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These Pages show you how to access and get started with IBM Power for Google (IP4G).
If you are new to IP4G, start with Getting Started.
The How To guides will take you through specific actions.
The Videos section has videos that may help you get going.
The Additional Information section has other helpful information, including an FAQ.
IBM® Power for Google Cloud is an infrastructure as a service solution from IBM that you can use to deploy, manage, and consume PowerVM based virtual machines (LPARs) that are connected to the Google Cloud Platform. Virtual machine (VM) management is provided by a Google aligned experience that offers APIs, command line, and web-based console options.
The IBM Power for Google Cloud service is designed to deliver a public cloud-based experience with the same infrastructure capabilities that you run on premises. You can quickly deploy Power Systems VMs to meet your specific business needs. You can create a hybrid cloud environment that combines IBM Power benefits and services on the Google Cloud Platform for a hybrid cloud solution.
You can use the IBM Power Systems for Google Cloud service to host virtual machines that are running the AIX, IBM i, or Linux operating systems.
This service uses a capacity-based subscription model with monthly pricing. The subscription is based on a cloud instance plan, which is a collection of compute, memory, storage, and network resources.
The following are some of the key features for the IBM Power for Google Cloud service.
Cloud plans are subscribed to from the Google Cloud Platform (GCP) Marketplace and included in your monthly Google bill. The pricing for the Google cloud plan is based on a monthly subscription. The Google cloud plan does not have a term commitment, and you can cancel at any time. Billing is pro-rated for partial monthly usage.
Cloud instances are networked into a target GCP project by using Google Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) Peering technology. This VPC Peering enables Virtual Machines (VMs) on IBM Power System servers to obtain direct private access to GCP resources such as compute, cloud storage, and other services over the internal global Google network. You can use this connectivity for solutions spanning IBM Power Systems infrastructure and GCP resources. For more information, see Google VPC Peering.
VMs created on IBM Power Systems infrastructure are assigned IP addresses on the cloud instance private network within the associated GCP project. By default, IP addresses are internal to the project and only accessible from resources within the project. You have full control over network access to IBM Power Systems VMs.
You can control how the VMs are made accessible beyond their GCP project by using solutions such as front-end GCP-based application servers, VPNs, NAT gateways, jump servers for SSH access, or Google Direct Interconnect solutions to the data center.
OpenAPI compliant APIs, command line, and web console options that you can use to manage the lifecycle of VMs (LPARs) from creation to deletion. Operations are also available to manage VM images, data volumes, and networks.
The command line tool is called pcloud. To view the documentation for the pcloud command, run the pcloud docs command. Documentation links for the API and web console are provided as part of the management web console.
The IBM Power for Google Cloud service includes a license to run the AIX operating system with support entitlement for supported AIX versions. This service offers a few stock AIX images that you can deploy. You can also bring your own custom AIX images based on OVA exports from IBM Cloud PowerVC Manager. You can also use AIX mksysb images along with a NIM server or AIX alt disk installation to create customized LPARs within cloud instances.
The IBM Power for Google Cloud service is composed of IBM PowerVM based Power Systems, including the latest POWER9 technology. The infrastructure includes the following attributes:
Docs and information for getting started with a new subscription to IP4G.
Before you subscribe to the IBM Power for Google Cloud service, review the following prerequisites:
Create a Google Cloud Project with a defined set of virtual private cloud (VPC) networks, which can be the default VPC for a project. For more information, see Projects and VPC networks.
Identify the network IP address space that you want to use for your cloud instance. Your IP address space must be compatible with the existing set of VPC networks in your Google Cloud project. If you want direct connectivity between your data center and the Google Cloud Platform (GCP), your cloud instance IP address space must be compatible with your on-premises networks. The IP address space uses the Classless Inter-Domain Routing (CIDR) notation to configure the service. This IP range must be a private IP range RFC1918 that does not overlap with any other IP ranges in your VPC or any advertised IP ranges coming from interconnects or VPNs that are used for on-prem resources. An example of an IP address that uses the CIDR notation is 172.16.1.0/24.
Determine which Google Cloud Billing Account you would like to use for the IBM Power for Google Cloud subscription.
Create a new Google Cloud Project that is associated with the Billing Account. This Google Cloud Project will be used to grant IBM Power for Google Cloud Administrators to the IBM Power for Google Cloud Marketplace Solution.
After you select the IBM Power for Google Cloud tile, review the available cloud instance plans and subscribe to the desired plan. Follow the workflow to register for the service and proceed to the initial configuration steps.
During the subscribing process, you must supply the information about your project, VPC, and the CIDR range for VMs created in your instance plan. This information is the basis of a series of gcloud commands that you run against your Google project to establish a connection to the service. This connection is a VPC Peering between your VPC and an IBM-managed tenant project over the Google network fabric. After the initial configuration is complete, access to the VM management GUI is enabled and your selected project is connected to your cloud instance. Next, you can create an LPAR and verify that you can connect to the LPAR.
You can change cloud instance plans to different size plans if capacity demands change over time.
To view a video on the subscription process, see here.
Initially, a single user is authorized to use a new IBM Power for Google Cloud subscription, this is the same user that completed the sign-up process. Additional users will need to be authorized to login to IBM Power for Google Cloud. Authorization requires the following.
Assign the new user the Editor IAM Role in the Google Cloud Project associated with the IBM Power for Google Cloud Billing Account.
NOTE: The Editor Role can be removed after the user has been authorized for IBM Power for Google Cloud. Converge recommends using a dedicated Google Cloud Project for authorizing users to access the IBM Power for Google Cloud Marketplace Solution. More about IAM Roles for Google Marketplace solutions can be found here. A restricted set of IAM permissions is under development.
The new user must navigate to the IBM Power for Google Cloud Marketplace solution using the link below. Ensure the correct Google Cloud project is selected.
NOTE: The Google Cloud project must be linked to a billing account where the IBM Power for Google Cloud plan/subscription has been purchased.
https://console.cloud.google.com/marketplace/product/ibm-sg/ibm-power-cloud-for-gcp
The Marketplace interface should show “Manage on Provider”. If “Manage on Provider” is not shown, verify the correct Google Cloud Project and IAM Roles are assgined.
After the new user clicks “Manage on Provider” they will be prompted to sign into their Google Cloud Identity. Once logged in, they will receive a login error from IBM Power for Google Cloud. The user is now pending authorization. Open a Google Cloud support request with the following content.
“We have granted a new user the appropriate IAM Roles and they have authenticated to IBM Power for Google Cloud using the MANAGE ON PROVIDER button. Please authorize [username@domain.com] for [Account ID]”
To add a ticket, see Create a Support Ticket
Support for IBM Power for Google Cloud is provided by Google Cloud Customer Care as Third-Party Technology Support using the Collaborative support model.
To learn more about the Third-Party Technology Support provided with Enhanced and Premium support from Google Cloud Customer Care see Getting Support for Google Cloud.
Requirements:
To open a Google Cloud support case, follow the instructions in for Creating cases in Google Cloud Support portal.
When selecting the issue category, expand Partner Support, expand IBM Power Systems for Google Cloud, and select the most appropriate sub topic for your issue.
Google engages Converge on behalf of the client as needed for investigating possible issues with the IBM Power for Google Cloud infrastructure.
For AIX or IBM i operating system support see “Opening a support case with IBM”. In these cases, the problem is with the Operating System, not Google Cloud or IBM Power for Google Cloud.
Support is available for versions of the AIX operating system that are currently in standard support. AIX versions that are in extended support are not supported for the IBM Power Systems for Google Cloud service. For more information, see AIX support lifecycle information.
You must use the IBM customer number that was provided during the subscription process for the IBM Power Systems for Google Cloud service.
To directly engage IBM for AIX or IBM i operating system support, go to the IBM Support portal.
Click Open a case, navigate to the Product field, enter AIX on Cloud or IBM i on Cloud. Complete all of the required information, and click Submit Case.
You can find the Account ID in the IBM Power for Google Cloud Web Console or pcloud cli. In the examples below, the Account ID is E-01DF-1DFC-6D14-4701. Using the Web Console, click your name > Accounts to see your Account ID.
Web Console
Using the pcloud cli.
$ pcloud config list
accountID: E-01DF-1DFC-6D14-4701
cloudID: 75a23c3671c1sjke85788b65552a74ec
cloudName: demo
region: us-east4
Your IBM Power for Google Cloud Account may have multiple Cloud Instances. If you are using two regions, you will have two Cloud Instance ID’s, one for each region. In the example below, the Cloud Instance ID is 75a23c3671c1sjke85788b65552a74ec. To locate the Cloud Instance ID, use the pcloud cli.
Using the pcloud cli.
$ pcloud config list
accountID: E-01DF-1DFC-6D14-4701
cloudID: 75a23c3671c1sjke85788b65552a74ec
cloudName: demo
region: us-east4
Documents and articles detailing how to do specific tasks in IP4G
General guides and how-to documents for IP4G that apply to any operating system.
Complete the following steps to create and configure an IBM Power for Google Cloud (IP4G) virtual machine (VM).
Follow these steps to create an IP4G virtual machine instance from the GUI. To create one from the CLI, see CLI VM Creation
If no customer-specific images have been created, import a stock image. See Adding Images to the Image Catalog
Follow these steps to configure a new virtual machine instance.
Complete all the fields under the virtual machines section.
When more than one instance is selected, Affinity Policy and Naming Convention information is available.
Complete the Boot Image fields. Select the proper type from the drop-down menus.
Complete the Processing Profile fields.
Complete the Networks fields.
Complete the Volumes fields.
Complete the various SSH Key fields. Choose to create a new SSH or use an existing.
