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Comparing Virtualization Platforms

Comparing Virtualization Platforms. PowerVM and VMware. What this presentation is. Basic Terms that can be used to discuss multiple forms of virtualization Concepts common to virtualization platforms that make planning easier

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Comparing Virtualization Platforms

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  1. Comparing Virtualization Platforms PowerVM and VMware

  2. What this presentation is • Basic Terms that can be used to discuss multiple forms of virtualization • Concepts common to virtualization platforms that make planning easier • Notable differences between virtualization platforms that should be understood when planning • IMHO

  3. What this presentation is not • In anyway comprehensive

  4. Virtualization Basics Basic Terms and Common Things

  5. Virtualization Basics

  6. Virtualization Basics • Physical Capacity • The amount of resources physically present • Virtual systems have little or no visibility

  7. Virtualization Basics • Hypervisor • Abstraction layer between physical hardware and virtual systems • PowerVM – Firmware • VMWare - Software

  8. Virtualization Basics • Accessible Capacity • Amount of resource that a virtual system can potentially have access to • Also the amount of resource that a virtual system thinks it has access to • PowerVM – Virtual CPUs • VMWare – Virtual CPUs

  9. Virtualization Basics • Guaranteed Capacity • Amount of resource that a virtual system can have no matter what other demands are placed on the physical resources • Limiting factor that determines how many virtual systems can be started • Cannot guarantee more resources than physically present • PowerVM – Entitlement • VMWare - Reservation

  10. Virtualization Basics • Limit • Maximum amount of resources that a virtual system can access • PowerVM – Cap – Tied to guaranteed capacity • VMWare - Limit – Not tied to guaranteed capacity

  11. Virtualization Basics • Priority • How resources are divided when demand is greater than physical capacity • Only affects access to accessible resources above the amount guaranteed • PowerVM – Priority Weight • VMWare – Shares

  12. Virtualization Basics • Mobility • Ability to move virtual systems from one physical hardware device to another with no disruption in service to the virtual system • Independence from physical hardware • PowerVM – Live Partition Mobility (LPM) • VMWare - vMotion

  13. Differences

  14. Cluster vs. Host • VMWare – Cluster centric focus • PowerVM – Host centric focus

  15. CPU • Scalability • Number of vCPUs supported for a single virtual system • Performance rating of physical hardware • Coscheduling and Processor Folding • Configuration flexibility • Adding/removing resources • Hot Add/Hot Plug • Threading Differences

  16. Memory • Committed vs. Not Committed • VMWare • Transparent Page Sharing • Balloon Driver • PowerVM • Active Memory Sharing • Active Memory Expansion

  17. Storage - Space • VMWare – Cluster/Pool Storage • Storage allocations are presented to all of the hosts within a cluster and formatted with a proprietary file • Virtual system is a set of files within the filesystem controlled by the hypervisor. • PowerVM – Direct Storage • Storage allocations are presented to VIO servers which then proxy them to the virtual system (vscsi) or storage allocations are presented directly to the virtual system (npiv) • Virtual system directly formats and manages storage

  18. Storage - Throughput • Multipathing support • Quality of Service (Storage IO Control)

  19. Priority vs. Guarantee • Reverse order of application • PowerVM – Guarantee applied first then Priority Weight • VMWare – Shares applied first then Reservations

  20. Performance Measurement • CPU • Contention for physical resources • PowerVM – Involuntary Context Switches • VMWare – CPU Ready

  21. Performance Measurement • CPU • Measurements from inside the virtual system • PowerVM • PURR • Entitlement vs. Virtual Utilization

  22. Performance Measurement • CPU • Measurements from inside the virtual system • VMware • Skew • Run Queue in single vCPU virtual systems

  23. Performance Measurement • Memory • Tracking memory allocation and usage by virtual systems • PowerVM – N/A? • VMWare • Actively used • Shared • Balloon/vmmemctl • Swap • Consumed • Overhead

  24. Performance Measurement • IO Measurement • PowerVM – NPIV configurations have a measurement gap at the the physical HBA

  25. Performance Measurement • Cluster Vs. Host Measurement • PowerVM – Virtual systems collect their own performance information • VMWare – Hypervisor collects performance information

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