"Virtualizing Enterprise Application Infrastructure with Sun Chip Multithreading (CMT) Technology Using Sun's Built-in, No-cost Virtualization Technologies to Dramatically Increase ROI" is the long title of a relatively brief (16 pages) Sun white paper (login or registration required). The authors write that IT managers, drive to lower both capital and operating expenditures while increasing capacity for more application services and growing markets must determine ways to reduce both the number and complexity of the systems in the corporate infrastructure. These managers must simultaneously deliver increasing performance, capacity, and security.

Many of these challenges can be addressed by effectively implementing high-speed networking, fast encryption, and innovative virtualization technologies available on Sun’s chip multithreading (CMT) technology-based servers, the paper contends. Cost-effective virtualization running on Sun’s CMT servers helps to create simplified and standardized IT environments, the authors note, while improving the ability to deploy services and maximize system usage efficiencies.

The white paper's aim is to inform senior decision makers about the business benefits associated with virtualizing IT infrastructure using breakthrough CMT technology from Sun. The paper shows how businesses have reduced costs — in some cases in excess of $4 million USD over five years. The paper also describes how virtualization can help organizations reduce the number of datacenter servers, reduce datacenter power and cooling costs, and achieve a rapid ROI on datacenter equipment purchases.

Other key features of CMT technology-based servers described include:

• Sun is the only vendor to bundle virtualization technology, cryptographic acceleration, and the operating system (OS) at no extra cost.

• Sun offers the first server with built-in, no-cost virtualization technology with Sun Logical Domains (LDoms) and Solaris™ Containers with savings up to $10,500 per server.

• Sun is the first vendor to bundle integrated on-chip cryptographic acceleration and on-board 10 Gbit Ethernet for secure computing and high-speed networking.

• Sun offers the only mainstream processor and virtualization hypervisor for LDoms provided as open source under the GPL license.

• Sun SPARC Enterprise servers offer up to four times higher performance for as little as one-fifth the cost of competitive systems.

• Sun CMT-based servers have set more than 60 world record benchmarks.

The paper also cites the success story of the International Fund Services (IFS) hedge fund that upgraded its IT infrastructure to include Sun Fire/Sun SPARC Enterprise T2000, Sun SPARC Enterprise T5220, and Sun SPARC Enterprise T5240 servers. The fund used virtualization through Sun LDoms and Solaris Containers to consolidate hundreds of physical servers. The high performance of Sun’s CMT technology offers IFS the computational capacity to scale with ongoing business growth. As a result, IFS decreased the average time for processing trades by one-third. In addition, IFS cut the total number of physical servers from 320 to 40 (a consolidation ratio of 8:1) and lowered IT power consumption by 30 kVA.

Yet another success story involves the Capabilities Integration Environment (CIE) group, which is part of the 643rd Electronics Systems Squadron at Maxwell-Gunter U.S. Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama. As a managed service provider to the Unite States Air Force, the CIE group develops and tests software applications in various real-world environments before prior to putting them into production, the paper reports.

The CIE organization emulates multiple network configurations and server infrastructures to conduct proofs of concept and evaluations of software programs. In order to reduce costs and address future requirements, the CIE IT staff needed to optimize system utilization, build a scalable architecture, keep pace with growth, expand the customer base, and conserve datacenter floor space, power, and cooling.

The CIE group consolidated servers using Sun CMT technology, Sun LDoms, and Solaris Containers, reducing rack space to achieve a 13:1 consolidation ratio. The IT staff also reclaimed nearly 50% of their datacenter floor space and cut datacenter power consumption by more than 25%. The new servers decreased server deployment time by more than 90% and ultimately provided a better level of service at a decreased cost to the CIE group’s customers.

Results like these are not unique, the paper suggests, but rather typical of the sort of ROI companies can anticipate when they implement virtualization practices using Sun CMT technology. Using Sun SPARC systems with CMT technology, IT managers can accelerate solution development, integration, and deployment while reducing risk and cost, the paper maintains. They can save with advanced, proven, open-source software, and can boost system availability, security, and utilization with the Solaris OS, and the virtualization capabilities of Sun LDoms, and Solaris Containers.

More Information

Sun chip Multithreading Servers

Sun Logical Domains

Solaris Containers

CMT benchmarks

Calculate total savings on power, cooling, floor space, and carbon emissions

Sun’s free onsite datacenter

Business Benefits of Virtualizing IT Infrastructure

Sun CMT Servers with LDoms

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