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Virtualizing shared storage using VIO servers and client partitions

December 9, 2025

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In an Advanced POWERâ„¢ Virtualization (APV) environment, AIX uses the VIO Server to monitor and manage the I/O paths for the virtualized client partitions. At a very high level, the VIO server provides a partition’s access to storage that is external to the physical computer. The VIO server encapsulates the physical hardware into virtual adapters called virtual SCSI adapters (server adapter). On the client side, you can create virtual adapters (client adapters) that map to the server adapter and enable a partition to connect to external storage.

The VIO server provides similar mechanisms to share limited networking resources across partitions. Refer to the manual that came with your system to help set up partitions, and to configure and use the various components such as VIO server and HMC, which are integral parts of IBM’s APV environment.

The minimum patch level for using VIO servers with VCS is: version 2.1.3.10-FP-23 and later.

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Virtualizing shared storage using VIO servers and client partitions

December 9, 2025

Contributed by:

December 9, 2025

Contributed by:

Virtualizing shared storage using VIO servers and client partitions

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