CHOOSING THE BEST SERVERS FOR VIRTUALIZATION
Adhering to these four fundamental principles can help maximize your profits. The choice of hardware is as crucial as selecting the right virtualization software when implementing or enhancing your virtualization solution. Your hardware selections will determine your consolidation rates, overall expenses, business application performance, and availability, as well as the efficiency and versatility of your data center. Poor decisions not only hinder your returns but may also hinder your ability to expand your virtual environment in the future.
By adhering to four basic principles, you can maximize the value of virtualization in your data center, both now and in the future. Choose servers that are specifically built for virtualization. Choose servers that are optimized for virtualization. The use of virtualization software can lead to increased latency and decreased capacity for consolidation due to performance overhead. Intel Xeon processor-based servers mitigate this issue with Intel Virtualization Technology (Intel VT), which uses hardware-level support for core virtualization functions in the entire server platform, including the processors, chipsets, and I/O devices. This technology was created in collaboration with major virtualization software providers to offer optimal performance in real-world scenarios. All Intel Xeon processor-based servers support Intel VT to help you:
1. Achieve better application performance and higher consolidation ratios: Intel Xeon processor-based servers offer exceptional virtualization performance due to the reduction of virtualization overhead and more efficient sharing of processor, memory, and I/O resources among virtual machines.
2. Refresh your data center: By using Intel Xeon processor-based servers, you can achieve higher levels of resource consolidation and efficient performance per watt, leading to decreased needs for space, power, and cooling. Furthermore, Intel’s Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O enables you to share network and SAN ports in a more efficient manner, avoiding the need for excessive capital expenditures.
3. Deploy virtualization with greater confidence: Intel Xeon processor-based servers help enhance compatibility across different operating systems, versions, and applications by offering a stronger hardware foundation for virtualization.
BUILD A FLEXIBLE COLLECTION OF VIRTUALIZED SERVER RESOURCES
Organizations are moving towards consolidating applications onto a pool of server resources for better utilization optimization. Virtual machines running live applications can be transferred between physical servers within the pool with no interruption in service, allowing for efficient workload balancing, server maintenance, high availability, and disaster recovery. This results in significant improvements in IT service levels at a low cost.
Intel provides compatibility for the live migration of virtual machines through its Intel® VT FlexMigration feature. This allows for the transfer of virtual machines from one generation of Intel Xeon processor-based servers to another, providing unmatched flexibility for choosing the best-fit servers both now and in the future while maintaining live migration support for all systems.
SIZE YOUR SERVERS TO MAXIMIZE YOUR RETURNS
Intel Xeon processors offer exceptional performance and energy efficiency in various server configurations, from two-socket systems to large 16-processor (96-core) systems. All of these options support Intel VT, allowing you to pick the ideal server for your needs while still preserving optimal performance and the ability for live migration.
The value you will get from an Intel Xeon processor-based server for virtualization will depend on what your goals and needs are. For most Virtualization Scenarios use four-socket or larger Intel® Xeon® processor 7400 series-based servers. These larger servers offer important advantages in virtualized environments.
1. Higher consolidation ratios: The performance and capacity of an Intel Xeon processor 7400 series-based servers with four sockets exceed that of a two-socket server by a wide margin. The four-socket server can offer up to three times as many cores (24 versus 8) and double the amount of memory (256 GB). Having more memory is often crucial for improving consolidation ratios.
2. Enhanced Availability: With increased consolidation of applications on each server, uninterrupted availability becomes even more crucial. Four-socket servers and larger servers based on Intel Xeon processors offer enhanced reliability, availability, and serviceability (RAS) features, including hot-pluggable components such as fans and power supplies, and other system-level features.
3. Better Support for Business-Critical Applications: By using bigger servers, you can allocate more processing power, memory, and input/output resources to each virtual machine without overusing them. This leads to improved and more dependable performance for several intense applications operating on the same server.
4. Superior Business and IT Agility: Bigger servers offer more space for expansion, increasing demands, and sudden increases in workloads.
FOR INFRASTRUCTURE CONSOLIDATION PROJECTS
Use two-socket Intel® Xeon® processor 5500 series-based servers. For infrastructure consolidation projects, two-socket servers powered by Intel Xeon processor 5500 series provide better value. Being the latest generation of server processors from Intel, it offers top-notch performance and energy efficiency per core, along with significant improvements in system bandwidth, which leads to improved application performance and better returns in many cases. However, as the consolidation ratios grow, the Intel Xeon processor 7400 series, which has two extra cores per processor and supports larger memory setups, might deliver better performance. In general, if you’re looking for maximum performance and value for a relatively small number of virtual machines, opt for two-socket servers based on the Intel Xeon processor 5500 series.
SCHEDULE YOUR SERVER UPDATES FOR OPTIMAL OVERALL VALUE
Servers that use the latest Intel Xeon processors provide twice the virtualization performance compared to previous-gen servers and nine times the performance of older, single-core systems. Even organizations that already use server virtualization can expect significant cost savings and a fast return on investment when transitioning to these powerful servers. To determine the potential value of a server refresh in your environment, use the Intel ROI Estimator available on the website www.intel.com/technology/virtualization/server/index.htm. In the future, Intel Xeon processor-based servers will continue to improve virtualization performance and value by offering more and faster cores per processor, better energy efficiency, advanced Intel Virtualization Technology, added RAS features, support for larger memory capacities, and increased I/O bandwidth. By keeping track of these advancements, you can time your server refreshes to optimize your returns and build a cost-effective and powerful computing infrastructure that supports your business growth.