HP Matrix Operating Environment Software - Manual (Page 16)

Choosing a policy type
How do you decide which policy type to use? Table 3 answers this question for several common
use cases. The section following the table helps you decide between using an OwnBorrow policy
or a utilization policy.
Table 3 Choosing a policy type
Use the following type of policy... If...
Fixed You want gWLM to allocate a constant amount of CPU
resources to a workload.
Custom You have your own metric by which you want gWLM to
manage a workload.
OwnBorrow IT acts as a service provider to business units.
This policy type allows you to set an owned amount of
resources, while also giving you control over how
workloads borrow and lend resources.
gWLM provides a “topborrowers” report and a
“resourceaudit” report to help you manage your data center
using this model. For more information, see
gwlmreport(1M).
OwnBorrow You have static vPars, but you want to move to a model
where cores migrate among vPars.
For each vPar, set its number of owned cores to its static
number of cores. The vPar gets those owned cores
whenever needed.
OwnBorrow You have nPars but, you want to move to a model where
CPU resources migrate among nPars.
Install the HP Instant Capacity product on each npar. (This
software allows gWLM to simulate CPU resource movement
among nPars with spare capacity.)
For each npar, set its number of owned cores to the number
of cores you want the npar to have whenever needed.
Utilization You want to tap into a pool of resources taking or giving
CPU resources as needed—with possibly no access to
resources beyond a minimum request.
Conditional You have a policy that should be in effect only for a given
time period, for the duration of a file's existence, or for a
certain Serviceguard condition.
Select an existing policy and a default policy and then set
a time-based condition, set a file-based condition, or
choose from the possible Serviceguard conditions.
Choosing between an OwnBorrow policy and a utilization policy
OwnBorrow and utilization policies both allocate resources to a workload based on the workload's
use of its current allocation. Both policy types also specify minimum and maximum amounts of
resources the workload should get. A workload with either type of policy can lend other workloads
its unused resources—down to its minimum. (If the workload does not consume its entire minimum
allocation, those unused resources are not available to other workloads.)
OwnBorrow policies, however, provide greater control in lending resources because they also
have an owned amount of resources. A workload always gets its owned resources back whenever
needed. So, with an OwnBorrow policy, you can set a lower minimum allocation (increasing the
amount of resources available for sharing among workloads), knowing the associated workloads
get their owned resources whenever needed. Thus, an OwnBorrow policy provides greater flexibility
in attempting to allocate a workload a certain amount of resources when needed while also lending
those resources to other workloads when not needed.
16 Configuring gWLM to manage workloads