Capacity on Demand

C H A P T E R 9

Capacity on Demand

Sun Fire entry-level midrange systems are configured with processors (CPUs) on CPU/Memory boards. These boards are purchased as part of your initial system configuration or as add-on components. The right to use the CPUs on these boards is included with the initial purchase price.

For systems using UltraSPARC IV CPU/Memory boards, such as the Sun Fire E2900, the Capacity on Demand (COD) option provides additional processing resources that you pay for when you use them. Through the COD option, you purchase and install unlicensed COD CPU/Memory boards in your system. Each COD CPU/Memory board contains four CPUs, which are considered as available processing resources. However, you do not have the right to use these COD CPUs until you also purchase the right-to-use (RTU) licenses for them. The purchase of a COD RTU license entitles you to receive a license key, which enables the appropriate number of COD processors.

You use COD commands included with the firmware for Sun Fire entry-level midrange systems to allocate, activate, and monitor your COD resources.

This chapter covers the following topics:

COD Overview

Getting Started With COD

Managing COD RTU Licenses

Activating COD Resources

Monitoring COD Resources

COD Overview

The COD option provides additional CPU resources on COD CPU/Memory boards that are installed in your system. Although your midrange system comes configured with a minimum number of standard (active) CPU/Memory boards, your system can have a mix of both standard and COD CPU/Memory boards installed, up to the maximum capacity allowed for the system. At least one active CPU is required.

If you want the COD option, and your system is not currently configured with COD CPU/Memory boards, contact your Sun sales representative or authorized Sun reseller to purchase COD CPU/Memory boards. Your salesperson will work with your service provider to install the COD CPU/Memory boards in your system.

The following sections describe the main elements of the COD option:

COD Licensing Process

COD RTU License Allocation

Instant Access CPUs

Instant Access CPUs as Hot-Spares

Resource Monitoring

COD Licensing Process

COD RTU licenses are required to enable COD CPU resources. COD licensing involves the following tasks:

1. Obtaining COD RTU License Certificates and COD RTU license keys for COD resources to be enabled

You can purchase COD RTU licenses at any time from your Sun sales representative or reseller. You can then obtain a license key (for the COD resources purchased) from the Sun License Center.

2. Entering the COD RTU license keys in the COD license database

The COD license database stores the license keys for the COD resources that you enable. You record this license information in the COD license database by using the addcodlicense command. The COD RTU licenses are considered as floating licenses and can be used for any COD CPU resource installed in the system.

For details on completing the licensing tasks, see To Obtain and Add a COD RTU License Key to the COD License Database.

COD RTU License Allocation

With the COD option, your system is configured to have a certain number of COD CPUs available, as determined by the number of COD CPU/Memory boards and COD RTU licenses that you purchase. The COD RTU licenses that you obtain are handled as a pool of available licenses.

When you activate a domain containing a COD CPU/Memory board or when a COD CPU/Memory board is connected to a domain through a dynamic reconfiguration (DR) operation, the following occurs automatically:

The system checks the current COD RTU licenses installed.

The system obtains a COD RTU license (from the license pool) for each CPU on the COD board.

The COD RTU licenses are allocated to the CPUs on a “first come, first serve” basis. However, you can allocate a specific quantity of RTU licenses by using the setupsc command. For details, see To Enable or Disable Instant Access CPUs and Reserve RTU Licenses.

If there is an insufficient number of COD RTU licenses and a license cannot be allocated to a COD CPU, the COD CPU is considered as unlicensed. The COD CPU is also assigned a COD-disabled status. If a COD CPU/Memory board does not have sufficient COD RTU licenses for its COD CPUs, the system will fail the COD CPU/Memory board during the poweron operation. For additional details and examples, see COD-Disabled CPUs.

When you remove a COD CPU/Memory board through a Dynamic Reconfiguration operation or when a COD CPU/Memory board is shut down normally, the COD RTU licenses for the CPUs on those boards are released and added to the pool of available licenses.

You can use the showcodusage command to review COD usage and COD RTU license states. For details on showcodusage and other commands that provide COD information, see Monitoring COD Resources.

