Posts tagged with Microsoft
Live Migration: The Best Keeps Getting Better with AMD Opteron™ Processors
Posted by Margaret Lewis in 8:00 AM
Loading ...It’s been a busy couple of months, as AMD has been working in tandem with Microsoft on their whole suite of “new efficiency” products – namely, Windows® 7 and Windows Server® 2008 R2. There has been a great deal of excitement over these launches for some time now; and rightfully so. Windows 7 is a big deal for the industry as a whole, and we’re specifically excited about the graphics capabilities as well as its great matchup with Vision Technology from AMD.* But, what I want to talk about is, not surprisingly, what the IT guys play with: servers. Windows Server 2008 R2 has major implications for virtualization in particular, and here’s why:
Some of the largest enhancements to Windows Server 2008 R2 focus around Hyper-V – Microsoft’s hypervisor. Hyper-V R2 works hand-in-hand with AMD Virtualization™ (AMD-V™) technology to help reduce the overall complexity and memory overhead of managing VMs, particularly through inherent features of AMD-V technology, like Rapid Virtualization Indexing (RVI). However, another one of the capabilities that you’ll find interesting is live migration. IT Managers are always vocal about the need to dynamically move virtual workloads around in order to optimize their system performance and aid with possible disaster recovery. AMD has worked with our virtualization partners since the early days of the AMD Opteron™ processor, to ensure we have the technology in place to support seamless live migration, and our consistent server platforms are critical for this.
Case in point: we recently worked with Microsoft to showcase live migration of virtual machine from our current Six-Core AMD Opteron processor to our next-generation AMD Opteron™ 6100 Series processor (currently codenamed “Magny-Cours”) with Hyper-V (you may recall, we did this previously, but from Quad-Core to Six-Core AMD Opteron processors here). Have a look for yourself:
As you can tell, Windows Server 2008 R2 is already enabled for the upcoming AMD Opteron 6100 Series processor. In fact Microsoft recently made available for download an update designed to boost the power-saving features of the latest Windows client and server releases when used with AMD multi-core processors. This refresh can tweak the Windows Server 2008 RS in order to leverage the Enhanced C1 state (C1E) for lower power consumption, which is a power efficiency feature of the AMD Opteron™ 6000 Series platform.
We’re pleased to congratulate Windows Server 2008 R2 on its introduction to the market, and can’t wait to push the boundaries on virtualization even more!
Margaret Lewis (@margaretjlewis) is a Product Marketing Director at AMD. 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.
* Windows® 7 capable PC required for full Windows 7 functionality. See http://windows.microsoft.com/systemrequirements.
Windows 7: The Dawn of the Age of Client Virtualization
Posted by Margaret Lewis in 10:00 AM
I spend a lot of time on this blog talking about server virtualization – and rightfully so. The benefits are undeniable. But, client virtualization is something that I’m also passionate about. In fact, I’ve blogged about how I, along with other industry experts, am predicting a bright future for this market. Well, I’ve got exciting news for you: the future is now.
To me, today’s launch of Windows 7 represents a turning point. The benefits for client virtualization have been clear in the enterprise for a while: you can remotely manage a fleet of PCs, empowering your staff with greater flexibility when accessing information and you can potentially save costs on individual hardware for hundreds, or thousands of employees, depending of course on the size of your organization. For SMBs, the cost savings and direct impact was less clear, and for consumers it just hasn’t been something that’s ever truly broken into the mainstream.
But now, with Windows 7, every user can – and should – benefit from client virtualization. Whether you’re a Fortune 500 company with offices around the world, a small start up with 5 employees, or simply a consumer looking to get more out of your PC – there’s something for everyone here.
Let me explain.
SMBs around the world that rely on Windows are undoubtedly considering the upgrade to Windows 7. However, an upgrade process can be costly, time-intensive and complicated when you’re trying to make certain all of your business-critical applications will migrate. With Windows 7, SMBs can rely on XP Mode enabled via AMD-VTM virtualization technology to ensure their Windows XP applications can be used as part of their new Windows 7 OS.
Consumers can also benefit from XP Mode for the same compatibility reasons, but also for added security and customization, as XP allows them the freedom to operate a completely separate OS. This can assist with balancing work information and documents with home information and documents, or can allow you to deploy a separate OS (say, for children) to ensure your critical files are safe.
