Edit: Some links no longer work.
Originally posted February 5, 2019 on AIXchange
I was recently asked if there’s a way to automatically rebalance AIX workloads on IBM Power Systems servers. There sure is. It’s called the PowerVC Dynamic Resource Optimizer:
The Dynamic Resource Optimizer (DRO) is a cutting-edge feature of PowerVC that brings an unprecedented level of automation to your Power cloud for PowerVM and PowerKVM hypervisors. When enabled, DRO monitors your compute nodes and automatically detects resource imbalances. Depending on its mode of operation, DRO will either advise or automatically perform actions to restore balance to your cloud. Using this technology allows cloud administrators to spend less time performing labor-intensive infrastructure monitoring tasks, and allows more time to focus their efforts on other critical business initiatives. Additionally, enterprises can achieve higher levels of ROI regarding their hardware as it can run increased workload densities. When workload spikes occur, DRO can quickly recognize the imbalance and rebalance the cloud before chaos unfolds.
Here’s more:
DRO can take two types of actions: virtual machine live migration, and mobile core activations via Power Enterprise Pools. The actions taken by the DRO depend on the options selected by users. Figure 2 is a screenshot of a host group being created where you can see options such as: “CPU utilization, stabilization, run interval, and maximum concurrent migrations.” You can choose to migrate virtual machines, activate mobile cores, or both. If you choose both and the host in need of attention is a member of an Enterprise Pool, the DRO first tries to activate one or more mobile cores. DRO tries to migrate a VM from a busy host to a less busy host.
Go to this page to read the whole thing (and view the screenshots). Learn even more by watching this demo.
Many customers are unaware of DRO, but it’s easy to implement if you already have PowerVC running in your environment. PowerVC users should investigate this option.