1. Selecting the Correct Hypervisor Boston Virtualization Deep Dive Day 2011 Tim Mackey XenServer Evangelist

2. Balanced representation of each hypervisor Where the sweet spots are for each vendor No discussion of performance No discussion of ROI and TCO What you should be thinking of with cloud What to Expect Today ….

3. Virtualization meant mainframe/mini x86 was real mode Until 1986 and the 80386DX changed the world Now protected mode and rings of execution (typically ring 0 and ring 3) Real mode OS vs. Protected mode x86 always boots to real mode (even today) Kernel takes power on and enables protection models Early kernels performed poorly in protected mode Focus was on application virtualization not OS virtualization The Land Before Time …

4. Early 2001 ESX released as first type-1 for x86 ESX uses an emulation model known as binary translation to trap protected mode operations and execute protected operations cleanly in the VMkernel Heavily tuned over years of experience Leverages 80386 protection rings and exception handlers Can result in FASTER code execution VMware Creates Mainstream x86 Virtualization

5. 2005-2006 Intel and AMD introduce hardware assist Idea was to take non-trappable privileged CPU OP codes and isolate them Introduced user mode and kernel mode Introduced Ring -1 Binary translation could still be faster 2008-2009 Intel and AMD introduce memory assist CPU Op code only addressed part of the problem Memory paging seen as key to future performance Hardware + Moores Law > Software + Tuning Enter Hardware Assist

6. Shared IO bottlenecks VM density magnifies problem Throughput demands impact peer VMs Enter SR-IOV in 2010 Hardware is virtualized in hardware Virtual Function presented to guest What About IO?

7. The Core Architectures

8. ESX VMkernel provides hypervisor Service console is for management IO is managed through emulated devices ESX is EOL long live ESXi Service console is gone Management via API/CLI VMkernel now includes management, agents and support consoles Security vastly improved over ESX vSphere Hypervisor

9. Based on Open Source Xen Requires hardware assist Management through Linux control domain (dom0) IO managed using split drivers XenServer

10. Requires hardware assist Management through Windows 2008 Parent partition VMs run as child partitions Linux enabled using Xenified kernels IO is managed through parent partition and enlightened drivers Hyper-V

11. Requires hardware assist KVM modules part of Linux kernel Converts Linux into type-1 Each VM is a process Defined as guest mode IO managed via Linux and VirtIO KVM

12. Commercial Free Contenders for Your Budget

13. VMware vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi) Single server management via vSphere client Manageability 256 GB Host RAM 2 physical cores Scalability Thin provisioning Key Features Very broad OS support Guest Support Edition and feature based licensing Support a percentage of sale Costs

14. Microsoft Hyper-V Server R2 SP1 Single server management via Remote Server Admin Tools Manageability 1TB host RAM 8 Logical CPUs per host Scalability Host clustering Live migration Key Features Windows Vista and Windows Server 2003 and higher RHEL 5.2 and SLES 10 and higher Guest Support Edition and VM based pricing Support and SA extra Costs

15. Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization (KVM) Centralized multi-server management Resource pools Manageability 1TB host RAM – 256 GB guest RAM 96 Logical CPUs per host – 16 vCPUs per guest Scalability All RHEL 5 devices and storage types Memory overcommit (KSM) Key Features Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 and higher RHEL 3 and higher Guest Support Annual support options priced per six sockets Costs

16. Oracle VM Centralized multi-server management Resource pools Manageability 1TB host RAM – 32 GB guest RAM 128 Logical CPUs per host – 32 vCPUs per guest Scalability Secure live migration using shared storage (NFS, OCFS32 iSCSI) Load balancing and Cluster High Availability Key Features Windows 2000 and higher Oracle Linux, RHEL Guest Support Annual per host support options priced per socket Costs

17. Centralized multi-server management Resource pools Manageability 512 GB host RAM – 128 GB guest RAM 64 logical CPUs per host – 16 vCPUs per guest Scalability Live migration using shared storage (NFS, iSCSI, Fiber) VM snapshot and revert Key Features Windows XP and higher CentOS, Debian,Oracle, SuSE, RHEL Guest Support Edition based per host licensing Support is incident based Costs Citrix XenServer

18. Hypervisor is now a commodity!!

19. Single hypervisor model is flawed Wasted dollars, wasted performance Spend your resources where you need to OS compatibility VM density IO performance Application support models Application availability Maximizing Your Budget

20. Deconstructing Key Functionality

21. Objective: Increase VM density and efficiently use host RAM Risks: Performance and Security Options: Ballooning, Page sharing, Compression, Swap Memory Over Commit Ballooning MethodPage sharingCompressionPerformance/Security vSphere 4.1Starts large Windows and Linux 4k pages only with hash; latent coalesce with CoW Compression of memory during oversubscribe Hash collisions Recovery from swap Compatible page scans XenServer 5.6Starts large Windows and Linux None Doesnt resize up Hyper-V SP1Starts small Windows only None Memory space growth RHEV (KVM)Linux onlyKernel Samepage Merging; CoW NoneB-tree collisions Can use swap

