Virtualization.com

News and insights from the vibrant world of virtualization and cloud computing

intel

HP, IBM, Intel, Red Hat And Others Form Open Virtualization Alliance

by Leave a Comment

BMC Software, Eucalyptus Systems, HP, IBM, Intel, Red Hat and SUSE yesterday announced the formation of the Open Virtualization Alliance, a consortium committed to fostering the adoption of open virtualization technologies including Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM).

The consortium will promote examples of customer successes, encourage interoperability and accelerate the expansion of the ecosystem of third party solutions around KVM, providing businesses improved choice, performance and price for virtualization.

The Open Virtualization Alliance will also provide education, best practices and technical advice to help businesses understand and evaluate their virtualization options.

The consortium complements the existing open source communities managing the development of the KVM hypervisor and associated management capabilities, which are driving technology innovations for customers virtualizing both Linux and Windows applications.

Members of the Open Virtualization Alliance have a common interest in supporting open virtualization, and are involved in the development, distribution, support, use, or other business interest in KVM or offerings which use it. By providing an open virtualization alternative, they are offering their clients choice and enabling them to select the ideal virtualization products for their business needs.

Pivot3 To Showcase First iSCSI SAN Platform to Include Virtual Servers

by Leave a Comment

Pivot3 today announced an enhancement of its Serverless Computing platform to support the Intel Core microarchitecture (codenamed ‘Nehalem’). With integrated server virtualization, each Pivot3 storage appliance can host server applications that have access to the underlying IP SAN and are managed with virtualization management tools.

Pivot3 Serverless Computing consolidates physical servers into a Pivot3 SAN by adding server virtualization into each scale-out SAN appliance. Unlike conventional head-end storage arrays, the Pivot3 solution has ample hardware resources to offer both server and storage virtualization. Pivot3 SAN software aggregates the storage resources of each SAN appliance, and hosted servers have access to the resources of all the aggregated SAN appliances. Both data and applications are protected in the case of appliance failures. The appliance approach is ideal for growing environments, requiring flexibility in both storage and server resources.

The Pivot3 high-availability storage appliances include a free virtual server with failover at a list price of $1,000 per terabyte.

StorMagic SvSAN Configuration Guides Now Also Available For Intel Server Platforms

by Leave a Comment

StorMagic, a developer of iSCSI SAN management software for virtualized server environments, today announced the availability of a validated configuration for StorMagic SvSAN and VMware Infrastructure 3 for ESX 3.5 software on the Intel Server Board S5520UR.

This server configuration was developed jointly by StorMagic and Intel engineers through the Intel Enabled Server Acceleration Alliance (Intel ESAA), a collaborative program that streamlines technical certification and validation of Intel-based server products and enables Intel OEMs and channel partners to quickly deliver reliable, high-quality server solutions to their customers.

With the StorMagic SvSAN, IT administrators can turn unused storage capacity into a virtual SAN, benefiting from high-end features of the VMware platform such as VMware VMotionT, and building a high-availability shared storage solution for less than US$2,000. The StorMagic SvSAN also works with VMware vCenter Server to enable administrators to quickly and easily configure and manage the entire virtual environment from a single management console.

Siemens Enters Virtualization Arena

by Leave a Comment

Siemens IT Solutions and Services today introduced its full-scale Virtualization Services. Based upon three core tenets — Engage, Enable, and Evolve — the package of services is designed to guide customers through what Siemens calls the “Virtualization Evolution”.

The three tenets of the Siemens approach are designed to guide customers through the various stages of the Virtualization Evolution. At the outset, Siemens engages virtualization to simplify technology tools and business processes. By simplifying the IT and process environment, companies can reduce the number of non-value-added tasks and improve business efficiency. This simplified architecture must be housed and enabled in some fashion, and containment is the means.

