HP Instant Capacity User's Guide for Versions 8.x

Global Instant Capacity
Global Instant Capacity, or GiCAP, provides HP customers with the flexibility to move usage
rights (RTUs) for Instant Capacity components within a group of servers. It also provides “pooled”
temporary capacity across the group. This provides more cost-effective high availability including
Disaster Recovery capabilities, more adaptable load balancing, and more efficient and easier use
of temporary capacity.
Global Instant Capacity is built on the concept of a server group, or GiCAP Group. This is a list
of servers that are allowed to share iCAP usage rights. In addition, at least one HP-UX system
running iCAP must be designated as the Global Instant Capacity Group Manager. The Group
Manager hosts the GiCAP software that maintains a database of information about the group
and about group resources (usage rights and temporary capacity). A GiCAP group is managed
using the command icapmanage on the Group Manager system.
While GiCAP is part of Instant Capacity and is installed at the same time as iCAP, it is not enabled
during installation. In order to create groups and share resources across groups, you must
purchase GiCAP Sharing Rights, acquire the GiCAP codeword from the HP Utility Pricing
Solutions portal (http://www.hp.com/go/icap/portal), and apply the associated codeword to the
Group Manager system. Application of the Sharing Rights codeword to the Group Manager
system enables the addition of members with Instant Capacity components to groups. In addition,
you must acquire grouping rules from the portal and apply those rules to the Group Manager
system. GiCAP Sharing Rights and grouping rules are described in Chapter 7 (page 97). All
GiCAP group members must run Instant Capacity version 8.x or later. Group Manager systems
must run Instant Capacity version 8.01.01 or later.
Instant Capacity allows deactivations of cores on non-Instant Capacity systems (those without
any Instant Capacity components), allowing such systems to participate in a GiCAP group and
loan usage rights to Instant Capacity systems. A GiCAP group consists of servers that are allowed
to be grouped together according to a set of grouping rules defined by HP. These grouping rules
must be acquired from the iCAP portal and applied to the Group Manager system before groups
can be created. See “Global Instant Capacity Grouping Rules” (page 102) for more information.
The Group Manager must be running iCAP version 8.02.01 or later, and all known hosts on the
complex containing a failed group member must be running iCAP version 8.02 or later, in order
to enable full Disaster Recovery features.
36 Getting Started