Real-World Guide

Data Center Infrastructure

Built on the Intel Xeon
Processor E5 v2 Family
What IT Managers Need to Know to Build Their Next-Generation Data Centers
Why You Should Read This Document
This guide explains how building data center infrastructure on the Intel Xeon
processor E5 v2 product family can support new and innovative services such
as virtualization, cloud computing, and big data analytics by:
Boosting server performance to support high-compute applications, handle more
data, and manage greater virtual machine density
Supporting unifed networking through 10 gigabit Ethernet solutions that simplify
data center infrastructure and provide greater bandwidth
Scaling out storage cost-effectively for virtualized and cloud environments
Protecting data and infrastructure by encouraging pervasive encryption and
creating trusted environments for virtualized and cloud computing
Optimizing power in the data center with control at the server, rack, row,
and data center level

September 2013
Contents 3 Data Centers under Pressure
5 Platforms Based on the Intel Xeon Processor E5 v2
Family: The Heart of Your Data Center
7 Accelerated Server Performance
9 Enhanced Server Virtualization
11 Unifed Networking
13 Scale-Out Storage for Virtualized and
Cloud Environments
14 Increased Data and Infrastructure Security
16 Optimized Power Management
18 Next Steps
22 Intel Resources for Learning More
3 Intel IT Center Real-World Guide | Data Center Infrastructure Built on the Intel Xeon Processor E5 v2 Family
Data Centers under Pressure
These are exciting times in the data center! New technologies
promise more innovative services to the business at lower costs.
The strategic value of your data center is greater than ever.
The explosive growth of unstructured data puts new demands
on your network and storage infrastructure and challenges your
ability to deliver new services such as cloud computing. IT needs
to respond rapidly to new and changing business demands,
scale quickly and appropriately to fuctuating workloads, and
accommodate business expansions. At the same time, increasingly
sophisticated attacks from cybercriminals threaten your data and
infrastructure. And keeping costs down is always a priority.
Delivering innovative services that drive value back into the
organization is dependent on the fexibility and effciency of
your data center infrastructure. How can you scale storage and
networking cost-effectively for cloud services delivery? How can
you support advanced analytics or high-performance workloads
such as technical, fnancial, and scientifc computing? How can you
protect it all from relentless cyberattacks?
Data Center Infrastructure Built to Scale
Todays data center challenges offer opportunities for IT managers
like you to take the next step in the evolution of your data
center. Intels release of the Intel Xeon processor E5 v2 family
can help you forge ahead with your next-generation data center
initiatives, including virtualization, cloud services delivery, and
high-performance computing. With the Intel Xeon processor E5
v2 family at the heart of your data center, you can deploy a more
secure private cloud with the same technology foundational
to public clouds, process big data faster with increased compute
performance, and curb energy costs with greater energy effciency
and power management.
6, 7, 8
The Intel Xeon processor E5 v2 family
creates a versatile, agile foundation that enables you to act quickly
on opportunities critical to your business.
Data Center Challenges: Formidable and Diverse
IT managers face signifcant challenges to keep the business
running while experiencing pressure to support innovative
services such as cloud computing, big data analytics, and Bring
Your Own Device (BYOD) programs:
Explosive growth of unstructured data strains storage
capacity and puts increased demand on networks.
Growing bandwidth requirements driven by greater virtual
machine (VM) density and increasing network and storage
traffc cause bottlenecks and greater network complexity.
Dynamic virtualization, multitenancy, and automation create
new security headaches and demand a different approach to
protecting infrastructure and data.
Resource sharing calls for standards for your server,
storage, and networking infrastructure that support open,
interoperable solutions as they evolve.
Power costs and availability continue to pressure IT budgets,
reduce overall effciency across the data center, and
undermine green computing initiatives.
Increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks target both software
and platform.
4 Intel IT Center Real-World Guide | Data Center Infrastructure Built on the Intel Xeon Processor E5 v2 Family
The Purpose of This Guide
The purpose of this guide is to introduce you to the Intel Xeon
processor E5 v2 family of products. Well step through specifc
usage scenarios that address data center challenges. Then well give
you the nuts and bolts of how the Intel Xeon processor E5 v2 family
can help you support your data center infrastructure initiatives.
These usage scenarios will help you evolve your data center
and unlock the potential of solutions for pervasive virtualization,
private and hybrid cloud computing, big data analytics, and high-
performance computing (HPC). With the Intel Xeon processor E5
v2 family, you have the fexibility to implement your top-priority
initiatives incrementally to meet your business and technology
challenges. With the vast array of capabilities built into our latest
processor, the technology is there when you are ready. Look for a
checklist for assessing your data center needs at the end of the guide.
The remainder of this guide introduces the Intel Xeon processor E5
v2 family-based platform and describes practical considerations for
deployment in the following use cases:
Accelerated server performance
Enhanced server virtualization
Unifed networking
Increased data and infrastructure security
Scaled-out storage for virtualized and cloud environments
Optimized power management
5 Intel IT Center Real-World Guide | Data Center Infrastructure Built on the Intel Xeon Processor E5 v2 Family
The Intel Xeon processor E5 v2 family provides a single platform that
combines built-in capabilities and increased performance to support
diverse data center needs. With the Intel Xeon processor E5 v2 family,
you can leverage the cloud and all its capabilities, including its ability
to support traffc from multiple devices, as well as embrace other
emerging technologies.
The Intel Xeon processor E5 v2 family raises the bar for effciency
while enabling your data center to handle increasing performance,
network, storage, security, and power demands.

Intel IT Refresh Central
to Delivering Business Value
The Intel Xeon processor E5 v2 family offers increased opportunities
to improve Intels own IT environment. Weve tested and intend to
refresh and deploy the Intel Xeon processor E5 v2 family across the
Intel IT environment and expect it to be the predominant platform
across our environment. For our cloud environment, the performance
gain from the Intel Xeon processor E5 v2 family will enable Intel IT to
meet its future goals of federated clouds at 80 percent utilization.
1
Intel IT refreshes servers every three to four years to reduce costs and
support increasing demands from the business. In addition to creating
a sustained competitive advantage for Intels business, upgrading
to servers built on the latest processor has supported hundreds of
millions of dollars in cost savings and effciencies, including:
Server consolidation ratios up to 20:1 with the latest generation of
Intel Xeon servers
2
Private cloud savings of $9 million to date, with a total net
present value (NPV) of $20 million annually expected between
2009 and 2015
2
A determination that moving to blades improves cloud total cost of
ownership by 29 percent
2


