Global Instant Capacity (HP-UX)

Global Instant Capacity, or GiCAP, provides HP customers with the flexibility to move usage rights (RTUs) for Instant Capacity components within a group of servers. It also provides “pooled” temporary capacity across the group. This provides more cost-effective high availability, more adaptable load balancing, and more efficient and easier use of temporary capacity.

Global Instant Capacity is built on the concept of a server group, or GiCAP Group. This is a list of servers that are allowed to share iCAP usage rights. In addition, at least one HP-UX system running iCAP must be designated as the Global Instant Capacity Group Manager. The Group Manager hosts the GiCAP software that maintains a database of information about the group and about group resources (usage rights and temporary capacity). A GiCAP group is managed using the command icapmanage on the Group Manager system.

While GiCAP is part of Instant Capacity and is installed at the same time as iCAP, it is not enabled during installation. In order to share resources across groups, you must purchase a GiCAP Sharing Rights codeword from the iCAP portal. Application of the Sharing Rights codeword to the Group Manager system enables the creation of a GiCAP Group containing members that have Instant Capacity components without usage rights on every partition. All GiCAP group members must run Instant Capacity version 8.x.

Instant Capacity now allows deactivations of cores on non-Instant Capacity systems (those without any Instant Capacity components), allowing such systems to participate in a GiCAP group and loan usage rights to Instant Capacity systems.