The Server Room Blog

Intel Servers - keeping it green...

todd.christ@intel.com — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 23:13:47 GMT

I'm always looking for good ways to describe to end-users what Intel Intelligent Power Node Manager can relate to everyday activities. Over the weekend, I was helping a buddy of mine move to a new home, and of course we rented a truck. While we were driving, we noticed a cool gauge on the dash and a pretty simple sticker describing what it does:

Keep it in the Green - what a simple concept! Most everyone can relate to the gas pedal in your vehicle directly with gas mileage. If you have a lead-foot, you burn more gas. But people who want to conserve, and keep it green - use cruise control.

Well, Intel servers can also be managed to optimize the energy consumed by the platform. Power Optimzed servers using X5500 Series Processors (Nehalem) and the X5500 chipset in conjunction with Node Manager is like cruise-control - you set your "speed" and the servers keep that maximum speed. It's all managed via P/T states using Intel Datacenter Manager.

Of course, at times the RED ZONE is needed - work needs to get DONE - so you throttle up, kick in the Turbo Boost and release that power cap! But there are also times when all that energy isn't needed - so you lift your foot off the gas pedal, and set your speed for the work that needs to be done. Intel Xeon based servers can transition to higher/lower power states using technologies like EIST, DBS, and Node Manager.

Keep your eyes on the lookout for more data on Intel and server power management at the Intel Developer Forum 2009

Cloud Power Management with Intel® Microarchitecture (Nehalem) Processor-based Platforms

Check Twitter for more details @IDF and @IntelNews and search #IDF09

* disclaimer: giving credit where credit is due U-Haul owns that sticker and tagline!

3D Graphics in Virtualization using Intel VT-d on Workstations

radhakrishna.hiremane.shridhar@intel.com — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 22:37:07 GMT

Below link showcases a demo done by Parallels on an Intel 5400 chipset based workstation at Intel Developer Forum recently. It highlights innovation in virtualization using I/O virtualization hardware assist technology in Intel chipsets.

Parallels Demo on Intel 5400 Chipset

Don't be astonished, it's a real demo running using a beta code from Parallels for workstation. The workstation has dual graphics slot, which means two graphics devices can be plugged in the workstation. Using Intel VT for Directed I/O technology (Intel VT-d), the VMM can assign each graphics card directly to a VM independently. When done so, the guest OS running in the VM is in full control of the graphics device. The guest OS driver and any associated accelerators (OpenGL or DirectX) can be used with graphics device assigned directly. This lets end user to experience the full graphics capability including full 3D capability and near native performance even in virtualized environment on a workstation. Intel VT-d hardware assist for virtualization in the chipset plays a vital role in making this innovation possible.

Without Intel VT-d the graphics card is emulated in the VMM in software and all the acceleration (like Open GL and DirectX) is not possible. Direct assignment helps overcome the VMM overheads and have the guest OS handle the graphics card directly.

It is a tremendous advantage for workstation users who run applications in multiple OSes on different systems today and also do not want to sacrifice graphics performance with virtualization. On a single dual socket workstation running virtualization in the future, the end user could very well run two different OSes side by side, without compromising the quality of graphics and by running each OS on a different processor (or socket) soak up the full processing capability of multi-core workstations.

Demos on Demand

don.sticksel@intel.com — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 20:24:10 GMT

IDF SF08-Demos are an excellent tool for getting your message across. At IDF we demonstrated Demos on Demand which allows the message to get out without having to take the equipment to the location. Demos on Demand allow our customers, Fellow Travelers and corporate decision makers the opportunity to view our demos at any time from their location. Please view the IDF presentation below and come visit us at Demos on Demand.

Intel & Turtle Entertainment Collaborate on Virtualization of Gameservers

william.h.lea@intel.com — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 21:10:56 GMT

IDF SF08-Online gaming and sports leagues are growing every day and here at IDF this week we had the opportunity to see how Intel is making an impact. I was visiting the Virtualization Community in the IDF Showcase where I met Bjoern Metzdorf, Director of Information Technology at Turtle Entertainment who was speaking with Alan Bumgarner of Intel. Check out the video for a major success story including an 18:1 server consolidation ratio, 85-90% power savings and no observable latency for the gamer, this is cool stuff!

If you want to learn more about Turtle Entertainment and the Electronic Sports League (ESL) Click Me

Intel & HP Partner on World's Best 4-Socket TPC-C Benchmark

william.h.lea@intel.com — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 23:14:53 GMT

IDF SF08-HP and Intel announced collaboration on the world's best 4-socket TPC-C benchmark result of >634K transactions/min. Check out the video with Aaron Spurlock (HP) and Noe Garcia (Intel)discussing the HP ProLiant DL580 G5 server with Intel XEON 7400-series (Dunnington) processors. Let us know what you think.

IDF SF08: Intel & IBM Announce World Record TPC-C Result

william.h.lea@intel.com — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 18:01:14 GMT

Back at IDF for Day 2 and still wrapping up some exciting news coming out yesterday. I met with Robert Zuber (IBM WW Marketing Manager)and Mike Moreno (Intel) and we talked about how IBM and the DB2 team, along with XEON 7400-series processors achieved this milestone of the Industry's First 1M+ TPC-C result. Here's a video with Robert and Mike in the Technology Showcase.