Instant Access CPUs

If you require COD CPU resources before you complete the COD RTU license purchasing process, you can temporarily enable a limited number of resources called instant access CPUs (also referred to as headroom). These instant access CPUs are available as long as there are unlicensed COD CPUs in the system. The maximum number of instant access resources available on Sun Fire entry-level midrange systems is four CPUs.

Instant access CPUs are disabled by default on Sun Fire midrange systems. If you want to use these resources, you activate them by using the setupsc command. Warning messages are logged on the console, informing you that the number of instant access CPUs (headroom) used exceeds the number of COD licenses available. Once you obtain and add the COD RTU license keys for additional instant access CPUs to the COD license database, these warning messages stop.

For details on activating instant access CPUs, see, To Enable or Disable Instant Access CPUs and Reserve RTU Licenses.

Instant Access CPUs as Hot-Spares

You can temporarily enable an available, instant access CPU to replace a failed
non-COD CPU. In this case, the instant access CPU is considered as a hot-spare (a spare CPU that can be used immediately to replace a failed non-COD CPU). However, once the failed non-COD CPU has been replaced, you must deactivate the instant access CPU (see To Enable or Disable Instant Access CPUs and Reserve RTU Licenses). Contact your Sun sales representative or reseller to purchase a COD RTU license for the instant access CPU in use if you want to continue using it.

Resource Monitoring

Information about COD events, such as the activation of instant access CPUs (headroom) or license violations, is recorded in the console log messages and also in the output for the showlogs command.

Other commands, such as the showcodusage command, provide information on COD components and COD configuration. For details on obtaining COD information and status, see Monitoring COD Resources.

Getting Started With COD

Before you can use COD on Sun Fire entry-level midrange systems, you must complete certain prerequisites. These tasks include the following:

Installing the same version of the firmware (starting with release 5.18.0) on both the system controller (SC) and the system boards.

For details on upgrading the firmware, see -C H A P T E R -C H A P T E R Firmware Update Procedures.

Note - Sun Fire entry-level midrange systems firmware before version 5.18.0 will not recognize COD CPU/Memory boards.

Contacting your Sun sales representative or reseller and doing the following:

Signing the COD contract addendum, in addition to the standard purchasing agreement contract for your Sun Fire entry-level midrange system.

Purchasing COD CPU/Memory boards and arranging for their installation.

Performing the COD RTU licensing process as described in To Obtain and Add a COD RTU License Key to the COD License Database.

Managing COD RTU Licenses

COD RTU license management involves the acquisition and addition of COD RTU licenses keys to the COD license database. You can also remove COD RTU licenses from the license database if needed.

Note that COD license key information is always associated with a particular system. You may encounter invalid COD RTU licenses if you do any of the following:

Move an IB_SSC board from one system to another.

Replace the SCC card with another card (that is, one with another hostid).

Any COD RTU license keys for the original system now reside on the second system, but the license keys remain associated with the original system. These license keys will be considered invalid. To prevent invalid COD RTU license keys, run the setdefaults command on the first system (to set the default system configuration values) before you remove an IB_SSC board. If you do not run the setdefaults command on the first system, you can run the command on the second system after you insert the IB_SSC board.

To Obtain and Add a COD RTU License Key to the COD License Database

1. Contact your Sun sales representative or authorized Sun reseller to purchase a COD RTU license for each COD CPU to be enabled.

Sun sends you a COD RTU License Certificate for each CPU license that you purchase. The COD RTU license sticker on the License Certificate contains a right-to-use serial number used to obtain a COD RTU license key.

2. Contact the Sun License Center and provide the following information to obtain a COD RTU license key:

The COD RTU serial number from the license sticker on the COD RTU License Certificate

The Chassis HostID of the system, which identifies your system

To obtain the Chassis HostID of your system, run the showsc command.

For instructions on contacting the Sun License Center, see the COD RTU License Certificate that you received or check the Sun License Center Web site:

http://www.sun.com/licensing

The Sun License Center will send you an email message containing the RTU license key for the COD resources that you purchased.

3. Add the license key to the COD license database by using the addcodlicense command. From the conso;e on the SC, type:

lom> addcodlicense license-signature

where:

license-signature is the complete COD RTU license key assigned by the Sun License Center. You can copy the license key string that you receive from the Sun License Center.

