Virtual I/O Server overview
Learn the concepts of the Virtual I/O Server (VIOS) and its primary components.
The VIOS is part of the PowerVM® Editions hardware feature. The VIOS is software that is located in a logical partition. This
software facilitates the sharing of physical I/O resources between client logical partitions within
the server. The VIOS provides virtual Small Computer
Serial Interface (SCSI) target, virtual Fibre Channel, Shared Ethernet Adapter, and PowerVM Active Memory™ Sharing capability to client logical partitions within the
system. The VIOS also provides the
Suspend/Resume and remote restart features to
AIX®, IBM® i, and Linux client logical partitions within the system.
Note: The Suspend/Resume feature of logical partitions is not
supported on the POWER8® 8286-41A, 8286-42A, 8286-42A,
8247-21L, and 8247-22L Power Systems™ servers. This
feature is supported on other models of Power Systems
servers, with appropriate levels of the management console, firmware, and PowerVM.
As a result, you can perform the following functions on client
logical partitions:
- Share SCSI devices, Fibre Channel adapters, Ethernet adapters
- Expand the amount of memory available to logical partitions and suspend and resume logical partition operations by using paging space devices
A dedicated logical partition is required for the VIOS software solely for its use.
You can use the VIOS to
perform the following functions:
- Sharing of physical resources between logical partitions on the system
- Creating logical partitions without requiring additional physical I/O resources
- Creating more logical partitions than there are I/O slots or physical devices available with the ability for logical partitions to have dedicated I/O, virtual I/O, or both
- Maximizing use of physical resources on the system
- Helping to reduce the storage area network (SAN) infrastructure
