VMWorld and IDF – Virtualization’s September Spotlight

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHpnLgikukg

           Each of the last 3 years, Rich Uhlig, myself and the rest of our colleagues at Intel focused on virtualization technologies, have had the enviable task of participating in two of the technology industry&aposs biggest events. It is always a pleasure to stretch one abilities, work longer hours than you ever thought capable, work on great product introductions, develop new business models and help to redefine an industry while using these events to make your announcements. This week VMWare&aposs VMworld was held in San Francisco with over 11,000 participants focused on virtualization technology. Intel VP and GM Doug Fisher delivered a keynote on "Transforming Flexible Computing", which nicely communicated the message that Rich delivers in the attached video on the Intel Channel on YouTube. We also announced the support of VMWare View and Intel vPro technology with VMWare&aposs Jocelyn Goldfein. This culminates over 2 years worth of work for our engineering and development teams on bringing together 2 of the virtualization industry&aposs leading platforms.

         This announcement is the beginning of an era of Virtualization Flexibility. Each day we are seeing new usage models emerging, virtualization finding new ways to allow users more flexibility in the Data Center, on the handheld and with their desktop form factors. As we approach IDF 2009, both Rich and I, will be hosting courses on these emerging models and architectural directions. Rich will be hosting a course on architecture, while I have the pleasure of hosting a panel with Simon Crosby, Mike Neil, Ed Bugnion, Lew Tucker and Orran Krieger. It is quite a line up. In addition, one of our colleagues, Charlton Barreto has some breakthrough new usage models to demonstrate that we believe are outstanding. All of these will be available in the IDF Virtualization community for the 3rd year in row. I personally feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to work with such interesting and talented individuals everyday. The conferences provide an opportunity for us to share our enthusiasm for technology, our enthusiasm for innovation and our commitment to excellence with the rest of the world. The feedback has been great and required for us to continue to innovate.

         Come see us, tell us and push us to build technology that delivers value in the way you work, live and play. It is a challenge we embrace and we are thankful we have the opportunity to take action.

See you at IDF!

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Announcing the Intel Education Service Corps

Last week was a high point for me in my seven years with Intel. We launched the new Intel Education Service Corps, a program that will enable talented Intel employees from all over the world to travel to developing countries to work with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to support the deployment of Intel-powered classmate PCs for disadvantaged children. It’s sort of like starting the Intel version of the U.S. Peace Corps, with a focus on using our technical and human resources to improve the quality of global education. It has been a dream of mine for about five years now so it really was an occasion to do a little dance outside my gray cube when we launched this program.

And things have only gotten more exciting since then. The response from Intel employees has been amazing! We have received over 80 applications for the next 10 spots in the program as well as hundreds of employee emails, all during the first 10 days after we launched. The application deadline is not until end of day tomorrow so that number keeps growing. And what is particularly moving are the notes that come from employees in their emails. Just to highlight a few, they say things like, “In 19 years at Intel, I have never been so excited about a potential opportunity.” Or, “This program is so cool! I’m so proud to work for Intel.” Or one of my other favorites, “Thanks for taking such a bold approach in these turbulent economic times.” I wish I could include them all because some of them seriously brought tears to my eyes – to see all that employee passion for improving the quality of education around the world. I felt more connected to my wonderful Intel colleagues than ever before.

The other thing that has amazed me is the wide array of hidden talents brought forth by the call for applications. I never knew that employees across Intel, working in every type of function (engineering, marketing, finance), had such an incredible range of experience around education. We are seeing applications from many people who have done graduate studies in education, who have founded their own schools in developing countries, or who travel on their own each year to teach kids in some other country. Many employees have reached out to see how the program could be extended to one of the NGOs they are engaged with personally in their own charitable work, or with ideas for how we could make the program even bigger and better. I can’t wait to see what these talented Intel employees are going to be able to do when they are deployed on these projects.

