Resizing partitions automatically with HP-UX Workload Manager

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Why use HP-UX Workload Manager with virtual partitions
or nPartitions?
Virtual partitions and nPartitions offer the ability to run multiple instances of the HP-UX operating
system on a single system. You can run several applications per partition or isolate an application by
giving it a partition to itself. With WLM managing a partitioned system, you can:
• Choose either model (several applications per partition or isolated application) without
compromising application performance
• Implement priorities and goals for your applications with no modifications to the applications
• Migrate cores among partitions to meet the processing needs of the applications in the partitions
(each managed nPartition must have Instant Capacity software installed)
The following figure shows the roles of WLM and your business needs in the automatic resizing of
partitions. The figure is the same for virtual partitions and nPartitions, with the exception that the
nPartitions must have Instant Capacity software installed.
Figure 1. WLM resizing partitions
With WLM partition management, observe the following restrictions and guidelines:
• nPartitions—For managing nPartitions with WLM, you must use Instant Capacity (iCAP) cores. Use
the appropriate version of Instant Capacity.
• Virtual partitions—Do not use cell-specific CPU bindings or user-assigned CPU bindings on virtual
partitions you are going to manage with WLM.
• Instant Capacity and PPU—If you have Instant Capacity or PPU software installed, use WLM virtual
partition management only if you have vPars version A.03.01 or later. If you have a vPars version
prior to A.03.01, using WLM virtual partition management may cause an Instant Capacity
processor to be automatically enabled without customer authorization. If this situation occurs,
contact your HP representative.
With vPars version A.04.01 or later, use Instant Capacity v7 or later.