Platforms Based on the
Intel Xeon Processor E5 v2 Family:
The Heart of Your Data Center
Server Refresh Savings Estimator
Evaluate the value and benefts of replacing aging
servers with those based on the latest Intel Xeon
processors. Using information about your current server
environment, the Intel Xeon Processor-Based Server
Refresh Estimator tool can perform a custom analysis to
help you evolve your next-generation data center.
More about the Intel Xeon
Processor E5 v2 Family
6 Intel IT Center Real-World Guide | Data Center Infrastructure Built on the Intel Xeon Processor E5 v2 Family
Our data center strategy includes refreshing across storage, network,
and facilities, with a goal of achieving 80 percent effective
utilization of Intels global data center resources.
2
These initiatives
are already in progress:
Storage optimization. In 2011 alone, we faced a 53 percent
increase in storage capacity from 2010 to 38.2 petabytes,
3

and we recognized that our private cloud build-out would add
even more demand. Using a variety of techniques, such as
thin provisioning, tiering, storage refresh, use of solid-state
drives (SSDs), and increased utilization, our storage refresh and
optimization are driving $9.2 million in savings.
4
Upgrading to 10 gigabit Ethernet (GbE). Upgrading our network
architecture enables us to optimize data center infrastructure
to accommodate current growth and meet increasing network
demand in the futureincluding our design teams high-intensity
computing needs. Plus, we helped reduce network costs by up to
25 percent.
5
Data center consolidation. At the center of our data center
strategy is the model of record, a new decision-making model
based on our highly regarded manufacturing environment.
Using the model, we benchmark each data center against a best
achievable model, which enables us to fll gaps to deliver the
greatest improvements in velocity, quality, effciency, and capacity.
One result of applying this model is that we anticipate being able to
reduce the number of data centers we support by as much as 35
percent during the next few years.
2

