partitions Manager• Note: currently no supported migration path back to

LPAR or to regular WPAR

AIX 5.3 WPARs for AIX 7 is a separately charged product built on AIX 7AIX 5.3 WPARs for AIX 7 is a separately charged product built on AIX 7

Offering designed to simplify consolidation of AIX 5.3 environments

Minimize effort to consolidate old environments on new, more efficient hardware Allows clients who must stay on AIX V5.3 to move up to POWER7

Offering designed to simplify consolidation of AIX 5.3 environments

Minimize effort to consolidate old environments on new, more efficient hardware Allows clients who must stay on AIX V5.3 to move up to POWER7

POWER7

5.3 syscall compatibility

AIX 7 Native Environment

AIX 7 native syscalls

WPARA

/ /var/tmp /home

WPARB

/ /var/tmp /home

WPARD

/ /var/tmp /home/usr/opt

WPARC

/ /var/tmp /home/usr/opt

AIX 7 Kernel

/usr/opt

mksysbbackup

fromAIX 5.3legacysystem

AIX 5.3 versionedEnvironment


IBM Power Systems

5.3 WPAR Limitations• Performance commands used are the AIX 7 version resulting in some formatting

differences• PowerHA SystemMirror (HACMP) and RSCT are not supported within a WPAR• NFS servers are not supported within a WPAR• WorkLoad Manager controls are not supported within a WPAR but the resource

usage of the entire WPAR can be controlled• WPARs cannot be created within a WPAR• Only a subset of symbols referenced through /dev/kmem are accessible within a

WPAR• WPARs inherit the performance tuning from the hosting LPAR• Kernel performance tuning is not modifiable from within a WPAR• Kernel extensions can only be loaded and unloaded from within the WPAR if the

global system administrator permits• If local storage devices are used for the WPAR, jfs file systems are not supported.

• JFS file systems from the AIX 5.3 environment will be converted to JFS2 file

systems when local storage devices are used for the AIX 5.3 WPAR• Storage adapters cannot be exported to a 5.3 WPAR• Consult with your ISV to determine if they will support this environment• ASO ignores WPAR processes if WPAR resource limits have been applied


IBM Power Systems

Considerations when moving to WPARs

• Storage– No storage inside the WPAR

• Simplified administration, but less flexible• No Live Application Mobility capability unless NFS is used

– SAN Storage inside the WPAR• Export an hdisk from the global (attached to physical FC, virtual FC (NPIV), or vscsi)• Can be rootvg (which enables Live Application Mobility) or data disk(s)• Only J2 file systems supported

• Capacity Planning– CPU requirements are roughly the same– Memory requirements for the OS are much smaller (<100MB compared to

1GB)• But memory requirements for the workload itself remain the same

– Network bandwidth requirements are the same; keep in mind the sharing

• Resource Controls– By default, WPARs will compete fairly for the LPAR resources– Resource controls can be applied to ensure resources available for a given

workload, or to take advantage of sub-capacity licensing (ie limit the max number of CPUs)


IBM Power Systems

Moving to 5.3 WPARs

• Assuming you are running anything from the unsupported list in your 5.3 LPAR, a “staging LPAR” might be helpful:

LPAR 1

- NFS Server- HACMP

LPAR 2

- DB2

- DB2mksysbmksysb, mkwpar

5.3 WPARAIX 5.3 with …

AIX 5.3 with …

- DB2


IBM Power Systems

Advantages when moving to 5.3 WPARs

• Current (Power7) Hardware– Allows decommissioning older hardware to stop paying maintenance

cost– Consolidation of work onto fewer systems

• WPARs give memory resource savings; approximately 1GB per LPAR for kernel use vs. <100MB per WPAR

– Benefit from new hardware features• SMT-4 (An LPAR on P7 can run AIX 5.3 TL12, but only in P6 mode which

supports only SMT-2) • Enables faster performance or equivalent performance with less CPU resource

(= lower license $)

• AIX 7.1 Kernel– Benefit from more current AIX core capabilities

• Such as Active Memory Expansion or Active System Optimizer

• IBM Support– Provides an alternative to paying for the service extension for AIX

5.3


IBM Power Systems

Additional References

• AIX Documentation– http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/aix/v7r1/topic/com.ibm.aix.wpar/wpar-kickoff.htm

• Redbooks– Workload Partition Management in IBM AIX Version 6.1

• http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/abstracts/sg247656.html– AIX Version 7.1 Differences Guide (5.2 WPARs, WPARs and Storage Devs)

• http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/redpieces/abstracts/sg247910.html?Open– Exploiting IBM AIX Workload Partitions (August 2011: PowerHA and 5.2 WPARs with Scenarios)

• http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/abstracts/sg247955.html?Open

