Virtualization Trends On IBM's System P

IBM's PowerVM (formerly Advanced POWER Virtualization) technology has catalyzed the consolidation of server systems resources and a variety of applications workload types — both AIX- and Linux-led — as virtualized on more powerful multi-core System p servers. Evolution of IBM's virtualization stack has improved dramatically — from its early 2001 introduction of logical partitions on the first multicore POWER4-based systems — to its current PowerVM virtualization stack. In 2007, IBM's refresh to POWER6 came fast and furious: debuted with high-end System P 570 (in May), followed by the P6-based JS22 blade (November), and sweeping through the System P 520 (entry) model and System P 550 (midrange) server (January 2008). Traction for PowerVM virtualization now accounts for 70% of its IT customer base — showing to what extent IBM's virtualization stack has become a shortlist contender as a systems consolidation enabler. The November 2007 release of AIX 6 added two breakthrough features — Live Partition Mobility and Live Application Mobility — further cementing IBM's advanced virtualization advantages against its Unix competitors.