Using Intel Multi-Port Server Adapters to Optimize Server Virtualization and Consolidation

2
White Paper Using Intel® Multi-Port Server Adapters to Optimize Server Virtualization and Consolidation
About This White Paper
This white paper discusses the IT benefits enterprises can gain from VMware
Infrastructure 3* virtualization software when using Intel® PRO/1000 Dual Port and
Quad Port Server Adapters. VMware ESX Server 3* runs on industry-standard, Intel®
Xeon® processor–based platforms, allowing IT organizations to provision and manage
virtual machines for workload consolidation across physical servers. Together with
VMware VirtualCenter 2* management software and VMotion* technology, ESX
Server 3 also enables administrators to move live, running virtual machines from
server to server while maintaining continuous service availability.
High-speed Intel® Gigabit Ethernet Network
Interface Cards (NICs) play an essential role in the
VMware Infrastructure model; server networking
functionality is important for secure management
of ESX Server 3, for VMotion, and for meeting the
network throughput requirements of multiple
virtual machines. In particular, best practices for
VMware ESX Server 3 call for at least three
dedicated network connections.
Multi-port Intel® PRO adapters are the optimum
solution, providing the extra ports to support the
virtual infrastructure in one server slot and freeing
input/output (I/O) slots in servers that require
additional ports. Intel multi-port NICs also allow IT
adminis
tr
ators to configure redundant ports to
improve throughput and reliability. With VMware
In
fr
astructure 3 server virtualization software,
traffic that was once hosted on three physical
serv
ers can now be handled by three virtual
machines on a single physical server—with optimal
network performance attained by equipping the
server with three or more network connections,
such as those provided by Intel multi-port NICs.
Improving IT Efficiency and
Reliability with Virtualization
IT managers around the globe share a common
challenge: doing more with less while controlling
IT costs. Business growth and evolving business
needs often result in IT infrastructure expansion.
Servers are added to support new applications,
which in turn can lead to many underutilized
servers, higher network management costs, and
decreased flexibility and reliability.
Server virtualization is an alternative approach
that helps reduce the total cost of ownership
(TCO) through server consolidation and stream-
lined administration, while at the same time
enabling IT to respond more rapidly to changing
business requirements. Virtualization reduces
server proliferation, simplifies server management,
and significantly improves server utilization, net-
w
ork fle
xibility
, and network reliability. It achieves
this by consolidating multiple applications onto
fewer enterprise-level servers.
Virtualization software divides a single physical
serv
er in
to several independent virtual machines,
each o
f which can host a separate operating sys-
tem and applications in complete isolation from
other virtual machines on the server (see Figure 1).