| General |
| Q1. |
What's new with the Workload Management Pack? |
| A1. |
Read the "What's New" section of the product description.
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| Q2. |
How is the Workload Management Pack software licensed? |
| A2. |
The Workload Management Pack is licensed on a per server basis. Single and multiserver licenses are available. For more information consult the Product QuickSpecs.
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| Q3. |
What's the difference between the Insight software Workload Management Pack v2.0 and Resource Partitioning Manager v2.0? |
| A3. |
The Insight software Workload Management Pack v2.0 includes all of the tools you need to manage workloads within your server environment: Resource Partitioning Manager v2.0, a license key, and a user guide. Resource Partitioning Manager v2.0 is the software that delivers the workload management features.
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| Q4. |
How is Resource Partitioning Manager different from VMware ESX Server? |
| A4. |
Though they can provide similar functionality, Resource Partitioning Manager (RPM) and ESX Server are distinctly different. With RPM, multiple partitions are created on a single Windows 2000 operating system. With VMware ESX Server, each partition runs on its own operating system leading to multiple operating systems on a single server. While RPM can enable application consolidation under a single operating system with defined resources, ESX Server provides physical consolidation - multiple virtual servers on one piece of hardware.
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| Q5. |
What percentage of the server's resources does the Resource Partitioning Manager software itself consume? |
| A5. |
Resource Partitioning Manager (RPM) requires minimal system resources to provide workload management capabilities. In most cases, RPM uses less than 5% of the total system resources available to the partitions. Generating graphs or charts may require more overhead, however it is not required that the user interface be open in order to manage workloads.
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| Q6. |
What language support is available for Resource Partitioning Manager? |
| A6. |
Resource Partitioning Manager is available to all geographies, in the English language only, and must be installed on a server running an English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, or Japanese language version of Microsoft Windows 2000 or .NET.
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| Q7. |
Does RPM have any affect on licensing costs for other software packages? |
| A7. |
RPM can help to reduce licensing costs by reducing the number of servers required to run multiple applications. Once multiple applications are consolidated onto a single server all licensing costs apply as described by the vendor. Resource Partitions are not considered separate servers for licensing fee purposes.
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| Q8. |
Are other partitioning or workload management solutions available from HP? |
| A8. |
HP offers a wide range of software and hardware partitioning and workload management solutions for Windows, UNIX, and Linux servers.
View more information on partitioning solutions from HP.
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| Getting started |
| Q1. |
How do I determine whether I have applications that could be consolidated onto a single server? |
| A1. |
The first step in evaluating whether your environment can be consolidated is to assess the amount of server resources currently used by your applications. If you find several applications that are not fully utilizing server resources, you have identified applications that are candidates for consolidation.
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| Service and support |
| Q1. |
What warranty and support services are available for Resource Partitioning Manager? |
| A1. |
The limited warranty for Workload Management pack v2.0 includes 90-day telephone support. Additional information is also available via the web. For phone support, contact Technical Support at 1-800-282-6672. |
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| Hardware and software requirements |
| Q1. |
What operating systems support Resource Partitioning Manager v2.0? |
| A1. |
Resource Partitioning Manager can be used on any ProLiant server running Windows 2000 Server, Windows 2000 Advanced Server, Windows 2000 Data center Server, Windows Advanced Server, Limited Edition, or Windows .NET Release Candidate 1. It does not operate on other operating systems.
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| Q2. |
Are there any special hardware requirements for installing Resource Partitioning Manager? |
| A2. |
The only hardware requirement is that the software be installed on a ProLiant Server. While Resource Partitioning Manager (RPM) can manage workloads on any server running a Windows 2000 or .NET operating system, it is supported only on ProLiant servers.
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| Memory |
| Q1. |
Are there any special software requirements for Resource Partitioning Manager? |
| A1. |
Resource Partitioning Manager runs only on Windows 2000 and .NET operating systems (Server, Advanced Server, Advanced Server LE, and Data center server). There are no additional software requirements.
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| Configuration |
| Q1. |
Can I use my local console to manage RPM partitions on servers in another location? |
| A1. |
Yes. A single RPM console running on a desktop PC, notebook PC, or server can be used to manage any other server on the network with RPM partitions.
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| Q2. |
What kind of clustering support is offered for Resource Partitioning Manager? |
| A2. |
Resource Partitioning Manager offers the capability to provide "landing zones" for failed applications in a clustered environment. RPM can be used to ensure that processor and memory resources are reserved for an application on a separate server in the event of fail-over. RPM can also be used on nodes in a standard Microsoft Windows 2000 cluster without landing zones.
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| Q3. |
What are "Landing Zones"? |
| A3. |
Landing zones are pre-defined partitions on a target server set aside for applications in case of fail over. Landing zones ensure resources will be available for an application in case of fail over without having to maintain the fail over server in passive standby state.
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| Q4. |
Can I run any application within Resource Partitioning Manager's resource partitions? |
| A4. |
Any application or service that runs successfully on Windows 2000 can run within resource partitions.
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| Q5. |
What application limitations exist? |
| A5. |
In some cases, multiple copies of certain applications cannot run on a single operating system image. Resource Partitioning Manager cannot be used to overcome the application-based limitations. Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft Internet Information Server, Microsoft Terminal Server, and Citrix MetaFrame are examples of such applications.
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| Q6. |
Are there limitations in using Workload Management Pack and Microsoft SQL 2000 database? |
| A6. |
For those customers that want to use SQL Server 2000, RPM is a great tool for keeping other applications from encroaching upon SQL Server. In that usage model, RPM compliments the tools that SQL Server builds natively into the database. However, HP and Microsoft both agree that SQL Server itself should not be used within a Resource Partition since SQL has its own native management tools.
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| Q7. |
What is the maximum number of applications that I can add to a resource partition? |
| A7. |
The maximum number of applications that can be added to a resource partition is unlimited. Resource Partitioning Manager has a user setting that can limit the number of processes in a specific partition to prevent unlimited spawning of daughter processes into the active partition. The default setting is "unlimited."
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| Q8. |
How often is data captured for the new metering feature? |
| A8. |
Resource Partitioning Manager v2.0 allows you to set meter frequency in terms of minutes or hours.
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| Q9. |
Does the Workload Management Pack (WMP) worked in clustered environments? |
| A9. |
The WMP software (Resource Partitioning Manager) can be used within a clustering environment without interfering with cluster operations. In fact, the ability of the WMP software to capture and dynamically assign resources for any application make it a great companion to clustering. Resource Partitioning Manager can be configured on both active and failover nodes. In the event of a failover, the cluster software restarts the application on the failover server and the instance of RPM on the failover server can modify resource allocations as necessary to accommodate the primary application. The advantage that this configuration offers is the ability to run processes on the failover server without concern that resources will be unavailable during failover; when failover occurs, RPM can remove processor and memory resources from the lower priority application(s) and apply them to the application that has failed over. This allows maximum use of the failover server while it sits in reserve. It is important to note that RPM has no knowledge of the clustering software, nor does it tie in with the clustering software.
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