ICT News, August 2006
- Server consolidation and virtualization
- Red Hat CAUDIT agreement
- Hyperion news and training
- Evolution of MATLAB
Additional news items are available to staff only.
Server consolidation and virtualization
The ICT Infrastructure group is achieving substantial benefits and savings through the use of virtual servers to consolidate multiple server functions onto relatively small numbers of physical server computers.
With the introduction of dual-core processors running at 2-3Ghz and the pending release of quad-core processors in the x86 commodity server space, significantly increased power is available in server hardware. The Infrastructure group has therefore adopted a strategy of virtualizing Windows and Linux servers wherever possible. The platform currently being used is VMware ESX 2.5.3 running on Sun AMD x4200 dual-core dual-processor servers with 8GB of memory. There are currently seven physical servers in two farms, running a total of 65 virtual machines. The operating systems on these virtual machines are a mixture of Windows NT, 2000 and 2003, and Debian and Red Hat Linux. Applications running on the virtual servers cover a wide range of functions, including Citrix servers, application servers, web servers and database (Oracle, Sybase, MSsql) servers. Key benefits obtained include:
- much higher utilization rates on the physical servers (40-60%);
- much quicker provisioning of new servers for new applications or projects (1-2 weeks as against 4-8 weeks in the past, when new servers had to be purchased);
- lower power and air-conditioning requirements with fewer physical servers;
- savings for server infrastructure as 10 instances can run comfortably on one physical server;
- support for legacy platforms such as Windows NT.
For the future, it is planned to provide additional memory in the physical servers to allow more virtual machines to be run. The number of servers in the farms will also be expanded. An upgrade to VMware ESX 3 will add features such as Load Balancing and High Availability.
In addition to VMware, ICT is also consolidating Solaris applications, using Solaris zones on Sun Ultrasparc platforms. Again the strategy is that when an application runs on an old server due to be retired, where possible it is migrated to a zone on an existing server. The benefits are similar to those experienced with VMware.
ICT plans to offer a virtual server service to University areas which would like to have administrative control over servers, but have them housed in a secure environment with provision for disaster recovery.
Red Hat CAUDIT agreement
Red Hat have recently established an agreement to provide access to their Linux offerings for CAUDIT member universities. The University of Sydney is in the process of signing up to the agreement, which will provide:
- unlimited use of Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system on servers (AS), workstations (WS) and desktops (Academic);
- a Red Hat Satellite Server subscription providing management and provisioning of software modules, and connection to Red Hat Network for upgrades and patches;
- 50% off Red Hat Enterprise Applications standard subscriptions;
- support through eight nominated contacts.
Hyperion news and training
Financial Services have released the August 2006 Hyperion Newsletter on their Hyperion News page, together with a new Hyperion Training Schedule.
Evolution of MATLAB
Cleve Moler, original author of the technical computing language and interactive environment MATLAB, will speak at the University about the evolution of MATLAB over the past 25 years, and its future. This event, in conjunction with the School of Mathematics and Statistics, will take place in the Slade Lecture Theatre in the Physics Buiilding A28, on 12 September from 9 to 11 am. You can register for catering purposes.
The University has an academic group licence for MATLAB.