The Power E1050 server supports the following OSs:
Ê AIX
Ê Linux
In addition, VIOS can be installed in a special logical partition (LPAR) where its primary function is to host physical I/O adapters like network and storage connectivity, and provide virtualized I/O devices for client LPARs, such as AIX and Linux OSes.
For more information about the software that is available on IBM Power, see IBM Power Systems Software.
The minimum supported levels of IBM AIX and Linux at the time of announcement are described in the following sections. For more information about hardware features, see IBM Power Systems Prerequisites.
IBM Power Systems Prerequisites helps to plan a successful system upgrade by providing the prerequisite information for features in use or that you plan to add to a system. It is possible to choose an MTM (9043-MRX for Power E1050) and discover all the prerequisites, the OS levels that are supported, and other information.
1.7.1 AIX operating system
At the time of announcement, Power E1050 supports the following minimum levels of AIX when installed with direct I/O connectivity:
Ê AIX 7.3 with the 7300-00 Technology Level and Service Pack 2 or later
Ê AIX 7.2 with the 7200-05 Technology Level and Service Pack 4 or later
At the time of announcement, Power E1050 supports the following minimum level of AIX when installed with virtual I/O:
Ê AIX 7.3 with the 7300-00 Technology Level and Service Pack 1 or later
Ê AIX 7.2 with the 7200-05 Technology Level and Service Pack 1 or later
Ê AIX 7.2 with the 7200-04 Technology Level and Service Pack 2 or later
Ê AIX 7.1 with the 7100-05 Technology Level and Service Pack 6 or later
Notes:
Ê AIX 7.2 with the 7200-04 Technology Level and Service Pack 6 is planned to be available on September 16, 2022.
Ê AIX 7.1 has been withdrawn from marketing since November 2021. AIX 7.2 is the minimum available version for a new software order.
AIX 7.1 instances must run in an LPAR in IBM Power8 compatibility mode with a VIOS-based virtual storage and network.
Chapter 1. IBM Power E1050 overview 15
AIX 7.2 instances can use both physical and virtual I/O adapters, but must run in an LPAR in Power9 compatibility mode.
AIX 7.3 instances can use both physical and virtual I/O adapters, and can run in an LPAR in native Power10 mode.
IBM periodically releases maintenance packages (service packs (SPs) or technology levels (TLs)) for the AIX OS. For more information about these packages, and downloading and obtaining the installation packages, see Fix Central.
The Service Update Management Assistant (SUMA), which can help you automate the task of checking and downloading OS downloads, is part of the base OS. For more information about the suma command, see IBM Documentation.
The AIX OS software is available to order in the following editions:
Ê AIX Standard Edition: Stand-alone AIX OS only.
Ê AIX Enterprise Edition: The AIX OS plus the bundled Power software stack.
Ê IBM Private Cloud Edition with AIX7: An enhanced set from the AIX Enterprise Edition of the bundled software stack intended for private cloud usage. For the list of offering software that is included, see 1.9, “IBM Power solutions” on page 29.
Subscription licensing model
AIX Standard Edition, AIX Enterprise Edition, and IBM Private Cloud Edition with AIX are also available under a subscription licensing model that provides access to an IBM software maintenance for a specified subscription term (1 or 3 years). The subscription term begins on the start date and ends on the expiration date, which is reflected at the IBM ESS website.
Customers are licensed to run the product through the expiration date of the 1- or 3-year subscription term, and then can renew the subscription at the end of it to continue using the product. This model provides flexible and predictable pricing over a specific term, with lower upfront costs of acquisition.
Another benefit of this model is that the licenses are customer number entitled, which means that they are not tied to a specific hardware serial number as with a standard license grant. Therefore, the licenses can be moved between on-premises and cloud if needed, something that is becoming more of a requirement with hybrid workloads.
The product IDs for the subscription licenses are listed in Table 1-9.
Table 1-9 Subscription license product IDs (1- or 3-year terms)
16 IBM Power E1050: Technical Overview and Introduction