Posted by Fraser Campbell
Sat, 18 Mar 2006 01:42:00 GMT
There has been a lot of traffic on various linux kernel mailing list of late relating to virtualization. Much of the recent traffic is the result of a proposal and large patchset from VMWare (at least from Zachary Amsden of VMWare).
Zach has been posting periodically on linux-kernel since 1996 and judging by code and feedback he certainly knows his stuff. The latest from Zach is a plethora of patches that implement what VMWare is calling VMI or Paravirtualization API Version 2.0.
You can read the linux-kernel post here for a good overview of the work.
High level goals of the API are portability, high performance, maintainability and extensibility.
In the maintainability section the following statement is made:
To reduce the maintenance burden as much as possible, while still allowing the implementation to accommodate changes, the design provides a stable ABI with semantic invariants.
This statement is sure to raise the ire of kernel developers. More on that later.
Read more...
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Posted by Fraser Campbell
Mon, 06 Mar 2006 14:17:00 GMT
IBM has released a Redbook draft here regarding virtualization on their xSeries 460.
Even if you do not work with the 460 you are likely to find useful information in this work. The book focuses on VMWare ESX and Microsoft Virtual Server.
3 cheers for IBM’s great work and thanks to virtualization.info for bringing this doc to my attention.
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Posted by Fraser Campbell
Wed, 15 Feb 2006 11:40:00 GMT
In an article titled “Open Source Will Help Advance of Utility Computing”, Internet News suggests that open source software will be a driver towards achieving the utility computing vision.
This quote was particularly interesting, sad and probably true:
“In nearly every company, [the CIOs] are spending 70 to 90 percent on an undifferentiated infrastructure and only about 20 percent on innovation,” said Carr. “What you really want is to have those numbers flipped around.”
Read original article here.
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Posted by Fraser Campbell
Tue, 07 Feb 2006 11:47:00 GMT
AMD issued a press release yesterday stating that all their chips should support hardware virtualization (Pacifica) by mid-year.
An interesting thing to note is that Pacifica support not only CPU virtualization but also I/O Virtualization, in contrast to Intel’s VT-x technology.
Quoting AMD’s press release:
AMD’s I/O virtualization technology is expected to be supported by all AMD processors in mid-2006, and is also anticipated to be implemented in chipsets and core logic designed for AMD64-based platforms in 2006.
Thanks to this article on The Register for bringing us the news.
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Posted by Fraser Campbell
Fri, 20 Jan 2006 11:25:00 GMT
It is being widely reported that Penguin Computing recently hired Pauline Nist, former VP of HP’s enterprise, storage, and servers unit.
Nist was a former heavyweight with Tandem before it was taken over by Compaq. Nist’s new boss, Penguin CEO Enrico Pesatori, was the President of Tandem when it was taken over by Compaq.
Mix together a bunch of former Tandem employees, a former Sun exec and a storage guy and you pretty much have Penguin’s executive. Throw in Donald Becker for top Linux cluster talent and these guys should be on the way to great things.
The register has an alternate opinion on Nist’s employment:
The executive also has experience as VP of DEC’s Alpha server business. So, she’s lorded over numerous dying server businesses.
More information is all over the Internet but I found The Register and IT Manager’s Journal most informative. You can also go right to the source, Penguin Computing.
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Posted by Fraser Campbell
Thu, 19 Jan 2006 11:40:00 GMT
LWN is reporting on IBM’s attempt to add “containers” to the Linux kernel. Quoting LWN:
The folks at IBM would like to add a “container” capability to the Linux kernel. Containers are a way of walling a group of processes off from the rest of the system; a process within a container will only see its fellow inmate processes and whatever resources are made accessible to that container.
The ultimate goal appears to be the ability to checkpoint and restart a container (possibly consisting of many processes).
The patch quite far reaching, submitted in 34 parts and is apparently stirring up some resistance.
This patch implements some functionality that is already present in the OpenVZ and Linux-Vservers code. Now a 3rd competing patchset is being made available. Ultimately the best option is likely to make it into the kernel.org kernel but much debate remains as to which version (if any) will be the winner.
The LWN article is available to subscribers only, if you check back in 1 to 2 weeks it should be freely available.
The PID virtualization discussion seems to have begun in December. You can follow discussions on the Linux kernel mailing list, a good starting point would be here.
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Posted by Fraser Campbell
Fri, 13 Jan 2006 04:10:00 GMT
As virtualization begins to take hold, and certainly for organizations with large HPC clusters, the management of hundreds to thousands of machines becomes more time consuming and error-prone with every added Linux instance.
Management tools that let you push/pull configuration changes and verify them are critical for efficient management.
Philip Peake recently posted a case study regarding Aduva OnStage:
Managing an Open Source Application Stack with Aduva OnStage
— One of the most serious problems facing larger organizations considering using Linux and Open Source application stacks is managing the software environment. The basic Linux system has adequate tools to manage a single machine, or even a small group of machines, but once the population of these machines reaches into the tens and hundreds and spreads across multiple application areas and multiple locations the management task becomes harder.
I plan to investigate the cfengine framework as a possibility for managing virtual (and physical) infrastructure, Aduva will likely be on the evaluation list as well.
I would love to hear from those of you who are using Aduva or any other management framework. Does it live up to the billing? My preference is definitely weighted towards open source and core OS tools, I have seen to many empty promises from vendors in all aspects of IT.
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Posted by Fraser Campbell
Sun, 04 Dec 2005 23:08:00 GMT
What is Virtualization?
When we refer to virtualization we most often mean the virtualization of hardware to enable running multiple copies of an operating system on a single computer.
Today’s computer systems with multi-gigahertz CPUs, multi-gigabytes of memory and large disk subsystems are often severely underutilized and have more than enough power to run many operating systems simultaneously and reliably.
In our case we are most interested in running multiple copies of Linux on a single computer. Some virtualization products allow the running of Linux and other operating systems (Sun’s Solaris, Microsoft’s Windows, etc.) simultaneously. The ability to run Linux alongside other operating systems can be very useful in some circumstances.
The Arguments for Virtualization
Increased Utilization
The majority of systems, even in the enterprise, are grossly underutilized. CPU utilization below 10% is normal.
Virtualizing the physical hardware so that many servers can run within the same physical machine can drive utilization much higher, to 75% or more.
With each virtual machine still only utilizing it’s 10% of CPU a single physical system should easily support 5-10 virtual servers
without any performance issue for users of these machines – assuming the virtual machine solution in use offers sufficiently low overhead.
Rapid Deployment
Deploying a virtual machine should take very little effort. The effort of assembling a server, racking it, powering it up and initial testing is required once per physical server and not all for virtual servers. With the physical machine and virtualization software in place deploying a new virtual server should take a few minutes at most, seconds in some cases.
Software Savings
A lot of enterprise software is licensed per physical CPU or per physical machine. Many software vendors maintain this model even when virtualization is used. As an example, if you run 10 copies of Redhat Enterprise Linux on a single physical machine you would only pay one license to Redhat.
Hardware Savings
Run 10 servers, buy 1. Quite simple.
Space, Power and Real Estate Savings
Run 10 servers, power 1 server, provide air conditioning for 1 server and provide space for 1 server.
Improved Maintenance Capabilities
Some virtual server solutions enable the movement of a virtual server between physical machines while the server is still operating.
Live migration capabilities can enable administrators to migrate a virtual server from one physical host to another, even between data centers, as users continue to use services. The ability to move virtual servers uninterupted can reduce or eliminate the need for maintenance windows.
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