Additional requirements for IIM - Sterling Integrator

Performance Considerations for RISC and x86/x64 architectures

While employing virtualization is common in environments, for performance reasons, it is expected in sizing practices provided by IBM or otherwise that the architecture utilizes dedicated resources for CPU, memory and I/O devices such as disks, network, and so on.

This ensures that Sterling B2B Integrator receives consistent access to the resources required to run the application. Those resources should not be shared (or over-shared) in a VM environment.

Virtualization support for RISC-based systems

Operating system native clustering, partitioning, or virtualization are supported for all RISC-based platforms that Sterling B2B Integrator supports.

Virtualization support for x86/x64-based systems

IBM cannot maintain all possible combinations of virtualized platforms. However, IBM generally supports all enterprise class virtualization mechanisms, such as VMware ESX, VMware ESXi, VMware vSphere, Citrix Xen Hypervisor, KVM (Kernel-based virtual machine), and Microsoft Hyper-V Server.

Additional Considerations for RISC and x86/x64 architectures

IBM investigates and troubleshoots a problem until it is determined that the problem is due to virtualization. The following guidelines apply:

• If we suspect that a specific issue is happening because the system is virtualized and we cannot reproduce the problem in our non-virtualized environment, we will request that you demonstrate the issue to us in a live meeting session. IBM may also require that further troubleshooting be done jointly on your test environment, as we do not have all types and versions of VM software installed in-house.
• If we are unable to reproduce the issue in-house in a non-virtualized environment and troubleshooting together on your environment indicates that the issue is with the VM software itself, we will request that you open a Support ticket with the VM software provider. IBM can meet with the provider and you to share any information we have which would help the provider further troubleshoot the issue on your behalf.
• If you choose to use virtualization, you must balance the virtualization benefits against its performance impacts. IBM does not provide advice regarding configuring, administering, or tuning virtualization platforms.