Which brings to me to my final exciting point. We are sending out the first team of Intel employees next week to work with the NGO Orphans Overseas in two orphanages in Vietnam, setting up classmate PCs and teaching the kids how to use them to connect with the world outside. The team will arrive in Vietnam on September 8th and two of the volunteers, Brad Houser and Sovinti Johnson, will be blogging on this site about their experiences. This team comes out of Intel’s Technology and Manufacturing Group (TMG), and it has been a kick to see how they approach the project so methodically and with such discipline (for those not familiar with Intel, the TMG employees are the ones who keeps our fabs around the world running with such amazing efficiency!). I have learned so much from them already, and I’m really looking forward to reading about the wonderful things they are able to accomplish and the ways in which they are personally changed by the experience. Hope you’ll check back to also hear what they have to say.

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Inside a ��Compliance and Interoperability�� Workshop

Do you read the comic strip ��Dilbert��? If so, you know what a work environment based on cubicles looks like. Many of us involved with the Server System Infrastructure (SSI) Forum just finished our first ��compliance and interoperability�� (C&I) workshop and, interestingly, cubicles played a key role.

Cubicles are a useful compromise between noise, openness, ease of access and other factors. However, one thing a cubicle is not, is private. Why is that relevant to a C&I event? Let me explain.

��Compliance�� refers to the conformance of a physical device, say a computer or plug-in card, to a written specification. ��Interoperability�� refers to the ability of the physical device to connect with other devices and perform according to predetermined tests.

A C&I workshop has elements of testing for specifications and for tests of devices connected together. Depending on the devices under test, testing can be extremely complex process, often involving entirely new-to-the-world components. In fact, multiple entirely new components can be connected together, based on untested specs and using the latest generation of test equipment.

Participating company��s most talented engineers work to get their components proven compliant and interoperable. That��s where secrecy comes in: engineers have to be able to work without being concerned about prying eyes.

Privacy is also essential for the tests themselves. Early results may not be positive, but those early results could be damaging to a company��s reputation, so they are correctly kept confidential.

How is this privacy achieved? The first C&I workshop was held at an Intel facility. At the lab there are cubicles, per the Intel norm. However, the larger than usual cubicles featured translucent fiberglass panels bolted to the cubicle walls. Also, a sliding lockable door was added to each cubicle.

During the three-day workshop, much was accomplished. Engineers from across the US, Israel and China, representing several blade components, were able to connect their devices together. There were two basic blade systems, one developed by Intel and one by a system OEM. They were developed independently and in parallel, but both were based on specifications provided by SSI.

SSI develops and promotes open specifications for blades and for chassis and power supplies for servers. It currently has almost 40 member companies around the world. SSI has produced 6 blade specs, currently in draft form, to be finalized by the time of the Intel Developer Forum (IDF), September 22-24. SSI has also made 3 switch specs from IBM BladeCenter available to SSI members.

There are two focus areas for specification in the ��traditional�� server area of SSI, one for electronics bays (chassis) and one for power supplies �V with over 40 specs released since the inception of SSI. Current specs are always available on the SSI web site, and specs now in development for the next CPU generation will be available for prerelease access.

<![CDATA[The C&I Workshop is an important first step on a long journey. Workshops will be held at independent test organizations, purpose-built for such activities. Workshops will expand in scope and participation, as we deliver on the promise of interoperability; really the central tenet of SSI.]]>

See you at IDF! Please come to my session, EMTS006, ��SSI Interoperability Delivered: How Server System Infrastructure (SSI) Specifications Provides Interoperable Components��, September 24, at 2:40. I suggest you attend my colleague, Steve Krig��s, lab ECTL001, ��Lab: SSI Server System Infrastructure �V Industry Open Blades Standards Compliance and Interoperability��, September 23, at 2:05 and 4:15, for a more technical description of C&I tools and methodologies. I also suggest you visit our booth to see our interoperability demo at booth number 520.

Jim Ryan, Chairman, SSI