--- name: power-iaas-getting-started title: Getting started with IBM Power Virtual Server description: IBM® Power® Virtual Server is an IBM Power server offering. You can use the Power Virtual Server to deploy a virtual server, also known as a logical partition (LPAR), in a matter of minutes. You can provision flexible, secure, and scalable compute capacity for Power enterprise workloads both on IBM Power Virtual Server in (IBM data center and in Client location) in your data center. last-updated: 2026-06-23 --- > ## Documentation Index > The table of contents for this documentation set is at https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/power-iaas?format=markdown > The index for all IBM Cloud docs is at: https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/llms.txt > Use these files to discover more information as needed. # Getting started with IBM Power Virtual Server {: #getting-started} IBM® Power® Virtual Server is an IBM Power server offering. You can use the Power Virtual Server to deploy a virtual server, also known as a logical partition (LPAR), in a matter of minutes. You can provision flexible, secure, and scalable compute capacity for Power enterprise workloads both on IBM Power Virtual Server in (IBM data center and in Client location) in your data center. You get fast and flexible management that can be connected to access a stack of enterprise services from IBM – all with pay-as-you-use billing. Using these services you can easily adjust workloads with flexible compute capacity. You can quickly deploy a Power Virtual Server to meet your specific business needs and easily control workload demands. Avoid the large capital expenses or added risk when migrating your essential workloads and get started with Power Virtual Server today! For frequently asked questions about the Power Virtual Server, see [FAQ](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/power-iaas?topic=power-iaas-powervs-faqs&format=markdown). ## IBM Power Virtual Server in [IBM data center]{: tag-blue} {: #public-cloud} IBM Power Virtual Server resources reside in IBM data centers with dedicated networking and Storage area network (SAN)-attached Fibre Channel storage. You can choose one of the regions that is listed in the specifications that are nearest to your data center. IBM Power clients who rely on client-owned infrastructure can now quickly and economically extend their Power IT resources off-premises. In the data centers, the Power Virtual Servers are separated from the rest of the IBM Cloud servers with separate networks and direct-attached storage. The internal networks are fenced but offer connectivity options to IBM Cloud infrastructure or on-premises environments. This infrastructure design enables Power Virtual Server to maintain key enterprise software certification and support as the Power Virtual Server architecture is identical to certified on-premises infrastructure. If you are creating or configuring a Power Virtual Server instance to support an SAP NetWeaver or SAP HANA workload, see [Planning your deployment](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/sap?topic=sap-powervs-set-up-power-instances&format=markdown#powervs-memory-sizing-and-subscription-concepts){: external} and [Deploying your infrastructure](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/sap?topic=sap-powervs-set-up-power-instances&format=markdown#powervs-set-up-power-sap-network){: external}. If you are creating or configuring a Red Hat OpenShift Cluster on Power Virtual Server, see [Cloud native development and application modernization by using Red Hat OpenShift on IBM Power Virtual Server](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/power-iaas?topic=power-iaas-app-modernization-using-RedHat-openshift&format=markdown). ## IBM Power Virtual Server Private Cloud in [Client location]{: tag-red} {: #private-cloud} IBM Power Virtual Server Private Cloud is an as-a-service offering that includes a prescriptive set of physical infrastructure (compute, network, and storage). The physical infrastructure or the pod is deployed in your data center. The pod is maintained and operated by IBM site reliability engineering (SREs) and managed through the IBM Cloud platform. Each pod is associated with an IBM Cloud Satellite location that is owned by your IBM Cloud account. This architecture helps to scale horizontally to add more pods according to your requirements. For more information about Satellite location, see [IBM Satellite location](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/power-iaas?topic=power-iaas-satellite-location-spec-private-cloud&format=markdown). To verify that the pre-installation requirements are met, see [Prerequisites for installing the pod](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/power-iaas?topic=power-iaas-pre_installation_checklist&format=markdown). IBM Power Virtual Server Private Cloud officially supports Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), IBM i, and IBM AIX®. With the support of these operating systems you can deploy several applications, including SAP HANA, SAP