E nterprises have been using virtualization technology on mainframes and RISC-based systems for years to enable better utilization of hardware resources. As x86 servers have become a mainstay in the enterprise, more companies are exploring virtualization with these servers to enable more productive, flexible, and scalable datacenters while reducing costs and boosting data availability. Computing technologies from AMD are providing the foundation for today’s—and tomorrow’s—enterprise virtualization solutions.

1. AMD WHITe PAPeR
Putting Server Virtualization to Work
enterprises have been using virtualization technology on mainframes and RISC-based systems
for years to enable better utilization of hardware resources. As x86 servers have become a mainstay
in the enterprise, more companies are exploring virtualization with these servers to enable more
productive, flexible, and scalable datacenters while reducing costs and boosting data availability.
Computing technologies from AMD are providing the foundation for today’s — and tomorrow’s —
enterprise virtualization solutions.
In the 21st century, the promise of the Information enter virtualization–a technology that enables
Age is being fulfilled. Bits and bytes of data, corporations to make more effective use of the
information and knowledge rocket around the globe computing resources within the datacenter
in milliseconds. Product cycles have been and move legacy software and data to newer,
condensed from years into weeks, and supply more efficient hardware platforms.
chains are interwoven into a complex fabric. Paper is
giving way to pixels and e-business is rapidly Virtualization partitions a server into several “virtual
evolving from an elusive dream into reality. machines,” each able to run its own separate
operating system and application environment. This
In this post-industrial environment, an enterprise that moves businesses away from a “one server, one
has a well-defined data management strategy is application” model in which computing resource use
at a tremendous advantage. Such an organization can average less than 25 percent, and toward an
can harness the power of information technology infrastructure that lets a business manage its
to achieve remarkable results. Conversely, servers across a heterogeneous environment far
companies lacking the right server and data more effectively. The ability to run different operating
management strategy risk missing out on the systems and applications on the same physical
promise and opportunities of the digital age. server lets organizations consolidate the workload
placed on servers. If one virtual system fails, another
Achieving success is no simple task. As can take over instantly and perform the same tasks.
organizations have adopted a mélange of hardware
and software systems — with servers scattered Virtualization isn’t a new idea. It is a time-tested
across an enterprise — the solution has often concept that IT professionals have used for years to
created a new problem. Today’s complex data-server manage mainframes and UNIX computing
environments have grown exponentially, leaving environments. Advances in x86 technologies such
companies with larger and more rigid datacenters. as AMD64 technology with Direct Connect
Not only does it become cost-prohibitive to Architecture have made virtualization ideally suited
administer these datacenters, it is difficult to achieve for today’s conventional PC and server-centric
optimal value and return on investment (ROI) as well environments. With computing demands increasing
as return on assets (ROA). Hard-to-find data, old and every year, and as much as 80 cents of every
inaccurate data, aging hardware and software, and IT dollar spent on software and operations
sluggish performance can all conspire to drag down maintenance, the need to streamline has
service levels and profits. In the end, an organization become paramount.
can find its customers, business partners and
employees dissatisfied.
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2. AMD White Paper: Putting Server Virtualization to Work
Streamlining teSting and For years, enterprises have used virtualization However, virtualization can tip the balance back in
deVelopment enVironmentS technology on mainframes and RISC systems to favor of the enterprise. In some cases, a 5 to 15
with Virtualization enable better utilization of hardware resources. As percent drop in basic IT operating expenses may
For many enterprises, development x86 servers have become a mainstay in the be achieved. A well-planned virtualization strategy
and test environments — while a necessary enterprise, increasing numbers of companies are can also reduce the time it takes for IT staff to
part of doing business — also present exploring server virtualization to build more manage devices. Some companies report gains of
challenges when it comes to cost of productive, flexible, and scalable datacenters while 50 to 70 percent or more. This leaves hardware
operation and time to market: reducing costs and boosting data availability. And specialists, programmers, and other professional
n Capital and space requirements computing technologies from AMD that enable 64- staff free to handle more strategic work.
