Intel Microarchitecture and 10 gigabit Ethernet Transforming the Data Center

Edge Switch
(a) Traditional Data Center (b) Server Virtualization
FC Switch
Data Center
Switch
LAN SAN LAN SAN
Director
Switch
Data Center
Switch
Director
Switch
Edge Switch
VMM
FC Switch
Dual Fibre Channel Connection
Dual Gigabit Ethernet Connection
FC
VM
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VM
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Virtual
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Figure 1. The applications of multiple servers in a traditional data center (a) can be consolidated onto a single physical server by virtualization,
(b) where each application can run independently on a virtual machine (VM) under the control of a virtual machine monitor (VMM).
Rising I/O Demands in the Data Center
To put the importance of the Intel Xeon processor 5500 series and
the Intel 82599 10 Gigabit Ethernet Controller into perspective, it is
helpful to first consider the major evolutionary stages of I/O in the
data center. This begins with the traditional data center configuration
shown in Figure 1(a), which follows the old model of adding a new
server each time a new application is added.
This one-application-per-server approach quickly generates server
sprawl and frequently leaves a significant number of servers
underutilized, even idle at times. It also leads to considerable I/O
infrastructure growth, with at least two Gigabit Ethernet (GbE)
connections per server for LAN access and one Fibre Channel (FC)
host bus adapter (HBA) per server for Storage Area Network (SAN)
access. The proliferation of servers, interconnects, and cabling in the
traditional data center is costly in terms of equipment expense, power
usage, floor space usage, and management complexity.
Data center evolution to virtualization, as shown in Figure 1(b),
reduces server sprawl and its associated costs by allowing multiple
VMs to run independently on a single physical server. Each VM can run
one or more different applications and can even run under different
operating systems. In the case of Figure 1(b), virtualization replaces
the four physical servers of Figure 1(a) with four VMs and consolidates
their workloads onto one physical server. This reduction of server
count saves costs, reduces data center power consumption, and
conserves floor space.
As server processing power grows, the number of VMs on a
single server can be increased. However, more VMs require more
I/O capability, and simply adding network interface cards (NICs) a
gigabit at a time quickly leads to another problem—interface, switch,
and cabling sprawl. This is leading IT managers to consolidate I/O
connectivity onto fewer, higher-bandwidth NICs, specifically 10GbE
server adapters.
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White Paper: Intel® Microarchitecture and 10 Gigabit Ethernet Transforming the Data Center