Configuring HP-UX For Peripherals

20 Chapter1

Getting Started

Understanding I/O Convergence

As of HP-UX Release 10.0, the HP-UX I/O system is largely converged,

allowing for an environment that supports a greater ﬂexibility of bus

architectural combinations. The convergence is seen most dramatically

on Model K (8

9) systems, which have capabilities previously found only

on Series 700 workstations.

From an administrative perspective, I/O convergence means that the

vast majority of conﬁguration tasks are now performed identically,

whether for a Series 700 or Series 800 system. Device ﬁle names on both

architectures are consistent (the naming convention is explained in

“Understanding Device Special File Names” on page 23), and drivers

have been streamlined to work in this converged environment.

Think of the drivers as belonging to one of two broad categories,

according to the PA-RISC bus architecture on which they run — the

Server I/O (SIO) system and the Workstation I/O (WSIO) system. The

SIO driver environment includes Series 800 CIO and HP-PB bus

architectures. The WSIO driver environment supports bus architectures

traditionally associated with Series 700 workstations, and provides

greater openness for use of third-party interfaces and devices.

Throughout this document, the terms Series 700 and 800 continue to be

used, as the command uname -m continues to report Series 700 or 800

model numbers. Although we use the terms Series 700 and Series 800

when we describe drivers, we are really implying WSIO or SIO driver

environments. These separate environments permit only those drivers

required by a given bus architecture to be conﬁgured into the kernel as

needed (for example, only WSIO drivers on a legacy Series 700 system or

SIO and WSIO drivers on a Series 800 system).

Read the /usr/conf/master.d/core-hpux ﬁle to better understand the

architectural context dependencies. Also, consult master (4) in the

HP-UX Reference.