The Power to Do More
in Your Data Center
The Intel Xeon processor E5 v2 family is built on Ivy
Bridge microarchitecture using Intels industry-leading
22 nanometer (nm) 3-D Tri-Gate transistor technology
for increased performance and energy effciency. It
supports IT innovation with these key features:.
Overall energy effciency and performance gains of up
to 40 percent (as compared to a previous-generation
Intel Xeon processor-based server)
6, 8
Performance for single- and multi-threaded
applications, including high-performance computing
Elastic scaling to adapt to fuctuating workload and
increasing network and storage demands
Reduced overhead and faster core processing for
improved virtualization performance
Hardware-based security features to enable isolation,
visibility, and control of dynamic, virtualized workloads
and data center infrastructure
Support for integrated 10 gigabit Ethernet (10 GbE)
and simplifed data center infrastructure
Performance and I/O enhancements to improve and
balance overall system performance and increase
server effciency
More bandwidth for high-performance computing
applications
Server- and data centerlevel power monitoring and
management to optimize power consumption
Accelerated encryption and decryption to encourage
more pervasive data protection
Support for open, interoperable solutions
7 Intel IT Center Real-World Guide | Data Center Infrastructure Built on the Intel Xeon Processor E5 v2 Family
Accelerated Server Performance
The Intel Xeon processor E5 v2 family combines physical
changes to the processor and built-in technologies that
significantly boost performance.
6
Physical Improvements to the Processor
A number of physical improvements to the processor contribute
to increased performance, including:
Up to four additional cores.
Up to 10 MB more last-level cache.
More memory: Support for 64 gigabytes (GB) octal-rank load-
reduced DIMMs (8R LRDIMMs), which provides for memory capacity
of 15 terabytes (TB) on a typical two-socket server system.
Greater integration: Intel Integrated I/O reduces latency and
offers up to 80 Peripheral Component Interconnect Express
(PCIe*) lanes per two-socket server system.
Higher bandwidth is supported throughout the platform with:
Additional speed contributions via Intel QuickPath
Interconnect (Intel QPI) (8.0 gigatransfers per second)
More links between processors
Support for DDR3-1866 MTS memory
Server Performance by the Numbers
Up to 50 percent performance increase over previous-
generation Intel Xeon processor-based server (at a
consistent power level).
6, 8
Up to 45 percent Java* platform performance increase over
previous-generation Intel Xeon processor-based server (at a
consistent power level).
6, 9
Up to 240 percent (3.4 times) boost in general computing
performance by replacing a typical 4-year-old server.
6, 10
Up to 480 percent (5.8 times) boost in technical computing
performance by replacing a typical 4-year-old server.
6, 11
Up to two times improvement in I/O bandwidth for reduced
network latency with Intel Integrated I/O, which supports
the PCIe* 2.0 specifcation.
6, 12, 13
Improved clock cycles for
foating point operations per second (FLOPS) with Intel
Advanced Vector Extensions
14
(Intel AVX), now with support
for Float 16 to accelerate data conversion between 16-bit
and 32-bit foating point formats.
Todays data centers demand ever more powerful performance. Data centers need more powerful servers that can run compute applications
for technical, fnancial, scientifc, and content creation workloads; handle more data; and manage greater virtual machine (VM) density.
Accelerated server performance is important for data center and server consolidation, virtualization, cloud computing, advanced analytics, and
high-performance computing.
How It Works
8 Intel IT Center Real-World Guide | Data Center Infrastructure Built on the Intel Xeon Processor E5 v2 Family
Built-In Capabilities
Intel Turbo Boost Technology 2.0
Intel Turbo Boost Technology 2.0
15
adds intelligence and adaptability
to the chip to handle workload spikes. To do this, the processor
increases frequency (turbos up) at the request of the operating
system by redirecting power from the idle core to the active one. The
processor keeps track of how hard its running and modulates how
far it will push itself in a turbo situation to provide the maximum
frequency while meeting Intels stringent reliability standards.
Weve improved the turbo algorithm to assess if the core speed is
the limiter or if the processor is waiting for data from memory or I/O
before it commits power to the burst of speed. If memory and I/O are
the bottlenecks, then the turbo is not engaged. The goal is to get
workload spikes dealt with as quickly as possible and to get back
to a lower power state, which reduces average power draw and
cost of operation.
Intel Advanced Vector Extensions (Intel AVX)
and Intel Hyper-Threading Technology (Intel HT)
Together these two complementary technologies support high-
compute applications such as fnancial analytics; image, audio, and
video processing; scientifc simulations; weather analysis; and 3-D
modeling, rendering, and analysis. Intel Advanced Vector Extensions
(Intel AVX)
14
accelerates clock cycles for foating point operations
per second (FLOPS) with instructions that double the length of the
registers. This dramatic increase is because Intel AVX utilizes 256-bit-
wide single instruction, multiple data (SIMD) registers rather than the
128 bits in previous-generation processorsso the software can
process twice as many instructions. Intel AVX also supports Float
16, which accelerates data conversion between 16-bit and 32-bit
foating point formats. The technology is supported by Intel and
third-party compilers that take advantage of the latest instruction to
optimize code for signifcantly reduced compute time.
Intel Hyper-Threading Technology (Intel HT)
16
enables multiple threads
to run on each core, increases processor throughput, and improves
overall performance on threaded software. Demanding applications can
run simultaneously while maintaining system responsiveness.
More about Performance
9 Intel IT Center Real-World Guide | Data Center Infrastructure Built on the Intel Xeon Processor E5 v2 Family
Server virtualization has evolved from a way to reduce costs by
consolidating servers and data centers to increasing fexibility and
agility through the pervasive use of virtualization for faster service
deployment and dynamic placement of workloads. Virtualization
is also the foundation for an agile, scalable cloud, providing several
key capabilities, including resource sharing, VM isolation, and load
balancing. These capabilities enable scalability, high utilization of
pooled resources, rapid provisioning, workload isolation, and increased
uptime. This scenario describes how the Intel Xeon E5 v2 processor
product family can help you build a more agile, effcient, and secure
data center by implementing server virtualization solutions. Intels
latest processor provides:
Improved performance of your virtualization solutions
Increased consolidation ratios
Greater speed and reliability to support business continuity
and increased user uptime
A foundation of trust and compliance that enables you to
verify the fdelity of virtualized platforms
Intel Xeon processor E5 family-based platforms combine physical
changes to the processor and built-in technologies that signifcantly
boost virtualization performance.
6
Physical Improvements to the Processor
Greater cache and main system memory and merging of the I/O
controller directly onto the processor die rather than on a separate
component of the motherboard support faster, more reliable
processing of VMs.
Built-In Capabilities
Advanced Programmable Interrupt Controller
Virtualization (APICv)
Virtualization can come with a performance penalty as fewer physical
servers manage large numbers of VMs. The Advanced Programmable
Interrupt Controller Virtualization (APICv) reduces virtualization
overhead, eliminating the need for many VM exits. VM exits are a
source of performance degradation in virtualized systems. A VM exit
marks the point at which a transition is made by the VM currently
running and the hypervisor, which is managing system controls. That
transition involves several steps followed by a VM entry transition
once the hypervisor has done its job. By reducing the number of VM
exits required, the system experiences less overhead.
Enhanced Server Virtualization
How It Works
10 Intel IT Center Real-World Guide | Data Center Infrastructure Built on the Intel Xeon Processor E5 v2 Family
Intel Virtualization Technology (Intel VT)
Intel Virtualization Technology
17
(Intel VT) is a portfolio of hardware
assists built into the processor that make running virtualization
platforms faster, more reliable, and more secure. These technologies
work with Intel Trusted Execution Technology (Intel TXT)
18
to provide
a trusted foundation against malicious attacks on the hypervisor,
BIOS, frmware, and other prelaunch software components. (See more
about Intel TXT in the section Increased Data and Infrastructure
Security.) The Intel VT portfolio includes:
Intel Virtualization Technology
6
(Intel VT) for IA-32
and Intel 64 (Intel VT-x) enable faster performance for core
virtualization processes, improving application performance,
live migration, provisioning, dynamic load balancing, and
disaster recovery.
Intel VT for Directed I/O
6
(Intel VT-d) provides built-in support
and improved performance for I/O virtualization by reducing
hypervisor involvement in managing I/O traffc. The result is
improved I/O performance, increased system reliability, and
enhanced memory protection.
Intel VT for FlexMigration
6
(Intel VT FlexMigration) enables
the migration of virtual machines across multiple generations
of Intel Xeon processor-based servers. This makes it possible
to share resources among diverse operating systems and
combine existing processor generations into the same
virtualized server pool.
Intel Virtualization Technology for Connectivity (Intel VT-c)
is a collection of platform-level I/O virtualization technologies
and initiatives that enable lower CPU utilization, reduced system
latency, and improved networking and I/O throughput. Intel VT-c
optimizes virtualized systems with a multifaceted approach to
I/O virtualization:
Virtual Machine Device Queues (VMDq) improve traffc
management within the server, helping to enable better
I/O performance from large data fows while decreasing the
processing burden on the software-based virtual machine
monitor (VMM).
PCI-SIG* single-root I/O virtualization (SR-IOV) provides
near-native performance by providing dedicated I/O to
virtual machines and bypassing the software virtual switch
in the hypervisor completely. It also improves data isolation
among virtual machines and provides fexibility and mobility
by facilitating live virtual machine migration.
Virtualization Performance
by the Numbers
Up to 50 percent higher virtualization
performance
6, 8
Reduced number of VM exits for lower
system overhead
11 Intel IT Center Real-World Guide | Data Center Infrastructure Built on the Intel Xeon Processor E5 v2 Family
As desirable as improvements in processor performance may be, that
extra boost can burden your network with increased network and
storage traffc. The result? Increased network complexity, insuffcient
bandwidth, and I/O bottlenecks that slow everything down. This
scenario describes how integrated support for 10 GbE solutions can
simplify your network infrastructure through port consolidation and
the convergence of LAN and storage area network (SAN) traffc onto
a single fabric.
Through port consolidation, you can combine multiple 1 GbE ports
onto one or two 10 GbE ports, which streamlines cabling, reduces
power, and improves bandwidth. The greater bandwidth provided
by 10 GbE and support for Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) and
Internet Small Computer System Interface (iSCSI) protocols makes it
possible to move storage area network (SAN) traffc to ubiquitous,
familiar Ethernet. Enhancements to the Ethernet protocol ensure
no drops in performance. Plus, with 10 GbE solutions you have
enough bandwidth to take the next stepto a truly unifed and
single network that consolidates both LAN and SAN traffc onto a
single fabric. With unifed networking, you gain greater simplifcation,
lower total cost of ownership due to data center infrastructure
consolidation, and high fexibility.
As a compelling choice for 10 GbE server connectivity, 10GBASE-T
is based on the familiar and well-understood RJ-45 cabling scheme.
The technology is fully backward compatible with 1 GbE equipment,
provides great fexibility in network design due to its 100-meter reach
capability, and offers a cost-effective and transparent migration path
to 10 GbE and unifed networking.
How It Works
Intel Xeon processor E5 family-based platforms are the frst to support
integrated 10 GbE for mainstream servers, with built-in technologies
that enhance I/O throughput for network and storage traffc.
Physical Improvements to the Processor
In addition to more cache and main system memory, merging of the
I/O controller directly onto the processor die rather than on a separate
component of the motherboard makes the Intel Xeon processor E5
family better able to manage network traffc faster and with
reduced latency.
Built-In Capabilities
Intel Integrated I/O
Intel Integrated I/O manages data traffc by:
Merging the I/O controller onto the processor, which signifcantly
reduces latency
Providing support for the PCIe 3.0 specifcation, with more lanes
than previous generations and greater fexibility in connecting
peripheral devices to the processorwhich can double bandwidth
Supporting a growing ecosystem of PCIe 3.0 add-in cards
Intelligently directing I/O packets to the processor cache, skipping
main system memory
Unifed Networking
Networking Performance
by the Numbers
General improvements:
PCIe* support for increased bandwidth by as much as
two times per server
6, 12, 13
With 10 gigabit Ethernet (GbE) consolidation:
Up to 45 percent reduction in power per rack
19
Up to 80 percent reduction in cables and switch ports
19
Up to 15 percent reduction in data center
infrastructure costs
19
12 Intel IT Center Real-World Guide | Data Center Infrastructure Built on the Intel Xeon Processor E5 v2 Family
Intel offers devices that support 10 gigabit Ethernet (GbE) and
unifed networking that are optimized for best performance
with the Intel Xeon processor E5 v2 family.
Intel Ethernet Controller X540. The industrys frst fully
integrated 10GBASE-T controller designed for low-cost, low-
power LAN on motherboard (LOM) integration in mainstream
servers includes:
Unifed networking support for Internet Small Computer System
Interface (iSCSI) and Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE)
Advanced virtualization optimizations via Intel Virtualization
Technology for Connectivity (Intel VT-c)
Intel Ethernet Unifed Networking. Intel Ethernet Converged
Network Adapters deliver high-performance unifed networking
using native operating systembased storage initiators for iSCSI
and FCoE and intelligent-hardware-based offoads. Intel worked
closely with leading operating system and hypervisor vendors
to integrate open, native storage support in their products while
optimizing Intel Ethernet hardware for these solutions. Key
capabilities include:
Performance that scales with server refreshes by relying on
the servers multi-core processors to handle storage traffc
rather than relying on a discrete hardware engine. As server
performance improves, so will performance of native-
initiator-based solutions.
Ensuring quality of service (QoS) by keeping the fow of the
various types of traffc visible to operating systembased
utilities, which enables taking full advantage of other
operating system and hypervisor QoS tools.
Intel Data Direct I/O (Intel DDIO)
Intel Data Direct I/O (Intel DDIO) is a key component of Intel Integrated
I/O that increases performance by allowing Intel Ethernet controllers
and server adapters to talk directly with cache and maximize
throughput. Traditional I/O transfer must frst be moved and stored
in main memory before it can go to cache for processing. Then once
processing is complete, the data has to reverse its course. With Intel
DDIO, we have rearchitected the processor and dedicated a portion of
cache to I/O so that data transfers directly to cache and bypasses main
memory. This places less demand on main memory to deliver greater
bandwidth scalability, lower power utilization, and reduced latency.
Unifed Networking from Intel
More about I/O Improvements
13 Intel IT Center Real-World Guide | Data Center Infrastructure Built on the Intel Xeon Processor E5 v2 Family
The explosion of digital content and the emergence of new usage models, such as cloud computing and big data analytics, demand new
storage architecture. Data must be readily available for business, regulatory, and compliance needs. Scale-out storage addresses three major
challenges associated with managing structured and unstructured data: the staggering increase in volume, ineffcient data management, and
the cost of sustaining traditional storage architectures.
How It Works
With full capabilities as a converged storage server, the Intel Xeon
processor E5 v2 family provides the foundation for scale-out
architecture. Running intelligent solutions built specifcally for
virtualized and cloud environments, Intel Xeon processor E5 v2
family-based platforms maximize available capacity and centralize
management of distributed data for improved performance.
Intel Xeon processor E5 v2 family-based storage devices enable
massive scalability for use cases that involve huge volumes of
structured and unstructured data (such as e-mail, instant messages,
documents, spreadsheets, images, and video), but scale incrementally
to avoid expensive overcapacity provisioning. Capacity is increased
as needed by simply adding more nodes rather than installing
additional discrete subsystems. With support for open standards and
interoperability, you can reduce storage costs and lower your reliance on
expensive proprietary interfaces.
The Intel Xeon processor E5 v2 family also provides the performance
within storage solutions to enable next-generation software
capabilities like thin provisioning, compression, automated tiering of
data, data deduplication, and erasure coding/RAID over nodes. These
solutions optimize capacity and balance storage I/O, as well as keep
costs down.
Built-In Capabilities
Intel Rapid Storage Technology Enterprise 3.x (Intel RSTe)
Intel Rapid Storage Technology Enterprise 3.x (Intel RSTe)
20
is a RAID
driver that can increase the speed of RAID operations when combined
with the servers running the Intel Xeon processor E5 v2 product
family. Intel RSTe integrates serial attached SCSI (SAS) and serial ATA
(SATA) into the chipset, increasing overall I/O system performance,
enabling RAID software to perform as well as or better than hardware
RAID systems, and reducing overall solution costs. Intel RSTe can
support RAID 0, 1, 10, and 5.
Scale-Out Storage for Virtualized
and Cloud Environments
14 Intel IT Center Real-World Guide | Data Center Infrastructure Built on the Intel Xeon Processor E5 v2 Family
Dynamic virtualization, multitenancy, and automation needs create
new security headaches. With no relief from cybercriminals in sight,
IT managers need a different approach to protecting data and data
center infrastructure. The foundation for that approach is to create
security layers at the hardware level that isolate workloads, enforce
security limits, and accelerate data encryption.
VMs exist as independent entities on shared resources. Software
layers arbitrate access to these shared resources and protect the
contents of one VM from another. However, with the emergence of
increasingly sophisticated cyberthreats such as virtual rootkit attacks,
software-only approaches often fall short of the isolation needed to
protect the contents of each VM in the cloud.
Controlling the computing environment is diffcult in cloud
implementations. Traditional security tools are abstracted away
or may not ft into the new virtualized, cloud-oriented workfows
or architectures. But sensitive workloads and policy or regulatory
requirements demand that IT managers understand the environment
and controls that are in place to enforce security policies. When
physical control of data is reduced, one established way to protect it is
with encryption, the last line of defense to protect from misuse. This
is important in cloud and other shared infrastructures to protect data
as it moves to the cloud or between clouds and while in storage. But
encryption typically comes at a cost, a performance tax of sorts.
How It Works
The Intel Xeon processor E5 v2 family strengthens data and
infrastructure protections with built-in capabilities that reduce security
performance penalties and improve isolation and control of shared,
virtualized environments. It establishes a hardware root of trust that
enforces policies for platform integrity. Accelerated encryption lowers
the performance tax
21
and encourages pervasive data encryption
across the data center. Combined, these capabilities provide a robust
foundation to better address needs for security in data centers and
shared infrastructures.
Built-In Capabilities
Intel Platform Protection
21
Intel Platform Protection Technology (with Trusted Execution
Technology [TXT])
18
and Intel VT work together to isolate workloads
and system execution from launch through runtime, helping to
reduce the attack surfaces of shared environments. TXT hardens the
platform against attack, starting with a root of trust at the platform
level that extends a chain of trust through measured frmware, BIOS, and
hypervisor virtualization. A hardware-based root of trust is extremely
diffcult to defeat or subvert and provides an excellent foundation against
increasingly sophisticated malware attacks.
TXT helps provide assurances of platform integrity through the
enforcement of platform trust in which a known good software
environment is in control of the platform. TXT enforces this control
by checking the hypervisor integrity at start-up, measuring the code
of the hypervisor, and comparing it to a known good value. Launch
can be blocked if the measurements do not match, or the host can
be allowed to launch and its untrusted status can be reported into the
management environment. This information provides a useful control
point for virtualized workloads. For example, with this knowledge, you
can establish and enforce policies defning that critical workloads or
sensitive data only be deployed onto trusted platforms.
Similarly, integrity-checking data from TXT is available for audit
purposes and can be used with governance, risk management, and
compliance (GRC) or security information and event manager (SIEM)
dashboards for further reporting on the controls in place in your IT or
cloud environment.
Intel Platform Protection Technology (with BIOS Guard)
18