Containment engages all of the IT components into a centrally managed environment. By using the VMware vSphere 4 platform with Intel Xeo processor-based servers for containment, companies will be able to save power, reduce emissions, and consolidate server space. After simplifying and containing system architecture, the next step is evolving to the optimum state of fully dynamic infrastructure. Emerging client virtualization solutions incorporating Intel vPro technology provide enhanced security and improved manageability with increased end user flexibility. The entire Virtual Evolution is a journey along the road from initial simplification to the fully dynamic use of IT infrastructure.

Siemens IT Solutions and Services is one of the few companies that has demonstrated full scale virtualization of IT services, having implemented it on a global scale for its parent company, Siemens AG. “No one else is doing it on this scale in real time,” said Michael Kollar, Chief Architect. “We’ve implemented virtualization from data centers to the desktop. As such, we have a deep understanding of both the IT and business ramifications. Virtualization is about both content and technology,” he said.

For its Virtualization Services, Siemens has drawn upon its considerable experience in IT transformation to create a process that produces predictable and repeatable results. The five components can be utilized in sequence, individually, or in almost any combination.

Siemens contends that its Virtualization Services will provide customers with considerable financial and operational benefits, including:

  • Infrastructure cost reduction and optimization by managing more workloads without adding additional resources, and reducing power and cooling requirements
  • Server consolidation and infrastructure optimization created by pooling compute resources for improved utilization
  • Improved operational flexibility and responsiveness through managed IT infrastructure, based on standardized services, processes and automation

Siemens’ Virtualization Services are powered by Intel architecture based server and client platforms. The software is powered by VMware vSphere 4. Siemens feels strongly that the relationship between these three partners affords them an innovation advantage in the virtualization market, especially as it applies to cloud computing. Overall, this virtualized infrastructure provides important strategic, economic, and operational benefits, including:

  • Non-stop hardware maintenance
  • Dynamic resource management
  • Instantaneous backups and reliable disaster recovery

Intel Introduces New Family Of Xeon Processors

by Leave a Comment

Intel Corporation introduced 17 processors today, led by the Intel Xeon processor 5500 series. They are Intel’s most revolutionary server processors since addressing the market with the Intel Pentium Pro processor almost 15 years ago.

The new enterprise-class chips can automatically adjust to specified energy usage levels, and speed data center transactions and customer database queries. They also will play a key role in scientific discoveries by researchers who use supercomputers as their foundation for research, all whilst delivering great energy efficiency for reduced electricity costs.

The Intel Xeon processor 5500 series, previously codenamed “Nehalem-EP,” offers severaltechnologies that radically improve system speed and versatility. Technologies such as Intel Turbo Boost Technology, Intel Hyper-Threading Technology, integrated power gates, and Next-Generation Intel Virtualization Technology (VT) improved through extended page tables, allow the system to adapt to a broad range of workloads.

As use of the Internet expands toward Intel’s vision of 15 billion connected devices, the Intel Xeon processor 5500 series will also power an upcoming transformation for the Internet’s infrastructure. The high-tech industry has rallied around a goal to run applications from optimized processors and computing hardware that are available on-demand and scalable to the masses. Often called cloud computing, this vision could flourish helped by the adaptability, capability and intelligence of the Intel Xeon processor 5500 series.

With over 30 new world records the Intel Xeon processor 5500 series establishes new standards for two-socket performance while delivering gains of more than double the previous- generation Intel Xeon processor 5400 series.

Whether businesses are running high-capacity transactions or simulations, or researchers are striving to discover new energy resources or distant galaxies, computers based on the adaptable Intel Xeon processor 5500 series will play a big impact. Equipped with triple the memory bandwidth of previous server processors, Intel Xeon processor 5500 series-based platforms effortlessly manage a variety of workloads and conditions. A new feature, Intel Turbo Boost Technology, increases system performance based on the user’s workload and environment, dynamically boosting the clock speed of one or more of the individual processing cores.

These and other more intelligent capabilities of the processors also maximize total cost of ownership for users interested in a smooth transition to the Intel Xeon processor 5500 series from their current systems. In this time of economic challenges, customers can replace older Intel Xeon servers with the Intel Xeon processor 5500 series and receive an estimated payback in as little as 8 months.