Review your selections for accuracy and submit the form.
A Virtual Machine’s (VM) CPU allocation is determined by its Entitlement. Entitlement represents the guaranteed minimum amount of physical CPU resources available to the VM. When you provision a VM and set its Entitlement, you ensure that the VM will receive at least that level of CPU performance when needed. The vCPU value, which indicates the number of virtual processors available to the VM, is derived from the Entitlement. For VMs using shared processors, the vCPU value is set to the Entitlement rounded to the nearest whole number. In the case of VMs with dedicated processors, the vCPU value is equal to the Entitlement.
There are two primary processor types. Shared and dedicated. Shared processors can be broken down into capped or uncapped shared processors.
| CPU Type | Increment | Description |
|---|---|---|
| uncapped shared | 0.25 | CPU entitlement is guaranteed, vCPU is set to Entitlement rounded up to the nearest whole number. CPU may consume up to the vCPU value if busy. |
| capped shared | 0.25 | CPU entitlement is guaranteed, vCPU is set to Entitlement, rounded up to the nearest whole number. VM Cannot consume more CPU than its entitlement. |
| dedicated | 1 | CPU entitlement is guaranteed, VM is allocated whole CPUs. |
You can set up one or more SSH keys for root login when you create new virtual machines (VM) on a Power cloud instance. The keys are loaded into the root’s authorized_keys file. SSH keys allow you to securely log in to a VM. You must use the available operating system options to create SSH keys. To generate SSH keys on a Linux® or Mac OS system, for example, you can use the standard ssh-keygen tool.
In this example, the user created a public key on a Linux-based GCP compute instance by using the ssh-keygen tool:
> $ cat .ssh/id_rsa.pub
ssh-rsa AAAAB3NzaC1yc2EAAAADAQABAAABAQCtuQnQOc2k4zaGzE7b3xUMCjUy++s/9O9HE4fXSm7UNKoTY39zjQ8mhOwaA3HEo12tOdzdFDYHHWNOYufCcFFk61CAL6HyQGGClib1nFc1xUcgTI9Dee8zzaAsN8mIIr1CgbRELhvOsTv23U4QddpfjkcVoKfF0BAtxgauvooQdPZBoxa2rsD+BvcWnjglkYWG2aBbuzFvSl1fLMihjfej8w1lxbcsYEcJg2X96NJPLmLsEJ+XwoXfVuv0X4z8IoBzZ8UbyTlrDv73EAH34GViYfZFbrIaNnwnz/f/tuOKcINihH72YP+oZn9JeiHQ+hKpMqJAmOK2UIzYr3u+79n9 testkey
To use an SSH key with a VM create operation, you must first add the public key to the cloud instance by using the pcloud compute sshkeys create command. To add the ssh-keygen-generated public key, enter the following command (replacing the public key value with your own):
Important: You must enclose the --publickey value in quotations.
$ pcloud compute sshkeys create testkey --publickey "ssh-rsa AAAAB3NzaC
1yc2EAAAADAQABAAABAQCtuQnQOc2k4zaGzE7b3xUMCjUy++s/9O9HE4fXSm7UNKoTY39zjQ8mhOwaA3HEo12tOdzdFDYHHWNOYufCcFFk61CAL6HyQGGClib1nFc1xUcgTI9Dee8zzaAsN8mIIr1CgbRELhvOsTv23U4QddpfjkcVoKfF0BAtxgauvooQdPZBoxa2rsD+BvcWnjglkYWG2aBbuzFvSl1fLMihjfej8w1lxbcsYEcJg2X96NJPLmLsEJ+XwoXfVuv0X4z8IoBzZ8UbyTlrDv73EAH34GViYfZFbrIaNnwnz/f/tuOKcINihH72YP+oZn9JeiHQ+hKpMqJAmOK2UIzYr3u+79n9 testkey"
SSHKey created: testkey
To confirm that the key was successfully added, use the pcloud compute sshkeys list command.
$ pcloud compute sshkeys list
Name Key CreationDate
testkey ssh-rsa AAAAB3NzaC1y...UIzYr3u+79n9 testkey 2019-07-26T18:21:56.030Z
Now that you’ve added the key to the cloud instance, you can create a new VM with the key by using the following command:
$ pcloud compute instances create keytest-vm -i AIX-7200-03-03 -t shared -p 0.5 -m 5 -n gcpnetwork -k testkey
The preceding VM create operation resulted in a new AIX VM with an IP address of 172.16.7.16. You can now SSH to the AIX VM can from a connected system, which is configured with the private key for testkey. In the following example, the connecting system is a GCP x86 compute instance with direct connectivity to the Power cloud instance network.
$ ssh root@172.16.7.16
Enter passphrase for key '/home/keytest/.ssh/id_rsa':
Last login: Fri Jul 26 16:53:22 CDT 2019 on ssh from 10.150.0.11
*******************************************************************************
* *
* *
* Welcome to AIX Version 7.2! *
* *
* *
* Please see the README file in /usr/lpp/bos for information pertinent to *
* this release of the AIX Operating System. *
* *
* *
*******************************************************************************
# oslevel -s
7200-03-03-1914
#
On this AIX VM, you can find the testkey value in the authorized_keys file.
> \# cat .ssh/authorized_keys
ssh-rsa AAAAB3NzaC1yc2EAAAADAQABAAABAQCtuQnQOc2k4zaGzE7b3xUMCjUy++s/9O9HE4fXSm7UNKoTY39zjQ8mhOwaA3HEo12tOdzdFDYHHWNOYufCcFFk61CAL6HyQGGClib1nFc1xUcgTI9Dee8zzaAsN8mIIr1CgbRELhvOsTv23U4QddpfjkcVoKfF0BAtxgauvooQdPZBoxa2rsD+BvcWnjglkYWG2aBbuzFvSl1fLMihjfej8w1lxbcsYEcJg2X96NJPLmLsEJ+XwoXfVuv0X4z8IoBzZ8UbyTlrDv73EAH34GViYfZFbrIaNnwnz/f/tuOKcINihH72YP+oZn9JeiHQ+hKpMqJAmOK2UIzYr3u+79n9 testkey
You can import an OVA file to bring a new VM image and any attached data volumes into your Power cloud instance. An OVA file is an industry standard format that is used to package VM boot disk images and any related data volume images. If you are running an IBM Cloud PowerVC Manager 1.4.1, or later, landscape in your local environment, you can generate OVA files from your Power LPARs.
To bring an OVA file into your cloud instance image catalog and deploy it as a new VM, complete the following steps:
Start with a local OVA file that was generated by your existing PowerVC instance.
Upload the OVA file into a selected Google Cloud Storage bucket.
Set up access keys to the Google Cloud Storage bucket.
Note: Issuing the operation that imports the OVA file into your cloud instance provides the access keys.
Import the OVA file by using either the web UI or running the pcloud command.
After the import operation is complete, you can deploy a VM by using the new image in your image catalog.
You can set up a cloud storage bucket by using the pcloud command to import OVA files.
To begin, you must create a cloud storage bucket. The following graphic provides an overview of a user-created cloud storage bucket named power-ova-import-bucket. The Link for gsutil field contains access information that is an important part of the import operation.
To enable access to the cloud storage bucket for the Power Systems IaaS management service, you must create a storage access key. You can create a storage access key in the settings area of the cloud bucket management UI.
Selecting the create a new key option generates the access key and secret as shown in the following example:
After you generate an access key and secret, the cloud storage bucket can hold OVA files and be used with the Power IaaS management service image import feature. You can upload files to the cloud storage bucket by using the upload files feature of the web UI or with the gsutil command. For more information, visit the Google Cloud Storage Documentation site.
In the following example, a user created an OVA file that is named AIX-7200-03-03.ova.gz and placed it in the cloud storage bucket.
The pcloud compute images import command imports an OVA file. For pcloud compute images import command usage and flag details, refer to the following code block:
$ pcloud compute images import -h
Import a new Image for a Cloud Instance.
Usage:
pcloud compute images import <ImageName> --bucketname <Bucket> --filename <ImageFileName> --accesskey <AccessKey> --secretkey <SecretKey> [flags]
Flags:
-a, --accesskey string Cloud Storage Access Key (required)
-b, --bucketname string Cloud Storage Bucket (bucket name plus optional folders): bucket-name[/folder/../] (required)
-f, --filename string Cloud Storage Image File Name, should end with .ova, .ova.gz, .tar, .tar.gz or .tgz (required)
-h, --help help for import
-s, --secretkey string Cloud Storage Secret Key (required)
-t, --storagetype string Storage Type (must be one of {"standard", "ssd"}) (default "standard")
Global Flags:
-F, --format string Available formats: 'table', 'yaml', 'json', 'csv'.
Default is command specific.
Can be used with describe and list subcommands.
-D, --log.dir string Override Log file directory
-L, --log.file string Override Log file name
-V, --verbosity string Override Log verbosity
ImageName - the argument that assigns a name to the image after you import it into your image catalog.Bucket - the argument that provides the gsutil path to the cloud storage bucket where the OVA file resides. The path specification can include the gs:// prefix or ignore it.ImageFileName - the name of the OVA file residing in the cloud storage bucket.AccessKey - the generated storage access key. See the cloud bucket management UI settings.SecretKey - the generated secret key. See the cloud bucket management UI settings.The following example shows a customer importaning an OVA file by using the pcloud command:
pcloud compute images import aix72-ova-import -p gs://power-ova-import-bucket -f AIX-7200-03-03.ova.gz -a GOOGL2ET2IZLPJ52AOTMKZ3B -s UFmy48unWpAUs3jt1y3NSe91bUL7UhW32LaQSRo0
Image created with "b05cde35-680b-47b6-85a8-b38404e5e64e" ID while doing "import" operation on "power-ova-import-bucket/7200-03-03.ova.gz" Image (complete Image import is not immediate)
Note: The pcloud command returns immediately. However, the actual time for the import operation to complete depends on the OVA file size.