4. Verify that the specified license key was added to the COD license database by running the showcodlicense -r command (see To Review COD License Information).

The COD RTU license key that you added should be listed in the showcodlicense output.

To Delete a COD License Key From the COD License Database

1. From the console on the SC, type:

lom> deletecodlicense license-signature

where:

license-signature is the complete COD RTU license key to be removed from the COD license database.

The system verifies that the license removal will not cause a COD RTU license violation, which occurs when there is an insufficient number of COD licenses for the number of COD resources in use. If the deletion will cause a COD RTU license violation, the SC will not delete the license key.

Note - You can force the removal of the license key by specifying the -f option with the deletecodlicense command. However, be aware that the license key removal could cause a license violation or an overcommittment of RTU license reservations. An RTU license overcommittment occurs when there are more RTU domain reservations than RTU licenses installed in the system. For additional details, see the deletecodlicense command description in the Sun Fire Entry-Level Midrange System Controller Command Reference Manual.

2. Verify that the license key was deleted from the COD license database by running the showcodlicense -r command, described in the next procedure.

The deleted license key should not be listed in the showcodlicense output.

To Review COD License Information

From the console on the SC, do one of the following to display COD license information:

To view license data in an interpreted format, type:

lom> showcodlicense

For example:

lom> showcodlicense
Description  Ver   Expiration  Count  Status
-----------  ---   ----------  -----  ------
PROC          01         NONE      4 GOOD

TABLE 9-1 describes the COD license information in the showcodlicense output.

TABLE 9-1 COD License Information
Item	Description
Description	Type of resource (processor).
Ver	Version number of the license.
Expiration	None. Not supported (no expiration date).
Count	Number of RTU licenses granted for the given resource.
Status	One of the following states: GOOD - Indicates the resource license is valid. EXPIRED - Indicates the resource license is no longer valid.

Table that describes the showcodlicense output.

To view license data in raw license key format, type:

lom> showcodlicense -r

The license key signatures for COD resources are displayed. For example:

lom> showcodlicense -r
01:83198b89:86017912:0201000000:4:00000000:VW03IcpXYAIO8DYqaF/wSQ

Note - The COD RTU license key listed above is provided as an example and is not a valid license key.

For details on the showcodlicense command, see the command description in the Sun Fire Entry-Level Midrange System Controller Command Reference Manual.

Activating COD Resources

To activate instant access CPUs and allocate COD RTU licenses, use the setupsc command. For details on the setupsc command options, refer to the command description in the Sun Fire Entry-Level Midrange System Controller Command Reference Manual.

To Enable or Disable Instant Access CPUs and Reserve RTU Licenses

1. From the console on the SC, type:

lom> setupsc

You are prompted to enter the COD parameters (headroom quantity and RTU information). For example:

lom> setupsc
System Controller Configuration
-------------------------------
SC POST diag Level [off]: 
Host Watchdog [enabled]: 
Rocker Switch [enabled]: 
Secure Mode [off]: 
 
PROC RTUs installed: 4
PROC Headroom Quantity (0 to disable, 4 MAX) [0]: 2
Tolerate correctable memory errors [false]:

Note the following about the prompts displayed:

Instant access CPU (headroom) quantity

The text in parentheses indicates the maximum number of instant access CPUs (headroom) allowed. The value inside the brackets is the number of instant access CPUs currently configured.

To disable the instant access CPU (headroom) feature, type 0. You can disable the headroom quantity only when there are no instant access CPUs in use.

2. Verify the COD resource configuration with the showsc command:

lom> showsc

For example:

lom> showsc
 
SC: SSC1 
System Controller V2
Clock failover disabled.
 
SC date: Mon May 03 10:22:33 EDT 2004
SC uptime: 3 days 18 hours 4 minutes 4 seconds 
 
ScApp version: 5.18.0 
RTOS version: 38
 
Solaris Host Status: Active - Solaris
 
Chassis HostID: 83198b89
PROC RTUs installed: 4
PROC Headroom Quantity: 2

Monitoring COD Resources

This section describes various ways to track COD resource use and obtain COD information.

