Implement high-availability solutions with HP Instant Capacity - easily and effectively

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HP iCAP for blades with processor cores and memory
iCAP enables you to purchase and install additional processing power using a two-step purchase model:
1. Purchase system components (processor cores and memory) at a fraction of the regular purchase price because the
usage rights are not included. These iCAP components are inactive but installed and ready for use.
2. Add extra capacity as needed by paying the remainder of the regular purchase price for the usage rights to activate
the components. If the regular price for the component has decreased, the remainder price is proportionally
reduced, providing additional savings.
Figure 2. HP iCAP component example
HP iCAP components and high availability
After you have installed iCAP components on a server, you have a foundation for the additional types of iCAPs. Also, you
immediately have these two cost-effective features:
1. In the event of a processor core failure, an iCAP core replaces the failed core automatically. That is, if such core failure
occurs, the Core Analysis Engine (CAE) coupled with the HP Dynamic Processor Resiliency functionality dynamically
replaces a failed core with any inactive core if available (the failed core is marked to be deconfigured at the
subsequent boot sessions). This capability means that you can provision any server with standby iCAP processors that
can be activated in case of processor core failures. This is a specialized solution for certain types of hardware failures.
But it can be deployed in any Serviceguard configuration and provides cost benefits, because you never pay the full
price for the standby processing capacity.
2. You can adapt load and priority changes among partitions of a server by migrating usage rights for the components
(cores and memory). You do this simply by deactivating resources in one partition (which frees up usage rights) and
activating the same type of resource in another partition. This enables you to move resources between an active
partition and a standby partition on the same server. Alternately, you can move resources from a lower-priority
partition on a standby server to a higher-priority partition in a failover situation. This is cost-effective, because
you use the load balancing capabilities of iCAP to pay for fewer resources in a standby partition. However, the
activation and deactivation can only be applied to a node or partition that is running—not to a node or partition
that is inaccessible because of a failure condition. (This can be useful for planned maintenance and software
upgrade situations.) Migrating cores through this deactivation/activation sequence is done in seconds. In addition, the
HP Global Workload Manager (gWLM) product can automate the migration of core usage rights among partitions
based on policies you define.
Superdome 2 active blade
Processor
A A
A A
Processor
A A
A A
Superdome 2 inactive blade
Processor
Processor
4 GB 4 GB 4 GB 4 GB
4 GB
4 GB 4 GB 4 GB
4 GB 4 GB 4 GB 4 GB
4 GB 4 GB
4 GB 4 GB
Partition A
A
4 GB
4 GB active core/memory
Hardware with usage rights
4 GB
4 GB inactive core/memory
Hardware without usage rights