Apparatus, system, and method for facilitating management of logical nodes through a single management module

A system to facilitate management of logical nodes through a single management module, comprising:

• a first Central Electronics Complex (CEC) operatively coupled to a hardware platform, the first CEC comprising a plurality of symmetric multiprocessors organized into a first processor complex, a plurality of electronic memory devices, a plurality of direct access storage devices, a plurality of network Input/Output (I/O) interface devices, and a plurality of management interface devices, each of the devices of the CEC electronically coupled for exchange of data and control information;
• a second CEC operatively coupled to the hardware platform, the second CEC comprising a plurality of symmetric multiprocessors organized into a second processor complex, a plurality of electronic memory devices, a plurality of direct access storage devices, a plurality of network Input/Output (I/O) interface devices, and a plurality of management interface devices, each of the devices of the CEC electronically coupled for exchange of data and control information;
• at least one Storage Facility Image (SFI) comprising a first Logical Partition (LPAR) defined to operate using computing resources of the first CEC and a second LPAR defined to operate using computing resources of the second CEC, the first LPAR in a peer-to-peer domain with the second LPAR such that the second LPAR mirrors data processing operations of the first LPAR, the first LPAR and second LPAR dedicated to storage and retrieval of data;
• at least one Storage Application Image (SAI) comprising a third Logical Partition (LPAR) defined to operate using computing resources of the first CEC and a fourth LPAR defined to operate using computing resources of the second CEC, the third LPAR in a peer-to-peer domain with the fourth LPAR such that the fourth LPAR mirrors data processing operations of the third LPAR, the third LPAR and fourth LPAR dedicated to data storage applications;
• a management module in communication with a communication module configured to selectively communicate a management command from the management module to one or more of the at least one SFI and at least one SAI;
• a plurality of translation modules, each of the first, second, third, and fourth LPAR comprising an associated one of the plurality of translation modules, wherein each translation module is configured to translate the management command into one or more functionally equivalent software-layer commands recognized by one of the software layers of the associated LPAR included in the at least one SFI and at least one SAI, the software-layer commands configured for compatibility with the associated LPAR, wherein each of the plurality of translation modules translates the management command after the management command is received by the associated LPAR from the communication module;
• and
• a plurality of direction modules each configured to direct the one or more software-layer commands for an associated LPAR to an appropriate one of the software layers of the associated LPAR according to a management command scope.

A non-transmissible computer readable medium tangibly embodying a program of machine-readable instructions executable by a digital processing apparatus to perform operations to facilitate management of logical nodes through a single management module, the operations comprising:

• an operation to communicate a management command selectively from a single management module to a plurality of logical nodes, wherein the plurality of logical nodes comprises at least a first Logical Partition (LPAR), second LPAR, third LPAR, and fourth LPAR, the first and third LPARs defining a first Central Electronics Complex (CEC) and the second and fourth LPARs defining a second CEC, and the first and second LPARS defining a Storage Facility Image (SFI) and the third and fourth LPARS defining a Storage Application Image (SAI), wherein the first LPAR operates using computing resources of the first CEC, the second LPAR operates using computing resources of the second CEC, the third LPAR operates using computing resources of the first CEC, and the fourth LPAR operates using computing resources of the second CEC;
• an operation to separately translate the management command at each of the first second, third, and fourth LPARS into one or more functionally equivalent software-layer commands recognized by one of the software layers of an associated LPAR, the software-layer commands configured for compatibility with an associated LPAR, wherein the management command is separately translated by the LPARS after the management command is communicated from the single management module to the LPARS;
• and
• an operation to separately direct respective software-layer commands to an appropriate one of the software layers of an associated LPAR according to a management command scope.

A method for facilitating management of logical nodes through a single management module, the method comprising:

• communicating a management command selectively from a single management module to a plurality of logical nodes, wherein the plurality of logical nodes comprises at least a first Logical Partition (LPAR), second LPAR, third LPAR, and fourth LPAR, the first and third LPARS defining a first Central Electronics Complex (CEC) operatively coupled to a hardware platform and the second and fourth LPARS defining a second CEC operatively coupled to the hardware platform, and the first and second LPARs defining a Storage Facility Image (SFI) and the third and fourth LPARs defining a Storage Application Image (SAI), wherein the first LPAR operates using computing resources of the first CEC, the second LPAR operates using computing resources of the second CEC, the third LPAR operates using computing resources of the first CEC, and the fourth LPAR operates using computing resources of the second CEC;
• separately translating the management command at each of the first, second, third, and fourth LPARs into one or more functionally equivalent software-layer commands recognized by one of the software layers of an associated LPAR, the software-layer commands configured for compatibility with an associated LPAR, wherein the management command is separately translated by the LPARs after the management command is communicated from the single management module to the LPARS;
• and
• separately directing respective software-layer commands to an appropriate one of the software layers of an associated LPAR according to a management command scope.

An apparatus for facilitating management of logical nodes through a single management module, the apparatus comprising:

• means for communicating a management command selectively from a single management module to a plurality of logical nodes, wherein the plurality of logical nodes comprises at least a first Logical Partition (LPAR), second LPAR, third LPAR, and fourth LPAR, the first and third LPARs defining a first Central Electronics Complex (CEC) and the second and fourth LPARs defining a second CEC, and the first and second LPARs defining a Storage Facility Image (SFI) and the third and fourth LPARs defining a Storage Application Image (SAI), wherein the first LPAR operates using computing resources of the first CEC, the second LPAR operates using computing resources of the second CEC, the third LPAR operates using computing resources of the first CEC, and the fourth LPAR operates using computing resources of the second CEC;
• means for separately translating the management command at each of the first second, third, and fourth LPARs into one or more functionally equivalent software-layer commands recognized by one of the software layers of an associated LPAR, the software-layer commands configured for compatibility with an associated LPAR, wherein the management command is separately translated by the LPARS after the management command is communicated from the single management module to the LPARS;
• and
• means for separately directing respective software-layer commands to an appropriate one of the software layers of an associated LPAR according to a management command scope;
• wherein the means for communicating, means for translating, and means for directing each comprises at least one of logic hardware and executable code, the executable code being stored on one or more non-transmissible computer readable media.