PowerVM

What is PowerVM ?
Licensed software/firmware feature which enables IBM virtualization technology on IBM POWER systems.
Available on Power5, Power6 and Power7 Systems
Allows AIX 5L V5.3 or later and Linux LPARs to run without physical adapters.

It is available in the following 3 editions
1. IBM PowerVM Express Edition
2. IBM PowerVM Standard Edition
3. IBM PowerVM Enterprise Edition

Virtual I/O server is available as part of the PowerVM Editions (formarley known as Advanced POWER Virtualization) feature.

Virtual I/O Server facilitates:

1. Sharing of physical resources between LPARs on the system.
2. Creating LPARS without requiring additional physical resources like Network Adapter, HBA, SCSI Adapter.
3. Creating more LPARs than there are I/O slots or physical devices.
4. Maximizing use of phyiscal resources on the system