Consumers and business users alike want access to documents saved on their PC while they’re on the go. That’s where solutions like Citrix XenDesktop4 become so crucial with Windows 7. As Aimee Catalano wrote on our blog earlier this week, “This enables complete workplace flexibility, business continuity and user mobility.” I couldn’t have said it better myself. At AMD, we’re very focused on addressing today’s PC lifestyle, which includes both what users do on their PC, and how they access their applications and information.
It’s an exciting time to be in this industry. Multi-core hardware is more advanced than ever, the software keeps getting better and better and virtualization is at the core of how these new solutions allow dynamic user experiences. I’m predicting very big things for the client virtualization market not only in the coming years – but starting right now.
Margaret Lewis (@margaretjlewis) is a Product Marketing Director at AMD. 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.
Cloud Computing: A Look Back and a Look Forward
Posted by Margaret Lewis in 4:39 PM
October is pretty active month in the cloud computing space, with two big events happening this week that caught my eye: the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco and the Cloud Adoption Arena virtual event. The Web 2.0 conference is about more than just the Internet; it’s evolved to focus on technologies & business models – particularly cloud computing. The Cloud Adoption Arena is taking a hard look at how the difficult year for the economy is actually spurring the adoption of cloud strategies. Quite simply, I love these kinds of conversations.
But all this talk about where the cloud is going got me thinking about where we’ve come from. In fact, it was almost exactly a year ago that I was talking about getting beyond the fluff of cloud computing, and eWEEK was asking if we can “bet on the cloud.” The evolution of cloud computing allows you to draw a number of parallels to similar technologies. Living and breathing virtualization, I can’t help but feel some déjà-vu when I hear the main issues of cloud computing discussed (both pros and cons): it’s incredible for efficiency, flexibility and scalability of your business, but what about manageability, security and overall maturity of the market? These are all things we’re saying about virtualization just a few short years ago.
But, like virtualization, the major players stepped up to drive cloud computing forward. VMware launched their vSphere operating system – a major step to addressing those concerns over manageability & security. Microsoft has launched their Azure platform, which helps simplify the entire development cycle of the cloud – from web developers to ISVs to system integrators. And, from a standards perspective, groups like the Cloud Security Alliance and the Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF) have taken control of this market to help ensure its evolving in a responsible way.
And, at AMD, we’ve been addressing the infrastructure needs. We now have a Six-Core AMD Opteron EE processor available that draws an ACP of 40W, as well as the “Kroner” server platform to further address energy efficiency. These low-power, highly scalable, fully-featured solutions help cloud providers operate an extremely efficient, highly utilized and dense computing environment.
The same way that AMD was ahead of the curve in developing on-chip virtualization features like Rapid Virtualization Indexing (RVI) and focusing on low-power server processors to ensure a highly utilized physical machine was saving energy costs – AMD is out in front with cloud computing again. The conversation has evolved from “will this catch on” to “how can we shift our business model to adapt,” and it’s conferences like the two happening this week that are instrumental in driving that discussion.
What do you think? Are we finally beyond the fluff?
Margaret Lewis (@margaretjlewis) is a Product Marketing Director at AMD.
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.
New Efficiencies with AMD and Microsoft – How Silicon and Software Make Virtualization Happen
Posted by Margaret Lewis in 4:12 PM
Last week I was in San Francisco at the kick-off of the Microsoft New Efficiency Launch where Steve Ballmer showcased the new releases of three key products used by the businesses around the world: Windows® 7, Window Server® 2008 R2, and Exchange 2010. AMD is a sponsor of this launch and we are excited about the excellent alignment of AMD OpteronTM processor-based servers and AMD Business Class technology-based clients.
If you look at the products Microsoft is launching you see a lot of features designed to help businesses streamline and optimize their IT infrastructure. One point of interest at the launch event was the strong focus on virtualization with both Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7.
Enterprise customers at the San Francisco event were talking about their implementations of Windows Hyper-V – something you might not have heard a year ago. Features like live migration and support for AMD VirtualizationTM (AMD-VTM) technology Rapid Virtualization Indexing (RVI) are new functionalities in Hyper-V R2. This is the result of the on-going collaboration between AMD and Microsoft on an engineering level – and the value it brings to customers is a virtualization platform that can efficiently and effectively run demanding applications such as database, web serving, and virtual desktops.
