This section provides the information about the minimum hardware requirements as well as supported devices for Linux partition on eServer i5.
2.1.1 Minimum configuration requirements
The following requirements apply for eServer i5. For hardware requirements for previous releases refer to the chapter 2 of Linux on the IBM
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iSeries Server: AnImplementation Guide, SG24-6232.
Each Linux partition requires the following minimum hardware resources:
Processor unit
– A whole processor if you configure the partition with dedicated option – 0.1 processing unit if you configure the partition with shared option
Memory
– 256 MB of memory
Disk storage
– One virtual storage adapter (vscsi) for virtual I/O – One physical IOA for native I/O
– Approximately 1 GB of disk storage
Network interface
– One virtual ethernet adapter for virtual I/O
– One physical NIC (Network Interface Card) for native I/O or hybrid scenario
2.1.2 Communication options
Linux on an eServer i5 can establish a TCP/IP connection through either a directly attached network adapter or through a virtual ethernet adapter.
Directly attached network adapters
A Linux partition can own its physical ethernet adapters. If you have multiple ethernet adapters you might consider to dedicate one or more to the Linux partition. A dedicated adapter eliminates the extra step involved in using the virtual ethernet to communicate with the network as routing methods. Even you can limit the traffic between one server with others.
Note: This configuration can vary depending of the Linux distribution and version that you want to install. Refer to a specific Linux distribution’s guideline for the actual values.
Note: In addition to these minimum hardware requirements, you also need to apply all critical fixes and updates for HMC, firmware and i5/OS. At the time of writing this redbook, we needed MF33433 and MF33501 on i5/OS side to enable the use of virtual resources.
Note: To see the available network adapters go to Section 2.1.3, “Supported hardware resources” on page 33.
A very popular scenario is what we call a hybrid scenario: You have all I/O devices served by the server i5/OS partition (virtual I/O) except network connections (direct I/O for network adapters). You can easily set up a firewall or even a demilitarized zone (DMZ) scenario that way.
Virtual network adapters
Virtual ethernet provides the same function as using a 1 GB ethernet adapter. i5/OS and Linux partitions on an eServer i5 can communicate using TCP/IP over the virtual ethernet communication ports. Virtual ethernet provides a very high speed, secure mechanism for communication among partitions on a single physical system.
Up to 4,094 separate virtual ethernets can be defined. Each partition can have up to 65,534 virtual ethernet adapters connected to the virtual switch.
The enablement and setup of a virtual ethernet does not require any special hardware or software. After a specific virtual ethernet is enabled for a partition, a network device named ethXX is created in the partition where XX can be from 01 to 99. The user can then set up TCP/IP configuration appropriately to communicate with other partitions using the command ifconfig or any wizard that comes with the Linux operating system.
2.1.3 Supported hardware resources
This section lists the devices and adapters supported at the time of writing of this redbook. For up to date information, refer to IBM eServer Hardware Information Center at:
http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/iseries/v1r2s/en_US/index.htm
Virtual devices
Linux on eServer i5 supports virtual devices as illustrated in Table 2-1.
Table 2-1 Virtual devices
Note*: Virtual ethernet works as peer-to-peer communication. Client server
Network adapters
Table 2-2 lists the network adapters supported on Linux on i5 for native I/O, or directly attached option.
Device Linux driver In Linux work as In i5/OS work as
Virtual console hvc_console server client
Virtual tape st & ibmvscsic client server
Virtual CD sr & ibmvscsic client server
Virtual disk unit sd & ibmvscsic client server
Virtual SCSI ibmvscsic client server
Virtual serial is applicable using hvcs driver
client client
Table 2-2 Network adapters supported for native I/O Linux partition
Storage adapters
Table 2-3 lists the storage adapters supported on Linux on i5 for native I/O, or directly attached.
Table 2-3 Storage adapters supported for native I/O Linux partition
Description Linux Device Driver Linux Feature Number i5/OS Feature Number PCI-X 1Gb ethernet-SX Fiber e1000 0620 5700 PCI-X 10/100/1G Base-TX ethernet e1000 0621 5701 PCI-X 10/100/1G 2-port Base-TX ethernet e1000 5706 PCI-X 1Gb 2-port ethernet-SX Fiber e1000 5707
PCI 100Mb TokenRing olympic 0603 2744
PCI 1Gb ethernet acenic 0601 2743
PCI 1Gb ethernet UTP acenic 0602 2760
PCI 10/100Mb ethernet
pcnet32 0623 2849
Note: Token ring is not supported for netboot installs.
Description Linux Device Driver Linux Feature Number
i5/OS Feature Number PCI-X Dual Channel
Ultra320 SCSI RAID and PCI-X Dual Channel Ultra320 SCSI RAID Blind Swap
ipr 0628 5703,5711
32MB Planar Dual Channel SCSI RAID Enablement
ipr 5709
PCI-X Dual Channel Ultra320 SCSI Blind Swap and PCI-X Dual Channel Ultra320 SCSI
ipr 0645 5710,5712
PCI Bus 2Gb Fibre Channel for 64-bit
lpfc 6228
PCI-X 2Gb Fibre Channel
lpfc 6239
PCI Fibre Channel Disk Controller
WAN adapters
Table 2-4 lists the WAN adapters supported on Linux on i5 for native I/O, or directly attached option.
Table 2-4 WAN adapters supported for native I/O Linux partition
PCI-X U320 RAID w/Read Cache
ipr 0627 2780
PCI-X Fibre Channel Disk Controller
lpfc 0626 2787
Description Linux Device Driver Linux Feature Number
i5/OS Feature Number
PCI Two-Line WAN icom 0613 2742
PCI Two-Line WAN icom 0608 4745
PCI Dual WAN/Modem icom 0609 2772
PCI Dual WAN/Modem (ANSI)
icom 0610 2773
PCI Two-Line WAN w/Modem
icom 0614 2793
PCI Two-Line WAN w/Modem (CIM)
icom 0615 2794
PCI Quad Modem icom 0616 2805
PCI Quad Modem (CIM)
icom 0617 2806
Description Linux Device Driver Linux Feature Number
i5/OS Feature Number