Simply Spectacular Virtualization – Istanbul Edition

With the introduction of Six-Core AMD Opteron^TM processor (codenamed “Istanbul”), there is now enough public information on the web to take a closer look at configurations and pricing of Six-Core AMD Opteron processor-based systems (”Istanbul”) and Quad-Core Intel Xeon processor-based systems (”Gainestown”) that have posted top VMmark scores.

Before I dive into the comparisons, let me acknowledge that I’m sure a lot of people will call “foul” with this comparison since the Intel Xeon 5570 processor-based system uses 96GB of memory and the AMD Opteron 2435 processor-based system uses 64GB of memory. Let me remind you that these are the “VMmark configurations” which are submitted by OEMs. 

Here is the comparison of VMmark configurations for similar models of HP ProLiant 2P/2U G6 systems that were priced on the HP ProLiant Server web site on Friday, June 5, 2009. Each system had the processors and memory configuration as listed on VMmark disclosure documents along with the default disk controller, one 146 GB hard drive, and the default hardware warranty.

The HP ProLiant DL385 G6 running Six-Core AMD Opteron processors (”Istanbul”) offers the same cost per VM as the ProLiant DL380 G6 running Intel Xeon 5570 model with a system cost that is about 1/3 less. It should be noted that the DL385 is using a standard processor model as opposed to the high-end processor model used by the DL380.

You can configure the AMD technology-based DL385 with a considerably cheaper 64GB configuration using 16 x 4GB DIMMs. This results in a system cost that is almost 2/3 less than the Intel configuration using 12 x 8GB DIMMs. Assuming that there is about 10% performance difference compared to the 8 x 8GB AMD processor-based configuration with this alternate memory configuration, the estimated cost per VM would be $115. Mind you: the 10% performance difference here is not a measured result – it is more or less an educated guess of what we might see if we changed our memory configuration from 8 x 8GB to 16 x 4GB. But it shows that shows that it should be possible to get an even better cost per VM and overall system cost using AMD technology-based systems. It should be noted that the DL380 does not offer a cheaper 96GB memory configuration – the configuration listed is the cheapest.

In order to show a more comprehensive comparison I have done a hypothetical 64GB comparison (listed below). I have selected a comparable memory configuration for DL380 system using the HP DDR3 Memory Configuration Tool to decide the best configuration for the DL380 system due to the complexities surrounding configuring systems with Intel Xeon 5570 3 memory channel architecture. The recommendation from HP for virtualization was to 8 x 8GB DIMMs. For the DL385 I show both 8 x 8GB and 16 x 4GB memory configurations since both of these configurations are valid and result in well performing systems. I have also listed the cost per VM when running 10, 20, 40, and 60 VMs per system. Keep in mind the average number of VMs per server may be closer to 10. For reference, responses to SearchDataCenter.com’s 2008 Purchasing Intentions Survey reveals that only 5% of respondents are running more than 25 VMs on a server – 61% are running less than 10 VMs per server and 33% are running 10 to 25 VMs per server.

In both comparisons in this blog it is obvious that the Six-Core AMD Opteron processor (”Istanbul”) continues AMDs focus on producing a processor that offers a balance of performance, power and price. A similar comparison of VMmark systems and price/performance can be found on SolutionOrientedBlog.

Let me know your thoughts about these comparisons.

Her postings are her own opinions and may not represent AMD’s positions, strategies or opinions. Links to third party sites are provided for convenience and unless explicitly stated, AMD is not responsible for the contents of such linked sites and no endorsement is implied.

Margaret Lewis, director, AMD commercial software and solutions

Margaret Lewis (@margaretjlewis) is a commercial software and solutions director at AMD.

@margaretjlewis