The pcloud compute images describe command monitors the progress of the import operation. While the import operation is in progress, the image state is queued as in the following example:
$ pcloud compute images describe aix72-ova-import
imageID: d090596b-3f55-4034-90d4-e519ff9e737e
name: aix72-ova-import
cloudID: ""
description: ""
size: 0
operatingSystem: aix
architecture: ppc64
state: queued
containerFormat: bare
diskFormat: raw
endianess: ""
creationDate: "2019-07-19T15:35:39.000Z"
updateDate: "2019-07-19T15:35:39.000Z"
After the import operation finishes, the image state transitions to active.
$ pcloud compute images describe aix72-ova-import
imageID: d090596b-3f55-4034-90d4-e519ff9e737e
name: aix72-ova-import
cloudID: ""
description: ""
size: 20
operatingSystem: aix
architecture: ppc64
state: active
containerFormat: bare
diskFormat: raw
endianess: big-endian
creationDate: "2019-07-19T15:35:39.000Z"
updateDate: "2019-07-19T15:40:50.000Z"
The image is now part of the image catalog for the cloud instance and can be used to create new VMs. You can also delete the OVA file from the cloud storage bucket and remove the access keys.
$ pcloud compute images list
ImageID Name
8f718bb5-495c-4a0d-b537-d2ad4b03f8c1 AIX-7200-03-03
d090596b-3f55-4034-90d4-e519ff9e737e aix72-ova-import
You can create a VM with the newly imported image by typing in the following command:
$ pcloud compute instances create import-test-vm -t shared -p 1 -m 6 -n gcp-network -i aix72-ova-import
"import-test-vm" VM Instance being created (complete VM Instance creation is not immediate)
After a short period, the VM is deployed and is ready for access.
$ pcloud compute instances describe import-test-vm
instanceID: 8ac6c2eb-8497-444e-9aac-5b9b31a97aed
name: import-test-vm
cloudID: 7f16fae4f3f54d8bb62f75645db56905
processors: 1
procType: shared
memory: 6
migratable: false
status: ACTIVE
health: OK
systemType: IBM S922
imageID: d090596b-3f55-4034-90d4-e519ff9e737e
networks:
- ipAddress: 192.168.0.10
macAddress: fa:86:bc:91:9d:20
networkName: gcp-network
networkID: 8e72b5cc-9e50-4b06-bc56-eb4e1781eefe
volumeIDs:
- 122405f4-14a9-49f0-a665-2b3c08f4a3f4
creationDate: "2019-07-19T16:20:49.000Z"
updateDate: "2019-07-19T16:20:49.000Z"
$ pcloud compute instances console import-test-vm
console: https://pforg.ibm.com/console/index.html?token=<token>
To verify that the VM is working correctly, log into the system using the AIX console.
Virtual machine (VM) instances can be captured and exported from the IBM Power for Google Cloud Platform (IP4G) service. This can be done through either the command line interface (CLI) or web interface. The captured image is stored as a new volume on the back end storage. A captured image can then be exported to Google Cloud Storage. Images are exported in an Open Virtualization Appliance (OVA) file. OVA files are compressed using gzip before export to Google Cloud Storage.
When capturing an image, an export destination of “image catalog” and/or “cloud storage” can be selected. The image catalog resides in the customer’s IP4G storage area. It can be used as a template to create new VMs. The cloud storage option transfers the image to Google Cloud Storage immediately. Images in the image catalog are transferrable to cloud storage at a later date as well.
Only one Image Capture and Export or Import function can be performed at a time.
Images captured from running VMs will be captured in a “crash-consistent” state. For best results, when possible, capture images with the VM shut down. If a VM cannot be stopped before capture, it is recommended to flush the file system buffer cache to disk. Use the following commands to accomplish this:
CHGASPACTOPTION(*FRCWRT)
sync; sync; sync
Use the following steps to perform a capture and export through the IP4G interface.
The pcloud CLI can also be used to capture and export a virtual machine image.
The pcloud compute instances capture command can be used to capture a virtual machine image. The image can be exported to an image catalog, Cloud Object Storage, or both.
Capture VM Instance to image catalog:
pcloud compute instances capture <InstanceName> --destination image-catalog --name <ImageName>
Capture VM Instance to Google Cloud Storage:
pcloud compute instances capture <InstanceName> --destination [cloud-storage|both]
--name <ImageName> --bucketname <Bucket> --accesskey <AccessKey> --secretkey <SecretKey> [flags]
Use the following command to view exported images in the image catalog:
pcloud compute images list
Use the following prerequisites and recommendations to ensure a successful migration to IBM Power for Google Cloud (IP4G).
For AIX systems, ensure that the operating systems are running the following minimum versions:
| AIX Version | Minimum TL/ML | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 5.3 | 5300-12-04 | Only supported within a Versioned WPAR |
| 7.1 | 7100-05-06 | |
| 7.2 | 7200-05-01 | |
| 7.3 | 7300-00-01 |
Additional software requirements:
Additional recommendations:
chdev -P -l hdiskX -a algorithm=shortest_queue -a reserve_policy=no_reserve
Use a mksysb from an existing system to migrate into IP4G. Do this by building a new system from a stock image, and using the alt_disk_mksysb command. The following steps highlight how to do so using the pcloud CLI. However, the IP4G specific steps can also be performed from the GUI.
First, check if the fileset devices.fcp.disk.ibm.mpio exists. To do this, execute the following:
lslpp -Lc | grep devices.fcp.disk.ibm.mpio
If the fileset is installed, there are two ways to handle this. Either it must be removed from the system before the mksysb is created, or when running alt_disk_mksysb. Doing that will involve using the alt_rootvg_op command to wake the alt disk and remove the fileset.
Customers are responsible for evaluating the impact of removing the fileset in their environment.
To remove execute:
installp -u devices.fcp.disk.ibm.mpio
To begin, take a mksysb on the source system. It is recommended that the rootvg of the source system is not mirrored. If it is, edit the image.data file to unmirror it before restoring it. Details for that are included below. If the source system is running AIX 7.2 or higher, using the following command:
mksysb -C -i /path/to/hostname.mksysb
If the source system is running AIX 7.1, use the following command:
mksysb -i /path/to/hostname.mksysb
Build the system to do the alt_disk_mksysb on. This system will boot at first from a stock AIX image. Then after the mksysb restore, it will boot from the restored AIX image. If a stock image has not already been imported, see Obtaining a VM Image
LINK
To get started, gather the following information:
Example:
pcloud compute instances create hostname –image AIX-7200-05-09 –network gcp-network -c 0.25 -m 8 -t shared
Two disks are needed. One for temporary storage for the mksysb. The other for restoring the mksysb to alt_disk_mksysb. Wait for the new instance to build.
First, build the target disk for the mksysb. It needs to be large enough to hold the source system rootvg. Change the size and disk type appropriately for the system.
pcloud compute volumes create hostname-rootvg -s 20 -T ssd
Log into the new target system from the console as root. Then, run cfgmgr to discover the new disk. There should now be two disks: hdisk0, the original stock AIX image disk, and hdisk1, the target disk for the mksysb. One more disk is needed to hold the mksysb to restore. The easiest to cleanup is to add it to the rootvg, and expand /tmp.
Use the pcloud command to create a new disk, changing the size to be sufficient for holding the mksysb:
pcloud compute volumes create hostname-tempdisk -s 20 -T ssd
Log into the target system, and discover the new disk with cfgmgr. The new disk should be hdisk2. To validate which is which, run:
lsmpio -qa
Add the disk to the rootvg. Note that it is important to only add the temporary disk here: extendvg rootvg hdisk2.
Add space to /tmp
chfs -a size=+20G /tmp
Use the following to restore the mksysb on a target system.
Copy the mksysb file from the original source system to the new target system.
Place it in /tmp. Use any preferred method, such as scp, for transferring the mksysb. Note that if the original rootvg was mirrored, unmirror it before using alt_disk_mksysb. Do this by restoring the image.data file and editing it. It must be edited so the PPs line for each LV is equal to the LPs line. To restore image.data, use this command:
restore -xqvf /tmp/hostname.mksysb ./image.data
If this had to be done, specify to use the new image.data when restoring. Add the flag -i /tmp/image.data to the alt_disk_mksysb command.
To restore the mksysb use the alt_disk_mksysb command:
alt_disk_mksysb -m /tmp/hostname.mksysb -d hdisk1 -z -c /dev/vty0
shutdown -FrConfirm the VM has booted from the disk containing the restored mksysb. In this example, that would be hdisk1. Use lspv to validate which disks / vg’s are present:
lspv
Use the following to clean up the temporary disks.
Use exportvg to remove the old rootvg exportvg old_rootvg rmdev -dl hdisk0.
rmdev -dl hdisk2
Use the pcloud command to set the new rootvg volume as bootable:
pcloud compute volumes update hostname-rootvg --bootable yes
Use the pcloud command to clean up the old hdisks. Find the old boot disk name using:
pcloud compute instances describe hostname
Set the old disk so it is not bootable. Match the name to the boot-0 volume from the instances describe output. To do this use:
pcloud compute volumes update hostname-d4751509-00000b25-boot-0 --bootable no
Use the following to delete the original boot volume, and the temporary disks.
pcloud compute volumes delete hostname-d4751509-00000b25-boot-0
pcloud compute volumes delete hostname-tempdisk
This document outlines Multipath I/O (MPIO) best practices for IBM Power for Google (IP4G) deployments, focusing on actions customers can take to ensure optimal performance and availability.
