Originally posted by: SystemAdmin

Hello everyone,
Well I have a big project coming up in the near future and I want to start to prepare for it now.
My question is I have an Old Power5 P570 which I will have to migrate all Lpars to a new Power6 P570 . I currently have 2 vio's and 9 Lpars running AIX 5.3 TL8 SP2 which I will upgrade to TL8 SP5 . For my VIO's I am going to upgrade very soon from version 1.3 to 1.5 or 2.1 not sure yet.
So I would like to understand if there is any key tips or if anyone has a doc/expereince on doing this. I have moved from Power4 to Power5 but not from Power5 to Power6.
Also to note I am also running 1 lpar which is part of a HACMP, .
So any steps or doc I would greatly appreciate.
Thanks for all your help.
My email/msn is wazupwazid@hotmail.com
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Originally posted by: The_Doctor

Company's pay big money for the info you're asking & you want it for free. Don't expect too much. But here's a few "crumbs" I'll throw your way:

a) don't bother with VIOS 1.5 on a p6 570.... you'll find 1.5 doesn't have all the device driver support for all the newer devices found on a p6 570. Get to 2.1 + latest Service Pack before installing the p6 or install 2.1 + latest Service Pack, fresh, on the p6 570. Your choice.

b) On a p6 with the newer adapters (like SAS & Fibre), I'd try to avoid TL8 and get to at least AIX 5.3 TL9 SP2 (or better). The upgrade to TL9 SP2 should be pretty painless if you're already at TL8.

c) make sure you order the right h/w to get the flexibility most people want. For example, on a p6 570 the DVD can be a MAJOR pain for your VIO Servers. Screw this up & you'll be cursing the DVD for a long time. A simple recommendation:

1. order an external DVD like the external 7214 Tape / DVD Enclosure + an adapter like the "PCI-X DDR Dual-x4 SAS Adapter". This will give you the flexibility to move the DVD around on its own without dragging disk drives with it.

OR

2. a. order the "Alternate SAS Controller" for every CEC (or p6 570 frame). This splits the 6 slot disk bay in two..... 3 disks in the left bay & 3 disks in the right bay of each CEC. Do this on EACH CEC.
2. b. do NOT install any SAS disk drives in the upper CEC frame, left disk bay. The internal SAS controller shares these 3 disk slots with the internal DVD.... so you want only the internal DVD on this SAS controller. This gives you the flexibility to move the internal DVD around, at will.
2. c. install any internal SAS disks in the other bays. (I repeat, leaving the upper CEC, left 3 slots empty)

Option # 2 gives you the most flexibility.... internal DVD is on separate SAS controller, plus every 3 disk slots is on a unique SAS controller so you can allocate a unique SAS controller (with 3 drives) to whatever partition as needed..... and mirror across SAS controllers if you wish.

Or you can combine option 1 & 2 but that might be considered a little overkill.

I wouldn't expect HACMP to be an issue for you provided the HACMP Version you're running is supported by AIX 5.3 TL9 SP2.

Good luck.
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Originally posted by: tony.evans

On point c, I'd just like to re-inforce that.

My hands are still scared from being burned by that exact issue (I don't spec/order our hardware).
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Originally posted by: tony.evans

Also, I'd like the edit option back so I can remove that hyphen.
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Originally posted by: SystemAdmin

To add there is Feature of HEA (host Ethernet adapter in P6 ) , Where you can use for your Client's LPAR as well for VIO , OR you canse create SEA out of it.

Also for migrating need to follow the converstion chart's for Processor's as in P6 processor clock spped is 4.7 GHz. where as in p5 it's 1.9GHz.
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