protects your system by increasing security against malware and
denial-of-service (DoS) attacks.
Intel Platform Protection Technology (with OS Guard)
18
improves
security by strengthening malware protection. It provides hardware-
based protection for your server operating system (for example,
against privilege escalation attacks).
Intel Platform Protection Technology (with XD Bit)
18
enhances
overall system security by reducing platform surface attacks. It helps
to prevent execution of malicious code.
Increased Data and Infrastructure Security
15 Intel IT Center Real-World Guide | Data Center Infrastructure Built on the Intel Xeon Processor E5 v2 Family
Intel Data Protection Technology
Intel Data Protection Technology (with Advanced Encryption
Standard New Instructions [AES-NI])
22
provides performance
benefts that make high-volume encryption faster and more effcient
for data transport and storage workloads. AES-NI also provides
strengthening against side-channel attacks, which is an increasingly
critical capability in shared compute usage models where multiple
workloads could have visibility into subsystems used in computing
encryption routines.
AES-NI increases encryption speed via a set of seven new
instructions that accelerate parts of the AES
23
algorithm encryption
and decryption execution. AES-NI can accelerate performance up
to 10 times faster
6, 24
than a software-only AES solution, making
encryption practical, stronger, and more effcient. AES-NI can be used
in any of the growing set of optimized applications that use AES,
including network, disk, and fle encryption solutions.
Intel Data Protection Technology (with Secure Key)
22
enhances
security and performance for a wide range of security applications
and enables faster, higher-quality cryptographic keys and certifcates.
More about Security
Encryption by the Numbers
Seven instructions that accelerate
encryption/decryption
Up to 10 times faster
6, 24
than software-only
Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) solutions
16 Intel IT Center Real-World Guide | Data Center Infrastructure Built on the Intel Xeon Processor E5 v2 Family
Power consumption is a signifcant element of most IT budgets, and data centers struggle to utilize power more effectively to cut operational
costs. Virtualization has helped mitigate energy ineffciencies by reducing the number of physical servers required in the data center. However,
power can be optimized for signifcant cost savings and less risk to data center infrastructure equipment and network availability by applying
a combination of other approaches. These approaches include improved system power performance, real-time power awareness, rack density
optimization, power load balancing, and energy reduction.
How It Works
The Intel Xeon processor E5 v2 family combines built-in, intelligent
power technology and sensors that provide advanced power and
thermal instrumentation at the server level.
Physical Improvements to the Processor
The Intel Xeon processor E5 v2 family is up to 45 percent
6, 7
more
energy effcient as compared to previous generations. As compared to
a typical 4-year-old server, Intel Xeon processor E5 v2 family-based
servers are up to 250 percent (3.5 times) more energy effcient.
6, 25