Converge handles the underlying MPIO configuration, including redundant paths, adapter diversity, and fabric management.
You can learn more about the general MPIO configuration from the official IBM documentation:
It is important customers understand their Application and select MPIO policies that best suit their Application requirements.
Key Considerations:
Regularly monitor the status of MPIO paths to proactively identify potential issues. Customers should consider integrating these MPIO status into their monitoring and alerting. Sample commands for monitoring:
lspath:
lspath
This command displays path status for all devices.
lspath -l <device_name>
This command displays all paths associated with a specific device, including their status (Available, Defined, Failed).
lsmpio:
lsmpio
This command shows detailed information and status for all devices and paths, including their status and path status.
lsmpio -l <device_name>
This command provides detailed information for a specific device.
Converge manages all hardware and VIOS maintenance, including firmware upgrades and network changes. Converge sends notifications in advance of any planned maintenance.
Before Maintenance:
Check Path Status: Use lspath or lsmpio to get a baseline of current path status. This will help identify any discrepancies after maintenance.
Resolve any Down Paths: If paths are discovered as down they should be fixed prior to maitnenance to avoid an outage. A standard method for doing so is to:
rmpath -l hdiskX -p fscsiYAfter Maintenance:
Verify Path Status: Use lspath or lsmpio again to confirm that all paths have recovered and are in the “Available” state.
Recover Paths: Sometimes AIX does not automatically recover paths. During these scenarios, customer should attempt to recover the paths. A standard method for doing so is to:
rmpath -l hdiskX -p fscsiYReport Issues: If there are any issues with pathing or storage connectivity after maintenance, promptly report them to Converge for resolution.
By following these guidelines and proactively monitoring MPIO paths, customers can ensure the high availability and performance of their applications running on IBM Power for Google.
This document provides guidance on adjusting TCP/IP settings in your IP4G environment within Google Cloud to potentially enhance network performance. These settings are intended as starting points and may require further tuning based on the specific needs of your applications and virtual machines.
Note: Before making any changes, ensure you have a baseline understanding of your current network performance. This will help you assess the impact of any adjustments made.
The following commands can be used to modify the TCP/IP settings:
chdev -l en0 -a tcp_sendspace=2049152
chdev -l en0 -a tcp_recvspace=2049152
chdev -l en0 -a rfc1323=1
chdev -l en0 -a mtu=1460
no -p -o sb_max=8196608
no -p -o tcp_nodelayack=0
no -p -o sack=1
chdev -l en0 -a mtu_bypass=on
no -p -o tcp_sendspace=2049152
no -p -o tcp_recvspace=2049152
mtu setting on your IP4G instances matches the VPC MTU. If your GCP VPC is at the default 1460 MTU, your IP4G AIX instances should use an MTU of 1440.After implementing these settings, it’s essential to monitor your network performance to determine their effectiveness. Several tools can assist in this evaluation:
netstat, tcpdump, or Wireshark to monitor network traffic and identify any bottlenecks or performance issues.iperf3 to measure network throughput and latency before and after applying the settings.Remember: These settings are starting points, and further adjustments may be necessary based on your specific environment and application requirements. Continuously monitor and fine-tune these settings to optimize your network performance.
tcp_nodelayack, while those prioritizing throughput might benefit from larger send and receive buffers.By carefully adjusting and monitoring your TCP/IP settings, you can potentially enhance the performance of your IP4G environment and ensure optimal network efficiency for your applications.
Installing the gcloud sdk on AIX will allow you to download and upload from Google Cloud Storage buckets, as well as controlling other aspects of your google cloud environment. In AIX, it is primarily used for interacting with Storage Buckets and objects.
This Guide is not comprehensive, as covering all AIX versions and types is not possible. Note that it is easiest on AIX 7.3, as it requires python 3.8 or above. This example assumes a system built by downloading the AIX 7.3 TL1 stock image.
First, prepare your filesystems for new content
chfs -a size=+2G /opt
chfs -a size=+500M /tmp
chfs -a size=+500M /var
Next, I recommend you update your system using SUMA. To do this, we’ll clear out /usr/sys/inst.images first
rm -rf /usr/sys/inst.images/*
smitty suma
Select Download Updates Now (Easy)
Select Download All Latest Fixes
Once those have downloaded, update your system using
smitty update_all
For the directory, enter /usr/sys/inst.images
Change ACCEPT new license agreements? to yes
Once those updates have installed run
updtvpkg
dnf update python3 dnf
You should now be ready to install requisite software for the gcloud sdk
dnf install curl coreutils tar git bash python3-pip
Change your path to use the new gnu utilities
export PATH=/opt/freeware/bin:$PATH
Download the gcloud sdk installer and run it
curl https://sdk.cloud.google.com | bash
For an installation directory use /opt/freeware/
For Do you want to help improve the Google Cloud CLI (y/N)? say n
You will now see:
ERROR: (gcloud.components.update) The following components are unknown [gcloud-crc32c].
You can disregard this. You may wish to switch to a non-root user for the remaining steps.
Set your path
export PATH=/opt/freeware/google-cloud-sdk/bin/:$PATH:/opt/freeware/bin
Now you can run the google cloud sdk:
gcloud auth login
Follow the login prompts, pasting in the code to authenticate.
Adjust your crc settings. Using if_fast_else_skip is faster and uses less CPU, but also does no crc checking.
gcloud config set storage/check_hashes if_fast_else_skip
or
gcloud config set storage/check_hashes always
You should now be able to list the content of buckets you have access to, and download files.
gcloud storage ls gs://<bucketname>
gcloud storage cp gs://<bucketname>/<filename> /path/to/download/
This article provides details on Resource Monitoring and Control (RMC). Also presented below are troubleshooting methods for common problems.
Use the methods below to address issues. If unable to resolve the issue, reach out for support. For more information about contacting support, see Obtaining a VM Image LINK
This article provides details on Resource Monitoring and Control (RMC). Also presented below are troubleshooting methods for common problems.
Management consoles use RMC to perform dynamic operations on a virtual machine (VM). RMC connections are routed through a dedicated internal virtual network using IPv6. That network’s configuration prevents a VM from communicating with another VM.
The methods below can help troubleshoot common problems with RMC. Most common is a VM cannot be modified online and is in an unhealthy state. In the example below, the Health of the virtual machine is listed as “Warning”.
$ pcloud compute instances list
InstanceID Name Status Health IPs
12345678-9abc-123a-b456-789abcdef123 lpar1 ACTIVE WARNING [192.168.1.5]
Restarting RMC is the most common solution.
/usr/sbin/rsct/bin/rmcctrl -z
/usr/sbin/rsct/bin/rmcctrl -A
/usr/sbin/rsct/bin/rmcctrl -p
Be aware that layered software using Reliable Scalable Cluster Technology (RSCT) will be impacted. For example, this will trigger an immediate failover in PowerHA environments.
Validate the version of the RSCT. Methods for this depend on the operating system. The RSCT packages must be at version 3.2.1.0 or later.
lslpp -L rsct.*
rpm -qa | grep -e rsct -e src
Use the following to gather information about the RMC. This information can be helpful in resolving many issues.
/usr/sbin/rsct/bin/lsnodeid
lsrsrc IBM.MCP
/opt/rsct/bin/rmcdomainstatus -s ctrmc
Validate the connectivity by using the methods below.
netstat -in# netstat -in
Name Mtu Network Address Ipkts Ierrs Opkts Oerrs Coll
...
en1 1500 fe80::ecad:f1ff:febe:ea13 711114 0 711198 0 0
...
start /usr/sbin/autoconf6 "" " -i en1"
start /usr/sbin/ndpd-host "$src_running"
autoconf6 -i en1ip addr showlsrsrc IBM.MCPUse the following command to verify if the services are active.
lssrc -s ndpd-host
If it isn’t active, use the following:
startsrc -s ndpd-host
This article covers how to access IBM i virtual machines (VMs) in IBM Power for Google Cloud (IP4G). Use the following information to access newly created IBM i virtual machines (VMs). Typically, end-users access IBM i VMs running in IP4G the same way they access IBM i systems running on-premises. Network traffic directed to IP4G VMs normally routes over any of the available connectivity methods. However, if network connectivity has not been completed, use the following procedures to gain access.
Requirements:
Use any 5250 emulator to access IP4G VMs using SSH tunelling to forward port 23. IBM i Access Client Solutions (iACS) requires forwarding several other ports for licensing and other system administrative functions. By default the majority of the required ports are blocked by IP4G and Google Cloud firewalls. Leverage SSH tunneling to forward these ports to a local workstation and gain access.
First, start the required TCP/IP servers on the VM:
STRTCPSVR SERVER(*SSH)
STRTCPSVR SERVER(*HTTP) HTTPSVR(*ADMIN)
STRTCPSVR SERVER(*TELNET)
The required ports to forward are:
If using a Mac or Linux system, use the following command or similar:
ssh -L 50000:localhost:23 -L 2001:localhost:2001 -L 2005:localhost:2005 \
-L 449:localhost:449 -L 8470:localhost:8470 -L 8471:localhost:8471 \
-L 8472:localhost:8472 -L 8473:localhost:8473 -L 8474:localhost:8474 \
-L 8475:localhost:8475 -L 8476:localhost:8476 -o ExitOnForwardFailure=yes \
-o ServerAliveInterval=15 -o ServerAliveCountMax=3 <user>@<ipaddress>
Where
If using a Windows system, you can use the free PuTTY utility.
Launch PuTTY. Under Session, fill in the Host Name (or IP address) field. Use the public IP address of the IBM i VM in IP4G. For Connection type, select SSH.