COD CPU/Memory Boards

You can determine which CPU/Memory boards in your system are COD boards by using the showboards command.

To Identify COD CPU/Memory Boards

From the console on the SC, type:

lom> showboards

COD CPU/Memory boards are identified as COD CPU boards. For example:

lom> showboards
 
Slot     Pwr Component Type                 State      Status     
----     --- --------------                 -----      ------     
SSC1     On  System Controller V2           Main       Passed     
/N0/SCC  -   System Config Card             Assigned   OK         
/N0/BP   -   Baseplane                      Assigned   Passed     
/N0/SIB  -   Indicator Board                Assigned   Passed     
/N0/SPDB -   System Power Distribution Bd.  Assigned   Passed     
/N0/PS0  On  A166 Power Supply              -          OK         
/N0/PS1  On  A166 Power Supply              -          OK         
/N0/PS2  On  A166 Power Supply              -          OK         
/N0/PS3  On  A166 Power Supply              -          OK         
/N0/FT0  On  Fan Tray                       Auto Speed Passed     
/N0/RP0  On  Repeater Board                 Assigned   OK         
/N0/RP2  On  Repeater Board                 Assigned   OK         
/N0/SB0  On  COD CPU Board                  Active     Degraded   
/N0/SB2  On  COD CPU Board V3               Assigned   Disabled   
/N0/SB4  On  COD CPU Board                  Assigned   Disabled   
/N0/IB6  On  PCI I/O Board                  Active     Passed     
/N0/MB   -   Media Bay                      Assigned   Passed

COD Resource Usage

To obtain information on how COD resources are used in your system, use the showcodusage command.

Table that explains showcodusage command output.

To View COD Usage

From the console on the SC, type:

lom> showcodusage -v

The output includes the status of CPUs. For example:

lom>showcodusage -v
Domain/Resource  In Use  Installed  Reserved  Status
---------------  ------  ---------  --------  ------
A - PROC              4          4         0
     SB0 - PROC       4          4
     /N0/SB0/P0                               Licensed
     /N0/SB0/P1                               Licensed
     /N0/SB0/P2                               Licensed
     /N0/SB0/P3                               Licensed
Unused - PROC         0          0         0

TABLE 9-2 describes the COD resource information displayed.

TABLE 9-2 `showcodusage` Information
Item	Description
Domain/Resource	The COD resource (processor). An unused processor is a COD CPU that has not yet been assigned.
In Use	The number of COD CPUs currently used.
Installed	The number of COD CPUs installed.
Reserved	The number of COD RTU licenses allocated.
Status	One of the following CPU states: Licensed - The COD CPU has a COD RTU license. Unused - The COD CPU is not in use. Unlicensed - The COD CPU could not obtain a COD RTU license and is not in use.

Table that describes showcodusage domain information.

COD-Disabled CPUs

When you activate a domain that uses COD CPU/Memory boards, any COD CPUs that did not obtain a COD RTU license are disabled by the SC. You can determine which COD CPUs were disabled by reviewing the following items:

The console log for a poweron operation

Any COD CPUs that did not obtain a COD RTU license are identified as Cod-dis (abbreviation for COD-disabled). If all the COD CPUs on a COD/Memory board are disabled, the poweron operation will also fail the COD CPU/Memory board, as CODE EXAMPLE 9-1 shows.

CODE EXAMPLE 9-1 Console Log Output Containing Disabled COD CPUs
lom> `poweron` {/N0/SB0/P0} Passed {/N0/SB0/P1} Passed {/N0/SB0/P2} Passed {/N0/SB0/P3} Passed {/N0/SB0/P0} Cod-dis {/N0/SB0/P1} Cod-dis {/N0/SB0/P2} Cod-dis {/N0/SB0/P3} Cod-dis . . . Entering OBP ... Jun 27 19:04:38 schostname Domain-A.SC: Excluded unusable, unlicensed, failed or disabled board: /N0/SB0

CODE EXAMPLE 9-1 Console Log Output Containing Disabled COD CPUs


lom> poweron
{/N0/SB0/P0} Passed
{/N0/SB0/P1} Passed
{/N0/SB0/P2} Passed
{/N0/SB0/P3} Passed
{/N0/SB0/P0} Cod-dis
{/N0/SB0/P1} Cod-dis
{/N0/SB0/P2} Cod-dis
{/N0/SB0/P3} Cod-dis
.
.
.
Entering OBP ...
Jun 27 19:04:38 schostname Domain-A.SC: Excluded unusable, unlicensed, failed
or disabled board: /N0/SB0

The showcomponent command output

CODE EXAMPLE 9-2 shows the type of status information displayed for each component in the system. If a COD RTU license cannot be allocated to a COD CPU, the COD CPU status is listed as Cod-dis (abbreviation for COD-disabled).

