Technical data

4
System Management Features
This chapter provides information about new features, changes, and
enhancements for system managers.
4.1 OpenVMS Support for New AlphaServer GS Series Systems
OpenVMS Alpha Version 7.3 provides support for Compaq’s AlphaServer GS80,
GS160 and GS320 systems, which was introduced in OpenVMS Version 7.2-1H1,
and includes:
• OpenVMS support for hard and soft partitions (Galaxy) on AlphaServer
GS160 and GS320 systems
• OpenVMS Resource Affinity Domain (RAD) support for applications
• CPU Online Replace
4.1.1 OpenVMS Support for Hard and Soft Partitions
Hard partitioning is a physical separation of computing resources by hardware-
enforced access barriers. It is impossible to read or write across a hard partition
boundary. There is no resource sharing between hard partitions.
Soft partitioning is a separation of computing resources by software-controlled
access barriers. Read and write access across a soft partition boundary is
controlled by the operating system. OpenVMS Galaxy is an implementation of
soft partitioning.
The way customers choose to partition their systems depends on their computing
environments and application requirements. For more information about using
hard partitions and OpenVMS Galaxy, refer to the OpenVMS Alpha Partitioning
and Galaxy Guide.
4.1.2 OpenVMS Resource Affinity Domain (RAD) Support for Applications
OpenVMS Alpha Version 7.3 provides non-uniform memory awareness (NUMA)
in OpenVMS memory management and process scheduling, which was introduced
in OpenVMS Version 7.2-1H1. This capability provides application support
for resource affinity domains (RADs), to ensure that applications running on
a single instance of OpenVMS on multiple quad building blocks (QBBs) can
execute as efficiently as possible in a NUMA environment. A RAD is a set of
hardware components (CPU, memory, IO) with common access characteristics,
and corresponds to a QBB in an AlphaServer GS160 or GS320 system.
For more information about using the OpenVMS RAD support for application
features, refer to the OpenVMS Alpha Partitioning and Galaxy Guide.
System Management Features 4–1