Subscribe to this informationComponents of the Virtual I/O Server
This topic provides a brief overview of virtual Small Computer Serial Interface (SCSI), virtual networking, and the Integrated Virtualization Manager (IVM).
For the most recent information about devices that are supported on the Virtual I/O Server and to download Virtual I/O Server fixes and updates, see the Fix Central website.
The Virtual I/O Server comprises the following primary components:
- Virtual SCSI
- Virtual networking
- Integrated Virtualization Manager (IVM)
The following sections provide a brief overview of each of these components.
Virtual SCSI
Physical adapters with attached disks or optical devices on the Virtual I/O Server logical partition can be shared by one or more client logical partitions. The Virtual I/O Server offers a local storage subsystem that provides standard SCSI-compliant logical unit numbers (LUNs). The Virtual I/O Server can export a pool of heterogeneous physical storage as a homogeneous pool of block storage in the form of SCSI disks.
Unlike typical storage subsystems that are physically located in the storage area network (SAN), the SCSI devices exported by the Virtual I/O Server are limited to the domain within the server. Although the SCSI LUNs are SCSI compliant, they might not meet the needs of all applications, particularly those that exist in a distributed environment.
- Disks backed up by logical volumes
- Disks backed up by physical volumes
- Disks backed up by files
- Optical devices (DVD-RAM and DVD-ROM)
- Optical devices backed up by files
- Tape devices
Virtual networking
Virtual I/O Server provides the following virtual networking technologies.
| Virtual networking technology | Description |
|---|---|
| Shared Ethernet Adapter | A Shared Ethernet Adapter is a layer-2
Ethernet bridge that connects physical and virtual networks together.
It allows logical partitions on the virtual local area network (VLAN)
to share access to a physical Ethernet adapter and to communicate
with systems outside the server. Using a Shared Ethernet Adapter, logical
partitions on the internal VLAN can share the VLAN with stand-alone
servers. On POWER7® processor-based systems, you can assign a logical host Ethernet port of a logical Host Ethernet Adapter, sometimes referred to as Integrated Virtual Ethernet, as the real adapter of a Shared Ethernet Adapter. A Host Ethernet Adapter is a physical Ethernet adapter that is integrated directly into the GX+ bus on a managed system. Host Ethernet Adapters offer high throughput, low latency, and virtualization support for Ethernet connections. The Shared Ethernet Adapter on the Virtual I/O Server supports IPv6. IPv6 is the next generation of Internet Protocol and is gradually replacing the current Internet standard, Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4). The key IPv6 enhancement is the expansion of the IP address space from 32 bits to 128 bits, providing virtually unlimited, unique IP addresses. |
| Shared Ethernet Adapter failover | Shared Ethernet Adapter failover provides redundancy by configuring a backup Shared Ethernet Adapter on a different Virtual I/O Server logical partition that can be used if the primary Shared Ethernet Adapter fails. The network connectivity in the client logical partitions continues without disruption. |
| Link Aggregation (or EtherChannel) | A Link Aggregation (or EtherChannel) device is a network port-aggregation technology that allows several Ethernet adapters to be aggregated. The adapters can then act as a single Ethernet device. Link Aggregation helps provide more throughput over a single IP address than would be possible with a single Ethernet adapter. |
| VLAN | VLAN allows the physical network to be logically segmented. |
IVM
The IVM provides a browser-based interface and a command-line interface that you can use to manage some servers that use the Virtual I/O Server. On the managed system, you can create logical partitions, manage the virtual storage and virtual Ethernet, and view service information related to the server. The IVM is packaged with the Virtual I/O Server, but it is activated and usable only on certain platforms and where no Hardware Management Console (HMC) is present.
