It’s done. I have a running IBM BladeCenter-based Power server environment with a current release of AIX and VIOS. At the beginning I had some problems, but the IBM world was entirely new for me. đ But after I get my NIMOL (NIM on Linux) server with VIOS 2.2 image up and running, it was a very easy journey. Wow!
The BladeCenter E management software look and feels very outdated (there are lot’s of improvements with the Advanced Management Module), but when I started the VIOS Integrated Virtualization Manager (IVM) I was very suprised. The IVM is easy to use and looks great! đ I uploaded my AIX 7.1 images and setup an optical library. The installation of AIX was straight forward. Compared to Solaris LDoms even a Windows Administrator is able to setup an IBM LPar! The HP Integrity Virtual Machines can be managed thru a Web-based UI, too. But in my opinion IBM did a better job!
After setup of AIX, I tried to install a WPar. I missed a similar UI as IVM, but since AIX 7.1 IBM moves everything to the IBM System Director. So I did all steps with CLI and I did it within few minutes. I’m thrilled! Solaris 10 offers a very good implementation of shell based commands, but AIX too! I played around a little bit with AIX and of course I noticed that AIX is different to other UNIX operating systems. But it’s not a problem. By the way, the JS21 blades with 2,3 GHz PowerPC 970 processor are fast. Everything runs very quick and smooth. That’s nice! I don’t know if the blades can outperform my Sun Fire V480 with UltraSPARC 4+ at 1,5 GHz or my HP Integrity BL860c with 1,4 GHz Itanium2 9120N CPUs. But it doesn’t matter. The main thing is that AIX 7.1 runs fast and I’m able to do several tests with AIX and the IBM Power architecture.
Of course I’m still very confident with HP products, but I will continue my experience with IBM Power and AIX. It’s a very interesting and future-proofed platform. And now enjoy some pictures of my IBM journey.
Very nice article! I’m not very close with AIX – I didn’t knew, that it isn’t that difficult to set up a few servers. I always thought that AIX is absolutely nothing for „AIX beginners“. đ
If the blade enclosures weren’t that expensive (and „power hungry“) – I really would try out the architecture, the blades aren’t that expensive on the internet anymore.
Have you got a short documentation about how you set up everything in details?
Greetings!
No, I have no short docuementation. Since I’m experienced with blade servers and Unix server systems, I powered on the system and configured everything. đ If I have a problem I’m searching the Internet for informations, of course.
Kind regards
Tschokko
what you use this js21 blade for? we have type H and 2 js21, and planned for oracle db
Currently I use the JS21 blades for nothing. I need FC HBA to access more storage ! If this problem is solved I wan’t to evaluate a DB2 cluster and WebSphere Application Server for AIX.
Hey Tschokko,
I might get an IBM IntelliStation POWER-285 with IBM POWER5+ CPU for a little money – an installation CD for AIX5L would be delivered with the machine.
Where did you get your AIX installation mediums from? I’d like to use AIX 7 on it.
Best regards!