Plus, the processors microarchitecture is designed to emphasize
power reductions in both active and idle states.
To improve idle power as well as to best match power draw to
processor use, the Intel Xeon processor E5 v2 scales the memory,
cache, I/O, and other processor functions to support the compute
cores. That way, the system only consumes power to provide the
highest possible bandwidth when the cores are in high demand. With
less demand, the processor shifts down to a high-effciency, lower-
power state.
On-board sensors monitor power and thermal levels and take
advantage of Intel Intelligent Power Technologies, such as integrated
power gates. They also enable greater awareness of the running
average power level (RAPL) to provide better control and adaptability
to power management tools.
Optimized Power Management
Power Improvement
by the Numbers
Up to 45 percent more energy effcient
(as compared to a previous-generation
Intel Xeon processor-based server).
6, 7
Up to 250 percent (3.5 times) more energy effcient
(as compared to a typical 4-year-old server).
6, 25
Twenty-one OEMs and original design manufacturers
(ODMs) support Intel Node Manager (learn more).
Thirty-two ISVs enable power management consoles
(learn more).
17 Intel IT Center Real-World Guide | Data Center Infrastructure Built on the Intel Xeon Processor E5 v2 Family
Built-In Capabilities
Intel Node Manager and Intel Data Center Manager Software
One tool for data center administrators is Intel Node Manager 2.0,
26
which monitors each systems power and thermal levels and gives
granular control of each system. Because many data centers do not
have tools to easily measure and manage power consumption at the
individual server level, power and cooling are often overprovisioned
compared to real usage conditions. Using a third-party console, you
can set group policy at the rack level for individual servers running
Intel Node Manager to ensure that the aggregated systems never
exceed the racks power budget.
For example, if the maximum power per system is 300 watts (W) but
the average utilization is 180 W, you can aggregate 20 servers and
set power policy to never exceed a rack-level limit of 3.6 kilowatts
(kW). Intel Node Manager automates enforcement of that power limit.
Early adopters of Intel Node Manager have seen up to 40 percent
27

improvements in rack density.
Intel Data Center Manager is a software development kit (SDK) that
ISVs or OEMs integrate into their management software. It is not sold
as a separate Intel product. Together with third-party management
consoles, Intel Data Center Manager provides automated control of
power and cooling via policies, so you can monitor and manage energy
demands deterministically for aggregated resources at the row or
data center level. This enables you to manage within the power and
cooling resources available and optimize productivity at the server,
rack, row, or data center level. During an event, data center power is
automatically reduced to extend operations and minimize potential
damage. These tools also provide the instrumentation to enable
power-based load balancing or load migration.
Intel Node Manager is currently supported by more than 20 leading
OEMs and original design manufacturers (ODMs), as well as 32 ISVs
enabling power management consoles.
More on Improving
Power Management
18 Intel IT Center Real-World Guide | Data Center Infrastructure Built on the Intel Xeon Processor E5 v2 Family
With so many demands on the data center, where do you begin?
Get started by identifying ineffciencies in your data center that
may have prevented you from moving forward with new services
in the past. Below is a high-level list of considerations to help
you understand your current situation and plan for necessary
improvement to your networking, storage, security, and power
management infrastructure.
No matter where you are in your server refresh cycle, upgrading to
the Intel Xeon processor E5 v2 family-based servers can make good
business sense. The Intel Xeon processor E5 v2 family can support
your initiatives in each of the following areas as you take the next
steps to evolve your data center.
Checklist for Identifying Data Center Ineffciencies
Networking
Do you have suffcient bandwidth to support existing services?
Can you currently support high-performance computing applications?
Do you need to handle new workloads related to fnancial
analytics; image, audio, and video processing; scientifc
simulations; weather analysis; or 3-D modeling, rendering,
and analysis?
How effectively does your network handle workload spikes?
Does your network experience frequent I/O bottlenecks?
How often does your network experience I/O latency?
Do you currently support 10 GbE at the server and the switch?
How many GbE ports do you have on a typical virtualized server?
What kinds of cost and effciency gains could you achieve through
port consolidation?
What protocols do you support for storage traffc (Fibre Channel
[FC], FCoE, iSCSI, Network File System [NFS])?
What kinds of cost and effciency gains could you achieve by
consolidating LAN and storage traffc onto a single fabric?

