The RS/6000 SP system supports three types of switches. They are
listed in the following table:
| Switch Type | Description | Feature Code |
|---|---|---|
| Scalable POWERparallel Switch2 (SP Switch2) | The SP Switch2 has 16 ports for node connections and 16 ports for
switch-to-switch connections. The SP Switch2 can interconnect all of
the processor nodes that are currently available from IBM.
When the control workstation and all of the nodes are running PSSP 3.4, you have optional switch connectivity. You can connect a selection of nodes to the SP Switch2 and leave some nodes off the switch. The SP Switch2 supports two different switch configurations so that nodes can communicate over one or two switch planes. A two plane SP Switch2 system has two sets of switches and two switch adapters per node. The switch planes are disjoint - each is cabled exactly like a single plane, both with the same topology, and communication across the pair of planes is achieved by a data striping algorithm in the software. You can only use this option with nodes that can have two adapters. You cannot install one adapter in some nodes and two adapters in other nodes. The SP Switch2 can be configured with one switch plane, with one adapter per node attached to the one switch plane network. The SP Switch2 supports multiple node switch boards in one frame. With PSSP 3.4, you can have up to eight SP Switch2 node switch boards in a single SP frame. Multiple node switch boards are used in systems that require a large number of switch connections for SP-attached servers or clustered enterprise server configurations. The PSSP 3.4 software supports the removable and hot-pluggable interposer cards that provide the bulkhead connections to the switch cable, the concurrent replacement of any failed power supplies or fans, and replacement of the supervisor while the switch is operating. The SP Switch2 does not support SP system partitioning or the SP Switch Router. | 4012 |
| Scalable POWERparallel Switch (SP Switch) | This switch can interconnect all the currently-orderable SP processor nodes, SP Switch Routers, and SP-attached servers. It has 16 ports for node connections and 16 ports for switch-to-switch connections. | 4011 |
| Scalable POWERparallel Switch-8 (SP Switch-8) | This switch offers 8 internal connections to provide enhanced functions for small systems with up to 8 total nodes. It does not support POWER3 SMP high nodes, SP-attached servers, or scaling to larger systems. | 4008 |
If you are adding any of these switches, your IBM Customer Engineer (CE) installs the switch hardware on your RS/6000 SP system. You must plan your switch configuration and record your information on the Switch Configuration Worksheet, located in the RS/6000 SP: Planning, Volume 2, Control Workstation and Software Environment. Both the RS/6000 SP: Planning, Volume 1, Hardware and Physical Environment and the RS/6000 SP: Planning, Volume 2, Control Workstation and Software Environment offer information to help you with the worksheet. After you complete the worksheet, follow these steps to install and configure the switch according to your configuration worksheet.
Refer to the RS/6000 SP: Planning, Volume 2, Control Workstation and Software Environment for more information.
Install the level of Communication Subsystem software (ssp.css) on the control workstation that corresponds with the PSSP code version on the control workstation. You will also need the ssp.st file set installed for Job Switch Resource Table services.
Use SMIT or installp to install ssp.css on the control workstation. For more information, see Step 19: Install PSSP on the control workstation.
Your IBM Customer Engineer (CE) performs this step. This step may include installing the switch adapters and installing a new frame supervisor card.
Issue the following command:
Eprimary -init
Use SMIT or the spadaptrs command to create css0 adapter objects in the SDR for each new node. |If you are adding two switch planes, you will need to create |css1 adapter objects also. Refer to your Switch Configuration Worksheet. Use this data to configure the switch on the nodes.
See Step 40: Configure additional adapters for nodes for more information.
DCE notes:
Refer to IBM Distributed Computing Environment for AIX: Administration Commands Reference for more information on the kerberos.dce command.
|Refer to Step 41: Configure the aggregate IP interface for nodes (SP Switch2 only) for more information.
Refer to Step 34: Update the state of the supervisor microcode for more information.
To update the SDR switch information, issue the following command:
/usr/lpp/ssp/install/bin/hmreinit
Do installation steps Step 62: Set up the switch through Step 63: Verify the switch primary and primary backup nodes. If you have an SP Switch, you must do Step 64: Set the switch clock source for all switches (SP Switch only) and you may do Step 65: Set up system partitions (SP Switch or switchless systems only). If you have set up system partitions, you need to reconfigure them.
To refresh the subsystems, issue the following command on the control workstation after adding the switch:
syspar_ctrl -r -G
This command refreshes all the subsystems in each partition such as hats so that it recognizes the new switch.
Previously, you installed the Communication Subsystem Software (CSS) on the control workstation. Now, you need to install this software on all the nodes in the system. Use SMIT or issue the spbootins command to do this by changing the boot/install information for all the Node Objects in the SDR to specify a bootp response of customize.
Set the nodes to customize with the following command:
spbootins -r customize -l node_list
perspectives &
Refer to the RS/6000 SP: Planning, Volume 2, Control Workstation and Software Environment for information on setting up partitions.
Your IBM Customer Engineer (CE) performs this step. This step includes installing the switch adapters and installing new frame supervisors.
Refer to Step 34: Update the state of the supervisor microcode for more information.
Use SMIT or the spadaptrs command to create css0 adapter objects in the SDR for each new node. |If you are adding two switch planes, you will need to create |css1 adapter objects also. Refer to your Switch Configuration Worksheet. Use this data to configure the switch on the nodes.
See Step 40: Configure additional adapters for nodes for more information.
DCE notes:
Refer to IBM Distributed Computing Environment for AIX: Administration Commands Reference for more information on the kerberos.dce command.
|Refer to Step 41: Configure the aggregate IP interface for nodes (SP Switch2 only) for more information.
Do installation steps Step 62: Set up the switch through Step 63: Verify the switch primary and primary backup nodes. If you have an SP Switch, you must do Step 64: Set the switch clock source for all switches (SP Switch only) and you may do Step 65: Set up system partitions (SP Switch or switchless systems only). If you have set up system partitions, you need to reconfigure them.
To refresh the subsystems, issue the following command on the control workstation:
syspar_ctrl -r -G
This command refreshes all the subsystems in each partition such as hats so that it recognizes the new switch.
|All nodes in the frames supported by the switch being added must be |recustomized. Use SMIT or issue the spbootins command to do |this by changing the boot/install information for all the Node Objects in the |SDR to specify a bootp response of customize.
Set the nodes to customize by issuing the following command:
spbootins -r customize -l node_list
perspectives &