Intel, AMD spar over virtualization

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VT virtualizes the processor, but one element missing from first-generation VT is virtualization of input-output (I/O) tasks. That work will endow virtual machines with direct channels to network resources, Wigle said.

AMD's counterpunch: networking
But AMD, through work with software and hardware partners, believes it will beat Intel to the punch in the I/O virtualization department.

"We expect to see the first devices by the end of 2006," and broader support that extends to personal computers in 2007, said Margaret Lewis, director of commercial solutions for AMD. The technology extends beyond processors and therefore requires support from hardware partners that build chipsets connecting those processors to other computer components, she said.

And to boost its approach, the company on Tuesday released a royalty-free, public specification for its approach to I/O virtualization. The technology elicited endorsements in statements from VMware and Xen.

"Assisted virtualization for I/O devices is the next logical step in hardware virtualization," said Simon Crosby, chief technology officer for XenSource, a start-up commercializing Xen. And Raghu Raghuram, VMware's vice president of platforms products, said, "We look forward to working with AMD on I/O virtualization to further advance the state-of-the-art in virtual infrastructure."

Virtualization hardware is helpful today, but in the future it will be mandatory for some. Microsoft is working on "hypervisor" software to compete directly against similar technology such as Xen and VMware ESX Server, and that project will require hardware support, the company has said.

The Microsoft hypervisor, code-named Viridian, is scheduled to debut in an update sometime after Microsoft's initial release of its next-generation Windows server product, code-named Longhorn Server, Wigle said.

Microsoft has said the hypervisor is a high priority. In a January interview, Windows chief Jim Allchin said that the company wants to make progress in its Next Generation Secure Computing Base, formerly known as Palladium, but it must first complete the hypervisor.

CNET News.com staff writer Ina Fried contributed to this report.