Next, in the left side navigation pane, expand the Connection tree. Then expand the SSH tree. Within that tree, click on Tunnels. On that screen:
Next, add and properly set the ports from the required port list above. Those ports, 23, 2001, 2005, 449, and 8470-8476 each need added. For each port:
Click on Session in the left navigation window. Give the just completed configuration a name, and click Save. This will prevent having to perform the previous steps again for this VM.
At the bottom of the PuTTY Configuration window, click Open. This starts the PuTTY session and begins port forwarding. A prompt to accept the remote system key on first use will appear. Click Accept. Then, log in using QSECOFR or another configured user.
Next, configure iACS to use forwarded ports. Do this only after port forwarding has been configured and started.
Create a new 5250 session in iACS.
Click OK and connect to the system.
Additionally, IBM i Navigator can be accessed through the following URL:
https://127.0.0.1:2005/ibm/console/login.do?action=secure
This article explains two ways to access the IBM i console. The first method is through the IBM Power for Google Cloud (IP4G) user interface. The second method is through a LAN console.
Browse to an IBM i instance from the VM Instances list. Then, click on the Console button in the actions toolbar:
Use the tool bar at the bottom to access the Extended Function keys, F13 through F24. Some users may need to scroll the VNC window down to see them.
The shift key does not always work for the Extended Function keys. Click the “Next P…” button to display the Extended Function Keys.
The web console will time out occasionally. A session can be re-established by refreshing the IP4G web interface page.
Optionally, set up a LAN console by adding an additional network interface to the Virtual Machine (VM). This can be done via the pcloud command line.
Obtain a list of the available networks:
pcloud compute networks list
NetworkID Name VLANID
2c45110a-2a33-4880-a90d-000000000000 test-network-1 334
932cda0c-6cc7-4a5a-93f2-000000000000 test-network-2 111
fcc506f3-70e2-45a2-9ee3-000000000000 test-network-3 20
Obtain a list of the available VM instances:
pcloud compute instances list
NetworkID Name VLANID
...
36e0b4ac-1e63-410d-97f2-000000000000 tst-ibmi72 ACTIVE OK [10.3.4.116]
...
Attach a second network interface to the VM. Specify the network name and the VM instance name obtained above.
pcloud compute instances attach-network tst-ibmi72 --network test-network-1
When this command executes, IP4G assigns the network and selects an IP from the pool. Use this IP for the Service Tools LAN Adapter. However, it will need assigned manually. Use the following command to view the new network:
pcloud compute instances describe tst-ibmi72
instanceID: 36e0b4ac-1e63-410d-97f2-000000000000
name: tst-ibmi72
...
systemType: s922
cores: 1
procType: dedicated
memory: 8
pinPolicy: none
status: ACTIVE
...
networks:
- ipAddress: 10.3.4.142
macAddress: 00:00:00:00:00:00
networkName: test-network-1
...
Per the example, the new network interface uses the IP address 10.3.4.142.
Use the following command to determine the resource name of the new interface:
WRKHDWRSC *CMN
In this example, the new adapter is CMN05. This is the device to use in Service Tools. When added via the pcloud command, cloud-init may create a line description for the new device. Check this with the WRKLIND command. If needed, vary off and delete the new line description if one was created.
Start Service Tools:
Choose Option 8, “Work with Service Tools Server Security and Devices”:
Press F13 (Select STS LAN adapter). A list of the available resources will be displayed:
Choose Option 1, then press Enter to go to the configuration panel. Enter the IP address recorded earlier. Then, enter the matching netmask from the IP4G network configuration:
Press F7 to store the configuration. Then press F17 to de-activate/activate the adapter. It should then be possible to ping the IP address of the adapter. Use this as the console address in IBM i Access Client Solutions:
Once configured, use the “5250 Console” link in IBM i Access Client Solutions to access the console. Optionally, take over the console if prompted. Use the default user account to connect. The default user account uses “11111111” as the user name and password. Alternately, use an account created in Service Tools.
Use the following prerequisites and recommendations to ensure a successful migration to IBM Power for Google Cloud (IP4G).
For IBM i systems, ensure that the operating systems are running the following minimum versions:
| IBM i version | Minimum PTF Level | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 7.2 | TR8 | Only on Power 9 systems. 7.2 has been withdrawn from support. |
| 7.3 | TR12 | |
| 7.4 | TR6 | |
| 7.5 | Supported in base release. |
Additional software requirements:
Additional recommendations:
Use the following prerequisites and recommendations to ensure a successful migration to IBM Power for Google Cloud (IP4G).
For Power Linux systems, ensure that the operating systems are running the following minimum versions:
| Linux Distribution | Minimum Release | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux | 8.4 for Power LE | Earlier releases might run on Power 9 systems only |
| 9.0 for Power LE | Earlier releases might run on Power 9 systems only | |
| SuSE Linux Enterprise Server | 15 Service Pack 3 | Earlier releases might run on Power 9 systems only |
| Ubuntu Server | 22.04 | Earlier releases might run on Power 9 systems only |
Additional recommendations:
The pcloud command line tool allows you to create and manage the lifecycle of VMs on your IBM Power for Google Cloud instance. You can use the pcloud command line tool to manage related resources such as VM images and data volumes. The pcloud command line tool is a stand alone executable file that is available for use on Mac, Windows, and Linux operating systems. You can obtain the latest pcloud binaries from the cli download site.
Before you can start using the pcloud tool, you must have an available Power Cloud instance that is provisioned and attached to a selected GCP project within your organization. This process occurs when you subscribe to the offering in the GCP Marketplace. Next, run the pcloud auth login command to authenticate to your cloud instance. When you authenticate, you must use the registered Google identity that is associated with the organization and the billing account that is used in the subscription. Running the pcloud auth login command provides you with a unique code to register your pcloud instance. In the following example, XXXX-YYYY represents the unique code.
pcloud auth login
To authorize pcloud you will need to complete following steps (within 30 minutes):
1. Navigate to: https://www.google.com/device
2. Enter the code: XXXX-YYYY
3. Select your Google ID that was registered with IBM Power Systems for Google Cloud
Once these steps have been completed the login command will complete within 5 seconds
When you go to https://www.google.com/device, you must enter the code in the dialog box. Next, a popup is displayed and you select the appropriate identity. After you complete this process, pcloud is now enabled to operate against the Power Systems Cloud instance that is associated with your Google identity. To verify that pcloud is enabled, run the pcloud config list, pcloud compute clouds list, and pcloud compute clouds describe commands. The following example displays the correct sequence of running these commands.
# pcloud config list
accountID: test
cloudID: 7f16fae4f3f54d8bb62f75645db56905
cloudName: test-us-east4
region: us-east4
# pcloud compute clouds list
CloudID Name Region Current
7f16fae4f3f54d8bb62f75645db56905 test-us-east4 us-east4 true
7f8e1c3032484fa390d7e87d329afdb1 test-us-central1 us-central1 false
# pcloud compute clouds describe test-us-east4
cloudID: 7f16fae4f3f54d8bb62f75645db56905
name: test-us-east4
accountID: test
ibmCustomerNumber: "1234"
region: us-east4
storageTypes: ssd, standard
defaultStorageType: standard
usage:
memory: 152
cores: 21.5
storage: 3.378
instances: 7
limits:
memory: 640
cores: 70
storage: 50
instances: 40
peeringNetworks: 1
peeringBandwidth: 1000
limitsPerVM:
memory: 400
cores: 15
You can use the –help option with all subcommands to get additional information and available options for each of the operations. You can run the pcloud docs command to generate an up-to-date collection of documentation in markdown formatted (.md) files.
By default, the markdown files are placed in a newly created pcloud-doc directory.
You can use the -d option with pcloud docs to specify an alternate directory that will be created.
If pcloud-doc or the alternate directory already exists, it must be renamed or removed before running pcloud docs.
To view the markdown files, you can use a browser plug-in or other available tools. For example, you can use the Markdown Viewer plug-in for the Chrome browser.
The pcloud_main.md file is the top level document with links to specific topics.
Before you can create your first VM on your Power cloud instance, you must have a VM image in your cloud instance catalog. IBM provides a few stock images. These stock images are ideal for creating your first VM. The service also supports options to bring your own images.
To view available stock images, run the pcloud compute images list -a command. The following example displays the output from running this command:
pcloud compute images list -a
ImageID Name
9f72fc9b-a8b9-4d50-ad2d-65564a80b6d8 7100-05-04
0d50200b-c1b7-41fc-a858-7d3627714384 7200-03-03
The previous command without the -a flag can be used to list the images that are currently in your image catalog.
pcloud compute images list
ImageID Name
a232f02c-f041-480a-8b5a-87058710e2b3 7200-03-03
To copy a stock image into your cloud catalog, run the pcloud compute images create command. The following example uses the AIX 7100-05-04 stock image.
pcloud compute images create 9f72fc9b-a8b9-4d50-ad2d-65564a80b6d8
Now that you created the 7100-05-04 image, it is part of the cloud instance catalog and can be used to deploy VMs.
The pcloud command line interface provides functionality to add a network interface to a virtual machine.
The command to add the additional network interface is as follows:
pcloud compute instances attach-network <InstanceName> --network <NetworkName[:IPAddress]> [flags]
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
| h, –help | Help for attach-network |
| -n, –network string | Network to attach to the VM Instance value must follow the <NetworkName[:IPAddress]> form. Note that “NetworkID” can be provided instead of “NetworkName”, “IPAddress” is optional. Required. |
| Global Flags | Description |
|---|---|
| -F, –format string | Available formats: “table”, “yaml”, “json”, “csv”. Default is command specific. Can be used with describe and list subcommands. |
| -D, –log dir string | Override Log file Directory |
| -L, –log file string | Override Log File Name |
| -V, –verbosity string | Override Log Verbosity |
After a new interface has been created, the IP address will not automatically be assigned to the interface in the OS. Use the standard procedure for the operating system running in the VM to assign the IP address to the interface and bring it up.
