Increase your server utilization, efficiency, and ROI while shrinking your server footprint. For free. Logical Domains (LDoms), one of the enabling technologies for Sun xVM, is the most open virtualization technology available, and it's free. Unlike proprietary virtualization technologies, LDoms can save you over $3,600 per system and requires no additional hardware to manage or control virtual machines. The more servers you virtualize, the more you save and benefit.
At A Glance
Free and the most open virtualization technology available
Reduce costs, maximize assets and protect existing investments
Optimize your IT infrastructure to allow your business to respond quickly to changing strategies and rapid growth
Use technology as a strategic weapon to increase your bottom line.
Gain flexibility and faster time to market
Key Applications
Web servers, proxy/cache, firewalls
Java environments
OLTP databases
Network infrastructure including directory, portal, identity, file servers, back-up servers
Mail and messaging applications
Any application environment requiring its own isolated OS image
The Idea Behind Logical Domains Is Simple, the Result Is Powerful
Logical Domains technology lets you consolidate multiple physical servers into logical servers, stored and ready to run on one Sun CoolThreads server. You eliminate the old hardware, but retain the OS, data and applications. Each logical server's OS, data and applications are partitioned and run independently of each other, but share the Sun CoolThreads servers' processing and storage resources. You'll realize dramatic space savings, huge reductions in electricity costs and simplify server administration, all while delivering much faster processing for each consolidated server.
You can even run multiple operating systems simultaneously, combining several small Solaris and Linux servers on one Sun CoolThreads server.
How Many Servers Can I Consolidate?
Depending on how many cores are on your Sun rack mount or blade CoolThreads server, you can run up to 128 isolated OS instances (one per thread) on your server.
And Your Benefits?
Server consolidation through Logical Domains will boost your resource utilization. You'll get higher data and application security, with isolation. And you'll be able to revise the kernel independently for each of the separate servers.
On day one, you'll see a huge real estate savings from the consolidation. And when the energy bill arrives, you'll see a welcome drop in your power and cooling costs. Logical Domains technology makes sense on many levels. And it is yours to use—at no additional cost—from Sun.
Let's say you have a corporate directory server, a database with an application server, and another database for multiple web servers. You want to protect the sensitive data in the directory and databases. It's easy. Put the directory and databases in separate Logical Domains, isolated from the web servers. Logical Domains ensure completely separate operating environments and hardware resources for each. You can also put the database server in a separate Solaris Container for additional security.
And that's just one of seven scenarios described in The Beginner's Guide to Logical Domains. Check it out to learn how to consolidate your old physical servers, combine Solaris and Linux servers, maintain different kernel releases for testing, run multiple development environments, and more.
LDoms technology is supported on Sun CoolThreads servers which utilize the UltraSPARC T1, UltraSPARC T2 or UltraSPARC T2 Plus processors. Currently the following servers are supported by LDoms 1.0.2
Get started with Logical Domains technology by reviewing the LDoms guidelines and start implementing this breakthrough solution on your Sun CoolThreads servers by accessing our support resources, services and products.
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Enhancements in LDoms 1.0.1
Reliability differentiator for SPARC CMT virtualization - With LDoms 1.0.1, any domains, whether it's a guest domain or a primary domain, are independent virtual machines and they can be configured, started or stopped independently without requiring a power-cycle of machine.
UltraSPARC T2 platforms supported. In addition to UltraSPARC T2, LDoms 1.0.1 supports all the current UltraSPARC T1 platforms.
LDoms MIB - The Logical Domains MIB (management information base) is delivered as an extension module to the System Management Agent of Solaris 10 running in the control domain. The LDoms MIB helps enable third party system management applications to perform remote monitoring and starting and stopping logical domains using the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP).
Domain minimization supported - Minimal/reduced Solaris installation for higher security and ease of maintenance.
Enhancements in LDoms 1.0.2
Up to 128 domain support for UltraSPARC T2 Plus systems
Up to 64 domain support for UltraSPARC T2 systems
Libvirt management interface software included
Here's How It Works
Multiple logical domains are created by the addition of a software layer called Hypervisor, interposed between the operating environment and the hardware platform. Hypervisor abstracts the hardware and can expose or hide various resources, allowing you to specify Logical Domain resource partitions. Each Logical Domain is an independent, discrete system, separated from the others, with its own resource level specification.
LDoms Video
LDoms is Sun's newest and free addition to its virtualization strategy. Learn how LDoms can "virtualize your data center" and solve your business challenges. You'll learn the different virtualization strategies in Sun's portfolio, concepts, requirements, and the components of LDoms, as well as a step-by-step process for configuring a logical domain.
Solaris Containers on LDoms Increase Server Utilization
Logical Domains complements Solaris Containers and enables you to run multiple OSs simultaneously on a single CoolThreads server, thereby better utilizing server capacity and increasing efficiency and ROI. Enhanced Solaris Containers functionality allows you to improve system utilization by enabling you to securely run multiple, software-isolated applications on a single system. And by leveraging the combined functionality of Solaris 10 OS's Predictive Self Healing, Container and LDoms, you are provided with an extra layer of security that allows you to automatically recover from potentially catastrophic system problems. This breakthrough innovation is what makes the Solaris 10 OS on Sun CoolThreads servers the clear choice for achieving higher utilization rates without compromising service levels, privacy or security.
