Introducing Oracle VM Server for SPARC
- by Honglin Su
As you are watching Oracle's Virtualization Strategy Webcast and exploring the great virtualization
offerings of Oracle
VM product line, I'd like to introduce Oracle VM Server for SPARC --
highly efficient, enterprise-class virtualization solution for Sun
SPARC Enterprise Systems
with Chip Multithreading (CMT) technology.
Oracle VM Server for SPARC, previously called Sun Logical Domains,
leverages the built-in SPARC hypervisor to subdivide supported
platforms'
resources (CPUs, memory, network, and storage) by creating partitions
called
logical (or virtual) domains. Each logical domain can run an
independent operating
system. Oracle VM Server for SPARC provides the flexibility to deploy
multiple Oracle
Solaris operating systems simultaneously on a single platform. Oracle VM Server also allows you to create up to
128 virtual
servers on one system to take advantage of the massive thread scale
offered by
the CMT architecture.
Oracle VM Server for SPARC integrates both the
industry-leading CMT capability of the UltraSPARC T1, T2 and T2 Plus
processors
and the Oracle Solaris operating system. This combination helps to
increase
flexibility, isolate workload processing, and improve the potential for
maximum
server utilization. Oracle
VM Server for SPARC delivers the following:
Leading
Price/Performance - The low-overhead
architecture provides scalable performance under increasing workloads
without
additional license cost. This enables you to meet the most aggressive
price/performance requirement
Advanced RAS - Each logical domain is an entirely independent
virtual machine
with its own OS. It supports virtual disk mutipathing and failover as
well as
faster network failover with link-based IP multipathing (IPMP) support.
Moreover, it's fully integrated with Solaris FMA (Fault Management
Architecture), which enables predictive self healing.
CPU Dynamic Resource
Management (DRM) - Enable your resource management
policy and
domain workload to trigger the automatic addition and removal of CPUs. This
ability
helps you to better align with your IT and business priorities.
Enhanced Domain
Migrations - Perform
domain migrations interactively and non-interactively to bring more
flexibility
to the management of your virtualized environment. Improve active
domain
migration performance by compressing memory transfers and taking
advantage of
cryptographic acceleration hardware. These methods provide faster
migration for
load balancing, power saving, and planned maintenance.
Dynamic Crypto Control
- Dynamically add and remove cryptographic
units (aka MAU) to and from active domains. Also, migrate active
domains that
have cryptographic units.
Physical-to-virtual
(P2V) Conversion - Quickly convert an existing
SPARC server running
the Oracle Solaris 8, 9 or 10 OS into a virtualized Oracle Solaris 10
image.
Use this image to facilitate OS migration into the virtualized
environment.
Virtual I/O Dynamic
Reconfiguration (DR)
- Add and remove virtual I/O services and devices without needing to
reboot the
system.
CPU Power Management -
Implement power
saving by disabling each core on a Sun UltraSPARC T2 or T2 Plus
processor that
has all of its CPU threads idle.
Advanced Network
Configuration - Configure
the following network features to obtain more flexible network
configurations,
higher performance, and scalability: Jumbo frames, VLANs, virtual
switches for
link aggregations, and network interface unit (NIU) hybrid I/O.
Official Certification
Based On Real-World
Testing - Use Oracle VM Server for SPARC with the most
sophisticated
enterprise workloads under real-world conditions, including Oracle Real Application Clusters (RAC).
Affordable, Full-Stack
Enterprise Class
Support - Obtain worldwide support from Oracle for the entire
virtualization environment and workloads together. The support covers
hardware,
firmware, OS, virtualization, and the software stack.
SPARC Server Virtualization
Oracle offers a full
portfolio of virtualization solutions to address your needs. SPARC is
the
leading platform to have the hard partitioning capability that provides
the physical
isolation needed to run independent operating systems. Many customers
have
already used Oracle Solaris Containers for application isolation.
Oracle VM Server for
SPARC provides another important feature with OS isolation. This gives
you the
flexibility to deploy multiple operating systems simultaneously on a
single Sun
SPARC T-Series server with finer granularity for computing resources. For SPARC CMT processors, the natural level
of granularity is an execution thread, not a time-sliced microsecond of
execution resources. Each CPU thread can be treated as an independent
virtual
processor. The scheduler is naturally built into the CPU for lower
overhead and
higher performance.
Your organizations
can couple Oracle Solaris Containers and Oracle VM Server for SPARC
with the
breakthrough space and energy savings afforded by Sun SPARC Enterprise
systems
with CMT technology to deliver a more agile, responsive, and low-cost
environment.
Management with Oracle Enterprise Manager Ops Center
The Oracle Enterprise Manager Ops Center
Virtualization
Management Pack provides full lifecycle management of virtual guests,
including
Oracle VM Server for SPARC and Oracle Solaris Containers. It helps you
streamline operations and reduce downtime. Together, the Virtualization
Management Pack and the Ops Center Provisioning and Patch Automation
Pack
provide an end-to-end management solution for physical and virtual
systems
through a single web-based console. This solution automates the
lifecycle management
of physical and virtual systems and is the most effective systems
management
solution for Oracle's Sun infrastructure.
Ease of Deployment with Configuration Assistant
The Oracle VM Server
for SPARC Configuration Assistant can help you easily create logical
domains.
After gathering the configuration data, the Configuration Assistant
determines
the best way to create a deployment to suit your requirements. The
Configuration Assistant is available as both a graphical user interface
(GUI)
and terminal-based tool.
Oracle Solaris Cluster HA Support
The Oracle Solaris
Cluster HA for Oracle VM Server for SPARC data service provides a
mechanism for
orderly startup and shutdown, fault monitoring and automatic failover
of the
Oracle VM Server guest domain service. In addition, applications that
run on a
logical domain, as well as its resources and dependencies can be
controlled and
managed independently. These are managed as if they were running in a
classical
Solaris Cluster hardware node.
Supported Systems
Oracle VM Server for SPARC is supported on all Sun
SPARC
Enterprise Systems with CMT technology.
UltraSPARC T2 Plus Systems
·
Sun
SPARC Enterprise T5140 Server
·
Sun
SPARC Enterprise T5240 Server
·
Sun
SPARC Enterprise T5440 Server
·
Sun Netra T5440 Server
·
Sun
Blade T6340 Server Module
·
Sun Netra T6340 Server Module
UltraSPARC T2 Systems
·
Sun
SPARC Enterprise T5120 Server
·
Sun
SPARC Enterprise T5220 Server
·
Sun Netra T5220 Server
·
Sun
Blade T6320 Server Module
·
Sun Netra CP3260 ATCA Blade Server
Note that UltraSPARC T1 systems
are
supported on earlier versions of the software.Sun SPARC Enterprise Systems with CMT technology come with the right to
use (RTU) of Oracle VM Server,
and the software is pre-installed. If you have the systems under warranty or
with support, you can download the software and system firmware as well as their updates. Oracle
Premier
Support for Systems provides fully-integrated support for your
server hardware, firmware, OS, and virtualization software. Visit oracle.com/support
for information about Oracle's support offerings for Sun systems.
For more information about Oracle's virtualization offerings, visit
oracle.com/virtualization.
