IBM AIX (inc HACMP / PowerHA & HMC)
From Tecniq
AIX (Advanced Interactive eXecutive) is the name given to a series of proprietary operating systems sold by IBM for several of its computer system platforms, based on UNIX System V with 4.3BSD-compatible command and programming interface extensions.
HACMP is IBM's solution for high-availability clusters on the AIX Unix and Linux for IBM System p platforms and stands for High Availability Cluster Multiprocessing. IBM's HACMP product was first shipped in 1991 and is now in its 18th release - HACMP 5.5
HACMP can run on up to 32 computers or nodes, each of which is either actively running an application (active) or waiting to take over should another node fail (passive). Data on file systems can be shared between systems in the cluster.
HACMP relies heavily on IBM's Reliable Scalable Cluster Technology (RSCT). RSCT includes daemons which are responsible for monitoring the state of the cluster (for example, a node, NIC or network crash) and will coordinate the response to these events. HACMP is an RSCT aware client. RSCT is distributed with AIX.
For more information, visit IBM Power Systems software - AIX Overview www-03.ibm.com/systems/power/software/aix/index.html
HMC (Hardware Management Console) is a technology invented by IBM for the purpose of providing a standard interface to configuring and operating partitioned (also known as an LPAR or virtualized system) and SMP systems such as IBM System p series.
The HMC is a Linux kernel using Busybox to provide the base utilities and X Window using the Fluxbox window manager to provide graphical logins. The HMC also utilizes Java applications to provide additional functionality.
Using an HMC, the system administrator is able to manage the software configuration and operation of partitions in a server system, as well as to monitor and identify hardware problems. HMCs offer an inexpensive method to administer complex and expensive servers, as a console need only consist of a 32-bit Intel-based desktop PC with a DVD-RAM drive. HMC is used to:
Configure and manage logical partitions and partition profiles
Perform DLPAR functions.
Activate and manage Capacity on Demand resources.
VIOS (IBM Virtual I/O Server) is part of the IBM System p5 Advanced Power Virtualization hardware feature. Virtual I/O Server allows sharing of physical resources between LPARs including virtual SCSI and virtual networking. This allows more efficient utilization of physical resources through sharing between LPARs and facilitates server consolidation.