After you have an image and network, you can create a VM by running the pcloud compute instances create command. The following is an example of the output from using the -h flag for this command:
# pcloud compute instances create -h
Create a VM Instance in IBM Power Cloud.
Most of the flags have default values, but you must enter the VM name to be created, and mandatory image and network names.
You can list the images of your Cloud by running the "pcloud compute images list" command.
You can list the available networks by running the "pcloud compute networks list" command.
Creating a new VM instance can take a few minutes to fully complete. You can look at the state
of the VM by using the "pcloud compute instances describe" subcommand.
Usage:
pcloud compute instances create <InstanceName> --image <ImageName> --network <NetworkName[:IPAddress]> [flags]
Flags:
-a, --affinityPolicy string Affinity policy for replicants being created (must be one of {"affinity", "anti-affinity", "none"}) (default "none")
-c, --cores float Number of cores to allocate to the VM Instance (default 2)
-h, --help help for create
-i, --image string Image to allocate to the VM Instance (note that 'ImageID' or 'ImageName' can be used) (required)
-k, --keypair string SSHKeyPair Name
-m, --memory float Memory size (in GB) to allocate to the VM Instance (default 4)
-s, --namingScheme string Replicants naming scheme (must be one of {"prefix", "suffix"}) (default "suffix")
-n, --network strings Networks to assign to the VM Instance, (values must follow the <NetworkName[:IPAddress]> form, note that 'NetworkID' can be provided instead of 'NetworkName', 'IPAddress' is optional, several --network allowed) (required)
-P, --pinPolicy string VM pinning policy (must be one of {"none", "soft", "hard"}) (default "none")
-t, --proctype string Dedicated, Shared or Capped Processing Type (must be one of {"dedicated", "shared", "capped"}) (default "dedicated")
-r, --replicants float Number of replicants (default 1)
-T, --storagetype string Storage type for VMInstance deployment (required only if image is a "stock" image - default value set).
Storage type depends on the region of your cloud and can only be set from a short list of available values.
You can list the available storage types and the default storage type for your cloud by running the "pcloud compute clouds describe" command.
-u, --userdata string Cloud-init user defined data file (optional, if necessary data are uuencoded before being sent)
-v, --volume strings Volumes to assign to the VM Instance (several --volume allowed, note that 'VolumeID' or 'VolumeName' can be used)
Global Flags:
-F, --format string Available formats: 'table', 'yaml', 'json', 'csv'.
Default is command specific.
Can be used with describe and list subcommands.
-D, --log.dir string Override Log file directory
-L, --log.file string Override Log file name
-V, --verbosity string Override Log verbosity
Some of the flags have default values, but you must enter several parameters. For example, you must enter the VM image name and the network ID.
You can list the available networks by running the pcloud compute networks list command. A cloud instance has at least one network that was created when it was initially provisioned. This network is what connects the cloud instance and its VMs to GCP.
If you run the command in the following example, you create a new AIX 7.2 VM with two entitled shared cores of compute and 8 GB of RAM.
pcloud compute instances create mytestvm -i 7200-03-03 -m 8 -c 2 -t shared -n gcp-network
Creating a new VM instance can take a few minutes to fully complete. You can look at the state of the VM by using the describe subcommand. In the following example, the VM is still booting up and initializing.
# pcloud compute instances describe test-vm10
instanceID: 4f99e4c5-b8e4-4751-80a8-dd02ccbb00d0
name: test-vm10
cloudID: 7f16fae4f3f54d8bb62f75645db56905
systemType: s922
cores: 2
procType: shared
memory: 24
pinPolicy: none
status: ACTIVE
health:
status: OK
lastUpdate: 2021-04-22T17:23:12.354988
reason: '-'
fault:
code: 0
created: '-'
details: '-'
message: '-'
imageID: 91e656a6-a9a1-4a99-abb9-7bcb366c3546
networks:
- ipAddress: 192.168.0.17
macAddress: fa:b8:ef:cf:4b:20
networkName: gcp-network
networkID: 8e72b5cc-9e50-4b06-bc56-eb4e1781eefe
volumes:
- name: test-vm10-4f99e4c5-00000ad1-boot-0
ID: bc141301-85a2-461e-8c68-1f0bc67a35c4
storageType: standard
size: 20
shareable: false
bootable: true
bootVolume: true
creationDate: "2021-04-22T17:09:37.000Z"
updateDate: "2021-04-22T17:09:37.000Z"
progress: 0
To initially access the new VM, you can use the console subcommand. This subcommand generates a url that can be used in your web browser to access the console of the VM. A recommended first task is to create a password for root using the passwd command so that ssh as root can be used with the VM.
pcloud compute instances console mytestvm
console: https://pforg.converge.cloud/console/index.html?token=<token>
In IP4G there are two volume types. Those volumes are defined by a name (HDD or SDD) and correspond to the following Characteristics:
| Region | Description |
|---|---|
| US East | SDD and HDD are different hardware types. Performance is dictacted by the corresponding hardware. |
| All other Regions | SSD and HDD are both IBM Flash Storage, with a QoS limit of 10 iops/GB for SSD, and 3 iops/GB for HDD. |
You can see an individual volumes iops limit using
pcloud compute volumes describe <volume name>
You can create more data volumes to hold application data or support multi-disk use cases with your VMs by using the compute volumes subcommand. The following are examples of using the compute volumes subcommand
To list out existing volumes:
pcloud compute volumes list
VolumeID Name Size StorageType State Shareable Bootable
696226c7-0a97-4917-a220-9bcbe828dab8 mytestvm-7f11d296-000006ac-boot-0 20 standard in-use false true
e2c688bb-962d-413c-ba14-804e9fbb6042 instanceTestN-ef7c9d9d-00000697-boot-0 32 standard in-use false true
To create a new 10 GB SSD volume and display it in the list of volumes:
pcloud compute volumes create my-test-volume -s 10 -t ssd
Volume "my-test-volume" created with ID: 4cd31e0e-eea1-4d3d-8b15-90a272b27bc0
pcloud compute volumes list
VolumeID Name Size StorageType State Shareable Bootable
4cd31e0e-eea1-4d3d-8b15-90a272b27bc0 my-test-volume 10 ssd available false false
696226c7-0a97-4917-a220-9bcbe828dab8 mytestvm-7f11d296-000006ac-boot-0 20 standard in-use false true
e2c688bb-962d-413c-ba14-804e9fbb6042 instanceTestN-ef7c9d9d-00000697-boot-0 32 standard in-use false true
To show the details of a volume:
# pcloud compute volumes describe test-vm10-4f99e4c5-00000ad1-boot-0
volumeID: bc141301-85a2-461e-8c68-1f0bc67a35c4
name: test-vm10-4f99e4c5-00000ad1-boot-0
cloudID: 7f16fae4f3f54d8bb62f75645db56905
storageType: standard
size: 20
shareable: false
bootable: true
state: in-use
instanceIDs:
- 4f99e4c5-b8e4-4751-80a8-dd02ccbb00d0
creationDate: "2021-04-22T17:09:44.000Z"
updateDate: "2021-04-22T17:10:06.000Z"
The following example shows how to attach the new volume to an existing VM. In the following example, the new my-test-volume is now attached the VM.
pcloud compute instances attach-volume mytestvm -v my-test-volume
"rcb-test-volume" Volume being attached to "mytestvm" VM Instance (complete attach is not immediate)
pcloud compute volumes spoolspcloud compute volumes createpcloud compute instances dumprestart to enable dumprestart functionality for VM Instancespcloud compute events listpcloud compute volumes describepcloud compute volumes transferIBM Power for Google Cloud (IP4G) is designed to provide a robust and secure environment for your mission-critical applications. Security and compliance are top priorities, and we employ a shared responsibility model to ensure your data and workloads are protected. This means that while Google Cloud manages the security of the underlying infrastructure, you are responsible for the security in the cloud, encompassing your operating systems, applications, and data.
IBM Power for Google Cloud is an Infrastructure-as-a-Service offering provided by Converge on the Google Cloud Marketplace. It provides compute, storage and network services on demand with a capacity based pricing model and provides high performance, low latency connectivity to Google Cloud services. The Cloud service requires the customer to operate their own Google Cloud Organization and connect to IBM Power for Google Cloud using Google Private Services Access.
IBM Power for Google Cloud segments the service management (control plane) and the data access (data plane) across different endpoints so that neither can impact the other to provide a secure architecture. The IBM Power for Google Cloud control plane consists of the Web Console, pcloud CLI, and API, all managed by Converge. The data plane uses the Google Cloud private services access (PSA) framework to connect the dedicated IBM Power for Google Cloud Instance to a customer Google Organization.
Each IBM Power for Google Cloud customer is allocated a dedicated Service Producer VPC Network and Service Producer Project managed by Converge. Strong tenant isolation is maintained into the IBM Power for Google Cloud infrastructure with isolated L2 and L3 network domains per customer and a multi-tenant compute hypervisor and storage architecture.
IBM Power for Google Cloud block storage Volumes are encrypted at rest using AES-256 by default. Data is striped across a distributed array of disks for performance and durability. Encryption keys are managed by IBM Power for Google Cloud and rotated automatically. Customers who would like to manage their own encryption keys must configure operating system or application based encryption in addition to the storage encryption provided by IBM Power for Google Cloud.
