Policy-level and subpolicy-level parameters

Name of the policy or subpolicy

This value has one of the following meanings:

• If iCap is executing a dynamic MSU limit (that is, you also specify values for Max MSULIMIT, Inc MSULIMIT, and Adj MSULIMIT), this value is the initial starting MSU limit.
  For more information about using a dynamic MSU limit, see Overview of dynamic MSU limit (PTF BQY2177 applied).
• If iCap is not executing a dynamic MSU limit, this value is the maximum allowable MSUs to be consumed collectively by all LPARs and capacity groups that the policy or subpolicy manages.

Possible values are 1 through 99999.

If iCap is executing a dynamic MSU limit, this value is the maximum number of allowable MSUs to be consumed collectively by all LPARs and capacity groups that the policy or subpolicy manages.

Possible values are 1 through 99999.

For more information about using a dynamic MSU limit, see Overview of dynamic MSU limit (PTF BQY2177 applied).

This parameter corresponds to the Maximum MSUs Allowed parameter in the iCap reports.

If iCap is executing a dynamic MSU limit, this value is the number of MSUs by which the initial MSU limit incrementally increases.

When the following conditions exist, the MSU limit increases by this value every ADJTIME (or five minutes if ADJTIME < 5):

• At least one LPAR or capacity group is capped.

• The MSU limit is approaching.

• The percentage of low importance work reaches the Adj MSULIMIT value.

For more information about using a dynamic MSU limit, see Overview of dynamic MSU limit (PTF BQY2177 applied).

If iCap is executing a dynamic MSU limit, this is the percentage of low importance work in the policy (or subpolicy) at which iCap starts to increase the MSU limit.

When the following conditions exist and the percentage of low importance work reaches this value, iCap starts to increase the MSU limit by the Inc MSULIMIT value:

• At least one LPAR or capacity group is capped.

• The MSU limit is approaching.

For more information about using a dynamic MSU limit, see Overview of dynamic MSU limit (PTF BQY2177 applied).

Whether to use Workload Manager (WLM) tuning to determine the order in which LPARs and groups receive MSUs if competing for MSUs when the MSU limit is approaching

The order of LPARs and groups is set by the values defined for LPARs and capacity groups in the Low Importance parameter. For more information, see Low Importance parameter.

Possible values are:

• YES

  MSUs are distributed according to low-importance values and priority.

  Consider this option when the WLM policies that are managing the workloads are sufficiently different—that is, the importance value of n on one sysplex is not comparable to the importance value of n on another sysplex. For more information, see Using WLMTUNING=YES.

• COMBINED

  MSUs are distributed according to low-importance values.

  Consider this option when the WLM policies that are managing the workloads are sufficiently similar—that is, the importance values of n must be comparable on each sysplex. iCap includes low-importance values from different sysplexes, as if all systems in the policy belonged to a single sysplex. For more information, see Using WLMTUNING=COMBINED.

• NO

  This option distributes MSUs according to the priority values assigned to LPARs and capacity groups (defined in the Priority parameter), ignoring the low-importance values. For more information, see Using WLMTUNING=NO.

Adjustment factors that iCap uses to determine the Adjusted Low Importance Workload Percentage for an LPAR or capacity group

The Adjusted Low Importance Workload Percentage determines the order in which LPARs or capacity groups receive MSUs when the MSU limit is approaching (if WLMTUNING= YES or COMBINED).

iCap uses the values specified for Adjustment Factors for Priority to calculate the Adjusted Low Importance Workload Percentage as follows:

 <lowImportanceWorkloadPercentage> × <adjustmentFactors>

adjustmentFactors refers to the adjustment values that you set with this parameter. lowImportanceWorkloadPercentage refers to a value that iCap calculates as follows:

 [<lowImportanceMSUs> / <totalMSUs>] x 100

lowImportanceMSUs refers to any MSUs consumed at the specified importance level. That is, if Low Importance = 4, lowImportanceMSUs is the number of MSUs consumed by any jobs with a workload importance of 4 or lower.

