Advanced Micro Devices and Linux distributor Red Hat on
Thursday demonstrated technology that enabled the vendors to
migrate a running virtual machine from an Intel Xeon-based
server to one running AMD's soon to be released quad-core Opteron
processor, code-named Shanghai.
The "live migration," which the companies said was done without
disrupting the operation of the application running on the VM, was
performed between a dual-socket server running Intel Xeon DP Quad
Core E5420 processors and a system based on Shanghai, which is set
for release this quarter. AMD and Red Hat have posted a video of
the feat on YouTube and on AMD's Web site.
The feat is significant because such transfers are nearly
impossible in the real world, which means IT departments are forced
to run all VMs on one platform. Most companies try to avoid such
vendor lock-ins, so the limitation in moving VMs is considered a
weakness in virtualization. IT staff move VMs regularly in order to
perform certain tasks, such as upgrading or conducting maintenance
of a server, balancing the server load, and proactively managing
server availability to avoid downtime or lost data.
The migration demo was achieved through a combination of
virtualization technology in AMD hardware and Red Hat software.
"While developing this capability has been a challenge, we are
proud to work with Red Hat to demonstrate it is possible," Margaret
Lewis, AMD's director of commercial solutions and software
strategy, said in a statement.
AMD said the migration can be done on a Microsoft Windows-based
server, as well as a Linux server. Details of the technology were
not disclosed, and there was no timetable showing when the
capability would be available in products. Lewis said in her blog
that the demo was only meant to prove that live migration was
possible. "There is still a lot of work to do, but it is not
impossible," she said.
Shanghai is AMD's first processor built using advanced
manufacturing techniques that shrink the size of a transistor on a
processor to 45 nanometers, which means more of the devices can be
packed on a chip. Increasing the number of transistors results in a
dramatic improvement in power-to-performance ratios. Intel has been
shipping 45-nm chips for about a year.