• Performance Studies– WebSphere Application Server V7 with POWER Virtualization

• ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/software/webservers/appserv/WASV7_PowerVM_1.72.pdf– Running WebSphere MQ server inside workload partition with live application mobility: A

performance study on IBM AIX v6.1 and POWER6 Systems• https://www-304.ibm.com/partnerworld/wps/servlet/ContentHandler/whitepaper/aix/v6r1_power/performance

• AIX Movies– tinyurl.com/AIXmovies


IBM Power Systems

Backup


IBM Power Systems

PowerVM LPARs and Workload Partitions

PowerVM VirtualizationPowerVM Virtualization

Power Systems HardwarePower Systems Hardware

LPAR

i

SAP

LPAR

AIX 6

WPAR

WPAR

WebSphere

DB2

WPARWorkload Partitions

•Multiple workloads inside a single AIX

•AIX 6 feature

LPARLogical Partitions

•Multiple separate OS instances in a server

•Power Systems hardware feature

LPAR

AIX 5

DB2

LPAR

Linux

Apache


IBM Power Systems

WorkloadPartition

QA

AIX # 2

WorkloadPartition

Data Mining

AIX Live Application Mobility

WorkloadPartition

App Server

WorkloadPartition

Web

AIX # 1

WorkloadPartition

Dev

Move a running Workload Partition from one server to anotherfor outage avoidance and multi-system workload balancing

Workload Partitione-mail

Works on any hardware supported by AIX 6 or 7, including POWER5

Workload

Partitions

Manager

for AIX

Policy

WorkloadPartitionBilling

Shared NFS or SAN Storage


IBM Power Systems

Storage Area Network

Virtual SCSI disk configuration

vscsi1

hdisk0

LPAR 2

Virtu

al I/O

Se

rve

r

fcs0

hdisk0

vtscsi0 vtscsi1

vhost1vhost0

vscsi0

hdisk0

LPAR 1

hdisk0

WPAR A

FibreChannel, Virtual SCSI, NPIV FibreChannel Support for WPARs- as of AIX 6.1 TL6 and AIX 7.1- AIX native MPIO multipathing supported - see manage_disk_drivers command and select “AIX_A*PCM”- J2 and LVM supported

Storage Subsystem LUN

Virtu

al I/O

Se

rve

r


FibreChannel disk configuration

hdisk0

LPAR 2

fcs0

LUNStorage Subsystem

hdisk0

LPAR 1 WPAR A

fcs0

hdisk0

NPIV FibreChannel Configuration


fcs0

vfchost0

LPAR 1

fcs0 (NPIV)

hdisk0

hdisk0

WPAR ALPAR 2

fcs0 (NPIV)

hdisk0


vfchost1

Virtu

al I/O

Se

rve

r


IBM Power Systems

Adapter support Inside a WPAR- AIX 7.1 only (not AIX 5.2 or 5.3 WPARs)- not yet supported by WPAR Manager- not yet supported for Live Application Mobility

NPIV FibreChannel adapter configuration

LPAR 1

hdisk0

WPAR A

fcs0

fcs0 (NPIV)


Virtu

al I/O

Se

rve

r

fcs0

vfchost1vfchost0


fcs1

fcs1 (NPIV)

fcs1

FibreChannel adapter configuration


Virtu

al I/O

Se

rve

r


LPAR 1

hdisk0

WPAR A

fcs0

fcs0 fcs1

fcs1


IBM Power Systems

Additional File System Support in WPARs- J2/LVM supported on storage inside the WPAR- other file systems can be namefs-mounted into the WPAR

LPAR

rootvg

Rootvg WPAR

WPAR File Systems: rootvg

GPFS

VxFS

/usr/opt

//var/tmp/home

/gpfs

/vxfs

datavg

/data


IBM Power Systems

Kernel Extension Considerations (AIX 7.1 only)

• Allowing WPAR administrator to load a kernel extension breaks isolation

– One option is to require any extensions to be loaded from the global (WPAR processes will have access)

– Second option is to allow the WPAR to load an extension, but with proper controls

• Basic Mechanism– From the Global

• mkwpar or chwpar -X is used to specify a specific extension the given WPAR is allowed to load, and whether it is to be loaded globally or locally

– Global load means all WPARs and the global can utilize this same extension– Local means only this WPAR will have access (and it could be a different version

than one that is loaded globally)

– From the WPAR• Load the extension as normal – only allowed if the extension has the same signature as

what was specified from the global

• Mobility Implications (AIX 7.1 TL1 only)– Extension must be loaded at the destination before the processes are

started– Infrastructure is provided via a script that is run prior to start of the

processes


IBM Power Systems

• All processes in the WPAR are automatically classified in the same class as the WPAR name

• Controls are specified via mkwpar, chwpar CLIs or WPAR Manager

• Controls are via shares and limits

• Shares are specified as a number 1 – 65,535

• Limits are specified as percentages

– min%-soft_max%,hard_max%• min=0% means no minimum• max=100% means no maximum limit

• Examples:

– shares_CPU=10 CPU=5%-10%,20%

– shares_memory=5 memory=20%-30%,100%

• An alternative to WLM resource controls for WPARs is the use of RSETs

– Define the RSET in the global

– Define the wpar to be constrained to that RSET

– Higher performance for most workloads

– Requires careful administration in a dynamic LPAR

AIX WPAR Resource Controls

Resource Controls

Targets Targets


IBM Power Systems

The Flexibility of "Shares"

Used to calculate target percentage of a resource for a class

Target is dynamic: based on active shares and available resources in each tier

Share values range from 1 to 65,535

Targets Targets

Resourceentitlements

are expressed as

shares

Shares indicate relative entitlement


IBM Power Systems

Shares Example

Targets are calculated by dividing the given number of shares by the total active shares.