for multiple physical systems, and 32-bit software to run side by side are providing
particularly servers, may be the foundation for today’s — and tomorrow’s — n A more flexible and scalable environment. Many
prohibitively high, in today’s budget- enterprise virtualization solutions. organizations find themselves awash in data —
conscious environments. flowing from multiple databases, data marts and
With the right software and systems in place, a data warehouses, and in addition to the vast array
n Length of required setup cycles and
lack of sufficient hardware reduces company can manage and automate an array of of unstructured data that floods the typical
workflow efficiencies. complex processes. It can create a “utility” computing enterprise today. The number of documents in
environment that serves up data on demand. Armed various formats, e-mail messages, photographs,
n Actual test and deployment cycles with greater flexibility in its server and storage and video files is growing at a rapid clip. The fast
may be longer than necessary due to
frequent system reconfigurations.
infrastructure, an enterprise can attain the flexibility it pace of business demands a computing
requires to compete in today’s global economy. environment that allows fast and easy access to
As any bottom-line-minded business this growing mountain of data. Any lag in
knows, all of these challenges end up BuSineSS in a Virtual world performance can slam the brakes on a company’s
costing money in one way or another.
overall performance and light up its bottom line in
With virtualization, corporations can Virtualization can provide well-documented benefits
overcome these hurdles. red ink. As the organization’s data environment
to organizations of all sizes and across a wide continues to grow, so does the need to ensure that
The combination of AMD’s Direct Connect spectrum of industries. When an enterprise has the its applications continue to operate at their
Architecture and the ability to run 32- and right virtualization solutions in place, it can achieve maximum potential. Virtualization enables legacy
64-bit applications underlie many of the efficient utilization of server resources to more
real-world benefits. As a result, successful
applications and data to be run on modern
effectively test and deploy new application hardware platforms, providing more security and
companies are integrating AMD Opteron™ environments. A well-tuned computing engine can
processors into their operations. performance benefits.
supply an enterprise with the power it needs to
ratchet up business goals as well as customer and n Reduced financial risk. Loss of data can prove fatal
management expectations. for an organization. Ironically, the greatest losses
often aren’t the result of the immediate disaster, but
Ultimately, an organization can more effectively utilize of ongoing lapses during the recovery phase.
all of its assets across the entire enterprise. Several Organizations first lose critical files or information,
key business drivers are spurring the adoption of and loyal customers follow. even brief disruptions
virtualization. Among them are: could result in lost opportunities. But with
virtualization, companies that previously weren’t
n The need to simplify management of complex
able to justify the expense of a disaster-recovery
hardware devices. Today, multiple hardware
solution (for small applications or smaller IT
platforms, operating systems, and programming
environments) may now do so. When implemented
environments lead to a jumble of systems and
within the context of virtualization, the ROI for a
resources. The proliferation of single application
disaster-recovery solution is high.
servers — and resulting data silos —can wreak
havoc on data accessibility and network n Governance and regulatory concerns. Sarbanes-
performance. It is not unusual for an organization Oxley, Basel II, and the Health Insurance Portability
to overuse some equipment while other devices and Accountability Act (HIPAA) have all created
remain vastly underutilized. The resulting imbalance an environment that forces organizations to
and cascading inefficiencies typically lead to take regulatory issues seriously. Strict reporting
higher costs, reduced response time, and more rules and tight internal controls translate into
complex provisioning. a need for better data management. Security
and privacy issues have also emerged at the
n A reduction in costs associated with reduced
forefront of business. Centralized administration
server management and administration. At many
and tighter control of resources made possible
organizations, network administration is an
by virtualization can help an organization avoid
expensive and unwieldy task. As the number of
problems sometimes associated with highly
servers grows, IT staffing and tasks spike as well.
