5486OpS.fm Draft Document for Review October 18, 2004
508 IBM Eserver i5 and iSeries System Handbook
A virtual disk unit provides access to virtual disks for Linux. The Create
Network Server Storage Space (CRTNWSSTG) command creates a storage
space to be used by a network server, in this case the Linux partition. The
Linux installation program reformats the disk for Linux or you can use Linux
commands, such as fdisk and mke2fs, to format the disk for Linux.
Virtual CD
A virtual CD is needed to support the installation of Linux. By default, a Linux
partition can see all CD drives on the host LPAR. You can restrict Linux from
accessing some or all of those drives.
Virtual tape
Virtual tape provides access to the i5/OS or OS/400 tape drives from an
LPAR. By default, an LPAR can see all tape drives on the host partition. You
can restrict Linux from accessing some or all of those drives.
Virtual Ethernet
Virtual Ethernet provides the same function as using a 1 Gbps Ethernet
adapter. An LPAR can use virtual Ethernet to establish multiple high speed
inter-partition connections. i5/OS or OS/400 and Linux partitions can
communicate with each other using TCP/IP over the virtual Ethernet
communication ports.
Directly attached I/O in a Linux partition
With directly attached I/O, Linux manages the hardware resources directly. All I/O
resources are under the control of the Linux operating system.
Disk units, tape devices, optical devices, and LAN adapters can all be allocated
to an LPAR that is running Linux. A NWSD is necessary to install Linux in an
partition. After Linux is installed, the partition can be configured to start
independently. For directly attached hardware, all failure and diagnostic
messages are displayed within the LPAR.
With direct I/O, devices are owned by Linux. i5/OS or OS/400 does not see the
devices and cannot directly use them. Since Linux does not support IOPs, they
are not used with direct I/O. Refer to “Not all features are supported on all
models. Some features may be withdrawn but are in the table for reference. AIX
specific adapters are not described in this book.” on page 344 for a list of Linux
direct attach features.
The Linux console is a PC connected to the iSeries primary or hosting partition
via a TCP/IP LAN. Operations Console with LAN Connectivity (a function of
iSeries Access) is required to establish a secure connection to i5/OS and
OS/400. A Telnet environment is then used to connect into the Linux environment
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