In the Spotlight:
Blueprint:
Sun Fire 3800-6800 Servers Dynamic Reconfiguration
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Today's data centers face the challenge of delivering higher service levels with less. Lowering total cost of ownership (TCO) means more than just reducing the costs of initially acquiring IT resources. The far greater portion of TCO includes ongoing maintenance and support costs, as well as the potentially huge costs of downtime.
The Sun Fire Midrange servers are designed to lower TCO by providing rock-solid availability, scalability with virtually no downtime, and flexible resource management. By combining capabilities previously found only in mainframe-class systems with midrange economics, Sun has created a new class of servers - the Midframe.
Dynamic Reconfiguration & Dynamic System Domains
Two key technologies for enabling these mainframe-like computing characteristics are Dynamic Reconfiguration (DR) and Dynamic System Domains.
DR is the enabling technology behind Dynamic System Domains. In other words, DR is what makes Sun Dynamic System Domains truly Dynamic. With DR, the Sun Fire Midrange servers help you to better keep applications up and running, while more cost-effectively managing IT resources. - Dynamic Reconfiguration (DR) - Part of the Solaris 8 (02/02) Operating Environment (OE), DR enables you to dynamically reconfigure, remove or install core system components into your server while the Solaris OE and your applications are running.
- Dynamic System Domains - Fault-isolated, flexible partitions that allow you to run multiple applications and multiple copies of the Solaris OE on a single server. For flexible resource management, Dynamic System Domains can be adapted to meet your changing application environment.
With Dynamic Reconfiguration (DR), you can perform the following functions: - Configure CPU/Memory boards into a running domain
- Install new CPU/Memory boards in a domain
- Hot-Swap CPU/Memory boards
- Hot-Swap an I/O Assembly
- Hot-Swap a cPCI Card
- Move a CPU/Memory board between Dynamic System Domains
- Initiate parallel DR operations
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Dynamic Reconfiguration Benefits
Technology That Sets the Sun Fire Servers Apart
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Continuous uptime |
- Add, replace and reconfigure key components while the server is running
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- Minimize maintenance windows (planned downtime)
- Reduce system service disruption and downtime (unplanned downtime)
- Simplifies serviceability
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Simplified resource management |
- Flexibly allocate system resources to meet changing workload needs
- Run multiple applications in fault-isolated Dynamic System Domains on a single server
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- Adapt system resources to respond to dynamic application environments
- Consolidate multiple applications on a single server
- Reduce administrative costs and overhead of running separate servers
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Flexibility of compute resources |
- Hot-swap Uniboard CPU/Memory boards and other components, common across the entire Sun Fire 3800-15K server family
- Provision hardware resources between servers
- Instantly redistribute capacity across domains
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- Utilize resources efficiently and flexibly
- Make "hot spares," instantly available from less mission-critical server platforms
- Optimize capacity even as your IT architectural needs change
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Scalability without downtime |
- Upgrade CPU/Memory Boards and other components "on the fly"
- Add and remove resources to address changing business requirements
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- Perform rolling upgrades without rebooting the system
- Change system capacity, change processor speeds, change I/O without a reboot
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Customer DR Download and Installation Instructions:
- Download and Read DR User Guide and Release Notes
- Log onto Sun Documentation
- Click on Sun Fire 3800-6800 servers (under hardware product categories)
- Click on Sun Fire 6800/4810/4800/3800 Hardware Document Collection
- Click on Dynamic Reconfiguration
- Download patches from SunSolve and install them in accordance with installation instructions
- Log onto SunSolve
- Click on 'Patch Finder'
- Search for patchid #112127
- Download the patchid
- For questions, please contact Sun Technical Support
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