Check out the official Transaction Processing Council Site for details on the system configuration and full results.

Dunnington Shines at IDF-New World Records Announced

william.h.lea@intel.com — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 04:16:19 GMT

Big news today at IDF SF08...Intel Exective VP, Pat Gelsinger delivered his keynote address here in San Francisco, Moscone Center. Innovation is always a big topic at IDF and today is no exception. Intel announced today new world record performance for the XEON 7400-series processor, code-named "Dunnington". And just what are these world records you ask? Watch the video for stunning results from Fujitsu Siemens (SPECint), SUN (SPECjbb, Dell (TPC-E), HP (4S TPC-C, SQL Server) and IBM with an Industry First 1.2 Million TPC-C result on Intel Architecture. Enjoy the video!

"Live From" Eco-Tech Great Debates, IDF SF08

william.h.lea@intel.com — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 23:03:56 GMT

Update: 3:55pm.

More from the event.....currently debating "Container" DataCenter v. Traditional "Brick & Mortar...here's our esteemed panel

Panel members include Jud Cooley (SUN Micro), Conor Malone (Rackable), Sigurd Anderson (IDC Architects), Bruce Myatt (Critical Facilities Solutions), & Phil Reese (Research Computing Strategist, Stanford Univ.)

Prior to that the debate was around High v. Low Density in the datacenter, here's the panel:

Panel members are David Driggers (Verari Systems), David Moss (Dell), David Segar (IDC Arch.), Christian Belady (Microsoft), James Shuder (Oracle)& Mukesh Khattar (Oracle)

Hi all,

Jason and I are "Live' from the Great Debates. The ICT Metrics Panel just concluded. Here's a photo from the event:

Panel members including Kathrarine Kaplan(EPA), Andy Rawson (AMD), Kathleen Fieher (Intel), Magnus Herrlin (Ancis), Ray Pfeifer(SynapSense), and Bill Tschudi (LBNL). Good discussion around specific performance metrics that should be taken into account for measuring data center performance. Also, some interesting discussion on what the EPA is doing around the Energy Star program for IT.

Check out the live webcast here: Eco-Tech Great Debates LIVE

The Eco-Technology Great Debates @ Intel Developer Forum 2008 San Francisco

jason.a.davidson@intel.com — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 00:25:20 GMT

Hank Lea and myself (Jason Davidson) will be covering the Eco-Technology debates at the Marriot Hotel in San Francisco on Monday, August 18th. We will also be hosting a blog talk radio show around this event at 5:15 PM.

In my tenure at Intel, I have had the pleasure of walking into major companies, educational institutes, non-profits, and government agencies to talk technology with many great people. “How green is this solution” is a topic on many minds lately – no matter which topic of discussion. Being an engineer by trade and scientist by education, I will typically dive into the details of around each component’s power consumption and the discussion ends with some simple math multiplying a number of units by their thermal numbers. However, there is so much more to the overall impact, and as I walk in and out of these locations, I am always amazed at the number of larger issues with much larger impacts that are unresolved or overlooked. For more information on these items, here is a blog.

The Eco-Technology Great Debates provide a unique and entertaining forum to expand your understanding of today’s most pressing data center and IT issues. Come hear industry leaders take up both sides of some of the hot topics facing

the industry.

Attendees will learn about the pros and cons of high-density computing versus low-density computing and ready-to-use container data centers versus traditional brick and mortar data centers. There will also be a panel discussion on energy efficiency metrics, which will take a look at everything from chips to cooling systems and how they play a role in energy efficiency.

The energy consumption of servers and data centers has doubled in the past five years and is expected to almost double again in the next five, costing about USD 7.4 billion annually.¹ There is no single right answer on what to do about this critical situation. Take an active step in solving this challenge by attending *The Eco-Technology Great Debates* and IDF at a special money-saving price. Register for IDF now and enter promo code *CLOECOT* (admission to the Eco-Technology Great Debate and a 2-day pass to IDF) or enter promo code *CLTECOT*(admission to the Eco-Technology Great Debate and a full conference pass to IDF). The debate takes place at the San Francisco Marriott Hotel (located across the street from IDF).

¹ [EPA Reports Significant Energy Efficiency Opportunities for U.S.

Servers and Data Centers (August 2007).|http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/0de87f2b4bcbe56e852572a000651fde/4be8c9799fbceb028525732c0053e1d5!OpenDocument]

On the Road to "IDF"- China

william.h.lea@intel.com — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 18:41:32 GMT

Hi everyone, I'm on the road in a couple of weeks for my first trip to China visiting the Spring Intel Developer Forum in Shanghai. While I'm really excited to visit China, I'm also looking forward to seeing all kinds of new technology in action. I'll be adding to this blog during the event and would like to get more ideas from this community before I head out.

Do you have any special interests that I could report back on? Let me know your ideas and I'll try to capture what's happening at IDF to share with the Server Room community.