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3. AMD White Paper: Putting Server Virtualization to Work
fragmented and distributed data and computing disruption to users. Consequently, customers, top 5 BuSineSS BenefitS
resources. Virtualization efforts may also contribute employees, and supply chain partners can work of Virtualization
to a more secure and controlled datacenter, since in a familiar way. 1. Increase server utilization
the IT organization will typically manage fewer
servers within this type of environment. In addition, by separating hardware and software 2. Improve service levels
management issues, an enterprise can often manage 3. Streamline manageability and security
taking Virtualization to a and maintain discreet systems far more effectively.
4. Decrease hardware costs
higher leVel
A virtual environment also excels at managing 5. Reduce facility costs
Virtualization is increasingly attractive to workstations, departmental servers, datacenter
organizations looking to maximize the potential of servers and other devices. Virtualization’s ability to
server-based applications and computing resources. separate hardware and software management
Among their other benefits, virtual servers can help issues and manage discreet virtual systems can
reduce dependency on old, out-of-warranty servers escalate network performance to a higher level.
that require more power and cooling than today’s In fact, by allocating and reallocating resources on
more energy efficient models. In many cases, these the fly, an organization can often gain a level of
aging machines, which rely on legacy hardware flexibility unimaginable only a few short years ago.
and operating systems, require a disproportionate
amount of attention and support. In contrast, laying the foundation with amd
virtualization lets IT managers clear away the
‘deadwood’ by consolidating servers running line-of- Along with the many benefits it provides,
business applications and help enable an optimized virtualization technology is a memory intensive
infrastructure, higher server utilization, and reduced application that places a heavy demand on servers.
management. This, in addition to the improved Virtualization software must manage multiple virtual
energy efficiency of the newer systems, contributes environments while still delivering application and
to lower power, cooling, and datacenter space data services to users in a timely fashion. That’s why
usage costs. top server performance within this type of
environment is crucial — and it’s being delivered
Virtualization also helps organizations extend the life today by the AMD64 computing platform, namely
of their own custom-written applications. In the past, AMD Opteron™ processors.
companies that had to keep these applications in
service faced skyrocketing support and AMD Opteron processors with Direct Connect
maintenance costs for the accompanying legacy Architecture provide a solid foundation for the
hardware and operating systems. But with evolution to x86-based virtualization. The AMD64
virtualization, there’s no need to rewrite existing computing platform offers companies the ability to
custom applications to run on the latest hardware run both 32- and 64-bit virtual machines on the
and OSes. Now, companies may simply create a same physical server, without rewriting code,
dedicated virtual machine for their legacy enabling them to maximize their IT investments.
application, and run it alongside other virtual Direct Connect Architecture also directly connects
machines running newer applications — all on the the CPU to the memory, I/O, and other processors.
latest power-efficient, multi-core, server hardware. The integrated memory controller provides high-
With virtualization, software investments can be speed, low-latency access to memory, and can help
protected while taking advantage of newer, cost- host and guest operating systems function more
efficient hardware. efficiently. HyperTransport™ technology provides a
scalable interconnect between processors, I/O, and
Another advantage of virtualization is its ability to other chipsets. This can help support more guest OS
streamline and accelerate deployment of software sessions and more user access applications.