The IBM Power for Google Cloud (IP4G) network fabric provides private network connectivity between Virtual Machines in IBM Power for Google Cloud and Google Cloud. All IP4G network traffic traverses physical connections in a Google Cloud Regional Extension datacenter. Network traffic from IBM Power for Google Cloud to Google Cloud traverses a private Google Cloud connection between a Google Cloud Regional Extension data center and Google Cloud. We expect customers to enable secure communication protocols for applications to encrypt data in transit between IP4G and Google Cloud and internal networks in IP4G. All data transferred during Live Partition Mobility is encrypted in transit for IBM Power for Google Cloud.
IBM Power for Google Cloud provides an API, CLI, and Web Console that allows the customer to create, delete and modify the compute, storage and networking of their IBM Power for Google Cloud Instance. The customer must authorize users to access these interfaces and it is the responsibility of the customer to ensure the appropriate Google Cloud Identities are permitted to the customer Cloud Instance.
The customer is responsible for configuring their Google Cloud organization to connect to the service.
As with any Infrastructure as a Service offering, the bulk of security responsibilities are placed on the customer to provision resources in a way that meets their regulatory and compliance requirements. Converge is responsible for the underlying infrastructure and physical security.
| Usage associated with IBM Power for Google Cloud Subscription |
| Operations for virtual machine Instances deployed |
| Authorization and Authentication to IBM Power for Google Cloud using Google Cloud Identity |
| Network security for access to virtual machine instances |
| Guest operating system, data, and content |
| Deployment of IBM Power for Google Cloud virtual machine instances |
| Audit logging for IBM Power for Google Cloud platform events |
| Network isolation and availability |
| Storage encryption and availability |
| IBM Power Control Plane and Hypervisor |
| Hardware (IBM Power Systems, Storage, and Network) |
| Data Center Power, Cooling, and Security |
Additional information to assis users in consuming IP4G services.
Frequently Asked Questions for IBM Power for Google Cloud Platform (IP4G)
Support for IBM Power for Google Cloud is delivered via the Google Collaborative Support model.
An IBM Power for Google Cloud customer must have Google Premium or Enhanced support contacts for Support SLAs. The Customer will contact Google for support and SLAs will align to the Support contact. For more information, see Google Cloud Support.
Additional details about Google Support can be found in the Google Technical Support Services Guidelines.
IBM Power for Google Cloud is available in the following regions.
We are continously evaluating expansion to new regions based on market demand. Contact power4gcp@googlegroups.com if your workload requires a region that is not listed.
IBM Power for Google Cloud provides a self-service interface for interacting with IBM i, RHEL Linux and AIX workloads. The customer can resize and restart virtual machines using the API, Web Console or CLI.
Provisioning SLO for new virtual machines is 20 minutes until the system is ready for access via ssh.
Default core limits are identified by region in the table below. Some limits can be increased, contact sales using the Marketplace Page or open a support request if you require increased limits.
| Region | Max Core Count Per VM | Max RAM Per VM |
|---|---|---|
| us-east4 | 15 (Power 9) 21 (Power 10) | 400GB (Power 9) 1024GB (Power 10) |
| us-central1 | 15 (Power 9) | 400GB (Power 9) |
| europe-west3 | 15 (Power 9) 21 (Power 10) | 400GB (Power 9) 1024GB (Power 10) |
| europe-west4 | 21 (Power 10) | 976GB (Power 10) |
| northamerica-northeast1 | 21 (Power 10) | 1024GB (Power10) |
| northamerica-northeast2 | 21 (Power 10) | 1024GB (Power10) |
The maximum bandwidth between two Power Virtual Machines on two different hosts is up to 10Gb per second. However, that can be affected by the VM sizing, OS configuration and application. Maximum bandwidth between two Power Virtual Machines on the same host is expected to be greater. We recommend deploying workloads and validating performance if reaching a platform performance maximum is critical.
The total resources allocated to an affinity group cannot exceed the maximum core and RAM for a single Virtual Machine.
Yes. During onboarding the customer provides contacts for maintenance notifications. Converge will notify the customer contact via e-mail for scheduled or emergency maintenance.
By default VMs are not pinned when created. You can optionally specify hard or soft pinning when creating a VM. Virtual machines with Pin Policy set to “soft” will be live migrated back to the original Host System once the maintenance is complete. Virtual machines with Pin Policy set to “hard” will be powered down during maintenance.
The customer can create groups of VMs that should live on the same host or should not live on the same host.
Up to 24 hours. If additional time is expected, a notification will be sent prior to maintenance.
A sample notification is shown below.
One or more IBM Power for Google Cloud Virtual Machines are running on a host system that requires maintenance. The following virtual machines will be live migrated to a new host system using Live Partition Mobility (LPM).
Impacted Virtual Machine by Name ip4g-vm-1 ip4g-vm-2
Virtual machines with Pin Policy set to “soft” will be live migrated back to the original Host System once the maintenance is complete. Virtual machines with Pin Policy set to “hard” will be powered down during maintenance.
During live migration, your virtual machine might experience a decrease in Volume, Compute, Memory, and Network performance for a short period of time.
This maintenance is required. If you would like to migrate your virtual machine prior to the scheduled maintenance, please open a support ticket to live migrate your virtual machines preemptively.
Required action: No action is required from you. Converge will monitor and ensure restoration of compute, block storage, and networking services.
Recommended actions: Ensure your team is aware of the maintenance and is available to validate any critical applications during and after the maintenance process is complete. Take additional care if your workloads are sensitive to brief loss of performance or connectivity.
Our intent is to strengthen our infrastructure and deliver you the best experience possible. If you have questions or concerns about this scheduled maintenance or If you would like to Live Migrate your virtual machine prior to the scheduled maintenance, please contact Google Customer Care and reference maintenance event XXXX.
Sincerely,
IBM Power for Google Cloud Operations
IBM Power for Google Cloud undergoes independent verification of security, privacy, and compliance controls to demonstrate compliance.
Audit reports are available at request via contractscompliance@convergetp.com.
Some services are recommended for deploying workloads that require low latency communication to applications running in IP4G. Converge recommends deploying on services such as
Further, for best results, deploy in the same region. A heterogeneous workload can have latency as low as 1ms between IBM Power for Google Cloud and services like Google Compute engine.
In some cases Google Cloud services are not a good fit for a workload. Instead, a hybrid cloud solution is required. However, low latency to IBM Power for Google Cloud is still important. To build a low latency hybrid cloud solution, the customer must select an appropriate data center to host the non-Google Cloud workload.
Google Cloud provides a list of low latency colocation facilities. They are a subset of all colocation facilities that can provide dedicated Cloud Interconnects. Customers can choose to establish a direct relationship with these low latency colocation facilities. They can achieve less than 5ms of latency to a Google Cloud region. When selecting a colocation facility for low latency connectivity to IBM Power for Google Cloud, Converge recommends the facilities in the table below. They will allow for the lowest possible latency to a IBM Power for Google Cloud region.
| Google Cloud Region | Dedicated Cloud Interconnect Zone | Colocation Facility |
|---|---|---|
| us-east4 (Virginia) | iad-zone1-1 iad-zone2-1 | Equinix Ashburn (DC1-DC11) |
| us-central1 (Iowa) | cbf-zone1-575 cbf-zone2-575 | Nebraska data centers (1623 Farnam) |
| northamerica-northeast1 (Montreal) | yul-zone1-99002 yul-zone2-99002 | Cologix MTL10-H |
| northamerica-northeast2 (Toronto) | yyz-zone1-2206 yyz-zone2-2206 | Equinix Toronto (TR2) |
| europe-west3 (Germany) | fra-zone1-58 fra-zone2-58 | Interxion Frankfurt |
| europe-west4 (Netherlands) | grq-zone1-532 grq-zone2-532 | QTS Netherlands |
The following applies to both AIX and Linux. To prevent cloud-init from resetting the hostname, edit the cloud-init configuration file. This is usually /opt/freeware/etc/cloud/cloud.cfg.
Set the parameter “preserve_hostname” to false:
preserve_hostname: false
In IP4G there are two volume types. Those volumes are defined by a name (HDD or SDD) and correspond to the following Characteristics:
| Region | Description |
|---|---|
| US East | SDD and HDD are different hardware types. Performance is dictacted by the corresponding hardware. |
| All other Regions | SSD and HDD are both IBM Flash Storage, with a QoS limit of 10 iops/GB for SSD, and 3 iops/GB for HDD. |
You can see an individual volumes iops limit using
pcloud compute volumes describe <volume name>
The following FAQs are related to the AIX operating system.
We follow IBM current supported versions.
The following AIX versions are supported:
Yes. Supported operating systems include any supported level of AIX.
AIX 5.3 can run as a Versioned Workload Partition (Version WPAR) using an AIX 7.2 host system in IP4G. This configuration is up to the customer to complete. However, the following guidelines should be considered.
The following FAQs are related to the IBM i operating system.
IBM Power for Google Cloud uses POWER9 and POWER10 hardware. It supports the following versions of IBM i:
The customer is responsible for IBM i system maintenance including upgrades and patching. Converge can provide additional managed services for IBM i. Possible services include managed backup, basic OS updating and patching, and complete managed services. Please contact a Converge representative for more information.
Reference architectures and managed services for IBM i backup on IBM Power for Google Cloud are in development. Currently, any agent-based solution would be technically viable as long as it can support the customer’s backup requirements. Customers should consider an IP-based VTL solution hosted in GCE as the recommended approach to IBM I backups in IP4G.
We offer P10 (all regions), P20 (select regions) and P30 (select regions) licensing tiers for IBM i.
OS Features and LPPs are available as follows:
This is not part of the standard LPP package, it is an add-on.