Storage
With your current storage infrastructure, are you able to keep
up with the growth of structured and unstructured data in your
organization (such as e-mail, business intelligence, video, social
media content, images, and offce documents)?
Do you support large relational databases
(such as Oracle* databases)?
Is the majority of your storage infrastructure dedicated to
scale-up storage?
Can you scale out quickly and cost-effectively?
Would you consider your current storage to be overallocated
or underallocated?
Do you support advanced storage solutions that optimize
and improve data management via thin provisioning, compression,
automated tiering of data, data deduplication, and erasure coding/
RAID over nodes?
Next Steps
19 Intel IT Center Real-World Guide | Data Center Infrastructure Built on the Intel Xeon Processor E5 v2 Family
Data Center Infrastructure and Data Security
Is your data center under increasing threat of attack from
malware and other cyberthreats?
Have you ever experienced a serious breach?
Does your infrastructure include security built into the hardware?
Can your systems establish a root of trust?
Do you manage a trusted management platform of pooled
resources for virtualized and other shared services?
Have you resisted moving sensitive workloads to the cloud
because of security concerns?
Are you able to demonstrate that you can enforce security
policies to comply with regulatory demands?
How consistently do you use encryption with your data?
Would you like to increase the amount of data you encrypt, but
you worry about performance?
Power Management
What solutions do you currently use to optimize power and
reduce costs?
Would increased performance per watt reduce energy costs in
your data center?
Do you have real-time power awareness of your individual systems?
Can you extend control to aggregated resources (rack, row,
and data center) by setting policies that optimize power and
thermal utilization?
Have you deployed as many servers as possible into the power
allocated to your rack(s)?
Do you have the tools to enable power-based load balancing or
load migration?
20 Intel IT Center Real-World Guide | Data Center Infrastructure Built on the Intel Xeon Processor E5 v2 Family
Intel Xeon Processor E5 v2 Family
Capabilities Summary
Processor New Features Capabilities
Advanced Programmable Interrupt
Controller Virtualization (APICv)
Reduces virtualization overhead for I/O-bound workloads by eliminating
many virtual machine (VM) exits.
Error-correcting code (ECC) support
Enhances data integrity and system reliability through automatic
data correction.
Integrated power gates Enables idle cores to go to near-zero power draw.
Intel Advanced Vector Extensions
14

(Intel AVX)
CPU instructions for accelerating foating point operations used in
life science engineering, data mining, and other technical computing
applications. Now with Float 16 support to accelerate data conversion
between 16-bit and 32-bit foating point formats.
Intel Data Protection Technology (with
Advanced Encryption Standard New
Instructions
22
[AES-NI])
Encourages pervasive encryption by reducing the associated
performance penalties.
Intel Data Protection Technology (with
Secure Key
22
)
Enhances security and performance for a wide range of security applications.
Enables faster, higher-quality cryptographic keys and certifcates.
Intel Hyper-Threading Technology
16
Doubles the number of threads per core for faster performance for many
demanding business applications.
Intel Integrated I/O Reduces I/O latency and supports PCIe* 3.0 standard.
Intel Intelligent Power Technology
Intel Node Manager 2.0
26
Can assist your manageability controllers policy-based power
management, maximize operating effciency, and increase rack density.
Intel Intelligent Power Technology
Intel Data Center Manager
Improves data center effciency by providing real-time data to enable
improved dynamic workload placement and migration.
Intel Platform Protection Technology
(with BIOS Guard
18
)
Increases security against malware and denial-of-service (DoS) attacks.
Intel Platform Protection Technology
(with OS Guard
18
)
Improves security by strengthening malware protection and provides
hardware-based protection for your server operating system (for example,
against privilege escalation attacks).
Intel Xeon
processor
E5 v2 family
21 Intel IT Center Real-World Guide | Data Center Infrastructure Built on the Intel Xeon Processor E5 v2 Family
Processor New Features Capabilities
Intel Platform Protection Technology
(with Intel Trusted Execution
Technology
18
[Intel TXT])
Hardware-based root of trust defends against software attacks
during launch and helps to ensure that the system launches into a
known good state.
Intel Platform Protection Technology
(with XD Bit
18
)
Reduces platform surface attacks by preventing execution of
malicious code.
Intel Rapid Storage Technology
Enterprise (Intel RSTe) 3.x
20
Provides uninterrupted operation and quick data recovery in the event of
hardware failure. Supports the latest server operating systems, including
Red Hat* and SUSE* Linux* operating systems.
Intel Turbo Boost Technology 2.0 Accelerates processor and graphics performance for peak loads.
Intel Virtualization Technology
17

(Intel VT)
Delivers platform-level capabilities to accelerate virtualization
performance. Improves application performance, live migration,
provisioning, dynamic load balancing, and disaster recovery.
Ivy Bridge microarchitecture
Enhances energy effciency and performance via Intels industry-leading
22 nanometer (nm) 3-D Tri-Gate transistor technology.
PCI Express* (PCIe) 3.0 ports
Provides extra capacity and fexibility for storage and networking
connections. Provides up to double the I/O bandwidth of prior-generation
PCIe 2.0
6, 12, 13
PCIe x16 nontransparent bridge
support
Improves clustering bandwidth for high-availability systems.
Supports x16 nontransparent bridges for up to double the peak
theoretical throughput compared to prior generation (x8 NTB).
6, 12
PCIe atomic read-modify-write
operation
Hardware-assisted operations to reduce CPU cycles and
accelerate task completion.
PCIe local peer-to-peer (P2P) reads
Improves communication with greater bandwidth between
PCIe devices connected to a socket.
Serial ATA 3.0 (SATA 3.0)
Provides faster data access, system startups, and application
load times. Doubles data throughput versus previous generation
for faster hard drive performance.
6, 12, 28
Intel Xeon
processor
E5 v2 family
22 Intel IT Center Real-World Guide | Data Center Infrastructure Built on the Intel Xeon Processor E5 v2 Family
About the Intel Xeon Processor E5 v2 Family
For more information about the Intel Xeon processor E5 v2 family, visit intel.com/Xeone5.
The Heart of a Modern Data Center: Intel Xeon Processor E5-2600 v2 Product Family
This product brief describes how Intel Xeon processor-based servers provide the foundation for driving higher value from your business by
virtualizing your data center and adding automation to lower costs and deliver new data-driven services.
intel.com/content/www/us/en/processors/xeon/xeon-e5-brief.html

Data Center and Private Cloud Solutions: Intel Xeon Processor E5-2600 v2 Product Family
Find out how your private cloud can take advantage of Intel Xeon processor-based servers to provide the performance, scale, security, and
compute power you need in dynamic environments.
intel.com/content/www/us/en/processors/xeon/xeon-e5-cloud-solution-brief.html
Tools for IT Managers

Intel Xeon Processor-Based Server Refresh Savings Estimator
With this tool, you can enter data about your existing server environment to evaluate the value and benefts of replacing aging servers with
those based on Intel Xeon processors. Generating a full report in Microsoft* Word or PowerPoint* software, you can create a simple or full
custom analysis, or access resources to assist you in building a new data center or refreshing an existing data center.
intel.com/go/xeonestimator

Intel IT Server Sizing Tool
This tool is based on Intel ITs methodology for determining the appropriate server sizing for our scale-up enterprise resource planning (ERP)
environment. Enter data about your existing environment and evaluate the optimal servers for your project life cycle.
intelsalestraining.com/serversizing/
About Next-Generation Data Centers

Peer Research: Cloud Computing Research for IT Strategic Planning
Results of a survey of IT professionals describing the business and technology drivers for evolving networking and storage technologies to
support cloud environments.
intel.com/content/www/us/en/cloud-computing/next-generation-cloud-networking-storage-peer-research-report.html
Inside Intel IT on Technology for Tomorrows Cloud
In this podcast, Ajay Chandramouly, Intels cloud computing and data center industry engagement manager, and Terry Yoshii, enterprise
architect for Intel IT Research, look at the business case for developing a private cloud and outline the basics of building a cloud for the future.
(Length: 7:10 min.)
intel.com/content/www/us/en/it-management/intel-it/inside-it-building-private-cloud-best-practices-podcast.html
Intel Resources for Learning More
23 Intel IT Center Real-World Guide | Data Center Infrastructure Built on the Intel Xeon Processor E5 v2 Family
Planning Guide: Technology for Tomorrows Cloud
Describes how IT managers can prepare their virtualized data centers for the cloud in three key areas with unifed networking, scale-out
storage, trusted server pools, and policy-based power management.
intel.com/content/www/us/en/cloud-computing/cloud-computing-technology-for-tomorrows-cloud-planning-guide.html

