AMD announced that Quad-Core AMD Opteron processors exclusively power the innovation behind the blade server designed specifically to eliminate performance bottlenecks for virtual server hosting, the HP ProLiant BL495c virtualization blade. Businesses requiring the flexibility to support more virtual machines per server can now choose from a broad suite of Quad-Core AMD Opteron processor-based servers from HP, ranging from blades to high-performance multi-processor platforms. With this launch of the HP ProLiant BL495c, 35 systems based on Quad-Core AMD Opteron processors are now shipping from global OEMs.

"Businesses continue to face memory and I/O constraints as they implement virtualization solutions across more mission-critical workloads," said Patrick Patla, general manager, Server and Workstation Business, AMD. "The Quad-Core AMD Opteron processor has once again proved to be the processor of choice in helping alleviate these demands. With Direct Connect Architecture and AMD-Virtualization(TM) technology (AMD-V(TM)), the Quad-Core AMD Opteron processor is shaping the direction of virtualization by empowering IT managers with more virtual machines and leading x86 virtualization performance."

"Customers can lower data center costs with the BL495c by packing more virtual servers into each blade, which extends the useful life cycle of the data center by saving floor space, power and cooling," said Mark Potter, vice president and general manager, BladeSystem, HP. "Through its balanced architecture of memory, I/O and storage innovations, and by matching the exceptional scalability and efficiency of Quad-Core AMD Opteron processors, the BL495c redefines server blades for virtualization."

Quad-Core AMD Opteron processor-based servers take advantage of AMD-V technology with Rapid Virtualization Indexing. Rapid Virtualization Indexing is an x86 virtualization technology that includes hardware support for a second level of address translation, allowing virtual machines to more directly manage memory, which can help reduce latency and thereby improve performance across many virtualized applications.