Quick Take: Live Migration with Istanbul

As a follow-up to the six-core demonstration referenced in an earlier post, AMD has issued a press release and a related video demonstrating a "three generation" migration in VMware VI3. The key issues for AMD are that a running workload on a "Barcelona" Opteron can migrate to/from a "Shanghai" or "Istanbul" series processor without shutdown (courtesy of VMware's VMotion).

Another excellent take-away is that - unlike the test mule system used in the previous demonstrations - the system used in the migration demonstration appears to be a Supermicro AS-2021M. Pictured below, this platform demonstration would seem to indicate that Istanbul is close to release.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Ron Myers of AMD migrating from one server to another using VMware ESX 3.5"][/caption]

SOLORI's take: Previous tests had either involved AMD test mules or HP modular systems. The use of SOLORI Eco-System products in such a demonstration underscores the value of AMD as an Eco-System partner and the longevity of these systems in production.

SOLORI's 2nd take: With the emergence of Intel's Nehalem-EP processor and its outstanding pre-release benchmark testing, AMD has a very short window of opportunity to release the Istanbul series to hold its ground. Given some early indications that probe filter boosts memory bandwidth - an issue Nehalem currently leads in - AMD should launch Istanbul with as many optimizing feature as they can, including probe filter.