CODE EXAMPLE 9-2 `showcomponent` Command Output - Disabled COD CPUs
lom> `showcomponent` Component Status Pending POST Description --------- ------ ------- ---- ----------- . . . /N0/SB2/P0 Cod-dis - untest UltraSPARC-IV, 1050MHz, 16M ECache /N0/SB2/P1 Cod-dis - untest UltraSPARC-IV, 1050MHz, 16M ECache /N0/SB2/P2 Cod-dis - untest UltraSPARC-IV, 1050MHz, 16M ECache /N0/SB2/P3 Cod-dis - untest UltraSPARC-IV, 1050MHz, 16M ECache /N0/SB2/P0/B0/L0 Cod-dis - untest 2048M DRAM /N0/SB2/P0/B0/L2 Cod-dis - untest 2048M DRAM /N0/SB2/P0/B1/L1 Cod-dis - untest 2048M DRAM /N0/SB2/P0/B1/L3 Cod-dis - untest 2048M DRAM /N0/SB2/P1/B0/L0 Cod-dis - untest 2048M DRAM /N0/SB2/P1/B0/L2 Cod-dis - untest 2048M DRAM /N0/SB2/P1/B1/L1 Cod-dis - untest 2048M DRAM /N0/SB2/P1/B1/L3 Cod-dis - untest 2048M DRAM /N0/SB2/P2/B0/L0 Cod-dis - untest 2048M DRAM . . .

CODE EXAMPLE 9-2 showcomponent Command Output - Disabled COD CPUs


lom> showcomponent
Component         Status   Pending POST   Description
---------         ------   ------- ----   -----------
.
.
.
/N0/SB2/P0        Cod-dis  -       untest UltraSPARC-IV, 1050MHz, 16M ECache
/N0/SB2/P1        Cod-dis  -       untest UltraSPARC-IV, 1050MHz, 16M ECache
/N0/SB2/P2        Cod-dis  -       untest UltraSPARC-IV, 1050MHz, 16M ECache
/N0/SB2/P3        Cod-dis  -       untest UltraSPARC-IV, 1050MHz, 16M ECache
/N0/SB2/P0/B0/L0  Cod-dis  -       untest 2048M DRAM
/N0/SB2/P0/B0/L2  Cod-dis  -       untest 2048M DRAM
/N0/SB2/P0/B1/L1  Cod-dis  -       untest 2048M DRAM
/N0/SB2/P0/B1/L3  Cod-dis  -       untest 2048M DRAM
/N0/SB2/P1/B0/L0  Cod-dis  -       untest 2048M DRAM
/N0/SB2/P1/B0/L2  Cod-dis  -       untest 2048M DRAM
/N0/SB2/P1/B1/L1  Cod-dis  -       untest 2048M DRAM
/N0/SB2/P1/B1/L3  Cod-dis  -       untest 2048M DRAM
/N0/SB2/P2/B0/L0  Cod-dis  -       untest 2048M DRAM
.
.
.

Other COD Information

TABLE 9-3 summarizes the COD configuration and event information that you can obtain through other system controller commands. For further details on these commands, see their descriptions in the Sun Fire Entry-Level Midrange System Controller Command Reference Manual.

TABLE 9-3 Obtaining COD Configuration and Event Information
Command	Description
`showlogs`	Displays information about COD events, such as license violations or headroom activation, that are logged on the console.
`showsc`	Displays the current COD resource configuration and related information: Number of instant access CPUs (headroom) in use Chassis HostID

Table that identifies additional system controller commands for obtaining COD configuration and event information.