22. Objective: Ensure optimal performance of guests and hosts Risks: Performance and Security Options: Input metrics, reporting, variable usage models Load Balancing Feature nameInput metricsReportingControl points vSphere 4.1Dynamic Resource Scheduling CPU Memory NoneHost affinity/anti-affinity Initial placement 100% XenServer 5.6Workload BalancingCPU Memory Disk IO R/W Network IO R/W Pool/Host VM Audit Consolidation Schedulable Historical placement Hyper-V R2PRO (SCVMM)CPU Memory SCVMM + SCOMInitial placement 100% RHEV (KVM)Load BalancingNone N/A

23. Objective: Support data center and cloud networking Risks: Data leakage and performance Requirement: Make server virtualization compatible with networking Virtual Networking Feature nameKey featuresReportingDependencies vSphere 4.1Virtual Distributed Switch Centralized management Full Cisco Nexus features NetFlow v9Cisco Nexus 1000V XenServer 5.6 FP1Distributed Virtual Switch Centralized management RSPAN QoS ACLs NetFlow v5None Hyper-V R2Windows network stackN/A RHEV (KVM)Linux bridgeN/A

24. The Sweet Spots

25. Key play: Legacy server virtualization Large operating system support Large eco-system => experienced talent readily available Bonus opportunities Feature rich data center requirements Cloud consolidation through Cisco Nexus 1000V Weaknesses Complex licensing model Reliance on SQL Server management database VMware vSphere 4.1

26. Key play: Desktop virtualization VM density is key Memory over commit + deep understanding of Windows 7 => success Bonus opportunities Microsoft Server software Ease of management for System Center customers Weaknesses Complex desktop virtualization licensing model Complex setup at scale Patch Tuesday reputation Microsoft Hyper-V R2 SP1

27. Key plays: Linux virtualization RHEL data centers Weaknesses Limited enterprise level feature set Niche deployments and early adopter syndrome Support only model may limit feature set RedHat KVM

28. Key play: Hosted Oracle Applications Oracle only supports its products on OVM Bonus opportunities Server virtualization Applications requiring application level high availability Data centers requiring secure VM motion Weaknesses Limited penetration outside of Oracle application suite Support only model may limit future development Oracle VM

29. Key play: Cloud platforms Largest public cloud deployments Bonus opportunities Citrix infrastructure Linux data centers General purpose virtualization Windows XP/Vista desktop virtualization Weaknesses Application support statements HCL gaps Citrix XenServer 5.6 FP1

30. Beyond the Data Center and into the Cloud

31. Hybrid Cloud On premise High fixed cost Full control Known security On/off premise Low utility cost Self-service Fully elastic Trusted security Corporate control Off premise Low utility cost Self-service Fully elastic Traditional Datacenter Public Cloud Hybrid Cloud

32. On premise High fixed cost Full control Known security On/off premise Low utility cost Self-service Fully elastic Trusted security Corporate control Off premise Low utility cost Self-service Fully elastic Traditional Datacenter Public Cloud Hybrid Cloud Traditional Datacenter Issues Disparate Networks Disjoint User Experience Unpredictable SLAs Different Locations Transparency is a Key Requirement

33. Cloud Provider Traditional Datacenter OpenCloud Bridge Network transparency for Disparate Networks Latency transparency to preserve the same User Experience Services transparency to make SLAs predictable Location transparency to allow Anywhere Access Enabling Transparency Enables Hybrid Cloud

34. Hypervisor LDAP DB Server Private Public Private Premise DatacenterCloud OpenCloud Bridge Use-Case vSwitch Hypervisor vSwitch Switch Storage IP: 192.168.1.100 Subnet: 255.255.254.0 Reqs: DB, Web and LDAP Network: 10.2.1.0 Subnet: 255.255.254.0 = Netscaler VPX

35. Its Your Budget … Spend it Wisely Vendor lock-in great for vendor Beware product lifecycles and tool set changes Single Vendor ROI Calculators always show vendor author as best Use your own numbers ROI Can be Manipulated Over buying is costly; get what you need Support call priority with tiered models Understand Support Model Some projects have requirements best suited to specific tool Understand deployment and licensing impact Use Correct Tool Blanket purchases benefit only vendor Chargeback to project for feature requirements Leverage Costly Features as Required

36. Social Media Twitter: @XenServerArmy Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/CitrixXenServerhttp://www.facebook.com/CitrixXenServer LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?mostPopular=&gid=3231138http://www.linkedin.com/groups?mostPopular=&gid=3231138 Major Events XenServer Master Class – March 23 rd next edition Citrix Synergy – San Francisco May 25-27 2011 (http://citrixsynergy.com)http://citrixsynergy.com Shameless XenServer Plug