EP 2:0: Creating pools

Before creating an Enterprise Pool 2.0 in the Cloud Management Console (CMC), you must log in to the Entitled Systems Support (ESS) website and create the pool. You receive a pool ID for the pool from ESS.
The following types of pools are available:

• Power E1180 and Power E1080 pool
• Power E1080 and Power E980 pool
• Power E1150 and Power E1050 pool
• Power E1050 and Power E950 pool
• Power S1122, Power S1124, Power S1022, and Power S1024 pool
• Power S1024, Power S1022, Power S924 (9009-42G), and Power S922 (9009-22G) pool

Before creating an Enterprise Pool 2.0 in the Cloud Management Console (CMC), you must log in to the Entitled Systems Support (ESS) website and create the pool. You receive a pool ID for the pool from ESS.

To create a new Enterprise Pool 2.0 in CMC, complete the following steps:

1. Click the (+) icon that is in the header at the top of the Enterprise Pools 2.0 app page.
2. Enter the pool ID provided by ESS. Specify a name for the pool and optionally a description.
3. Click Continue.

Set the default budget for your metered capacity usage. This budget puts a limit on the amount that can be spent each month on metered capacity. You can set budget thresholds on the Settings page to enable alerts as your metered capacity usage approaches your monthly budgets.

When budgeting is enforced, a monthly budget cannot be exceeded. Therefore, when a monthly budget is reached, all systems in the pool will be gradually throttled back to base core usage.

The budget for individual months can be increased or decreased, as needed, on the Budget page. The default setting can also be adjusted later the Budget page. If you don't want a limit on your metered capacity usage, select Set my default to unlimited metered capacity usage.

Pools can have dedicated processor partitions based on the selection you make during pool creation. This selection cannot be changed after the pool is created. If you choose to allow dedicated processor partitions, budgeting is not enforced for the pool.

A list of systems that can be added to your pool is displayed. Only those POWER9, Power10, and Power11 systems that satisfy the following conditions are displayed:

• The systems that are in the same machine class as the system used to create the pool in ESS
• The systems that are not present in another Enterprise Pool 2.0
• The systems that have one or more managing Hardware Management Consoles (HMC) connected to CMC The systems that belong to the same enterprise as the pool.

To select a system, the following conditions must be true:

• Performance and Capacity Monitoring for the system is enabled on its managing HMCs.
• Network Time Protocol (NTP) is enabled on the system's managing HMCs.
• The system has at least one managing HMC currently connected to CMC.
• The pool does not allow dedicated processor partitions and there are no dedicated processor partitions in the system.
• The system is either in Operating or Standby state.
• The system has the required Enterprise Pools 2.0 feature code.
• The Power11 system has the required Power Enterprise Pools subscription.
• The system is not in a Power enterprise pool 1.0.

Note: POWER9 and Power11 systems cannot coexist in the same pool. This condition is not enforced when you select a system, it is enforced when you add systems to the pool during pool creation. If you add a Power11 system first, you won’t be able to add a POWER9 system to the pool. Likewise, if you add a POWER9 system to the pool first, you won’t be able to add a Power11 system to the pool.

If a system cannot be selected, click the () icon in the table to see why the system cannot be selected. After selecting the systems that you want in your pool, click Continue.
When you click Continue, CMC contacts ESS to get the pool membership CoD code and pool resource CoD code for each selected system. A managing HMC for each system retrieves the CoD codes and enters them into the system. When the pool membership CoD code is successfully entered into the system, all the installed processor and memory resources on the system are activated and ready for use. 

If at least one system is successfully added to the pool, the pool is created. If no systems can be added to the pool, the pool is not created. In case of any failure, click View Detailed Logs to see the errors.

Review the errors and make any possible corrections. For the following errors related to Entitled Systems Support, wait for 15 minutes before trying again:

Error: The Entitled Systems Support authorization request failed for system model-type*serial: Did not get a reply
Error: System model-type*serial was not added: failed to retrieve CoD codes for the system from Entitled Systems Support.

If the failures persist, raise a support case to "Cloud Management Console" in IBM Support and include the details of the errors shown on the screen.

If the pool was created but one or more systems failed to be added, try again to add the individual systems that failed by clicking Add Systems on the EP 2.0 Inventory page. If the pool was not created, try to create the pool again.

Parent topic: Power Enterprise Pools 2.0 with Utility Capacity