Virtualization with Windows 7 was showcased with a demo showing XP mode – a virtual machine running Windows XP that allowed seamless access to an older applications using Windows 7 capable machines. AMD-V technology again plays a role here – helping to improve performance to maintain a solid user experience. And virtual desktop technology – the streaming of applications and entire desktops from central servers to clients – is enhanced with Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2.
There are a number of events in progress throughout North America – check out if there is an event near you so you can see the products in action first hand. If you can’t attend the events alive and in person – visit the AMD booth at the Microsoft New Efficiency Virtual Experience.
Margaret Lewis (@margaretjlewis) is a Product Marketing Director at AMD.
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.
A New Window on Client Virtualization
Posted by AMD in 4:00 PM
(12 votes, average: 4.67 out of 5)Congratulations to Microsoft as Windows 7 has reached an important milestone with its “release to manufacturing” (RTM), which means it is on its way to becoming pre-loaded on new hardware or a box on a retail shelf. In addition to a sleek interface and a number of new features, this new operating system continues the maturation of the client virtualization and also makes use of AMD innovations.
There are a lot of neat features in Windows 7 that should please consumers. If upgrading from Windows XP, the most noticeable difference for most users will be the new Aero interface. In addition to the rich graphics and intuitive design, there are features built in such as Aero Snap and Aero Clip that allow users to compare windows side by side, or quickly look at inactive windows without minimizing the entire desktop.
If you’re an IT Administrator, there are also features that can make your life a bit easier. If upgrading to Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 (which also announced RTM this week), a new feature called DirectAccess will allow you to manage remote PCs over the internet. And this same feature will allow your remote users to access network resources such as file servers and intranet sites without having to go through a Virtual Private Network (VPN) connection.
And speaking of remote users, if you are a mobile user who is looking to squeeze every minute of battery life out of your notebook, Windows 7 comes with a number of advanced power management features designed to help you realize power savings whether you are doing email during a layover or watching a movie on a long flight.
But, maybe one of the coolest features in Windows 7 is support of Windows Virtual PC and Windows XP Mode. With XP Mode, Microsoft has built in client virtualization technology that makes it easy to install and run Windows XP applications directly from a Windows 7-based PC, allowing users to enjoy the benefits of Windows 7 while maintaining support for legacy applications. Whether those applications are children’s educational games or Line of Business (LoB) applications for the enterprise – Windows XP mode is easy to install and use.
To run Windows XP Mode you will need to have a processor with hardware-based virtualization capabilities. All currently shipping AMD CPUs, with the exception of very low-end AMD SempronTM processors, include AMD-V TM a hardware-based virtualization technology needed to support XP mode.
Just remember that when using Windows Virtual PC (XP mode), you are essentially running two separate operating systems on your computer. If you don’t lock down that Virtual PC instance, you risk exposing your entire computer to a number of security risks. So remember to apply patches, turn on the Windows firewall, Windows Defender and install anti-virus software. In other words – whatever precautions you used to lockdown your Windows 7 environment? Take those same precautions for your Windows XP instance.
Microsoft has made a number of optimizations for the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) environment. Notable is an enhanced version of the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) that allows for remote video playback in Windows Media Player 7, multi-monitor support and the ability to print local, without having to install drivers on the server. AMD has worked closely with Microsoft to deliver highly optimized virtualization platforms. Keep in mind that a senior Gartner analyst has predicted that the fastest growing server workload running in the data centre over the next two to three years is going to be the desktop.
In addition to virtualization, AMD has provided very strong support in the graphics arena. In fact, AMD just announced the release of the company’s first WHQL-certified ATI CatalystTM graphics drivers for Windows 7 RTM this week. We’re excited for the new OS here at AMD. How about you?
Matthew Kimball is a Product Marketing Director at AMD. His postings are his 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.
AMD, Dell Talk Virtualization for SMBs
Posted by Margaret Lewis in 1:24 PM
I’m excited today to tell you about a virtualization webinar that AMD recently hosted with valued hardware partner, Dell. A few years ago Dell and AMD collaborated to create some of the industry’s first servers optimized for virtualization — the Dell PowerEdge R805 and R905 rack servers. In fact, earlier this year the Dell PowerEdge R905 won an InfoWorld Technology of the Year Award for Best Virtualization Server. Since then, we’ve continued to work together to fine-tune virtualization and are now expanding our efforts to reach SMBs — a rapidly growing area for virtualization.
