Parent topic: Planning for PowerVM Editions
Related information:
Micro-Partitioning® allows multiple logical partitions to share the system processing power. Micro-Partitioning allows the resource definition of a partition to allocate fractions of processors to the partition.
The firmware virtualizes the four physical central processing units (CPUs) in the two BladeCenter® PS703 or PS704 four-core processors. Micro-Partitioning divides each CPU into 100 logical processor units (100 percent) for a total of 400 logical processor units in the PS703 or PS704 blade server.
Micro-Partitioning creates shared processor partitions in increments of 10 processor units, which is the equivalent of 10 percent of one physical processor. Ten partitions that are each 10 units use the equivalent of 100 percent of one core. Larger partitions means fewer partitions.
Micro-Partitioning can also dedicate an entire processor core to a partition. Dedicated and micro-partitioned processors can coexist on the same PS703 or PS704 blade server.
| Processor Partition Characteristics | PS703 or PS704 |
|---|---|
| Cores | 4 |
| Maximum number of micro-partitioned processor units | 400 |
| Dedicated processor partitions (maximum configuration) | 4 |
| Maximum number of shared processor partitions (each at a minimal 10 units) |
40 |
Shared partitions can span physical processors. You could define a partition of 140 processor units, which means that the shared partition uses the equivalent of 1.4 physical processors. The POWER Hypervisor™ controls dispatching and time-slicing on the physical processors in support of the shared processor partitions.
Micro-Partitioning is supported by the operating systems that the BladeCenter PS703 or PS704 blade server supports.
See the ServerProven website for information about supported operating-system versions and all blade server optional devices.
