Just to give a little background on virtualisation, as this was a technology which emerged in the 1960's, and then went into hibernation before re-emerging again in 2000.
Virtualisation was first implemented more than 30 years ago by IBM as a way to logically partition mainframe computers into separate virtual machines. These partitions allowed mainframes to “multitask”: run multiple applications and processes at the same time. Since mainframes were expensive resources at the time, they were designed for partitioning as a way to fully leverage the investment.
A great timeline is on wapedia which describes the different times in the history for virtualisation
http://wapedia.mobi/en/Timeline_of_virtualization_development
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Why Virtualisation?
Most machines in data centres are running at only between 10 - 15% of their capacity a lot of the time. In other words much of their capacities and other resources (like the electricity they use) are wasted. These machines can do better. By enabling virtualisation on these machines, they would be made to support more than one system, thus making better use of more of their resources.
To satisfy the computing needs of your company, you need to add more computing resources – desktop computers, servers, etc. You also need to store data and this might mean putting in separate data servers. This hardware takes up space. We all know that space can be a very expensive commodity. By introducing virtualisation, whereby you host several systems on a single physical server, you are effectively reducing the need for more space.
If your company is running a data center, you would realize that their cost can run into millions of dollars. By eliminating the need to build a data center yourself with virtualisation, you would be making some serious cost savings.
More and more people today are increasingly becoming environmentally aware. As a result they are looking at the green credentials of companies they buy from or want to do business with. So your customers or potential customers are watching you!
Some of the ways your company can show potential customers that you care about the environment is to be less energy dependant by cutting down the amount of energy you consume. One key area where you can cut down on energy consumption is with your IT & computing equipment, especially your servers. By adopting virtualisation, you would be reducing the number of physical servers you run and thereby the amount of energy consumed.
This represents a double advantage - you save significant amounts of money on energy costs and you gain strategic advantage when your potential customers know you are taking concrete steps to protect the environment.
If you run your IT in-house you are probably aware of the need to have full time staff on your payroll administering your systems. The cost of hiring and keeping a system administrator is significant. When you implement virtualisation, the numbers of machines you have to take care of reduce or may be eliminated altogether. Hence you cut the cost necessary for system administration.
To satisfy the computing needs of your company, you need to add more computing resources – desktop computers, servers, etc. You also need to store data and this might mean putting in separate data servers. This hardware takes up space. We all know that space can be a very expensive commodity. By introducing virtualisation, whereby you host several systems on a single physical server, you are effectively reducing the need for more space.
If your company is running a data center, you would realize that their cost can run into millions of dollars. By eliminating the need to build a data center yourself with virtualisation, you would be making some serious cost savings.
More and more people today are increasingly becoming environmentally aware. As a result they are looking at the green credentials of companies they buy from or want to do business with. So your customers or potential customers are watching you!
Some of the ways your company can show potential customers that you care about the environment is to be less energy dependant by cutting down the amount of energy you consume. One key area where you can cut down on energy consumption is with your IT & computing equipment, especially your servers. By adopting virtualisation, you would be reducing the number of physical servers you run and thereby the amount of energy consumed.
This represents a double advantage - you save significant amounts of money on energy costs and you gain strategic advantage when your potential customers know you are taking concrete steps to protect the environment.
If you run your IT in-house you are probably aware of the need to have full time staff on your payroll administering your systems. The cost of hiring and keeping a system administrator is significant. When you implement virtualisation, the numbers of machines you have to take care of reduce or may be eliminated altogether. Hence you cut the cost necessary for system administration.
Monday, August 9, 2010
What is virtualisation?
Virtualisation is a software technology which enables one single computer to run several (sometimes different) virtual guest operating systems (OS).
Essentially, virtualisation can enable you to run more than one environment on the same hardware. For example, with virtualisation you can run a windows operating system (like XP) and a Linux Operating system (like Ubuntu) on the same computer. By implementing virtualisation, you let different operating systems and applications share the resources of one computer.
This technology is necessary because most of today’s computers (X86 Computers) were designed to run one operating system on one physical machine. With this mode of operation, the resources of each machine are underutilised most of the time.
