PPU Overview

PPU consists of the following components:

Figure 1-1 PPU Components

PPU Software

The software which runs on the PPU system consists mainly of a “PPU Agent”. The PPU Agent reports the following information to the utility meter:

	NOTE: The PPU Agent is the software component that provides information to the utility meter. On HP-UX systems, this component is implemented as a daemon (“ppud” daemon), on OpenVMS as a process (PPU_SERVER), and on Windows systems, this component is implemented as a service (“PPU Service”).

You interact with the PPU Agent when you need to do any of the following: view PPU system settings, specify a utility meter, specify a system identifier, set a cap limiting the number of active cores (HP-UX and OpenVMS only), or test the connection to the utility meter.

	IMPORTANT: If the connection to HP is broken, and no usage information is sent to HP, HP may assume 100 percent core utilization.

Utility Meter

To track the actual core usage, the utility meter receives reports from the PPU Agent. The utility meter is a dedicated appliance (generally an IA-32 system running Linux) connected to your network and preloaded with HP software. The utility meter is installed and configured by your HP service representative. One utility meter can support up to 100 PPU systems or partitions.

Usage Database

The usage database receives information from the utility meter. The information is then aggregated and posted to the PPU web portal for your viewing. See “PPU Web Portal” for details on the PPU web portal.

	NOTE: If usage data for any partition in the complex is not received for any given day, an e-mail notification is sent to your PPU system-contact’s e-mail address. This e-mail address is configured in the utility meter’s initial setup.