Admin Note: This is a repost on behalf of Ravi Subramaniam.

This is the first video in a 3 part series - In this video series, I touch upon the topics that are in the news - Virtualization, Grid computing and cloud computing - each have had their day as or are the current hot/hyped topic. In this first video, I focus on virtualization.

I am looking forward to an interesting dialogue on these videos and the topics and to learn from your insights as I hope you will from mine. I would really like to get your feedback/thoughts and other topics/considerations that would be relevant and important here.

The intent here is to try and demonstrate these topics are in some way inter-related though the implementations/embodiments are distinct and relevant to solving the problems in their respective topic/domain. By understanding the connections, my hope is that, one can visualize new solutions/products (to solve new or higher order problems) that may be created through some appropriate compositions or by novel (re)organizations of the implementations and technologies in these respective topics. Well... I am getting ahead of myself here ...

To stimulate discussion for this blog I would like to add/highlight a few points/questions ...

• Virtualization (at least for me) is a broad concept and as, highlighted in the video, has many modes, facets or aspects - many of the topics of current interest are sort of related by the application of some aspect of virtualization. For the sake of time/brevity, I choose to briefly mention the broader aspects and relate quickly to the notion of virtualization that most accept i.e. what I would call 'machine virtualization'. Do you agree with the broad view of virtualization? An elaboration on your response (for or against) will be much appreciated.

• Virtualization implies a relationship to the entity (physical or virtual) that the virtualization virtualizes - the ability to bind, manipulate and manage these relationships is what helps realize virtualization benefits like agility, consolidation, right sizing etc. The foil in the video "How to create virtualization?" describes some of the relationships (i.e. creating a virtualization establish the relationship describing the mode of creation). Do the ideas in "How to create virtualization?" section of the video make sense - do you agree - thoughts? Are there additional relationships (modes of construction) one may need to consider in the context of virtualization? Are there any product/product area that Intel could enhance by adding one of these virtualization modes/relationships i.e. that would solve (or improve solution of) a problem that you have (say emulation for example)?

• Machine virtualization - is currently SW based with HW assists for performance and security. What do you see as the next inflection for machine virtualizations? Is there an increased role for HW (as different from the current role of enhancing SW solutions)? Are there any models for virtualization that you see that are better suited for implementation in silicon rather than SW?

Finally also looking forward to any other feedback/discussion on the video and video content ...

Thanks for your interest!

Over the past months, you have likely heard about the challenges that data centers in the U.S. and world wide are facing. Energy costs - typically around 10% of an IT budget-could account for 50% of the average IT budget in just a few years.¹ 59% of ITs cite power and cooling as a growth limiter. ² While those challenges may seem daunting, Intel sees many opportunities to improve energy efficiency in nearly every aspect of data center operation that consumes power.

Intel's recently announced Harpertown processors, based on 45nm technology, go a long way toward helping address the issues data centers are facing. Because they deliver up to 2X the performance-per-watt of prior Intel® Dual-Core processors in the same power envelope in the same socket, Intel Xeon® processor 5400 series enables a data center to double its compute capacity or maintain its current compute capacity using half the number of servers. Either way, the energy efficient performance improvements that are delivered are quite impressive.

What is often lost in the discussion of processor power and performance is the fact that they are small but important part of a larger data center system. This system is comprised of the IT equipment (servers, networking, and storage) as well as non-IT support equipment (power delivery, cooling and air handling, and other environmental controls). By looking at the data center holistically, IT organizations can better manage increased compute demands, lower their energy costs and reduce total cost of ownership.

The IT industry, driven by the work of groups such as The Green Grid, is developing a series of metrics to assess data center efficiency as the ratio of useful work output divided by total power consumed by the entire facility^3^. This holistic view of where the energy is being used has identified large energy efficiency gains in the operational practices of getting power to the IT equipment, where in many cases as little as 50% of the energy is going to the IT equipment.

There are number of approaches to increase data center efficiency based on this holistic view, and they vary widely in terms of investment required and energy savings. In addition to our energy efficient processors and systems, Intel is working collaboratively with industry partners and government organizations to accelerate development and adoption of technologies, products and best practices that can improve data center operations. Examples of options to consider include:

• Purchasing higher efficiency power supplies and mother board components
• Installing higher efficiency Uninterruptible Power Supplies and other power conversion equipment
• Monitoring energy consumption and environmental conditions to develop operational energy policies
• Employing Virtualization to increase utilization and consolidate servers in ratios up to 30:1
• Use of hot & cold aisle layouts and floor vent tiles to prevent hot air from mixing with cold air
• For a more detailed list of ways to increase the efficiency of your data center, click here

How well do you understand the total energy consumption and efficiency of your IT facility? It's likely that there are a number of ways that you can improve your operations to handle the increasing rack densities and growing demand for compute capacity - and make the CFO happy because the power bill goes down as well...

1. Source: Gartner, May 2007
2. Intel DC Users Group 06
3. The Green Grid Data Center Power Efficiency Metric. http://www.thegreengrid.org/gg_content/TGG_Data_Center_Power_Efficiency_Metrics_PUE_and_DCiE.pdf