At the time of writing, there are few Power Systems adapters that support SR-IOV, but the plan is to introduce more capable adapters as new ones are introduced. This post lets you know how to determine if an installed adapter is SR-IOV capable.
For more information on SR-IOV see:
Before configuring your SR-IOV capable adapter, verify that all prerequisites are met.
- Verify that the Power Systems server is SR-IOV Capable
- Verify that the system has at least one SR-IOV capable adapter
Verify that the Power Systems server is SR-IOV Capable
Log in to the Hardware Management Console and navigate to Systems Management ® Servers. Select the appropriate server, and then click Properties from the Tasks menu. In the Properties panel, click the Capabilities tab (Figure 1).
Verify that the SR-IOV Capable entry is set to True in the Value column.
If the SR-IOV Capable entry is not listed, the system most likely does not meet the hardware or firmware requirements.
If the SR-IOV Capability is False, this means you are running PowerVM Express edition. With PowerVM Express the user can enable SR-IOV Shared mode but can create logical ports only for a single partition, and the adapter cannot be shared.
Verify that the system has at least one SR-IOV capable adapter
From the server Properties panel, click the I/O tab (Figure 2).
Verify that you have at least one adapter with a value of Yes in the SR-IOV Capable column.
The number in parentheses in the last column indicates the maximum number of logical ports that the slot supports. However, if an SR-IOV capable adapter has been installed and set to shared mode, the number indicates the maximum logical ports that the adapter supports.
If no SR-IOV capable adapters are installed, you will need to install one into an empty slot that has a value of “Yes” in the SR-IOV Capable column.