What virtualisation does in practice is that it separates a user from the kind of hardware they are using.
For example you could be running windows on a Mac platform or you could be running a Linux OS on your windows personal computer (PC).
It is important to note that virtualisation is not a server-only technology; in fact virtualisation can be applied throughout your business. Starting from the desktop, you can “virtualise” nearly all aspects of your IT infrastructure.
What is being claimed at the moment is that virtualisation is set to dramatically change the way in which we compute.
There are different types of virtualisation: Server Virtualization, Data or Storage Virtualisation and Desktop Virtualisation.
Essentially, virtualisation can enable you to run more than one environment on the same hardware. For example, with virtualisation you can run a windows operating system (like XP) and a Linux Operating system (like Ubuntu) on the same computer. By implementing virtualisation, you let different operating systems and applications share the resources of one computer.
This technology is necessary because most of today’s computers (X86 Computers) were designed to run one operating system on one physical machine. With this mode of operation, the resources of each machine are underutilised most of the time.
What virtualisation does in practice is that it separates a user from the kind of hardware they are using.
For example you could be running windows on a Mac platform or you could be running a Linux OS on your windows personal computer (PC).
It is important to note that virtualisation is not a server-only technology; in fact virtualisation can be applied throughout your business. Starting from the desktop, you can “virtualise” nearly all aspects of your IT infrastructure.
What is being claimed at the moment is that virtualisation is set to dramatically change the way in which we compute.
There are different types of virtualisation: Server Virtualization, Data or Storage Virtualisation and Desktop Virtualisation.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
The dilemma.... what emerging technology to go with in my research
As i try to finalise what my major emerging technology reports will be based on, im stuck with what to choose and go with...
At first i was leaning towards nanotechnology, as this is a fairly new emerging technology. However, the information on this technology is really in its infacy and hasn't really created many applications within business that i would be able to talk about in my research reports.
After much deliberation and consultation with the course co-ordinator, i decided to go with "Virtualisation" as this was a technology which i was familiar with and how it is making a re-emergence again in the business world again once more.
At first i was leaning towards nanotechnology, as this is a fairly new emerging technology. However, the information on this technology is really in its infacy and hasn't really created many applications within business that i would be able to talk about in my research reports.
After much deliberation and consultation with the course co-ordinator, i decided to go with "Virtualisation" as this was a technology which i was familiar with and how it is making a re-emergence again in the business world again once more.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Light Peak continued...
Found a really interesting article on cnet.com in regards to Light Peak and how intel is bringing the optical technology to the masses.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-10362246-264.html
One special thing to note is that light peak is looking at replacing all existing connectors into the one type of connector...
"Intel's hope for Light Peak is to create a single connection for video, storage devices, the network, printers, Webcams, and anything else that plugs into a PC. Light Peak uses circuitry that can juggle multiple communication protocols at the same time, and the Light Peak promise is for a universal connector to replace today's incompatible sockets for USB, FireWire, DVI, DisplayPort, and HDMI. It's a hot-plug technology, meaning that devices can be linked when they're up and running. "
http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-10362246-264.html
One special thing to note is that light peak is looking at replacing all existing connectors into the one type of connector...
"Intel's hope for Light Peak is to create a single connection for video, storage devices, the network, printers, Webcams, and anything else that plugs into a PC. Light Peak uses circuitry that can juggle multiple communication protocols at the same time, and the Light Peak promise is for a universal connector to replace today's incompatible sockets for USB, FireWire, DVI, DisplayPort, and HDMI. It's a hot-plug technology, meaning that devices can be linked when they're up and running. "
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Light Peak
Just found out some more information on another technology which is coming to mainstream use in 1 or 2 years which uses optical technology to deliver high speed data transmission between devices, similar to silicon photonics.
Description by Intel
Existing electrical cable technology in mainstream computing devices is approaching practical limits for speed and length, due to attenuation, noise, and other issues. However, optical technology, used extensively in data centers and telecom communications, does not have these limitations since it transmits data using light instead of electricity. Light Peak brings this optical technology to mainstream computing and consumer electronic devices in a cost-effective manner.