Blue Class target = 12/(12+5+16+3) = 33%

Targets are Desired PercentageTargets

Target

0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1

12 shares 5 shares 16 shares 3 shares


IBM Power Systems

Shares Example

Targets are recalculated when classes becomes active/inactive.

Blue Class target now = 12/(12+16+3) = 39%

Targets Adjust Automatically!Targets

Target

0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1

12 shares 5 shares 16 shares 3 shares


IBM Power Systems

Limits Reserve and Restrict Resources

Resource limits are

expressed as percentages

The minimum limits reserve resources

The maximum limits restrict resources

Used as an upper/lower bound for target calculation

Limits Keep Jobs In Their Place!Limits

CPU Time

Memory

0 20 40 60 80 100

minimum target range softmax hardmax


IBM Power Systems

IBM PowerVM Workload Partitions Manager for AIX

Can make it easier to consolidate workloads from underutilized servers by providing a single point of management for all WPARs and enablement for Live Application Mobility

Go Green & Save

Policy based relocation and federated management of WPARs provides new ways to manage your IT infrastructure

Realize Innovation

Can reduce cost and complexity through centralized management of WPARs across multiple systems

Enables increased flexibility by allowing administrators to quickly create, clone or delete Workload Partitions from one system to another

Supports POWER4, POWER5 and POWER6 based systems

Manage Growth, Complexity & Risk

A product that federates management of WPARs across multiple systems

WPARs can be created, cloned, stopped, started and monitored from a single location

Enablement for AIX Live Application Mobility

A member of the IBM Systems Director family of products to provide a common operational methodology

The WPAR Manager™ is available separately from AIX

How can it help?What is it?

WPAR AgentAIX

System/Application WPARs

WPAR AgentAIX


WPAR AgentAIX


WPAR AgentAIX


WPAR AgentAIX


WPAR AgentAIX


IBMWorkloadPartitionsManagerfor AIX

Browser

© 2010 IBM Corporation

IBM Power Systems

25

All statements regarding IBM's future direction and intent are subject to change or withdrawal without notice, and represent goals and objectives only.

Some features require the purchase of additional software components.

Steps to Moving to the Versioned WPAR Environment

On the original 5.3 system:1. mksysb and copy the image to the AIX 7.1 system

On the Power 7/AIX 7.1 system2. Install Versioned WPAR Package3. mkwpar –c –B mksysb-file –n wpar-name –D hdisk11

rootvg=yes –D hdisk 12 –D hdisk13 (hdisk12 and 13 are data volumes in this example)

4. startwpar wpar-name5. Make any other data (volume groups) from 5.3 system

available, and start the workload (varyon hdisk12 and 13 in this example)

mksysb

WPARApplication

Server

WPARWeb

Server

WPAR

Billing

AIX7 instance

WPARBI

5.3 TL12sp5 JFS2

vwpar

© 2010 IBM

26

One new step

Create Versioned WPARs via WPAR Manager

Location of the mksysbthen click Load

Select the mksysb file

Otherwise the same as other WPARs …

.

© 2010 IBM Corporation

IBM Power Systems

27

All statements regarding IBM's future direction and intent are subject to change or withdrawal without notice, and represent goals and objectives only.

Some features require the purchase of additional software components.

Workload Partitions – Packaging

1. Base WPAR comes with AIX 6 / AIX 7– Basic WPAR functions– AIX command line access only– No Live Application Mobility

2. PowerVM Workload Partition (WPAR) Manager – FC 5765-G83– Systems Director plug-in– 60 day trial then buy a licence– Includes Live Application Mobility (Relocation)– Version 2.2.1 (10th Sept 2010) understands the below

3. AIX 5.2 Workload Partitions for AIX 7 – FC 5765-H38– Extra product/LPP at a cost– AIX 5.2 media is not provided & not available– AIX 5.2 TL10 SP8 Update is on Fix-Central = 1.6 GB– Supported on AIX 7 & POWER7 only

4. AIX 5.3 Workload Partitions for AIX 7 – FC 5765-WP7– Extra product/LPP at a cost– AIX 5.3 media is not provided & not available– Supported on AIX 7 & POWER7 only

aix 5.3 workload partitions

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