It seems as though the latest generation of servers using the new dual core chips has only just launched, but right on the horizon looms the next step in server CPU technology, the quad core chips. With AMD rumored to be shipping these parts in the first quarter of 2007, it’s clear that we will be seeing products based on this new technology in the first part of 2007. While there is a temptation to get frustrated with technology that moves so quickly that even though most data centers haven’t standardized on dual core, here comes the quad core systems, which is missing some of the important benefits that come from this new technology.
There are a number of articles at Availability.com that tout the important benefits that dual core CPUs have brought to the data center in the form of lower power use, increased density, and lower cooling demands, and it’s true that these quad core systems will continue those trends. However, it’s also worth noting that in some cases where the dual core systems only provided a smaller, incremental benefit, the quad core systems have the potential to drive the benefits to such a level that it’s almost impossible to ignore them.
One of the areas that look to benefit immediately from the presence of quad core systems will be server consolidation projects. Even using dual core, the ROI is very compelling in terms of software and management savings. However, quad core allows the data center to really compact the environment, cut the number of physical servers, and drive rack density with these lower power, cooler CPUs. This means that consolidation can achieve a 3:1 reduction in a number of cases, and potentially more depending on the current level of CPU loading. This is a very compelling financial situation for nearly any organization. It may mean freeing up headcount for other projects, or allowing substantial savings in software or maintenance agreements. Further, these new systems will also make it far easier to take applications that have been segmented to multiple physical locations and consolidate them in a single rack. A good example of this is Microsoft Exchange implementations that are spread all over an organization. The simple reality is that quad core systems provide such a substantial increment in performance per server and per watt, that the economics of consolidation type activities are almost impossible to ignore.
Another initiative that will also gain substantially from the quad core systems is that of virtualizing infrastructure. While this is a close cousin to consolidation, virtualization goes one step further by fundamentally treating computing resource as consistent and common, allowing an organization to dynamically move and adjust their workload across systems or data centers. In a virtualized environment, the quad cores systems are even more attractive, as they are able to provide even more compute power on demand, and with their high end performance, it’s possible to support even larger and more demanding virtual environments without performance bottlenecks or limitations that can create issues for larger or more complex application environments. Of course, key software products such as VMWare will have to be implemented and tested on the new quad core systems, and this may take a few months to complete and document, however, the benefits in the long haul are substantial.
Of course the quad core systems will continue to dramatically change the physical infrastructure of the data center as well. Given the density, the need to house these systems closer from a physical perspective, and to provide different power and cooling capabilities, traditional racks and room cooling may not be the optimal solution. Insuring availability might entail a more consistent and management environment for quad core servers.
To summarize, while we do have a few quarters before we’ll see the commercial release of quad core systems, it’s worth spending the time now to see how they might potentially change the ROI and operating parameters of key initiatives such as server consolidation and virtualization. Quad core will only enhance the benefits seen using today’s dual core systems, and in some cases, this makes the financial and operating realities impossible to ignore.
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