Intel is also announcing new server boards that offer a higher degree of integrated components. In addition, the company is announcing the Intel 82599 10 Gigabit Ethernet Controller, featuring advanced virtualization technology and unified networking support, which greatly improves network I/O performance in virtualized datacenters. It is optimized to support the increased bandwidth provided by platforms based on the Intel Xeon processor 5500 series, which provides more than 250 percent the I/O throughput of previous-generation servers to best meet the needs of the most demanding virtualization applications.

Also available today is the Intel Data Center Manager software development kit that enables management console vendors to extend platform power control and set rack and datacenter level power policies dynamically, responding to changing server workloads to ensure that racks do not exceed those power levels.

For server applications, processor frequencies peak at 2.93 GHz with DDR3 memory speeds up to 1333 MHz and power levels of from 60 to 95 watts. Under certain conditions, Intel Turbo Boost Technology can provide operating frequencies up to 3.33 GHz, depending on the processor and system configuration. Workstation frequencies go up to 3.20 GHz with power levels of 130 watts, and up to 3.46GHz using Intel Turbo Boost Technology depending on the workload and environment. Each processor contains up to 8MB of level 3 cache.

Starting today, more than 230 unique systems based on the Intel Xeon processor 5500 series are expected to be announced by more than 70 system manufacturers around the world – including a new Intel customer, Cisco, along with Dell, Fujitsu, HP, IBM, Sun Microsystems and others.

The Intel Xeon processor 5500 series ranges in price from $188 to $1,600 in quantities of 1,000. The single-socket Intel Xeon processor 3500 series ranges from $284 to $999 in quantities of 1,000. The L5518 and L5508 embedded processors for communications market segments are priced at $530 and $423, respectively, in quantities of 1,000.

Xsigo Systems To Support New Intel Xeon Processor Family

by Leave a Comment

Xsigo Systems today announced support for Intel’s next-generation Xeon processor family. The new Intel processors offer enhanced performance and throughput capabilities that are expected to increase the need for Xsigo virtual I/O as users migrate to high-density computing environments that demand greater I/O capabilities.

The new Xeon processors include architectural enhancements that increase both processing power and memory bandwidth. When users add workload to capitalize on these features, there is an elevated risk of I/O bottlenecks unless there is a commensurate increase in I/O capabilities. Xsigo virtual I/O eliminates I/O bottlenecks with dynamic bandwidth allocation that delivers performance on-demand to I/O connections over a high-speed 20Gbs fabric. Xsigo virtual I/O also incorporates quality of service features that reduce the risk of I/O resource contention, an issue that arises when multiple virtual machines compete for bandwidth on a single I/O link.

Increasing compute density frequently exacerbates I/O issues since high-density devices may lack the physical space to accommodate the needed I/O, particularly when blade systems or compact 1U or 2U servers are deployed. Xsigo virtual I/O eliminates this concern by providing up to 40Gbs of bandwidth to each I/O card or mezzanine card, or 2X to 40X the bandwidth density of conventional I/O.

Customers using Xsigo’s I/O virtualization products can reduce both the operational and capital costs associated with server I/O. Xsigo consolidates the I/O infrastructure and replaces physical network and storage interfaces (NICs and HBAs) with virtual resources that can be deployed on-the-fly. Compared with traditional server I/O, benefits of the Xsigo virtual I/O infrastructure include:

  • 100 times faster I/O configuration management
  • 30 percent less power consumption
  • 70 percent fewer I/O cards, cables, and switch ports
  • Predictable I/O bandwidth to applications via hardware-enforced QoS

This open standards-based solution, interoperable with servers and storage across most leading platforms, is designed to remove the constraints imposed by traditional I/O cards and cables that otherwise limit the flexibility to re-deploy assets. The result is a wire-once infrastructure where configuration changes are completed in minutes rather than days, are executed in software rather than hardware, and can be remotely managed. Eliminating the need to re-cable can help reduce operational costs and remove the risk of cabling errors that may cause unplanned downtime.