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Power Up Your IBM PowerVM Technical Skills!

By Chris Gibson posted Tue July 11, 2023 01:45 AM

  

Power Up Your IBM PowerVM Technical Skills!

Power Up your IBM Power, PowerVM and AIX technical skills with IBM Power Technical Training.

Introduction:

Many of us are familiar with IBM Power servers and have been working diligently with PowerVM and AIX for several decades. But when was the last time we took the time to refresh our skills on the platform and learn all about the latest enhancements? Sometimes it helps to take a step back and take a closer look at some of the recent features and capabilities that the IBM Power ecosystem has to offer. And of course, for those of you who are new to Power, PowerVM and AIX, and are still learning (and keen to learn more), often the best way to achieve the best outcome is through some sort of training and education. Did you know that IBM provides some excellent training resources for Power? Did you know that these courses have recently been updated to cover some of the latest updates to the platform?

Let’s briefly look at a couple of courses for PowerVM and take a peek at what one can expect to learn when attending a class.

IBM PowerVM: Implementing Virtualization

Course code: AN30G

This course will provide you with a greater understanding of important Power virtualization topics, such as processor virtualization, Virtual I/O Server (VIOS) configuration, and virtual devices, such as Virtual Ethernet, Virtual SCSI, Virtual Fiber Channel (NPIV). It helps you expand on your existing PowerVM and Logical Partition (LPAR) configuration skills. It covers configuration of dual Virtual I/O Servers and multi-path I/O (MPIO) for virtual storage devices in more detail, while also giving you an opportunity to explore Single Root I/O Virtualization (SR-IOV) and Virtual NIC (vNIC).

The AN30G training course covers the most important topics to help PowerVM administrators implement and manage their Power server environment effectively, such as:

·      Configuring virtual Fibre Channel devices using NPIV technology

·      Configuring Ethernet link aggregation for load balancing and backup channel in the VIOS

·      Configuring Shared Ethernet Adapter failover and load sharing

·      Configuring vNIC and vNIC failover

·      Configuring virtual SCSI devices that are backed by physical volumes, logical volumes, and optical media devices

·      Configuring the Optical Media Repository, load a CD image, and use it to install a new AIX partition

·      Performing VIOS maintenance operations

Additionally, the class allows students to explore some new PowerVM enhancements (for POWER9 and Power10), such as:

·      NPIV tunables for the VIOS and virtual fibre channel devices.

·      Fast Failover for fibre channel adapters feature, available with 7.3 TL1 SP1 and later

·      Methods for viewing VIOS "identifying info" from AIX client LPARs, available with AIX 7.2 TL5, VIOS 3.1.3 and later.

·      Virtual Network Interface Controllers (vNICs) and vNIC Failover practices.

·      Network teaming modes for AIX 7.2 and later, easing configuration and management steps.

·      Managing VIOS backup and restore tasks using recent HMC features and simplifying VIOS administration.

·      Performing VIOS maintenance readiness validation and preparation tasks, using new HMC features, and easing VIOS administrator workload.

·      Power10 and AIX features, such as the management of AIX Update Access Keys (AIX UAK).

AN30G is a great class for learning (or re-learning) the fundamentals of PowerVM. It covers the basics, offers some more advanced configuration and tuning considerations, as well as explaining the latest enhancements. It’s a great place to start, or even just to refresh what you already know. It’ll help to reinforce your knowledge and provide a rock-solid foundation from which to build upon your Power skills.

IBM PowerVM II: Advanced PowerVM and Performance

Course code: AN31G

Perhaps you’re ready to take the next step in your PowerVM journey? Looking for more advanced PowerVM education, with a greater focus, not only on PowerVM management but also, on performance? The IBM PowerVM II: Advanced PowerVM Management and Performance course is the one for you! This course covers:

·      Simplified Remote Restart

·      Hybrid Network Virtualisation (with SR-IOV)

·      Active memory expansion (AME)

·      Shared dedicated processors

·      Multiple shared processor pools

·      Enhanced VIOS administration with the Hardware Management Console (HMC)

Additionally, students will learn skills to implement, measure, analyze and tune PowerVM virtualization features for optimal performance on IBM Power servers. This course focuses on two main areas. First, the features that relate to the performance and tuning of several Power resources, for both POWER9 and Power10 servers. Second, advanced features for availability, managing and monitoring virtualization and PowerVM virtualized workloads on IBM Power.

