OpenVZ Virtualization Software and Sun UltraSPARC

The OpenVZ project has announced its open source virtualization software is available for servers using Sun’s UltraSPARC T1 CoolThreads processor. The operating system-level server virtualization software technology helps increase server utilization rates.

The port to the Sparc T1 was created in response to a request by Jonathan Kinney, a data systems specialist at Advantagecom Networks, Inc. in Walla Walla, Washington. Kinney, who also supplied a server for the UltraSPARC T1 “Niagara” work, plans to use the software at his company going forward. According to Kinney, his company has already set up several Debian-based virtual environments and they have all worked perfectly.

With the designs and specifications for the “Niagara” chips being open source, it becomes substantially easier to port software to it than it might otherwise be. Kir Kolyshkin, manager of the OpenVZ project, said porting OpenVZ software to the UltraSPARC T1 processor was a simple procedure since 95 percent of the code is platform-independent. OpenVZ is easily portable across different architectures and the project currently supports servers using x86, x86_64, IA64 and Power 64-bit processors.

With the power of Sun’s UltraSPARC T1 processor, hardware is often under-utilized which is perfect for OpenVZ. OpenVZ is operating system-level server virtualization software technology, built on Linux, that creates multiple isolated, secure virtual environments on a single physical server. So, it enables greater server utilization with fewer performance penalties.

Interestingly, Sun’s Solaris version of Unix that is widely used on UlraSPARC T1 machines has its own version of OpenVZ type software called Containers.

The OpenVZ software including UltraSPARC T1 support can be downloaded here.