Virtual OptiConnect TCP/IP interfaces are used as interpartition communication paths. A single iSeries™ server is logically partitioned in multiple virtual machines. Each partition has its own address space. To TCP/IP, each partition appears as a distinct iSeries server. This topic shows you how you can use this feature to your advantage.
With logical partitions, a single iSeries server is logically partitioned into multiple virtual machines. Virtual OptiConnect TCP/IP interfaces are used as interpartition communication paths. Each partition has its own address space, its own instance of TCP/IP, and might have its own dedicated I/O adapters. To TCP/IP, each partition appears as a distinct iSeries server. TCP/IP communication between the different partitions is done using a virtual OptiConnect bus. The TCP/IP routing code uses the path to another partition no differently than the path to another system connected by a physical OptiConnect bus.
In these examples, only one LAN adapter is installed in the system. It is allocated to partition A. The clients in the LAN need to communicate with the other partitions defined on the system. To do this, you define a transparent subnet on the virtual OptiConnect bus. The LAN has a network address of 10.6.7.x. You want to plan for additional partitions, so IP addresses are then needed. To get 12 addresses, you must use a subnet mask of 255.255.255.240. This gives you addresses 10.6.7.241 through 10.6.7.254, a total of 14 usable addresses. You must ensure that these addresses are not already in use on the LAN. After you get the addresses, you assign one to each partition. You add an interface to each partition and define the address on the virtual OptiConnect bus.
Transparent subnetting is automatically enabled when the following statements are true. First, the virtual OptiConnect bus is less than or equal to the size of the MTU on the real LAN interface. Second, the OptiConnect bus subnet is a subnet of the LAN network address. If both statements are true, then transparent subnetting is automatically enabled. The interface 10.6.7.3 performs a proxy for all the interfaces defined in the partitions. This allows clients on the LAN to connect to the partitions.