5770-WDS: Rational Development Studio for i
5733-RDW: Rational Developer for i
The following FAQs are related to Linux operating systems.
We follow IBM current supported versions.
The following Linux versions are supported:
Availability for IBM Power for Google Cloud (IP4G) is based on region and available hardware.
IP4G is available in the following regions:
Hardware available in Council Bluffs is as follows:
| Server(s) | AIX Support | IBM i Support | Linux Support |
|---|---|---|---|
| S922 (9009-22A) |
|
|
|
| E950 (9040-MR9) |
| Not Applicable |
|
| S1024 (9105-42A) |
|
|
|
Hardware available in Northern Virginia is as follows:
| Server(s) | AIX Support | IBM i Support | Linux Support |
|---|---|---|---|
| S922 (9009-22A) |
|
|
|
| S1024 (9105-42A) |
|
|
|
Hardware available in Frankfurt is as follows:
| Server(s) | AIX Support | IBM i Support | Linux Support |
|---|---|---|---|
| S922 (9009-22G) |
|
|
|
| E950 (9040-MR9) |
| Not Applicable |
|
| S1024 (9105-42A) |
|
|
|
Hardware available in the Netherlands is as follows:
| Server(s) | AIX Support | IBM i Support | Linux Support |
|---|---|---|---|
| S1022 (9105-22A) |
|
|
|
Hardware available in Montreal is as follows:
| Server(s) | AIX Support | IBM i Support | Linux Support |
|---|---|---|---|
| S1022 (9105-22A) |
|
|
|
| S1024 (9105-42A) |
|
|
|
Hardware available in Toronto is as follows:
| Server(s) | AIX Support | IBM i Support | Linux Support |
|---|---|---|---|
| S1022 (9105-22A) |
|
|
|
| S1024 (9105-42A) |
|
|
|
Licensing and support will vary according to the operating system used.
AIX licensing and support is provided as part of the service. Clients are not able to migrate or use any owned AIX licenses on an IP4G Virtual Machine.
IBM i licensing and support is provided as part of the service. Clients are not able to migrate or use any owned IBM i Operating System or IBM i Licensed Program Products licenses on an IP4G Virtual Machine.
Linux licensing is not provided as part of the service. Clients must acquire or bring their own Linux license for all Linux IP4G Virtual Machines.
IBM Power for Google Cloud (IP4G) offers several possible strategies for backup. Many solutions are similar to those used in on-premises environments. Others are more cloud-specific. Below are some recommended options. This is not meant to be an exhaustive list.
Capture and Export can take virtual machine (VM) images and store them in Google Cloud Storage. This works for all supported operating systems. Capture and Export leverages FlashCopy on the backing storage. Captured images are available from the interface for exporting to Google Cloud Storage, or cloning to additional virtual machines (VMs).
Exporting images is a resource-intensive operation. Only one Capture and Export operation can be queued at a time. As a best-practice, only capture images containing a rootvg for AIX/Linux. Or, just the load source volume for IBM i. The maximum image size is 10TB.
See [Capturing and exporting a virtual machine)[capture-and-export.md] for more information.
Almost any agent-based backup solution supporting AIX can be used in IP4G. The backup server or proxy should be implemented within IP4G or GCE. Some common solutions include:
Several solutions can also integrate directly with Google Cloud Storage. Customers are responsible for implementing, maintaining, and managing their own backup environment.
Consider if a shorter backup window or larger backup set is required. If so, deploy backup infrastructure within IP4G. Then, replicate backups to GCE or elsewhere, using native methods within the individual backup solution. Keep in mind, implementing and testing backup architecture is a customer responsibility.
Managed backup services can also be utilized.
For small IBM i VMs, IBM recommends IBM Cloud Storage Solutions for i (ICC). Larger VMs may want to implement an iSCSI-attached VTL solution. Most customers will want to leverage Backup, Recovery, and Media Services (BRMS) as a backup tool. All of the recommended solutions will integrate fully with BRMS. Managed backup services can also be utilized.
This solution integrates with BRMS and Google Cloud Storage using the S3 protocol. It can manage tiering of local backups to Google Cloud Storage. This solution involves backup to virtual optical volumes. This may require additional storage for optical volumes on the VM, until they are offloaded to Google Cloud Storage.
Key Prerequisites:
See the ICC Quick Start Guide for more information: ICC Quick Start.
IBM i also supports backup to an iSCSI-attached Virtual Tape Library (VTL). Customers leveraging on-premises tape or VTLs may find this solution offers the greatest flexibility and familiarity. A VTL solution will most likely also be preferable for VMs larger than 1-2TB.
VTL solutions that offer iSCSI connectivity to IBM i include:
Converge has tested the QUADStor solution. QUADStor is a free software package that can be installed on most Linux distributions. QUADStor supports both x86 and Power architectures. It can be deployed in IP4G as well as GCE. Furthermore, it can be configured to tier to Google Cloud Storage under the control of BRMS. QUADStor offers paid support options for production instances.
Prerequsites for use of QUADStor are as follows:
Converge has measured aproximately a 4:1 data reduction ratio when using QUADStor in deduplication mode.
Customers are recommended to contact FalconStor directly for implementation requirements.
Most of the same solutions that work for AIX will work with Linux as well. Additionally, there may be open source solutions that can meet customer backup requirements. Managed backup servies can also be leveraged.
IP4G is an Infrastructure as a Platform (IaaS) solution. It does not include managed backup as part of the offering. Converge can offer managed backup services and solutions outside of the IaaS subscription. Please contact a Converge representative for more information.
The following is a list of terms used within the IP4G offering.
Watch the following videos to better understand the IBM Power Systems™ for Google Cloud service.
Learn how to subscribe to the IBM Power Systems for Google service.
Learn how to create an instance by using the IBM Power Systems for Google service.
You can use the IBM Power for Google Cloud API to easily deploy and configure virtual servers that are running AIX or IBM i workloads. For a list of all of the available API methods, go to IBM Power for Google Cloud API. To target the IBM Power for Google Cloud API, use the following base URL, service-broker-api.gpcloudtest.com.
To work with the API, you must log in and authenticate yourself. Take note of your Authorization: Bearer <token> and Cloud ID. The Authorization: Bearer <token> is short lived. It will need to be refreshed. Enter the following commands to log in and obtain the necessary information:
pcloud auth loginpcloud auth print-access-tokenpcloud compute clouds listYou can also enter the following URL into any browser to obtain your accessToken: https://service-broker-api.gpcloudtest.com/auth/v1/login. Select your Google account and copy the accessToken.
This API uses standard HTTP response codes to indicate whether a method completed successfully. A 200 response indicates success. A 400 type response indicates a failure, and a 500 type response indicates an internal system error.
| HTTP error code | Description | Recovery |
|---|---|---|
| 200 | Success | The request was successful. |
| 400 | Bad Request | The input parameters in the request body are either incomplete or in the wrong format. Be sure to include all required parameters in your request. |
| 401 | Unauthorized | You are not authorized to make this request. Log in to IBM Cloud and try again. If this error persists, contact the account owner to check your permissions. |
| 403 | Forbidden | The supplied authentication is not authorized to access this resource. |
| 404 | Not Found | The requested resource could not be found. |
| 408 | Request Timeout | The connection to the server timed out. Wait a few minutes, then try again. |
| 409 | Conflict | The entity is already in the requested state. |
| 500 | Internal Server Error | Power Systems Virtual Server is currently unavailable. Your request could not be processed. Wait a few minutes and try again. |
FalconStor StorSafe VTL for Google Cloud is the simplest way to deploy a modern Virtual Tape Library solution with Google Cloud. The subscription provides a StorSafe VTL license and deployment model for Google Cloud allowing you the flexibility to provide the infrastructure needed to suit your RTO, RPO, and cost requirements.
NOTE: Customers must have an active IBM Power for Google Cloud subscription to subscribe. If you’re interested in using FalconStor StorSafe VTL for Google Cloud without IBM Power for Google Cloud contact sales about your use case.
Features include:
Copatibility: StorSafe VTL is compatible with any leading backup solution that uses physical or virtual tapes. Customers can quickly modernize existing IBM i, AIX, or Linux backup solutions without significantly changing the backup solution
Up to 95% Data Reduction: Using a Single Instance Repository (SIR) for block-level deduplication, the solution removes redundant copies of data, reducing capacity requirements and improving data portability in the cloud.
Ransomware Protection: WORM (Write Once, Read Many) capability allows non-rewritable and non-erasable data to be written to virtual tapes, providing extra data security by prohibiting accidental or unplanned data erasure. Virtual tapes are written once and cannot be altered even by an administrator.
Cost Optimized Cloud Storage: Use Google Cloud Storage as the VTL deduplication data repository to reduce storage costs. Copy or move virtual tapes to Google Cloud Storage for cost optimized, long term storage.
Simplify Cloud Migration: Import physical tape libraries and migrate data to Google Cloud. This provides an inexpensive solution for preserving data and renewing backups in Google Cloud where no physical tape libraries or drives are required.
Google Cloud Billing Integration: All billing is handled by Google Cloud to simplify your cloud FinOps practice.
Multi-Region Replication: Deploy multiple StorSafe VTL appliances to replicate data between Google Cloud regions for disaster recovery.
Converge Technology Solutions offers customers using Falconstor and IBM Power for Google Cloud unmatched technical and operational support, ensuring a seamless end-to-end experience. Our dedicated team of expert support engineers is available 24/7 through our global service desk for efficient end-to-end ticket management and resolution. We prioritize excellence in platform performance and operational reliability, delivering an exceptional customer experience every step of the way. Contact support using the Converge Support Support Portal