Chapter 2. Technology 25
The new Intel Xeon processors feature advanced technologies described next.
Intel Advanced Encryption Standard - New Instructions
Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) is an encryption standard that is widely used to protect
network traffic and sensitive data. Advanced Encryption Standard - New Instructions
(AES-NI), available with the E7 processors, implements certain complex and performance
intensive steps of the AES algorithm by using processor hardware. AES-NI can accelerate
the performance and improve the security of an implementation of AES over an
implementation that is completely performed by software.
For more information about Intel AES-NI, visit the following web page:
http://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/intel-advanced-encryption-standard-instru
ctions-aes-ni
Intel Virtualization Technology
Intel Virtualization Technology (Intel VT) is a suite of processor and I/O hardware
enhancements that assists virtualization software to deliver more efficient virtualization
solutions and greater capabilities.
Intel Virtualization Technology for x86 (Intel VT-x) allows the software hypervisors to better
manage memory and processing resources for virtual machines (VMs) and their guest
operating systems.
Intel Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O (Intel VT-d) helps improve I/O performance
and security for VMs by enabling hardware-assisted direct assignment and isolation of I/O
devices.
For more information about Intel Virtualization Technology, visit the following web page:
http://www.intel.com/technology/virtualization
Hyper-Threading Technology
Intel Hyper-Threading Technology enables a single physical processor to run two separate
code streams (threads) concurrently. To the operating system, a processor core with
Hyper-Threading is seen as two logical processors. Each processor has its own architectural
state, that is, its own data, segment, and control registers, and its own advanced
programmable interrupt controller (APIC).
Each logical processor can be individually halted, interrupted, or directed to run a specified
thread, independently from the other logical processor on the chip. The logical processors
share the execution resources of the processor core, which include the execution engine, the
caches, the system interface, and the firmware.
Hyper-Threading Technology is designed to improve server performance. This process is
done by using the multi-threading capability of operating systems and server applications in
such a way as to increase the use of the on-chip execution resources available on these
processors. Application types that make the best use of Hyper-Threading are virtualization,
databases, e-mail, Java, and web servers.
For more information about Hyper-Threading Technology, visit the following web page:
http://www.intel.com/technology/platform-technology/hyper-threading
vSphere 5.1 and 8-socket systems: VMware vSphere 5.1 has a fixed upper limit of 160
concurrent threads. This means if you are using an 8-socket system, with more than 10
cores per processor, you should disable Hyper-Threading.
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