MVS and VM Running Under LPAR

The LPAR (Local Partitioning) feature in an IBM mainframe allows the installation to (optionally) divide the mainframe into partitions and run multiple operating systems in parallel.

For our purposes, each partition can be regarded as a standalone mainframe computer. Therefore, when partitioning is used, we can regard the processor complex as a type of multi-CPU configuration.

The following figure shows MVS and VM Running Under LPAR:

Figure 29 MVS and VM Running Under LPAR

If, as in the diagram above, one partition runs MVS and the other partition runs VM, the previous discussion of VM and MVS running on separate machines is also applicable.

The above discussion of the PR/SM feature also applies to users of MDF (Multi-Domain Facility) from AMDAHL, MLPF (Multiple Logical Processor Facility) from HDS (Hitachi Data Systems), and any other supported CPU with hardware partitioning capabilities.