Hardware for virtualization
Bronze Award:
Tie: Xeon and Opteron quad-core processors
For its part, Intel introduced its quad-core Xeon processor 7300 series with enhanced virtualization capabilities in September. Advanced Micro Devices' quad-core Opteron processor with Direct Connect Architecture began shipping within days of the Intel announcement.
Both processors are naturals for servers that run applications in virtualized environments.
The Intel 7300 is a four-socket platform with up to 16 threads, 32- and 64-bit processing capabilities, and up to 8 MB of L2 cache per processor. This facilitates data center consolidation while providing the peak-load responsiveness needed for unpredictable virtualized applications. It also supports live virtual machine migration with its Intel VT FlexMigration feature and includes Intel Networking technology improvements, such as Virtual Machine Device Queues (VMDq), which sort data through multiple queues in the silicon, resulting in more efficient network processing.
AMD's quad-core Opteron features AMD Virtualization (AMD-V) technology with Rapid Virtualization Indexing, which can accelerate the performance of virtualized applications and improve efficiency of switching among virtual machines. This enables users to host more virtual machines and users per system to maximize the consolidation and power-saving benefits of virtualization.
Direct Connect Architecture reduces the bottlenecks inherent in traditional front-side bus architectures to improve overall system efficiency. In addition, the processor includes AMD's PowerNow technology that saves power by allowing processor voltage and frequencies to match applications. As a result, when a processing core is not in use, the power throttles down.