S/4HANA, and SAP NetWeaver. You can also run Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform to accelerate your application modernization efforts by using new cloud-native applications. Power Virtual Server does not provide Linux stock images. Bring your own Linux image (OVA format) and subscription. SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) and RHEL OVA images are supported. [Learn more](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/power-iaas?topic=power-iaas-using-linux&format=markdown) {: note} ## Terminology {: #terminology} * **IBM Cloud account** - You can log on to IBM Cloud dashboard by using IBM Cloud account to access various IBM Cloud solutions, services, and offerings. To create an IBM Cloud account, see [Signing up for the IBM Cloud](https://cloud.ibm.com/registration){: external}. * **Location and region** - The global network of locations of IBM Cloud provides three tiers of regions: multizone regions (MZR), single-campus multizone regions, and data centers. To achieve low application latency, choose your nearest location and region. For details about the available IBM Cloud regions and data centers, review [Region and data center locations for resource deployment](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/overview?topic=overview-locations&format=markdown){: external}. * **Satellite location** - A Satellite location is a representation of an environment in your infrastructure provider, such as a private cloud data center. Each IBM Power Virtual Server Private Cloud pod in your data center must be associated with a Satellite location to manage the lifecycle operations of the pod. You must create multiple and unique Satellite locations if you are planning to deploy multiple pods in your data center. For detailed information, see [Understanding Satellite location and hosts](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/satellite?topic=satellite-location-host&format=markdown){: external}. * **workspace** - A workspace is a container of all the virtual machines, storage volumes, network configurations, and so on, at a specific geographic region. Power Virtual Server workspaces are available from the **Resource list** in the Power Virtual Server user interface. Each workspace can contain multiple Power Virtual Server instances. Within each Satellite location, you can create multiple workspaces. For example, you can create two workspaces in the Satellite location of the North Data Center: one workspace for production workloads and another workspace for development tests. * **pod** - a pod consists of IBM Power compute, storage, and network infrastructure that is built, installed, and maintained by IBM in your data center. You can have multiple pods and each pod will be uniquely represented by an IBM Cloud Satellite location. * **Control plane network and client data plane network** - Control plane network is the connection between IBM Cloud and client data center. The client data plane network is the connection between the client data center and the IBM Power Virtual Server Private Cloud pods. For more information, see the [Network overview for private cloud](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/power-iaas?topic=power-iaas-network-private-cloud&format=markdown) topic. ## Before you begin {: #before-you-begin} Before you create your first Power Virtual Server instance, review the following prerequisites: 1. Create an IBM Cloud account if you don’t have an existing account. To create an IBM Cloud account, see [Signing up for the IBM Cloud](https://cloud.ibm.com/registration){: external}. 2. Plan and specify your infrastructure requirements and review the estimated cost by using the [Power Virtual Server Estimate pricing](https://cloud.ibm.com/power/estimate){: external} tool. Identify whether you want Power Virtual Server in IBM data center or in IBM Power Virtual Server Private Cloud in client location, or both. 3. Review the entire lifecycles of Power Virtual Server instances on [IBM Power Virtual Server in IBM data center](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/power-iaas?topic=power-iaas-getting-started&format=markdown#lifecycle-on-cloud) and [IBM Power Virtual Server in Client location](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/power-iaas?topic=power-iaas-getting-started&format=markdown#lifecycle-private-cloud). ![Getting Started with IBM Power Virtual Server](./figures/PowerVS-lifecycle_overview_Jan2025.png "Getting Started with IBM Power Virtual Server"){: caption="Getting Started with IBM Power Virtual Server." caption-side="bottom"} ## Lifecycle of a Power Virtual Server [IBM data center]{: tag-blue} {: #lifecycle-on-cloud} ![Lifecycle of IBM data center}](./figures/PowerVS-lifecycle_on-cloud_Dec2024.png "Lifecycle of IBM data center"){: caption="Lifecycle of IBM data center" caption-side="bottom"} [Client location]{: tag-red} {: #lifecycle-private-cloud} ![Lifecycle of Client location](./figures/PowerVS-lifecycle_private-cloud_Dec2024.png "Lifecycle of Client location"){: caption="Lifecycle of Client location" caption-side="bottom"}