C H A P T E R  1

Introduction

This chapter introduces Suntrademark Management Center 3.5 Software platform and domain administration on Sun Firetrademark 6800/4810/4800/3800 systems.


Sun Fire 6800/4810/4800/3800 Systems Supplement Software

Sun Management Center 3.5 software allows you to monitor Sun systems from a platform such as a workstation or server. You can also use Sun Management Center 3.5 software to manage various remote operations and applications through the network. The Sun Fire 6800/4810/4800/3800 systems supplement software adapts the basic Sun Management Center 3.5 software to function with Sun Fire 6800/4810/4800/3800 systems.

To use the dynamic reconfiguration features described in Chapter 5, you need a thorough understanding of dynamic reconfiguration operations. This supplement describes using Sun Management Center software to perform dynamic reconfiguration operations. For an overall description of dynamic reconfiguration operations that apply to the Sun Fire 6800/4810/4800/3800 systems, refer to the Sun Fire 6800/4810/4800/3800 Systems Dynamic Reconfiguration User Guide.

Sun Fire 6800/4810/4800/3800 systems are divided into hardware domains, with each domain running a separate copy of the Solaristrademark Operating System. Depending on the capability and the number of hardware resources, Sun Fire 6800/4810/4800/3800 systems can support up to four domains. (The minimum is one domain.) Because domains are used, the Sun Fire 6800/4810/4800/3800 systems supplement software has two modes of operation (FIGURE 1-1):

 FIGURE 1-1 Platform and Domain Administration Views

Graphic depicting platform and domain administration views described in this section.

After the supplement software has been installed on a host machine (workstation or server), you can run Sun Management Center 3.5 software on that host machine to access the system controller in Sun Fire 6800/4810/4800/3800 systems.

The initial software supplement setup creates one platform agent, which provides access to one system controller. To access additional system controllers on other Sun Fire 6800/4810/4800/3800 systems, install an agent instance for each system controller (FIGURE 1-2).

 FIGURE 1-2 Platform Agents Provide Access to Sun Fire 6800/4810/4800/3800 System Controllers

Graphic depicting platform agents providing access to Sun Fire 6800/4810/4800/3800 system controllers.


Terms Used in This Book



Note - In this document, "administrative domain" refers to a Sun Management Center administrative domain, and should not be confused with other uses of the term "domain" related to other Sun products or documentation.



Administrative domain -- An administrative domain consists of one or more host systems.

Dynamic reconfiguration -- The Sun Fire 6800/4810/4800/3800 supplement software provides a graphical user interface to facilitate dynamic reconfiguration operations. Dynamic reconfiguration software is a part of the Solaris Operating System and provides the ability to safely remove or install system boards or compact PCI I/O cards into a system while the Solaris Operating System is running. Dynamic reconfiguration software also provides the ability to transfer system boards or compact PCI I/O cards from one domain to another, while the Solaris Operating System is running.

Platform -- An alternate term for a complete system. A Sun Fire 6800 system is an example of a platform, as described in this book.

Domain or hardware domain -- Within a Sun Fire 6800/4810/4800/3800 platform, a domain can consist of logically independent multiple sections within a partition, with each domain running a separate copy of the operating system. This type of domain consists of system boards and other devices, as opposed to an administrative domain, which can consist of multiple hardware domains and entire platforms. For clarity, this type of domain is referred to as a "hardware domain" in this book.

FIGURE 1-3 shows an example of an administrative domain. Note that the administrative domain includes complete systems and hardware domains.

FIGURE 1-3 Main Console Window Showing an Administrative Domain Containing Multiple Hosts

Screen capture of the main console window showing an administrative domain that contains multiple hosts.

For contrast, FIGURE 1-4 shows hardware domains in a host.

 FIGURE 1-4 Details View of a Sun Fire 6800/4810/4800/3800 Platform With Multiple Hardware Domains

Screen capture of the main console window showing the Details view of a Sun Fire 6800/4810/4800/3800 platform with multiple hardware domains.

FIGURE 1-5 shows typical icons for a Sun Fire 6800 system. Icons for other types of Sun Fire systems display corresponding model numbers.

 FIGURE 1-5 Typical Sun Fire 6800 Icons

Screen capture of typical icons for a Sun Fire 6800 system.


Identifying Platforms and Hardware Domains

The platform and hardware domain Details windows are very similar when they are first displayed. By default, both windows open to the Browser tab. FIGURE 1-6 compares the Details windows for a typical platform and a typical hardware domain.

  • Platform: To identify a platform Details window, look for a platform icon (FIGURE 1-6) and five tabs (Info, Browser, Alarms, Modules Hardware).
  • Hardware domain: To identify a hardware domain Details window, look for a hardware domain icon (FIGURE 1-6) and seven tabs. The tabs include the five tabs listed above for a platform, plus a View Log tab and an Applications tab.

 FIGURE 1-6 Details Windows for Platform (Upper) and Hardware Domain (Lower)

Screen captures of the Details window for platform domain and hardware domain, respectively.


About the Examples Used in This Book

Many steps or operations shown in this book can be accomplished in more than one way. For the sake of brevity, only one way is shown in an operation, usually the easiest or quickest way.

For example, in the main console window (FIGURE 1-3), you can choose from four possible ways to open a Details view of Sun Fire 6800/4810/4800/3800 systems:

  • Click once on the Sun Fire 6800/4810/4800/3800 icon in the hierarchy view (left side of the window), then click the Tools menu in the top bar, and select Details.
  • Do the same as above in the topology view (right side of the window).
  • Double-click the Sun Fire 6800/4810/4800/3800 icon in the hierarchy view.
  • Double-click the Sun Fire 6800/4810/4800/3800 icon in the topology view.

Similarly, there are multiple ways to expand (or uncompress) an icon. As shown in FIGURE 1-7, you can:

  • Click the Expand All button (not available in some windows).
  • Click the Uncompress symbol next to the icon.
  • Double-click the icon in the hierarchy or topology views.

 FIGURE 1-7 Choices for Expanding or Uncompressing Icons

Screen capture of the Details window, showing choices for expanding or uncompressing icons.