Virtualization With Dual-Core Systems

By Carol Ann Muff

July 31, 2006

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Buyers looking for the biggest bang for the buck are turning to dual-core systems. And why not? Dual-core technology brings the power of two processors at a price only slightly higher than that of one processor. And the additional power of a second processor means a system can accomplish more work in a given amount of time.

Extra processing power also lets users multitask more effectively. For example, one core could be used for surfing the Web, while the second core is handling an anti-virus scan. (Processor affinity settings handle this; it is usually an automatic process, with no user intervention required.)

The simple equation: Two heads are better than one. Both AMD and Intel offer dual-core CPUs, and both chipmakers describe dramatic speed advantages offered by the technology. Unfortunately, much of the hype has been focused on how dual-core CPUs can speed applications, games and other multitasking functions. It's ignored what may be the biggest opportunity for those selling dual-core systems: virtualization.

While virtual technology has received a great deal of pressýeven Microsoft has unveiled a virtualization licensing planýthe message has become overly complicated and is usually mentioned in the same sentence as "data center" or "servers."

In fact, virtualization holds promise for users of everything from notebooks to the data center, and multicore technology makes that possible. Basically, virtualization lets users maximize their productivity. Users can deploy a single computer to emulate several systems, better known as virtual machines. These virtual machines, in turn, can be used to solve compatibility problems, migrate to new operating systems, or even create test environments.

For system builders, selling virtualization is a matter of simplifying the technology to a layperson's terms and extolling the benefits. Here are several bullet points you may wish to use in your pitch to customers and other users:

• Virtualization lets users maximize the capabilities of their PCs and servers by allowing multiple operating systems to run concurrently.
  
  

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