With the distinct possibility of having the Wrath of Chuckie turn my way, I
disagree with a bit of this.  First a disclaimer: The following works for
me and is only recommended if you are comfortable with z/VM and know it's
knobs and buttons.

I AGREE that doing full-volume page/spool is a wise decision for 95%+ z/VM
installations.  Most folks aren't twisted enough to do code-merging like I
do.  So if this brand-spanking new z/VM system will be built into a
running, usable environment you certainly DO want full-volume spool and
paging.   I also agree that this is still an OS that will need paging space
- probably will for a long time until memory is free and everyone has 9PB
on their z9**999.

We are a bit DASD constrained to the point where I would rather not beg for
more DASD for installing, especially since we install the GA code, do the
RSU update to it and then -merge- the code into our existing
test/production systems.   Once that is done, I don't need the extra
volume(s) for anything but a handy backup of the original data.

For installing z/VM 5.2, we have a full Mod3 for the RES, and one for W01.
The rest are as follows:

MDISK 1002 3390  xxxxx 00125 VMB028 MR *W02
MDISK 1003 3390  xxxxx 00225 VMB028 MR *SPOOL
MDISK 1004 3390  xxxxx 00350 VMB028 MR *PAGE

And this works GREAT.  Page could probably live with a lower number since
we don't really do any other work than MAINT stuff but 50 cyls for page is
probably pushing it too low.  Note that the W02 volume is a little ?! less
than a full Mod 3.  Everything that would be on that volume fits nicely in
the 125 cyls.

In your case with a MOD 9 for RES you don't need to worry about any Wxx
volumes though.  You could get fancy and do a one-pack install, but that's
another story.

Bottom line is, z/VM 5 makes it easier to 'massage' the DDR installation on
a second level guest so that you can define disks based on what you need.
KNOWING what you need is key though.  Your mileage may vary offline...

_______________________________________
James Vincent
Systems Engineering Consultant
Nationwide Services Co., Technology Infrastructure Engineering
Mainframe, z/VM and z/Linux Support
One Nationwide Plaza  3-25-02
Columbus OH 43215-2220   U.S.A
Voice: (614) 249-5547    Fax: (614) 677-7681
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]


VM/ESA and z/VM Discussions <[email protected]> wrote on 01/20/2006
12:31:07 PM:

> [email protected]
>
> On Friday, 01/20/2006 at 11:02 EST, "James G. Stracka"
> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > For the z/VM 5.2.0 installation I shall be doing it 2nd level.  I want
> > to use a 3390-9 for the Res volume and would like to use a 50 cylinder
> > volume for the PAGE pack and a 1000 cylinder volume for the SPOOL pack.
> >
> > Will a 50 cylinder and 1000 cylinder volumes do for the installation
> > or must those two be full 3390-3 for the installation then moved later?
>
> You must supply the volumes indicated for installation.  You can move
them
> later.
>
> > Since 5.1.0 and I assume 5.2.0 does not need to page, it would be nice
> > if the paging volume could be optionally skipped at installation.
>
> Not need to page?  Eh?  Who says?  VM needs to page the instant virtual
> machine memory plus memory used by CP exceeds the size of the LPAR.
>
> The point of making each a 3390-3 was to answer the numerous complaints
> about the spooling/paging volumes being too small to really start using
> VM.
>
> Alan Altmark
> z/VM Development
> IBM Endicott

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