Vmware Gsx And Esx Server; Conclusion - HP ProLiant DL560 Technology Brief

VMware GSX and ESX Server

Through an extended partnership with VMware, HP provides a VMware solution for IT consolidation
projects. VMware is virtualization software for consolidating and partitioning enterprise servers. It is
ideally suited for corporate and service provider data centers as it brings mainframe-like virtual
machines to industry-standard computers. VMware has two server products―GSX Server and ESX
Server―for departmental and enterprise servers, respectively.
The ProLiant DL560 server is a certified platform for GSX Server, which is designed for two- to
four-processor workgroup, departmental, and smaller enterprise servers. GSX Server runs as an
application on top of Windows or Linux server operating systems to provide transportable, scalable
virtual machines. On a single physical server, GSX Server enables the rapid creation of multiple
virtual servers, each running Microsoft Windows® NT, Microsoft Windows 2000, or Linux, plus
applications in a secure, resource-protected environment. It enables customers to consolidate multiple
operating systems and applications in virtual machines on the same ProLiant DL560 server. This
solution allows for a more efficient use of processors, memory, bandwidth, and other server resources,
which lowers the overall total cost of ownership, for production, test, and development environments.
VMware is a good solution for customer environments in which:
• Multiple or even disparate OS support is required on a single physical server.
• The application is single threaded or is required to run in a single instance of the OS.
• Applications are "untrusted" or the interaction between different applications running on the same
OS is undefined.
• The customer does not want to change the existing software architecture.
More information about VMware is available at
http://activeanswers.compaq.com/ActiveAnswers/Render/1,1027,5361-6-100-225-1,00.htm

Conclusion

The HP ProLiant DL560 server delivers enterprise class performance in a compact 2U form factor that
uses 50 percent less rack space than most other enterprise servers on the market. This server shares
the same chipset and basic architecture as the ProLiant DL380 G3 server, but it features the much
more powerful Xeon MP processor. HP's unique 4-way implementation of the ServerWorks GC-LE
chipset provides the combination of performance, scalability, and power and cooling efficiency that
customers need for running back-office and enterprise business applications. Moreover, HP engineers
designed the system to support anticipated processor speed and cache upgrades through the year
2004.
Teamed with either the HP Resource Partitioning Manager or VMware GSX Server software solution,
the ProLiant DL560 server is an excellent platform for server consolidation. HP provides many
software tools to simplify deployment, management, and troubleshooting of ProLiant servers. HP also
offers many optional software tools that simplify server configuration, automate server deployment,
provide remote management and troubleshooting, and enable companies to adapt quickly and easily
to changing business demands.
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