Re: Adding a partition to our 270

On Tue, May 11, 2010 at 21:59, John Allen <jallen@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

We currently have a 270 running a single partition although it is capable of
having multiple partitions we never set it up to have more then one.
Nobody here has any experience in setting up multiple partitions.

Is it? Do you multiple disk controllers? Do you have enough RAM? Do
you have a second CD and/or tape drive?

Be aware that partitioning back on older systems was very inflexible -
only V6R1 and up on Power 6 allow you flexible and dynamic
provisioning of LPARs (called Guested LPARs).

Basically: If you just have a 270, with no expansion towers, you can't
LPAR it. If you have expansion towers, there's a chance you might be
able to LPAR it, but you'll most likely need at least some additional
hardware.

1) Is this something anybody should be able to do simply using information
readily available (i.e. midrange.com, Google, etc)
or is it something we should hire a consultant to do for us?

Not anybody. With basic knowledge of virtualization, the IBM i
platform and the older systems, it'd be difficult.

2) If we hired a consultant to do it, is this something that can be done
remotely or would the consultant need to come on site?
(Consultants - contact us offline)

Probably on site.

3) How long should this task take a competent knowledgeable person to do?

If there's no need to adjust the hardware configuration, it's easy and
done fast. IF you need to reconfigure the hardware, this can take
days, as you might need to do an unload/reload. It all depends on the
specific.

The main purpose for us setting up multiple partitions is to be able to run
different OS versions on the same box, which I am assuming is possible
(but then again I don't know this for a fact)

I believe that was possible back on these very old machines, but the
primary LPAR would need to be within a specific range.

Your 270 tops out at V5R4 anyway - the oldest supported release. What
do you intend to do? Investing time and money into such an old machine
will probably not yield the results you want. Post more specifics
about the hardware you have, and how all the stuff you have is put
together, and there's a chance that someone might be able to tell if
a) you even can LPAR and b) if it makes sense to do so.