In a virtual environment, obtaining enterprise mainframe-class features requires tightly interconnected hardware, firmware, virtualization software, and guest operating system solutions. Red Hat Enterprise Linux Virtualization on Intel Itanium with VT-i extensions is a good example of a powerful combined solution.

This white paper discusses the state of the industry, detailing market drivers for mainframe- class features on a server and the benefits of open source technology solutions, explaining the background and history of open source virtualization, beginning with the Xen hypervisor. It details Red Hat Enterprise Linux Virtualization for Itanium, describing salient features and provides the architectural overview of both the hardware and software components of the solution. Key benefits and challenges are covered, as well as conclusions and recommendations.