Students also learn AIX performance analysis and tuning tools that help an administrator take advantage of shared processors and other virtualization features of IBM Power servers. And just like AN30G, the class offers access to hands-on lab exercises to reinforce each lecture and give the students practical experience with the material.

Here’s a preview of what you’ll learn in AN31G:

·      Shared processor and virtual processor tuning, with special considerations for both POWER9 and Power10 servers.

·      Configuring multiple shared processor pools and dedicated donating processor partitions

·      Tuning virtual SCSI and virtual Fibre Channel attributes for performance.

·      Describe and implement the options for tuning virtual Ethernet performance, including VIOS SEA, VEA, SR-IOV and VNIC.

·      Configure Active Memory Expansion.

·      Understand the SR-IOV Hybrid Network Virtualization (HNV) feature capabilities. Refer to Figure 1 for an example of the content you’ll find in the course.

·      Understand advanced options for managing VIOS with the HMC. Refer to Figure 2 for an example of the content you’ll find in the course.

·      Implementing Simplified Remote Restart (SRR). Refer to Figure 3 for an example of the content you’ll find in the course.

·      Describe the different virtualization management tools that can be used to manage and monitor an IBM Power virtualized environment, such as DPO, Figure 4.

Figure 1. Hybrid Network Virtualization with SR-IOV

Figure 2. Prepare a VIOS for maintenance

Figure 3. Simplified Remote Restart (SRR)

Figure 4. Dynamic Platform Optimizer (DPO)

So, whether you’re looking to learn more about virtual processor tuning for greater partition performance, implementing SRR to provide greater LPAR availability, needing to understand how the Dynamic Platform Optimizer (DPO) can improve your Power server efficiency/performance, or wanting to learn how to configure HNV with SR-IOV with LPM, then AN31G will teach you all you need to know and more!

Conclusion:

These two courses (AN30G and AN31G) have been refreshed to offer great new content that will benefit even the most experienced IBM Power administrator or specialist. These courses provide lectures which are delivered in an instructor-led course environment, either in a face-to-face classroom or in a live virtual classroom environment (sometimes referred to as Instructor-led Online, or ILO). Both classes not only provide lectures, from an experienced instructor, but also include extensive hands-on labs, which allow you to implement what you’ve learnt in class.

What’s more, both classes have been updated to run on HMC V10, VIOS 3.1.3.X and AIX 7.3. Essential updates for POWER9 and Power10 servers are included in the latest course material. System administrators in charge of implementing and managing virtualization features on IBM Power will benefit a lot from our courses.

If you would like to learn more about AN30G and AN31G please refer to the following links for further details and class schedules for your location:

IBM PowerVM: Implementing Virtualization (AN30G)

https://www.ibm.com/training/course/ibm-powervm-implementing-virtualization-AN30G

IBM PowerVM II: Virtualization: Advanced PowerVM Management and Performance (AN31G)

https://www.ibm.com/training/course/power-systems-for-aix-virtualization-ii-advanced-powervm-and-performance-AN31G

Come see us at TechXchange! The IBM Technical Training team will be running several hands-on lab sessions during the IBM TechXchange conference this September, in Las Vegas. Here’s a preview of the lab sessions that will be available for Power from the Technical Training team:

·      Mastering AIX 7.3: AIX installation and configuration techniques (Part 1 of 3)

·      Mastering AIX 7.3: Storage and networking concepts (Part 2 of 3)

·      Mastering AIX 7.3: Backup and recovery (Part 3 of 3)

·      IBM PowerVC and OpenStack: A Hands-on Introduction (Part 1 of 3)

·      IBM PowerVC: Capture Images and Deploy (Part 2 of 3)

·      IBM PowerVC: Self-service Provisioning (Part 3 of 3)

More details about TechXchange can be found here:

https://www.ibm.com/community/ibm-techxchange-conference/

Need some help justifying why training and development is important? Successful businesses understand that it’s more beneficial and cost-effective to develop their existing employees instead of seeking out new talent. Take a look the following link and its list of the top ten benefits of employee training and development programs.

https://www.ibm.com/topics/training-development

We hope to see you in class soon!

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