Virtual Server Solutions Vmware: With VMware software and Intel hardware, companies are consolidating their server environments, often by as much as 20 or even 30 to one; they are adding resources, moving applications, and redirecting workloads almost instantly; and they are provisioning new servers in a matter of minutes. As a result, they are slashing costs, improving reliability and security, and increasing datacenter and business agility.

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Rarely do the efforts of two companies come together with such a resounding impact. For more than a decade Intel has been delivering powerful and reliable server technologies that have helped businesses drive down the total cost of their computing solutions. More recently VMware added a critical innovation by enabling mainframe-style virtualization on the Intel architecture. This combination of high-end virtualization capabilities and affordable, industry-standard servers is driving fundamental breakthroughs in datacenter operations, and helping businesses address some of their most critical computing challenges.

With VMware software and Intel hardware, companies are consolidating their server environments, often by as much as 20 or even 30 to one; they are adding resources, moving applications, and redirecting workloads almost instantly; and they are provisioning new servers in a matter of minutes. As a result, they are slashing costs, improving reliability and security, and increasing datacenter and business agility.

Establishing a Solid Foundation

Virtualization software runs directly on server hardware, and tight integration is essential to deliver the levels of performance and reliability needed to support multiple operating systems and applications. VMware and Intel have been working together for years to optimize the interactions between hardware and software and to test and validate the combined solution across a wide range of environments. These ongoing efforts help VMware software make better use of intrinsic hardware capabilities, such as dual-core processors and Hyper-Threading Technology, which enable a single processor to support multiple software tasks simultaneously. In concert with Intel's world-class hardware validation program, they also help to provide a robust solution that companies can deploy with confidence in their production environments.

Driving Innovation

Even as VMware and Intel continue to optimize current solutions, they are pushing forward to increase the business value of the combined platform. As one example, Intel will deliver Intel® Virtualization Technology in the first half of 2006, and VMware plans to follow quickly with optimized software support. This silicon-level technology will simplify and accelerate core virtualization processes, and help to fuel faster innovation and even broader interoperability. It will also provide support for 64-bit guest operating systems, so businesses can extend their virtualized environment across a wider range of enterprise workloads. To drive ongoing innovation, VMware and Intel are exploring ways to deliver additional hardware and software innovations that will help take the combined solution to the next level.

Multi-core processors are ideal for the intense and complex demands of consolidated and virtualized server environments, and VMware and Intel are collaborating to deliver optimized support. As Intel integrates increasing numbers of cores into future processors, tight integration with VMware software will help companies make the most of rapidly increasing processor capabilities to provide ever-more dense, flexible and cost-effective datacenter solutions.