Description by Intel
Light Peak is a new high-speed optical cable technology designed to connect your electronic devices to each other. Light Peak delivers high bandwidth starting at 10Gb/s with the potential ability to scale to 100Gb/s over the next decade. At 10Gb/s, you could transfer a full-length Blu-Ray movie in less than 30 seconds. Optical technology also allows for smaller connectors and longer, thinner, and more flexible cables than currently possible. Light Peak also has the ability to run multiple protocols simultaneously over a single cable, enabling the technology to connect devices such as peripherals, displays, disk drives, docking stations, and more. . Light Peak components are expected to begin to become available to customers in late 2010, and Intel expects to see Light Peak in PCs and peripherals in 2011.
Existing electrical cable technology in mainstream computing devices is approaching practical limits for speed and length, due to attenuation, noise, and other issues. However, optical technology, used extensively in data centers and telecom communications, does not have these limitations since it transmits data using light instead of electricity. Light Peak brings this optical technology to mainstream computing and consumer electronic devices in a cost-effective manner.
Friday, July 30, 2010
How the silicon photonics link works
This is a great explaination of how the optical microchips work... from Intel..
The optical microchips that Intel is researching are made from silicon – just like conventional microchips. This offers the advantage of being able to use existing production systems and expertise spanning four decades in their manufacture. Furthermore, silicon is a practically inexhaustible resource. After oxygen, it is the next most common element on the Earth, and can be obtained from quartz sand.
An optical microchip functions in a similar way to a conventional chip, except that its conductor paths are not made from metal, and that data is not transferred in the form of electrons. Rather, photons are transported through the silicon in light ducts, referred to as waveguides. To a large extent, an optical microchip is made of three components: a modulator that converts electronic data into light, a laser which acts as a light pump to send the photons through the silicon, and a demodulator that converts the photons back into electronic impulses.
The electronic data is recoded into light pulses in the modulator. Theoretically, this is very straightforward, because digital data only occurs in two states, namely "zero" / "one", or "on" / "off". To put it simply, the modulator operates like a light switch which switches the laser on and off, thereby passing on the digital data in the form of photons. To enable the photons to be transmitted, it is necessary to have a certain type of laser, in this case a Raman laser4iv. Intel has developed a Raman laser composed of silicon and indium phosphide, which will be used on the company's optical microchips. The photons are converted back into electrons by the demodulator, the last missing component of an optical microchip. The demodulator is made up of a silicon core, but has a special germanium coating in order to absorb the light. When the laser pulses strike the demodulator, they are absorbed by the germanium layer, thereby causing electronic pulses to be created. These pulses are passed on to the silicon where they are amplified and can then be processed electrically.
The optical microchips that Intel is researching are made from silicon – just like conventional microchips. This offers the advantage of being able to use existing production systems and expertise spanning four decades in their manufacture. Furthermore, silicon is a practically inexhaustible resource. After oxygen, it is the next most common element on the Earth, and can be obtained from quartz sand.
An optical microchip functions in a similar way to a conventional chip, except that its conductor paths are not made from metal, and that data is not transferred in the form of electrons. Rather, photons are transported through the silicon in light ducts, referred to as waveguides. To a large extent, an optical microchip is made of three components: a modulator that converts electronic data into light, a laser which acts as a light pump to send the photons through the silicon, and a demodulator that converts the photons back into electronic impulses.
The electronic data is recoded into light pulses in the modulator. Theoretically, this is very straightforward, because digital data only occurs in two states, namely "zero" / "one", or "on" / "off". To put it simply, the modulator operates like a light switch which switches the laser on and off, thereby passing on the digital data in the form of photons. To enable the photons to be transmitted, it is necessary to have a certain type of laser, in this case a Raman laser4iv. Intel has developed a Raman laser composed of silicon and indium phosphide, which will be used on the company's optical microchips. The photons are converted back into electrons by the demodulator, the last missing component of an optical microchip. The demodulator is made up of a silicon core, but has a special germanium coating in order to absorb the light. When the laser pulses strike the demodulator, they are absorbed by the germanium layer, thereby causing electronic pulses to be created. These pulses are passed on to the silicon where they are amplified and can then be processed electrically.
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