In this Webinar, “Optimal Virtualization with AMD, Dell and Microsoft,” I join Antonio Sanchez, Senior Server Product Manager in Dell’s SMB segment to discuss the hot topic of virtualization for small and mid-sized business. We understand that many small businesses looking to utilize virtualization have questions. This session offers valuable information about how the software, hardware and processor technology must all work together to provide a superior virtualization solution. As you all know, that’s what I’m all about – the magic between the software and the hardware – and Dell and AMD are working hard with software partners like Microsoft to make that magic happen.
This is a must-listen for all you SMBs IT managers thinking about virtualization. Be sure to listen in and if it sparks any thoughts or questions, leave me a comment.
Margaret Lewis, director, AMD commercial software and solutions
Margaret Lewis (@margaretjlewis) is a Product Marketing Director at AMD.
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.
@margaretjlewis
Virtual Machines on the Move
Posted by Margaret Lewis in 5:15 AM
As you can imagine, migrating virtual machines without downtime is considered a core technology for building flexible and highly availability virtualized environments. So there were many questions around whether a hypervisor could gain widespread acceptance if it did not offer live migration capabilities. Fast forward to Spring 2009, and it is clear that Hyper-V has made a significant impact on the market.
In fact, a March article by Stephen Sowyer of Virtualization Review, highlights research by industry analyst firm, Gartner, who reported within the next five years “Microsoft and VMware will vie for bragging rights in the server virtualization infrastructure segment.” This builds on the October 2008 Worldwide Quarterly Server Virtualization Tracker from industry analyst firm, IDC, which concluded, “In its first quarter of general availability Microsoft Hyper-V delivered a strong showing, and when combined with Virtual Server 2005, Microsoft’s market share is 23% of new shipments.” These findings are truly significant given Microsoft entered the world of virtualization less than a year ago.
With today’s release of Hyper-V Server 2008 R2, Microsoft will offer live migration capabilities, enabling users to virtualize their IT environment in the most cost effective manner while having full access to enterprise-class features.
Now, a lot of folks new to virtualization don’t quite understand all the factors involved in making live migration a reality (in fact, I’m sure some of you are wondering why we keep blogging on the topic). To perform live migration with Hyper-V 2008 R2, you are required to have the failover clustering role added and configured on the servers running Hyper-V. Failover clustering requires shared storage for the servers in the cluster nodes so that all virtual machines can be stored in the shared storage area and running virtual machine state can be managed by one of the nodes (check out this great step-by-step guide on TechNet here).
An advantage for folks with a data center full of Quad-Core AMD Opteron processors—even various generations—is our stable platform approach enables folks to do live migration between the processor family (“Barcelona” to “Shangahi” to our upcoming six-core “Istanbul” processors) without losing any functionality—see for yourself as we migrate across all three generations with Hyper-V 2008 here.
This stable platform approach is something we also use for power efficiency. You may have seen that we recently announced our new low power (EE) processors which provide the same level of functionality as other versions but with a lower power envelope.
As you can imagine, I’m very excited about the live migration demonstration with Microsoft and its upcoming Hyper-V 2008 R2 technology. Working with the virtualization team over there has been a rewarding experience and I’m impressed with the inroads they have made on the virtualization market since the release of Hyper-V. I look forward to continuing to working with the team to push us all towards the “holy grail” of virtualization as it is a technology that truly enables a powerful and dynamic virtualization experience for customers.
Margaret Lewis (@margaretjlewis) is a Product Marketing Director at AMD. 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
@margaretjlewis
User Enablement Instead of Vendor Lock-Out
Posted by Margaret Lewis in 11:43 AM
It’s easy to see that virtualization it is a technology that has real benefits for companies both big and small. Not to mention, it is underlying technology for another key computing paradigm that is gearing up – cloud computing.
One thing we at AMD understand is that virtualization for x86 is a fast moving train. Six years ago when we introduced AMD Opteron™ x86 processor technology, virtualization was in its infancy. Today it is a technology that is racing to move beyond early adopters and moving quickly into the mainstream – a trend backed by much industry research.
Six years ago there were no hardware hooks in x86 processors to assist virtualization software. Today – through the power of cooperation – virtualization represents a very delicate dance between hardware and software. It requires joint development efforts between processor vendors and hypervisor providers.