The values must increase from priority 1 through 5.

For LPARs running high-priority workloads, you can specify an adjustment factor of 0 for priority 1. In this case, LPARs or groups with priority 1 have an Adjusted Low Importance Workload Percentage of 0 and are favored over all other LPARs and groups.

Low Importance

The workload importance level at which to begin delays if the jobs of that workload surpass the maximum number of allowed MSUs

Service class periods that are running in a workload (on an LPAR) have predefined importance values. For example, if you specify 4 for the Low Importance value, all service class periods with an importance value of 4 and below are considered to be low importance. Therefore, if the workload surpasses its maximum number of allowed MSUs, any jobs with a workload importance of 4, 5, or discretionary workloads might be delayed.

Possible values are 2, 3, 4, 5, and D (discretionary workloads). The default value is 5.

This parameter corresponds to the Low-Importance Level to Delay parameter in the iCap reports.

Whether to consider the cost limit when distributing MSUs

If you specify YES, iCap ensures that the MLC costs incurred by the policy do not exceed the cost limit. This parameter is linked to the MSU Cost parameter, which is specified at the LPAR/group level. For more information, see LPAR-level and group-level parameters.

The cost limit for a policy is equal to the sum of cost entitlements for all managed LPARs and groups.

For more information, see Calculating cost limit.

Whether to favor LPARs and groups with high-importance workloads when the combined 4HRA exceeds 95% of the MSU limit

This parameter enables iCap to assign additional MSUs to LPARs and groups that are running high-importance workloads by taking MSUs from LPARs and groups with a large number of low-importance workloads.

iCap distributes MSUs as follows:

• All LPARs and groups receive enough MSUs to cover their high-importance workloads.

  Although iCap might still cap LPARs or groups, it distributes enough MSUs to every LPAR to run high-importance workloads, provided enough MSUs are available.

• iCap distributes any remaining MSUs according to the low-importance percentage.

Whether to increase the MSULIMIT to reflect a discount from mobile workload transaction reductions

This parameter enables iCap to adjust the MSULIMIT based on the number of MSUs used by the 4HRA of mobile workloads. When you specify YES, iCap recalculates the entitlement for every LPAR and Capacity group in the policy based on the new MSULIMIT.

Whether to increase the MSULIMIT to reflect a discount from Container Pricing

This parameter enables iCap to adjust the MSULIMIT based on the number of MSUs used by the 4HRA of container workloads. When you specify YES, iCap recalculates the entitlement for every LPAR and Capacity group in the policy based on the new MSULIMIT.

The maximum number of allowable MSUs to be consumed collectively by all LPARs and capacity groups that the policy or subpolicy manages

The sum of DCs and GCLs cannot exceed this value. When the combined 4HRA of all LPARs and capacity groups exceeds this value, at least one LPAR or group is subject to capping.

Possible values are 1 through 99999.

After activating the policy, you can change the main policy MSU limit by using a modify command. For more information, see Temporarily changing the initial MSU limit for an active policy.

This parameter corresponds to the Maximum MSUs Allowed parameter in the iCap reports.

Whether to use Workload Manager (WLM) tuning to determine the order in which LPARs and groups receive MSUs if competing for MSUs when the MSU limit is approaching

The order of LPARs and groups is set by the values defined for LPARs and capacity groups in the Low Importance parameter. For more information, see Low Importance parameter.

Possible values are:

• YES

  MSUs are distributed according to low-importance values and priority.

  Consider this option when the WLM policies that are managing the workloads are sufficiently different—that is, the importance value of n on one sysplex is not comparable to the importance value of n on another sysplex. For more information, see Using WLMTUNING=YES.

• COMBINED

  MSUs are distributed according to low-importance values.

