Preparing for Capacity on Demand

Capacity on Demand (CoD) allows you to activate processor cores and memory units on your server when your workload requires the additional resources. To prepare your server for CoD, consider how you would like to license your software and determine when you need to activate your resources. You also must plan for and set up your environment in preparation for CoD.

Capacity on Demand software licensing considerations
As you select the software to install on activated Capacity on Demand (CoD) resources, consider how you would like to license your software. Many methods are used to license software, such as per user, software tier, or Processor Value Unit.
Determining when to activate resources
Capacity on Demand (CoD) provides the ability to activate processor cores and memory units on your server when your workload requires the additional resources. To determine when to activate additional processor cores or memory units and how many new resources you require, monitor your trends in CPU and memory utilization by using a performance tool. Several performance tools are available to report CPU utilization information.
Processor sparing and memory sparing
Dynamic processor sparing is a feature that allows inactive processor cores to act as dynamic spares in environments with the Capacity on Demand (CoD) offering. Memory sparing occurs when on-demand inactive memory is automatically activated by the system to temporarily replace failed memory until a service action can be performed.
Moving activations
You might want to move parts (processor cores or memory) between compatible systems in an attempt to rebalance your capacity.
Planning for Capacity on Demand
Capacity planning for servers with inactive processor cores and memory units uses essentially the same procedures and resources that are used for sizing other servers. The set of tools, resources, and offerings available to help determine the required server capacity supports servers with inactive processor cores and memory units.
Setting up your environment for Capacity on Demand
Before you order any activation features, prepare your environment for integrating the additional capacity to ensure that your server is able to fully use the activated processor cores or memory.

Parent topic: Capacity on Demand

Last updated: Wed, September 27, 2017