ICAP Software:
HP's Instant Capacity (iCAP) software product provides the ability to instantly increase or decrease computing capacity on cell-based HP enterprise servers. The goal of this white paper is to assist in understanding how iCAP uses codewords to increase or decrease usage rights on an Instant Capacity server. Many examples will be given to illustrate the effect of codewords on the server. This white paper covers codewords for iCAP versions B.06.00 and later. Previous versions of the iCAP software (B.05.x and earlier), which did not use codewords, are not discussed in this white paper. Instant Capacity components
- Cores (formerly referred to as CPUs)
- Cell boards
- Memory
HP manufacturing can configure iCAP Software components with a new server purchase, or customers can order iCAP components to add to their server after receiving the system. The iCAP software, however, does not identify specific components as iCAP components. Instead, it tracks the number of cores and cells and the amount of memory that must remain inactive.
These quantities are represented as an "expected-inactive" count for each type of component. iCAP Software documentation also uses the term "usage rights", which is the inverse of expected inactive. In other words, on a server with eight cores, four of which are expected inactive, we can speak of usage rights for the other four cores. The "usage rights" terminology is often more convenient because, when you later apply a right-to-use (RTU) codeword to the server, you are increasing the count of usage rights (and decreasing the number of expected-inactive components).
The iCAP software makes sure that the expected number of inactive components remain inactive until a corresponding RTU has been purchased and the codeword has been applied to the system. Cores can be activated on a temporary basis by using Temporary Instant Capacity (TiCAP). (Note: You cannot access iCAP cores on iCAP Software cell boards using TiCAP because the iCAP software will not let you add an iCAP cell board into a partition.) iCAP software prior to version B.08.00 displays the number of expected-inactive components (those without usage rights) as "iCOD" components (for example, iCOD processors, iCOD cells, and iCOD memory). This terminology has proven confusing and has been changed for iCAP Software version B.08.00 and later.
As described in the previous section, iCAP Software components can be permanently activated by purchasing the corresponding usage rights. Temporary Capacity (TiCAP) allows cores to be temporarily activated if TiCAP has been purchased in advance. TiCAP is sold in quantities of 30 CPU days. After one order of TiCAP has been applied to a system, additional cores can be activated.
The iCAP Software Solutions keeps track of the quantity and time that the cores are activated. The more cores that are activated, the faster the TiCAP is consumed. For example, after applying 30 CPU days of TiCAP, 1 core could be activated for 30 days, 2 cores could be activated for 15 days, or 4 cores could be activated for 7.5 days. The activation does not have to be continuous, and the number of cores activated does not have to be the same each time.
When a system is ordered with iCAP components, it comes from the factory with the correct expected-inactive count for each component recorded in non-volatile memory (NVRAM). The iCAP inventory for the system can be displayed by running the icod_stat command. After the system has been delivered and installed, the iCAP inventory can be changed by purchasing either additional iCAP components or usage rights to permanently activate existing iCAP components. After the purchase order has been accepted by HP, a letter is sent describing how to obtain a codeword to fulfill the order.
After HP receives the purchase order, it takes a few days for the order to propagate to the HP Utility Pricing Solutions Portal. The HP Utility Pricing Solutions Portal exists to allow codewords to be generated to complete the transaction, and the iCAP inventory will be adjusted on the system to reflect the additional iCAP components and/or usage rights on the purchase order.
