Intel will add a new virtualization technology to its Pentium family a year ahead of schedule, the company said
Thursday.
Codenamed Vanderpool, the technology lets a computer or server run
multiple operating systems (Windows and Linux) and applications on the
same machine in independent partitions or “containers.”
The concept of virtualization has been around in mainframes for
years, but now Intel is extending the technology into the home and
corporate client PCs.
Intel said it is still on track to bring the technology to its
Itanium family starting with its 90-nanometer Montecito release later
this year. The chipmaking giant committed itself to adding Vanderpool — or VT — to its PC processors in 2006, to coincide with Microsoft’s
next-generation Windows OS named Longhorn. But Intel
decided to fast track the process after getting a wealth of positive
feedback from its testing last year.
“There was a pull for that capability to do it sooner than later in
the client space, so we stepped up our efforts and found there was a
good wave to ride and to bring it forward to 2005,” Bill Kirby, director
of desktop platform marketing at Intel, told internetnews.com.
Intel is planning to extend Vanderpool to its Xeon and Pentium M
processors in 2006. There is no current plan to include VT in Intel’s
XScale chip family, Kirby said.
“Obviously they are stepping it up a bit. What will be interesting is
how much the technology gets picked up this year,” Dean McCarron, founder
and principal of analyst firm Mercury Research, told
internetnews.com. “The obvious vendor is Microsoft, but one of
the virtues of virtualization is that you can have multiple operating
systems, and you don’t have to have that many software vendors on board.”
The usage model for Vanderpool includes media PCs, which can use VT
to run a digital video recorder along with a standard PC operating
system. In the corporate environment, Kirby said it could be used to run
multiple clients or users on one platform or run a separate corporate
environment on client PCs.
“From a consumer perspective, a browser session picks up spyware and
other bits of data,” Kirby said. “With Vanderpool, the browser and
operating system could be configured so that when you close that window,
it deletes adware and spyware, and it doesn’t impact that system.”
For a multi-media PC, Kirby said there could be a PVR — a personal
video recorder that works like TiVo — that could operate in an
independent operating system. An end user would be able to load in the
movie in a separate container while continuing to use its other
functions, even if one side snags or crashes. Kirby said
manufacturers or service providers could use VT to service the unit
in the background or check on a warranty.
An unspecified number of computer makers and software vendors tested
Vanderpool last year, courtesy of Intel’s preliminary Vanderpool
Technology External Architecture Specifications (EAS) software. Kirby
said many of the OEMs and ISVs adopting VT will be revealed during
Intel’s bi-annual developer’s conference in March.
Kirby said OEMs and ISVs are also being careful to create products
that prevent unauthorized access to the computers, such as IP spoofing
Vanderpool is one of Intel’s so-called *T technologies, enhancements
it adds to the core CPU to make up for the physical speed barriers
semiconductor makers must now face. In addition to Vanderpool, Intel
also supports Hyper Threading (HT) and Intel’s 64-bit extensions
(EM64T). Kirby said that Intel’s security focused “LaGrande” Technology
(LT) and its Active Management Technology (iAMT) still are on track to
be delivered in 2006.
