AIX logical partition functional differences between IBM Systems and eServer hardware and previous hardware models

This topic describes logical partition (LPAR) functional differences between IBM^® Systems and eServer™ hardware and previous hardware models.

To identify AIX^® logical partition technical enhancements running on IBM Systems and eServer hardware compared to previous hardware models, see the following table:

Logical partition (LPAR) function	AIX 5L™ on pSeries^® server models	AIX 5L on IBM Systems and eServer p5 server models
Logical partition (LPAR) documentation	IBM Systems and eServer pSeries Information Center	IBM Systems and eServer Information Center
LPAR user interface	Hardware Management Console (HMC) required to partition the server.	Hardware Management Console (HMC) Integrated Virtualization Manager
LPAR authority	User roles created using the HMC: System administrator Advanced operator Service representative Operator User administrator Viewer	Tasks and roles created using the HMC: Super administrator Operator Viewer Product engineer Service representative User roles created using the Integrated Virtualization Manager: padmin View/Modify View Only Development engineer Service representative
Maximum number of logical partitions	The maximum number of partitions supported depends on the number of processors in the server model.	The maximum number of partitions supported on systems managed by an HMC is 254 but some server models might support fewer.The maximum number of logical partitions on systems managed by the Integrated Virtualization Manager is 10 times the number of processors.
Types of partitions	Profiles are specific to the HMC. Partition profiles System profiles	Profiles are specific to the HMC. Partition profiles System profiles On systems managed by the Integrated Virtualization Manager, the Virtual I/O Server logical partition is called the management partition.
Processors	Dynamic: can be changed without restarting the partition.	Dynamic: can be changed without restarting the partition.
Memory	Dynamic: can be changed without restarting the partition. Memory assigned in increments of 256 MB.	Dynamic: can be changed without restarting the partition. For systems running AIX, version 5.2 or later, and Linux^®, the minimum amount of memory that can be allocated to a partition on a POWER5™ system is 128 MB. Memory can be assigned in increments of 16 MB, 32 MB, 64 MB, 128 MB, and 256 MB. Increment value is determined by the logical memory block size set in the ASMI.
I/O	Dynamic: can be changed without restarting the partition.	Dynamic: can be changed without restarting the partition.
Configuration data	Service processor and HMC contain LPAR configuration data.	Service processor and HMC contain LPAR configuration data.
Console support	HMC	HMC Integrated Virtualization Manager
Main storage dumps	System level dump	Service processor dump Platform system dump
Updates also known as program temporary fix (PTF)	HMC Software Maintenance application	HMC Service partition
Micro-Partitioning™	Micro-Partitioning is not supported.	Micro-Partitioning is supported on AIX 5.3
Virtual Ethernet client	Virtual Ethernet client is not supported.	Virtual Ethernet client is supported on AIX 5.3. On systems managed by the Integrated Virtualization Manager, there is a maximum of four virtual LANs with up to two virtual Ethernet adapters per logical partition. (The management partition manages and belongs to all virtual LANs.)
Virtual SCSI client	Virtual SCSI client is not supported.	Virtual SCSI client is supported on AIX 5.3.
Partition Load Manager	Partition Load Manager is not supported.	Partition Load Manager is supported.
POWER5	Not supported.	POWER5 is supported.
Operating system availability	Operating system availability is supported.	Operating system availability is not supported.
i5/OS^®	i5/OS is not supported.	i5/OS is supported.