Codenamed Vanderpool, the technology lets a computer or server run multiple operating systems (Windows and Linux) and applications on the same machine in independent partitions or "containers."
Vanderpool: Introduction
Intel’s virtualization technology, codenamed Vanderpool, is part of a collection of premier Intel designed and manufactured silicon technologies that deliver new and improved computing benefits for home and business users, and IT managers. Others in the market today include Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology and Intel® Extended Memory 64 Technology, with plans for Intel® Active Management technology and LaGrande technology that focus on management and greater security underway.
Virtualization enhanced by Vanderpool will allow a platform to run multiple operating systems and applications in independent partitions. With virtualization, one compute system can function as multiple “virtual” systems. With enhancements to Intel’s various platforms, Vanderpool technology can improve the robustness and performance of today’s software-only solutions.
Within the digital office and enterprise, businesses for example will be able to isolate a portion of a managed PC to perform system upgrades and maintenance without interrupting the end-user. IT managers could also create one desktop PC build that can function independently as both a business and personal system, keeping software loads and virus attacks separate, or one that runs different operating systems and software for different or legacy tasks. Multiple servers can be combined into one system, running different applications and operating systems, providing advantages for IT tasks such as server consolidation, legacy migration and security.
Home users could create virtual “partitions” isolating multiple user environments such as dedicating resources to a PC game, productivity, and personal video recorder-type environments, as well as improve defenses against viruses or spy ware.
Vanderpool Technology (VT) is a set of hardware enhancements to Intel server and client platforms that can improve virtualization solutions.
VT will provide a foundation for widely-deployed virtualization solutions
- VT based Virtualization under development by leading providers of virtualization infrastructure.
- VT forms the foundation of a roadmap of Intel technologies focused on improved Virtualization and safer computing
It provides headroom for more robust hardware assisted virtualization solutions:
-When combined with the right software VT can improve the reliability and supportability of virtualization solutions, enabling improved consolidation and fail-over for servers.
- For client platforms, VT’s helps optimized software provide a foundation for highly available and more secure client virtualization partitions
Intel platforms supporting VT will ship in 2005 for desktop and Intel® Itanium® Processor based servers and in 2006 for mobile platforms and Intel® Xeon™ processor based servers and workstations
Vanderpool: History
The name of Vanderpool Technology (VT) was first appeared in 2003 when Intel president Paul Otellini heralded the technology industry's return from the depression of the past few years, announcing further plans to enhance the company's core processors through virtualization and multi-core designs. In his keynote speech at the Intel Developer Forum here, Otellini said the outlook is good.
"We've survived the depths of recession in this industry, and we are seeing signs of life in all areas," Otellini said. Otellini's comments were limited, however, as the conference also marked the first day of Intel's SEC-mandated "quiet period".
"Things are beginning to move again and I believe it's because of the willingness of all of us during the depression to invest in new products," Otellini added. The majority of new PCs will be shipped to China, with North America's importance as a customer diminishing over time, he said.
In a show known for its introduction of new products and technologies, Otellini disclosed that Intel would eventually be migrating aspects of its server roadmap to the desktop and mobile space. Like Montecito, Intel's first dual-core Itanium, Intel plans to develop dual-core as well as hyperthreaded desktop and mobile processors.
Intel's Xeon roadamp calls for "Potomac" to be released in 2005, followed by "Tulsa", a previously undisclosed processor which will ship at an undisclosed future date. In the Itanium space, the multicore Montecito will be followed by "Tanglewood", also shipping at an unannounced time. Otellini did not disclose additional details of Tulsa, although Tanglewood will be designed by the former Alpha processor team.
"With Tanglewood, our design objective is to be at least seven times the performance of the Madison chip," Otellini said. Otellini also showed off the SGI Altix 3000, which uses 128 Itanium 2 processors under a single software image.
Intel also plans to develop products to address the number of enterprise customers choosing to run multiple portioned operating systems on a single server, such as the IBM xSeries server. Using a technology called "Vanderpool", Intel plans to add hardware support for virtualized machines onto its microprocessors within the next five years, Otellini said. Vanderpool will take "hyperthreading", Intel's version of thread-level parallelism, a step further, Otellini said. Over 100 applications have already been designed for threading, he said.
In one demonstration, Otellini played back an episode of "The Simpsons" on a prototype Vanderpool system while Louis Burns, general manager of Intel's desktop products group, played a 3D game. After shutting down the game, Burns rebooted the partition while the video streamed on uninterrupted.
"What we are doing is creating virtual machines inside the microprocessor," Otellini said. "You can run multiple versions of Windows or different operating systems."
Vanderpool: Update
Intel said it is still on track to bring the technology to its Itanium family starting with its 90-nanometer Montecito release later this year. The chipmaking giant committed itself to adding Vanderpool -- or VT -- to its PC processors in 2006, to coincide with Microsoft's next-generation Windows OS named Longhorn. But Intel decided to fast track the process after getting a wealth of positive feedback from its testing last year. Intel is planning to extend Vanderpool to its Xeon and Pentium M processors in 2006. There is no current plan to include VT in Intel's XScale chip family.
The usage model for Vanderpool includes media PCs, which can use VT to run a digital video recorder along with a standard PC operating system. In the corporate environment, it could be used to run multiple clients or users on one platform or run a separate corporate environment on client PCs. For a multi-media PC, there could be a PVR -- a personal video recorder that works like TiVo -- that could operate in an independent operating system. An end user would be able to load in the movie in a separate container while continuing to use its other functions, even if one side snags or crashes. Manufacturers or service providers could use VT to service the unit in the background or check on a warranty.