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Simplify your server environment and increase flexibility with server virtualization technology from Intel. Intel® processor-based servers provide leading performance and proven reliability for the foundation of your virtualized environment.
Reduce costs. Intel® hardware-based virtualization solutions enable you to consolidate more applications on fewer physical servers, avoiding costly data center expansion by lowering management costs.
Build performance. With Intel® Xeon® processors, you get multi-core performance and headroom to improve virtualization performance. Built-in Intel® Virtualization Technology (Intel® VT) reduces the need for compute-intensive software translations between the guest and host operating systems (OSs).¹
 
 
Age of existing servers
Performance gain
Number of existing servers for consolidation
Desired consolidation ratio
Annual cost savings
 
 
Improve manageability. Virtualization lets you manage multiple servers as a single pool of resources, moving and balancing workloads among them without service interruption.
Put an entire ecosystem to work. Intel's technology-leadership includes industry initiatives that develop best practices for the deployment of specific applications on hardware with Intel VT.
Discuss virtualization technologies with the experts on Open Port ›
 
 
Virtualize on Intel® processors
 
Intel® Xeon® processor
Intel® Xeon® processor 7400 series based on the enhanced 45nm Intel® Core™ microarchitecture is the industry's best platform for virtualization and data demanding enterprise applications.
Intel® Xeon® processor 5300 series has four energy-efficient processor cores and Intel VT to deliver the most headroom for virtualization on a 2P server. Now you can maximize system utilization and reduce costs by seamlessly consolidating your server resources, all while getting record-setting performance.²
 
Intel® Itanium® 2 processor Intel® Itanium® 2 processor 9000 series delivers twice the performance of previous generations and continued advancements in mainframe-class reliability with Intel® Cache Safe Technology and Enhanced Machine Check Architecture, while lowering energy requirements by up to 20 percent.

Intel® processors are built to provide excellent server virtualization, with Intel VT and innovations across the key system components that drive headroom for virtualized environments:
  • Increase processor resources. Multi-core architecture, a dedicated high-speed front-side bus, and the innovations of the Intel® Core™ microarchitecture combine to provide breakthrough energy-efficient performance.
  • Improve memory performance. Fully-Buffered DIMM Memory in the Intel Xeon processors minimizes bottlenecks within the memory subsystem. IT replaces the shared memory bus with a serial point-to-point lane and a dedicated buffer for each memory module, allowing dramatically improved memory efficiency and performance.
  • Reduce system latency with accelerated I/O. Intel® I/O Acceleration Technology (Intel® I/OAT) enables more efficient network data movement. PCI Express* provides an effective data-transfer rate of 4 Gbit/s per lane, allowing for composite interconnect rates as high as 64 Gbit/s.
 
 
Top virtualization downloads
 
Evaluating Two-and-Four-Socket Server Virtualization Platforms › (PDF 1MB)
View the animated virtualization demo › (ZIP 25.3MB)
Boost server utilization by consolidating multiple environments onto a single server.
Intel® Virtualization Technologies: Usage Models Beyond Consolidation Brief › (PDF 270KB)
Choosing the Right Hardware for Server Virtualization › (PDF 196KB)
Read this new IDC whitepaper to learn the importance of choosing the right hardware for server virtualization.
Read the virtualization technology brief › (PDF 327KB)
Technology brief: Understanding Intel Virtualization Technologies (Intel VT).
How can virtualization benefit your business? ›
View this informal Chalk Talk to learn more.
Help my virtualized data center ›
Virtualization on Intel Xeon Processors Customer Example: Video – Telefonica: first to market with virtual hosting service
 
 
¹ Intel® Virtualization Technology (Intel® VT), Intel® Trusted Execution Technology (Intel® TXT), and Intel® 64 architecture require a computer system with a processor, chipset, BIOS, enabling software and/or operating system, device drivers and applications designed for these features. Performance will vary depending on your configuration. Contact your vendor for more information.

² See performance site for full details: www.intel.com/performance/server/xeon_mp/virtualization.htm.
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