SmartCloud Entry... a value for IT Admins

1. IBM SmartCloud Entry
for IBM Power
IT admins are still busy?
May 2012 - Mario Sebastiani

2. Agenda
We will talk about:
● the old way to realize the LPAR
● the new way to realize the LPAR
● what do you need to turn into the new way

3. Objective of this session
In the future the IT Admins can finally study...

4. The old way to realize the LPAR
The old way takes:
● a lot of time
and
● many persons with different skills
The story
You are the IT admin for the IBM System P platform. An
user asked you to realize quickly an LPAR (the easiest
scenario)
Let's start...

5. 1. Create the profile on the HMC
The Power SysAdmin must create the profile
1. requires admin access to HMC
2. cannot complete the entire profile at this moment
since the lack of the LUN...

6. 2. Create the LUN on the storage
The Power SysAdmin asks the Storage Admin to:
1. realize a new LUN
2. map the new LUN to the VIOs (an easy task, already
done thousand times in the past, but often the Storage
Admin asks, as in a loop, the Power SysAdmin for WWNs)
Please note that the Storage Admin is a very busy
person, so you can wait hours or days before you get
the LUN.

7. 3. Modify the VIO to manage new LUN
The Power SysAdmin now can change the VIOs config
1. create a vSCSI server for the new LPAR
2. verify the LUN visibility

8. 4. Complete the profile on the HMC
The Power SysAdmin can now complete the profile
1. add the right VIOs vSCSI adapters creating the vSCSI
client
2. modify the VIOs profile to include the new adapters

9. 5. Configure the NIM
The Power SysAdmin has now to configure the NIM
1. create the new client
2. instruct the NIM to perform OS installation

10. 6. Wait the OS installation
The Power SysAdmin can now take a breath while the AIX
is installing...

11. 7. Perform the final check
The OS was installed... and now the Power SysAdmin can:
1. Configure the network
2. Call the Net Admin because the LPAR is unreachable
3. Perform the network troubleshooting
4. Configure a temporary password
5. Call the user
6. Release the new LPAR

12. The old way in brief
1. Create the profile on the HMC
2. Create the LUN on the storage
3. Modify the VIOs to manage the new LUN
4. Complete the profile on the HMC
5. Configure the NIM
6. Wait the OS installation
7. Perform the final check
... and release the LPAR to the user

13. The new way to realize the LPAR
The new way takes:
● less time
and
● less manual intervention
The story
You are the IT admin for the IBM System P platform. An
user asked you to realize quickly an LPAR (the easiest
scenario)
Let's start...

14. 1. The user request the new LPAR
The user connects to the WEB Portal and:
1. Browse for available appliances
2. Choose the right appliance and request a deploy
a mail will be automatically send to the Power SysAdmin
to request the approval for the deploy

15. 2. The Power SysAdmin approve
The Power SysAdmin connects to the WEB Portal and:
1. Verify all config properties (optional)
2. Approve the deploy

16. 3. The user receive an email...
After few minutes the user receives an email whit:
1. IP address for the new LPAR
2. Password (optional)
The LPAR is ready.

17. The new way... under the hood
IBM SmartCloud Entry for Power relies on:
● IBM Systems Director
● IBM VMcontrol for Systems Director
● IBM Storage Control for Systems Director
IBM SmartCloud Entry exploits the IBM Systems Director capabilities:
1. Make the profile into HMC
2. Create the LUN and map it to the VIOs
3. If the storage subsystem provides the flashcopy function (like IBM Storwize
V7000) will be used SCS (Storage Copy Services) instead of NIM to perform the
installation
4. The OS is customized with IP and password

18. The new way in brief
1. The user asks a new LPAR in the WEB gui
2. The admin approves the user's request
3. The LPAR is created in few minutes
4. An email will be sent to the user
An easy way
with less time consumption

19. Legal stuff
IBM SmartCloud Entry for Power
by Mario Sebastiani
May 2012
Feel free to contact me at
mario (at) mariosebastiani (dot) info