Configuring the Virtual I/O Server for POWER6 systems

Before you upgrade an existing POWER5™ Virtual I/O Server (VIOS) to a POWER6™ VIOS, you must configure the maximum virtual I/O slot number and any virtual Ethernet, virtual serial, or virtual SCSI adapters that use VIOS slots 0 through 10.

The following configuration rules apply:

The maximum virtual I/O slot number must be set to at least 11 plus the number of virtual I/O slots that you require.
Notes:
- A maximum that is lower than 11 can be incompatible with newer versions of the Hardware Management Console (HMC).
- The maximum slot number can be greater than 11.
- Excess virtual slots use a small amount of additional memory but have no other effects.
All customer-defined virtual Ethernet, virtual serial, and virtual SCSI slots must use virtual slot IDs 11 or greater.
Note: For existing virtual SCSI adapters, you must map all client profiles to the new server adapters.

These configuration rules apply to partitions on POWER6 systems only. In a mixture of POWER5 and POWER6 systems on a V7 HMC, the POWER5 systems can use slots 0 through 10.