and systems. An enterprise can deploy a new
version of the operating system and continue to run Second-Generation AMD Opteron processors,
a legacy application in a virtual machine. Using released by AMD in 2006, further advanced
virtual machines to test migration plans, including virtualization, by improving system performance and
debugging systems and analyzing performance, security of virtual environments to help boost the
makes it easier to isolate and solve problems before return on investment. AMD Virtualization™ technology
migrating to new environments. It reduces the cost (AMD-V™), consisting of hardware extensions to the
and risk of rewriting, porting or integrating existing x86 system architecture, is designed to help
applications with new systems and lets an virtualization software more efficiently run
organization deploy new systems with minimal applications in separate, isolated environments and
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4. AMD White Paper: Putting Server Virtualization to Work
the BenefitS of Virtualization hide the complexity of hardware infrastructure to Building a Virtual SucceSS Story
within a deVelopment and teSt help simplify management. AMD-V leverages Direct
enVironment include: Connect Architecture to provide fast and efficient Companies that have taken advantage of
n Lower capital and space requirements. memory handling, a must-have for memory intensive virtualization have realized a solid ROI. Today, a wide
Virtualization enables the consolidation applications like virtualization. range of organizations — including those in data-
of multiple test and development intensive industries such as financial services,
systems into fewer physical machines. Third-Generation AMD Opteron processors, to be healthcare, aerospace, and retailing — already have
These machines may run several released in 2007, will offer enhancements to AMD-V deployed virtualization successfully. Many other
different operating systems that will provide a balanced approach to improve companies are following suit.
simultaneously, while still maintaining virtualization performance and enable near-native
system independence and integrity. performance on virtualized applications. One of In fact, a growing number of businesses are turning
n Lower power and cooling costs. By those enhancements, nested paging, will reduce the to virtualization solutions to help them build more
consolidating legacy software through overhead of switching between virtual machines. power efficient, highly flexible, and scalable solution
virtualization, businesses can switch The use of nested paging by virtualization software platforms. As business decision-makers increasingly
out older, less energy-efficient machines will improve the performance of many virtualized look to squeeze out additional gains from the x86
with fewer, more energy-efficient systems. applications. AMD Opteron processors with architecture, they are taking a closer and more
n Increased efficiencies through shorter AMD Virtualization are engineered to help datacenter critical look at the servers they purchase. Certainly,
test cycles. Corporations can keep managers more easily migrate to virtualization it is no longer feasible to buy a server for every
centralized libraries of virtual test applications and plan for future virtualization needs. application an enterprise uses. Managing IT
environments and reuse them when resources efficiently is a necessity. Only then is it
needed, which may drastically reduce Finally, AMD has forged strong relationships with possible for an enterprise to ensure that it is
configuration times. Further, because numerous hardware and software firms that have maximizing revenues, return on assets, customer
these environments are essentially
a strong interest in x86 virtualization technology, and partner loyalty, and shareholder value.
available on demand, server idle time
may be reduced. Virtualization can including VMware, HP, IBM, Microsoft, Novell,
Red Hat, Sun Microsystems, SWsoft, Virtual Iron, AMD is at the center of this emerging universe. As
also simplify the process of testing
distributed server applications, which and XenSource. This helps businesses harness organizations move beyond the flat earth of CPU
can be extremely time-consuming the power of virtualization in far more robust ways. cycles and begin to examine I/O and chipset-based
and resource-intensive. They can act and react to changing business virtualization, they are discovering that it is possible
conditions in a more agile manner by reallocating to boost productivity and slash costs. Whether the
n Faster time-to-market. Virtualization
empowers developers to increase computing resources quickly and efficiently and focus is on system-wide performance, e-commerce,
efficiencies and effectiveness, so pooling these resources on specific servers. The storage, or simply maximizing the use of data,
products may ultimately come to combined power and flexibility of AMD Opteron tomorrow’s solutions exist today. AMD Opteron
market faster. processors and virtualization will let organizations processors with Direct Connect Architecture are
break the restraints of conventional strategy and ushering in a new era of server performance and
take server management to a higher level. making architectural level virtualization a reality. It
demonstrates that virtualization can provide a giant
leap forward in the evolution of computing and
information technology. n
Advanced Micro Devices www.amd.com
One AMD Place
P.O. Box 3453
Sunnyvale, CA 94088-3453
4 © 2007 Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. All rights reserved. AMD, the AMD Arrow logo, AMD Opteron, AMD Virtualization, AMD-V, and combinations thereof are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
HyperTransport is a licensed trademark of the HyperTransport Technology Consortium. Other names are for informational purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective owners.
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