AMD has software engineers working hand-in-hand with major virtualization software partners and is an active contributor to Xen and KVM open source virtualization projects. The end result – we are moving toward near native application performance in virtualized environments, running servers with high utilization rates, and helping to reduce the energy footprint of data centers.
So what’s next? We need to drive toward the next level of cooperation, which is heterogeneous virtualization. Customers are asking us to drive innovation in the direction of interoperability. We need live migration between different processors brands – not just between generations of the same processor. We need enablement – not lock-out and I think Virtualization Ecosystem Month was a great way to get conversations going about how to address this customer need. While March is over, I encourage all of our partners and customers to keep the virtualization ecosystem spirit alive and work together to continue to further this important and game-changing technology.
Margaret Lewis, director, AMD commercial software and solutions
Margaret Lewis (@margaretjlewis) is a Product Marketing Director at AMD. 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.
The Dawning of the Age of “Coopetition” for Virtualization
Posted by Margaret Lewis in 3:30 AM
Earlier this week, many were probably asking themselves, “Is the Moon now in its 7th house? Did Jupiter just align with Mars?” when they learned of the most recent Microsoft and Red Hat announcement. Two fierce global competitors agreeing to validate and certify each other’s virtualization software and coordinate technical support. Seems a bit far fetched.
And while I personally am thrilled with this development, I think what’s most interesting is that the industry seems to be recognizing this for what it is: a major milestone for the evolution of virtualization, a big step for the enterprise credibility of open source, and most importantly, a big win for customers. Matt Asay at CNet does a good job of reviewing the announcement and giving credit where credit is due.
Most are focusing their kudos on the fact that this alliance promises to create a new level of interoperability for virtualization and that it results in a “win-win” for users, who now have even more freedom to select the software that they feel is best suited for their specific application environments. But for me, the real takeaway is that this alignment definitely illustrates how quickly virtualization is maturing. We are now entering the Age of “Coopetition“ - the phrase Ray Noorda, past CEO of Novell, coined to describe cooperation with competitors.
In short: This is a necessary milestone for the mainstream acceptance of virtualization and clearly reflects mounting pressure from users who don’t want to live in a world of siloed virtualized environments.
We all know that the early adopters of virtualization had to accept the fact that some operating systems were not supported as guests by some hypervisors. They also had to learn how to plan for cross-generational processor live migration limitations that reduce their flexibility. But the mainstream market isn’t willing to bleed as much and wants broader interoperability assurances before they jump on board with virtualization.
The Red Hat and Microsoft agreement allows customers to run Windows Server and Red Hat Enterprise Linux virtual servers on either environment with configurations tested by both sides. And it is not the first of such agreements – we all remember how the world shook the day Microsoft and Novell announced their cooperative agreement in late 2006.
AMD has played a key role in driving the open innovation needed for effective x86-based virtualization. We took the route of publishing our proposed specifications for hardware-assisted virtualization (AMD-V™) and IOMMU (AMD-Vi) to ignite industry-wide dialogues and illicit partner and user input. We have worked with standards group, like the PCI SIG, to ensure that virtualization technologies fit into their specifications. Early on in the development of the AMD Opteron™ processor we opted to use HyperTransport™ technology for chip-to-chip interconnections instead of taking a closed architectural approach like Intel has done with Nehalem and its proprietary Quick Path Interface. By the way, Mike Uhler, vice president of Accelerated Computing, was just appointed president of the HyperTransport board, underscoring AMD’s continued support of driving innovation through standards-based technologies.
As virtualization continues to mature, my hope is that this new age of coopetition will drive live migration across vendor platforms—one of the last big challenges for virtualization (and customers). While we were able to showcase this technology with Red Hat, last October we haven’t been able to make it a reality—yet. While live migration across vendor platforms is a technical and complicated it would allow customers to realize the full potential virtualization technology and have the ultimate flexibility of their data center.
While my hope for cross vendor live migration is a bit far off, many thanks to our partners Microsoft and Red Hat for taking this big step and giving customers even more flexibility and control of their virtualized servers. Making competitive products interoperable will give virtualization the freedom it needs to become a pervasive technology. It also means that vendors like AMD, Microsoft, and Red Hat have to stay on their toes, developing cooperative products that address real user problems.
Margaret Lewis is a Product Marketing Director at AMD. 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.