Resource Pools

A resource pool, or pool, is a Solaris 9 software configuration mechanism that is used to partition the resources of a host. A resource set is a process-bindable resource. Memory sets and processor sets are examples of resource sets. Only processor sets are currently available in the Solaris 9 release. A pool binds the various resource sets available on a host. For more information about resource pools, see “Resource Pools” in System Administration Guide: Resource Management and Network Services.

A resource pool can hold one or more containers. In the case of one container, the resources that are linked to the pool are dedicated to that container. In the case of multiple containers, the resources that are linked to the pool are shared with the containers. The following illustration shows the relationship between resource pools and containers.

Figure 1–4 Example of Resource Pools Supporting the Containers on a Host

A host can also have only one resource pool, as is always the case when running on the Solaris 8 Operating System. This pool is called pool_default. Because resource pools do not exist in this OS version, the pool_default is created artificially. All of the CPUs on a host running the Solaris 8 release are considered to be in a single pool by convention.

For more information about managing resource pools with Container Manager, see Chapter 4, Managing Resource Pools.