IBM, Intel initiative ‘accelerates virtualisation on multi-processor servers’
Virtualisation technology, such as VMware Infrastructure, on Intel-based servers is becoming widely used in production environments and is increasing capturing mid-tier application workloads, the companies say.
"As mid-sized and large enterprise IT organisations strive to cash in on the cost savings of data centre consolidation through server virtualisation, hosting applications on larger, more expandable multi-processor servers deliver the best return on investment," says Jim Northington, vice-president, System x, IBM. "Nevertheless, many organisations need the tools to help them select the server platform that works best in their environments."
One of the first tools to emerge from this joint initiative is a virtualisation benchmarking methodology called vConsolidate, which is designed to run multiple instances of consolidated database, mail, Web and Java workloads in multiple virtual CPU partitions on Intel-based System x servers to simulate real-world server performance in a typical environment. IBM and Intel are contributing the vConsolidate methodology to an industry standards body for consideration.
"Intel took a major step toward accelerating virtualisation with the introduction of our processors with integrated Intel Virtualisation Technology more than a year ago, and we have built a broad software ecosystem to support it," says Boyd Davis, GM of Intel Server Platform Group Marketing. "By creating the vConsolidate methodology with IBM, we are helping to make it easier for IT managers to adopt the technology and compare processor platforms and system configurations."
Using vConsolidate to benchmark the IBM System x3950 server with four dual-core Intel Xeon 7100 processors shows the x3950 delivers up to 46% more performance throughput than a competing system when running a mix of larger two- and four virtualised processor partitions, he adds.
Based on this and other customer test results, IBM and Intel created a VMware Infrastructure Sizing Guide aimed at helping customers to select and appropriately configure the various virtualised server options available to them.
This tool is said to draw from IBM’s virtualisation experience, dating back to its pioneering work on mainframe virtualisation 40 years ago, and the lessons learned from helping customers to consolidate their server environments. The companies say that the result is a tool that provides recommendations for target utilisation rates, the total number of virtual machines that will be needed to run the application, and the number of physical servers required to support the computing workload and goals.
The tool is designed to identify an economy of scale associated with larger server configurations based on:
* Ability to support more applications when usage peaks;
* Conservation of reserve memory across all virtual machines on a server;
* More processor targets for scheduling job execution.
ICTWorld
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