Hosts page in the AIX PowerVM view
The Hosts page in the AIX PowerVM view provides an overview of all available hosts in the AIX virtualization environment belonging to a selected domain, including details about CPU, pool and memory utilization, memory usage trends, unused resources and more. It also displays data collected from HMC-only terminals and supports LPAR instrumented with Capacity Agent data collection.
The view is split into the following sections:
- Allocated Capacity
- Used Capacity
The following figure shows an example of the PowerVM Hosts view showing the Allocated Capacity:
An example of PowerVM Hosts view tab - Allocated Capacity
For more information, refer to the following sections:
- Viewing the Allocated Capacity table
- Viewing the Used Capacity table
- Viewing PowerVM host details
- Viewing the Disk Controllers in VIO Servers table
- Viewing the Shared Ethernet Adapters in VIO Servers table
- Viewing the Shared Ethernet Adapter – All Layers details page
- By default, the metric tables in this view are filtered on all domains. Use the domain filter options to select the required domain from the table.
- By default, the summarization time range for all metrics is set to Last 30 days. Use the time filter options controls to select an alternate range.
For detailed information on how to use filters, see Using-filtering-options-in-the-Helix-Capacity-Optimization-Dashboard.
Viewing the Allocated Capacity table
The Allocated Capacity table lists all metrics that are available through HMC-only and fully instrumented collection modes.
By default, some columns are hidden. You can show or hide columns using the action menu
that is located next to the Allocated Capacity table title. For more information, see Sorting-a-table-in-the-Helix-Capacity-Optimization-Dashboard.
Each row corresponds to a PowerVM Frame and shows the following information:
Allocated Capacity: Description of columns
Viewing the Used Capacity table
The Used Capacity table lists all PowerVM hosts in the selected domain.
By default, some columns are hidden. You can show or hide columns using the action menuthat is located next to the Allocated Capacity table title. For more information, see Sorting-a-table-in-the-Helix-Capacity-Optimization-Dashboard.
Each row corresponds to a PowerVM host and shows the following information.
Used Capacity table: Description of columns
Viewing PowerVM host details
To view details of the required host, click name of the PowerVM host in the PowerVM Hosts Used and Available Capacity view table. The following host details are displayed in the Host Details page:
- General details: General host details, such as name, type, description and number of elements within it are displayed at the top of the page.
- Tags panel: Displays tags, if any, that are associated with the cluster. For more information, see Working-with-tag-filters.
- Related Information: The Related Information panel at the top of the page contains the following links:
- Partition Details: Clicking Partition details takes you to the Partitions-page-in-the-AIX-PowerVM-view tab, and displays relevant information on PowerVM Partitions configured on each PowerVM host.
- Pool Details: The Pool details page displays information about all configured Pools in the selected host. See Pools-page-in-the-AIX-PowerVM-view for more information.
- Thresholds: The thresholds page allows you to view and manage threshold settings for the selected AIX logical partition host. See Configuring-and-managing-thresholds-for-metrics-and-indicators for detailed information.
Summary information: The Summary tab, that is displayed by default, displays details for the selected cluster in a horizontal summary table, as well as charts.
For more information, see Data Explorer views for PowerVM Hosts.
- Configuration Details: The Configuration Details tab displays the configuration metrics for the cluster.
- Viewing the Disk Controllers in VIO Servers table
An example of a PowerVM Host details view
Viewing the Disk Controllers in VIO Servers table
NPIV is a Fibre Channel SAN feature from POWER6, VIOS 2.1 FP 20.1. It allows VMs to access SAN devices using N-Port ID Virtualization, where each LPAR gets its own world-wide port name (WWPN).
NPIV is configured on partition controllers of VIO Servers (VIOS), and WWPNs are assigned to client LPARs, but the physical I/O still passes through VIOS. NPIV assists you with configuring LUN mapping for arrays, and zoning to each LPAR.
Through NPIV, BMC Helix Capacity Optimization counts I/O more accurately for LPARs and VIOSs.
A VIOS is equipped to virtualize disks, Logical Volumes, and files, and each of these is presented as a SCSI disk to the client partition. BMC Helix Capacity Optimization reports reports I/O numbers for each of the following entities:
- Instrumented partition (for example, Client Partition A)
- Instrumented VIO Server
- Virtual or physical adapter
For NPIV storage configurations, VIOS presents a VFC Server Adapter, which is a Fibre Channel pass-through.
The Client partition has a VFC Client Adapter and sees the LUN directly. This enables BMC Helix Capacity Optimization to gather and show FC adapter configuration and I/O metrics for each instrumented partition, including the VIOS.
The figure showing the PowerVM Host Details view - An example of a host details page displays a Disk Controller in VIO Servers table in it (elaborated below).
This table is displayed if a VIOS is configured with Fiber Channel adapters (NPIV). Clicking on the WWPN link takes you to a details page that displays detailed charts for NPIV. These charts are useful to monitor I/O traffic of fibre channel adapters in the VIOS.
The table displays the following information:
Disk Controller in VIO Servers table: Description of columns
Viewing the Shared Ethernet Adapters in VIO Servers table
Shared Ethernet Adapters (SEA) enable LPARs to connect to external physical Ethernet switches using broadcast and multicast protocols like ARP, DHCP, BOOTP. You can also count network I/O for the virtual adapters, and Used, Available and Unbalanced I/O information is also available.
The Shared Ethernet Adapters in VIO Servers table displays the following information:
Shared Ethernet Adapters in VIO Servers table: Description of columns
Viewing the Shared Ethernet Adapter – All Layers details page
SEA Adapter summary and the detailed charts in in this page help analyze the network traffic of the VIOS (all network traffic from the AIX host is routed through the VIOS) and detect potential bottlenecks that can affect the performance of all other LPARs in the frame. SEAs contain a hierarchy of adapter layers.
To view the Shared Ethernet Adapter – All Layers details page and detailed charts, click the name of the adapter in the Adapter Name column. The table displays the following information:
Shared Ethernet Adapter – All Layers table: Description of columns
The Shared Ethernet Adapter – All Layers details page also displays the following charts:
- Byte In/Out Rate (Hourly): A chart that graphically depicts the number of Bytes per second received during the interval through the network adapter specified in the subobject.
- Packet In Rate (Hourly): A chart that graphically depicts the number of successful packets per second received during the interval through the network adapter specified in the subobject.
- Error In Rate (Hourly): A chart that graphically depicts the rate of input errors (errors/sec),per second by network adapter.
Using data filter and other controls in tables
You can sort and filter the information that is displayed in tables to suit your need. For instance, you can show or hide columns, filter tables on particular domains, and so on.
For more information, see Sorting-a-table-in-the-Helix-Capacity-Optimization-Dashboard and Using-filtering-options-in-the-Helix-Capacity-Optimization-Dashboard.