Vendor Round Table: Cloud Storage
Four vendors answer a standard set of questions about their cloud storage offerings to help IT managers better evaluate cloud storage
technology. Vendors are Amplidata, DataDirect Networks, EMC, and NetApp.
intel.com/content/www/us/en/cloud-computing/cloud-storage-vendor-round-table-guide.html
Intel Cloud Builders Initiative

Intel Cloud Builders Program
Get guidance from this cross-industry initiative to build a more simplifed, secure, and effcient cloud infrastructure. Intel Cloud Builders provides
a wide portfolio of proven reference architecture solutions from a broad range of leading systems and solutions providers, along with key
learnings and best practices designed to simplify, better secure, and increase the effciency of cloud infrastructures.
intel.com/content/www/us/en/cloud-computing/cloud-builders-provide-proven-advice.html
24 Intel IT Center Real-World Guide | Data Center Infrastructure Built on the Intel Xeon Processor E5 v2 Family
Endnotes
1. Best Practices for Building an Enterprise Private Cloud. Intel IT (December
2011). intel.com/content/www/us/en/it-management/intel-it-best-
practices/enterprise-private-cloud-paper.html
2. Intel ITs Data Center Strategy for Business Transformation. Intel IT
(December 2011). intel.com/content/www/us/en/it-management/intel-it-
best-practices/data-center-strategy-paper.html
3. Chandramouly, Ajay. Intel IT Data Storage Strategy and Solutions (blog)
(February 2, 2012). http://communities.intel.com/community/openportit/
blog/2012/02/02/intel-it-data-storage-strategy-and-solutions.

4. Solving Intel ITs Data Storage Growth Challenges. Intel IT (January 2012).
intel.com/content/www/us/en/it-management/intel-it-best-practices/data-
storage-solutions-paper.html
5. Upgrading Data Center Network Architecture to 10 Gigabit Ethernet.
Intel IT (January 2011). intel.com/content/www/us/en/data-center-
effciency/intel-it-data-center-effciency-upgrading-data-center-network-
architecture-to-10-gigabit-ethernet-practices.html
6. Software and workloads used in performance tests may have been
optimized for performance only on Intel microprocessors. Performance
tests, such as SYSmark* and MobileMark*, are measured using specifc
computer systems, components, software, operations, and functions. Any
change to any of those factors may cause the results to vary. You should
consult other information and performance tests to assist you in fully
evaluating your contemplated purchases, including the performance of that
product when combined with other products.
7. Baseline Confguration and Score on SPECpower_ssj2008* benchmark:
Platform with two Intel Xeon Processor E5-2660. 16GB memory,
Microsoft Windows Server* 2008 Enterprise x64 Edition. Baseline
source as of November 2012. Score: 5,544 overall ssj_ops/watt. New
Confguration: Fujitsu PRIMERGY RX300 S8* platform with two Intel
Xeon Processor E5-2660 v2, 48GB, Microsoft Windows Server 2012
Standard Edition. Source: Submitted to SPEC for review/publication as of
Sept. 10, 2013. Score: 8,097 overall ssj_ops/watt.
8. Baseline Confguration and Score on SPECVirt_sc2013* benchmark:
Platform with two Intel Xeon Processor E5-2690, 256GB memory, RHEL
6.4(KVM). Baseline source as of July 2013. Score: 624.9 @ 37 VMs. New
Confguration: IBM System x3650 M4* platform with two Intel Xeon
Processor E5-2697 v2, 512GB memory, RHEL 6.4(KVM). Source: Submitted
to SPEC for review/publication as of Sept. 10, 2013. Score: 947.9 @ 57 VMs
9. Baseline Confguration and Score on SPECjbb*2013 benchmark: Intel
Xeon Processor E5-2690 platform,128 GB memory, RHEL* 6.4, Oracle
Java SE 7u21. Source as of August 2013. Score: 42,431 max-jOPs. New
Confguration: Cisco UCS B200 M3* with two Intel Xeon Processor E5-
2697 v2, 128 GB memory, RHEL* 6.4, Java HotSpot* 64-Bit Server. Source
as of Sept. 2013. Score: 62,393 max-jOPs
10. Typical 4-year-old baseline confguration and score on SPECint*rate_
base2006 Benchmark: BL265 using two Intel Xeon processor X5570
(2.93 GHz, 4-core, 8 MB L3 cache, 6.4 GT/s, 95 W), 48 GB memory (12
x 4 GB 2Rx4 PC3-10600R-9, ECC), 73 GB SAS 10 K RPM, SUSE Linux
Enterprise Server 11 (x86_64) SP1, Kernel 2.6.32.12-0.7-default.
Compiler version: Intel C++ Compiler XE for applications running on IA-32
Version 12.0.1.116 Build 20101116. Source: spec.org/cpu2006/results/
res2011q1/cpu2006-20110215-14599.html as of February 2011. Score:
264. New-generation new confguration and score on SPECint*rate_
base2006 Benchmark: Intel Server Board S2600CP platform with two Intel
Xeon processor E5-2697 v2 (2.7 GHz, 12-core, 30 MB L3 cache, 8.0 GT/s,
130 W, C0-stepping), EIST Enabled, Turbo Boost Enabled, Hyper-Threading
Enabled, 128 GB memory (8 x 16GB DDR3-1866), Red Hat Enterprise
Linux Server 6.3. CPU2006-1.2 with Intel compiler IC13.1 Source: Intel
TR#1270 as of June 11, 2013. Estimated Score: 906.
11. Typical 4-year-old baseline confguration and score on Linpack
Benchmark: Supermicro* preproduction system with two Intel Xeon
processor X5570 (2.93 GHz, 4-core, 8 MB L3 cache, 6.4 GT/s, 95 W), BIOS
rev 02/23/2009, C3 Disabled, C6 Enabled, Turbo Enabled, HT Disabled,
NUMA Enabled, 24 GB (6 x 4GB DDR3-1333 DR registered ECC), 1 x
150 GB 10 K RPM SATA HDD, Red Hat EL5-U3 kernel 2.6.18-128.el5
for x86_64. Source: Intel TR#1011A as of September 17, 2009. Score:
91 GFLOPS. New-generation new confguration and score on Linpack
Benchmark: Intel Server Board S2600CP platform with two Intel Xeon
processor E5-2697 v2 (2.7 GHz, 12-core, 30 MB L3 cache, 8.0 GT/s, 130
W, C0-stepping), EIST Enabled, Turbo Boost Enabled, Hyper-Threading
Disabled, C-state Enabled, 64 GB memory (8 x 8GB DDR3-1866), Red Hat
Enterprise Linux Server 6.3. Source: Intel TR#1307 as of June 25, 2013.
Score: 536 GFLOPS.