  Consider this option when the WLM policies that are managing the workloads are sufficiently similar—that is, the importance values of n must be comparable on each sysplex. iCap includes low-importance values from different sysplexes, as if all systems in the policy belonged to a single sysplex. For more information, see Using WLMTUNING=COMBINED.

• NO

  This option distributes MSUs according to the priority values assigned to LPARs and capacity groups (defined in the Priority parameter), ignoring the low-importance values. For more information, see Using WLMTUNING=NO.

Adjustment factors that iCap uses to determine the Adjusted Low Importance Workload Percentage for an LPAR or capacity group

The Adjusted Low Importance Workload Percentage determines the order in which LPARs or capacity groups receive MSUs when the MSU limit is approaching (if WLMTUNING= YES or COMBINED).

iCap uses the values specified for Adjustment Factors for Priority to calculate the Adjusted Low Importance Workload Percentage as follows:

 <lowImportanceWorkloadPercentage> × <adjustmentFactors>

adjustmentFactors refers to the adjustment values that you set with this parameter. lowImportanceWorkloadPercentage refers to a value that iCap calculates as follows:

 [<lowImportanceMSUs> / <totalMSUs>] x 100

lowImportanceMSUs refers to any MSUs consumed at the specified importance level. That is, if Low Importance = 4, lowImportanceMSUs is the number of MSUs consumed by any jobs with a workload importance of 4 or lower.

The values must increase from priority 1 through 5.

For LPARs running high-priority workloads, you can specify an adjustment factor of 0 for priority 1. In this case, LPARs or groups with priority 1 have an Adjusted Low Importance Workload Percentage of 0 and are favored over all other LPARs and groups.

Low Importance

The workload importance level at which to begin delays if the jobs of that workload surpass the maximum number of allowed MSUs

Service class periods that are running in a workload (on an LPAR) have predefined importance values. For example, if you specify 4 for the Low Importance value, all service class periods with an importance value of 4 and below are considered to be low importance. Therefore, if the workload surpasses its maximum number of allowed MSUs, any jobs with a workload importance of 4, 5, or discretionary workloads might be delayed.

Possible values are 2, 3, 4, 5, and D (discretionary workloads). The default value is 5.

This parameter corresponds to the Low-Importance Level to Delay parameter in the iCap reports.

Whether to consider the cost limit when distributing MSUs

If you specify YES, iCap ensures that the MLC costs incurred by the policy do not exceed the cost limit. This parameter is linked to the MSU Cost parameter, which is specified at the LPAR/group level. For more information, see LPAR-level and group-level parameters.

The cost limit for a policy is equal to the sum of cost entitlements for all managed LPARs and groups.

For more information, see Calculating cost limit.

Whether to favor LPARs and groups with high-importance workloads when the combined 4HRA exceeds 95% of the MSU limit

This parameter enables iCap to assign additional MSUs to LPARs and groups that are running high-importance workloads by taking MSUs from LPARs and groups with a large number of low-importance workloads.

iCap distributes MSUs as follows:

• All LPARs and groups receive enough MSUs to cover their high-importance workloads.

  Although iCap might still cap LPARs or groups, it distributes enough MSUs to every LPAR to run high-importance workloads, provided enough MSUs are available.

• iCap distributes any remaining MSUs according to the low-importance percentage.

Whether to increase the MSULIMIT to reflect a discount from mobile workload transaction reductions

This parameter enables iCap to adjust the MSULIMIT based on the number of MSUs used by the 4HRA of mobile workloads. When you specify YES, iCap recalculates the entitlement for every LPAR and Capacity group in the policy based on the new MSULIMIT.

Whether to increase the MSULIMIT to reflect a discount from Container Pricing

This parameter enables iCap to adjust the MSULIMIT based on the number of MSUs used by the 4HRA of container workloads. When you specify YES, iCap recalculates the entitlement for every LPAR and Capacity group in the policy based on the new MSULIMIT.