12. Results have been estimated based on internal Intel analysis and are
provided for informational purposes only. Any difference in system
hardware or software design or confguration may affect actual performance.
13. Eight GT/s and 128 b/130 b encoding in PCIe 3.0 specifcation enables
double the interconnect bandwidth over the PCIe 2.0 specifcation. Source:
http://pcisig.com/news_room/November_18_2010_Press_Release.
14. AVX/AVX2 is designed to achieve higher throughput to certain integer
and foating point operations. Depending on processor power and thermal
characteristics and system power and thermal conditions, AVX/AVX2
foating point instructions may run at a lower frequency to maintain reliable
operations at all times.
15. Requires a system with Intel Turbo Boost Technology. Intel Turbo Boost
Technology and Intel Turbo Boost Technology 2.0 are only available on
select Intel processors. Consult your system manufacturer. Performance
varies depending on hardware, software, and system confguration. For
more information, visit intel.com/go/turbo.
25 Intel IT Center Real-World Guide | Data Center Infrastructure Built on the Intel Xeon Processor E5 v2 Family
16. Intel HT is available on select Intel processors. Requires an Intel Hyper-
Threading Technologyenabled system; consult with your system
manufacturer. Performance will vary depending on the specifc hardware
and software used. For more information, including details on which
processors support Intel HT Technology, visit intel.com/info/hyperthreading.
17. Intel Virtualization Technology requires a computer system with an enabled
Intel processor, BIOS, and virtual machine monitor (VMM). Functionality,
performance, or other benefts will vary depending on hardware and
software confgurations. Software applications may not be compatible
with all operating systems. Consult your system manufacturer. For more
information, visit intel.com/go/virtualization.
18. No computer system can provide absolute security. Requires an
enabled Intel processor, enabled chipset, firmware, and software,
and may require a subscription with a capable service provider (may
not be available in all countries). Intel assumes no liability for lost or
stolen data and/or systems or any other damages resulting thereof.
Consult your service provider for availability and functionality. For
more information, visit intel.com/go/anti-theft. Consult your system
manufacturer and/or software vendor for more information.
19. No computer system can provide absolute security under all conditions.
Built-in security features available on select Intel Core processors
may require additional software, hardware, services, and/or an Internet
connection. Results may vary depending upon confguration. Consult
your PC manufacturer for more details. For more information, visit
http://www.intel.com/technology/security.
20. Ethernet consolidation source: Intel 10 GbE ROI Calculator. This ROI
calculator is a cost comparison for a highly virtualized solution using
multiple 1 GbE connections, versus a dual-port 10 GbE implementation:
http://event-management-online.de/LAD/calculator.aspx.
21. For more information on Intel Rapid Storage Technology,
visit intel.com/p/en_US/support/highlights/chpsts/imsm.
22. No computer system can provide absolute security. Requires an enabled
Intel processor and software optimized for use of the technology. Consult
your system manufacturer and/or software vendor for more information.
23. The Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) is an encryption standard frst
adopted by the U.S. government in 2001. It is widely used to protect
network traffc, personal data, and corporate IT infrastructures.
24. Source: Testing with Oracle Database Enterprise Edition 11.2.0.2 with
Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) AES-256 shows as much as a 10-times
speedup when inserting 1 million rows 30 times into an empty table on the
Intel Xeon processor X5680 (3.33 GHz, 36 MB RAM) using Intel Integrated
Performance Primitives (Intel IPP) routines, compared to the Intel Xeon
processor X5560 (2.93 GHz, 36 MB RAM) without Intel IPP.
25. Typical 4-year-old baseline confguration and score on SPECpower*_
ssj2008 benchmark: IBM System x3650 M2 with two Intel Xeon processor
X5570 (2.93 GHz, 4-core, 8 MB L3 cache, 6.4 GT/s, 95 W), 8 GB memory
(4 x 2,048 MB DDR3-10600R CL9 ECC), 32 GB SATA SSD, Microsoft
Windows Server 2008 Enterprise Edition x64 SP1, IBM J9 VM (build 2.4),
J2RE 1.6.0 IBM J9 2.4 Windows Server 2008 amd64-64 jvm pwa6460sr5-
20090406_01(SR5) (JIT enabled, AOT enabled). Source: spec.org/power_
ssj2008/results/res2009q2/power_ssj2008-20090519-00165.html as
of June 2009. Score: 1,977. New-generation new confguration and score
on SPECpower*_ssj2008 benchmark: Intel Server Board S2600CP platform
with two Intel Xeon processor E5-2660 v2 (2.2 GHz, 10-core, 25 MB L3
cache, 8.0 GT/s, 95 W), 24 GB memory (6 x 4 GB DDR3-1600 LV UDIMM),
64 GB SSD, Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise SP1. IBM J9 VM (build 2.6),
JRE 1.7.0 Windows Server 2008 amd64-64 20120322_106209 (JIT enabled,
AOT enabled). Source: Intel TR#1358 as of July 24, 2013. Score: 7040.
26. Intel Node Manager requires servers with Intel Node Manager and enabled
monitoring or management software, such as Intel Data Center Manager.
27. Source: 40 percent increase in density per published proof of concept:
http://communities.intel.com/docs/DOC-4212.
28. The SATA 3.x specifcation enables double the data rate (from 3 GB/s to
6 GB/s) of that enabled by the SATA 2.x specifcation. Source: sata-io.org/
technology/6Gbdetails.asp.
More from the Intel IT Center
Real-World Guide: Data Center Infrastructure Built on the Intel Xeon Processor E5 v2 Family is brought to you by the Intel IT Center,
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implement strategic projects on their agenda, including virtualization, data center design, cloud, big data, and client and infrastructure
security. Visit the Intel IT Center for:
Planning guides, peer research, and vendor round tables to help you implement key projects
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Intels compilers may or may not optimize to the same degree for non-Intel microprocessors for optimizations that are not unique to Intel microprocessors. These optimizations include
SSE2, SSE3, and SSE3 instruction sets and other optimizations. Intel does not guarantee the availability, functionality, or effectiveness of any optimization on microprocessors not
manufactured by Intel.
Microprocessor-dependent optimizations in this product are intended for use with Intel microprocessors. Certain optimizations not specifc to Intel microarchitecture are reserved for Intel
microprocessors. Please refer to the applicable product User and Reference Guides for more information regarding the specifc instruction sets covered by this notice.
Notice revision #20110804
Relative performance is calculated by assigning a baseline value of 1.0 to one benchmark result, and then dividing the actual benchmark result for the baseline platform into each of the
specifc benchmark results of each of the other platforms, and assigning them a relative performance number that correlates with the performance improvements reported.
Software and workloads used in performance tests may have been optimized for performance only on Intel microprocessors. Performance tests, such as SYSmark and MobileMark, are
measured using specifc computer systems, components, software, operations, and functions. Any change to any of those factors may cause the results to vary. You should consult
other information and performance tests to assist you in fully evaluating your contemplated purchases, including the performance of that product when combined with other products.
Intel does not control or audit the design or implementation of third-party benchmarks or web sites referenced in this document. Intel encourages all of its customers to visit the
referenced web sites or others where similar performance benchmarks are reported and confrm whether the referenced benchmarks are accurate and refect the performance of
systems available for purchase.
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Corporation. See spec.org for more information.
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