vtSparc virtualization

vtSparc builds a virtual Sparc computer environment inside a X86-based host system to run you software. It translates in real-time between the Sparc and X86 architectures, allowing the original Sparc software to run on X86 without changes.

vtSparc requires sufficient resources from the host in order to make virtualization effective and efficient. This web page provides guidelines to select the best host environment for your virtual Sparc systems.

Host CPU requirements

Every virtual Sparc CPU requires a full host CPU-core to run. In order to facilitate the Sparc CPU process vtSparc needs 50% extra CPU capacity on the host for adjacent and supporting tasks. This means every virtual Sparc CPU requires 1.5 Host CPU-core, at a minimum.

For most vtSparc implementations this will be sufficient. However, for Sparc Systems that were exercised harder it might be necessary to assign extra host CPU-power to keep up with the high performance demand of the Sparc-based software. This can only be assessed by running the user applications.

Minimum CPU specification

The Sparc processor was already a very powerful compute engine, so Sparc virtualization requires quite some host CPU-power to match the performance of the original system. We therefore recommend the latest generations of Intel Xeon processors with a CPU-frequency of 3 GHz or better. Hyper-threading must be disabled on the host.

Minimum host memory requirement

Also for memory vtSparc requires a bit more than the original Sparc hardware.

Host memory calculation (in GB): 1 GB + (GB Sparc memory + 50%)

Required disk space

Same amount as with the original Sparc system, plus the vtSparc system partition, which is used the vtSparc software, virtual Sparc configurations, host configuration settings and log files.

     Disk space: Sparc GB + 40 GB (= vtServer partition)

Virtual Machine Host

vtSparc runs best when installed directly on the X86 hardware (Bare Metal), but it also runs on a Virtual Machine host (VMware, Hyper-V, KVM, Xen) or Cloud installations. When running on a VM or Cloud the same host requirements apply as for Bare Metal installation.

Note that by default these Virtual Machine products apply smart allocation mechanisms, allowing their guests to share the host hardware. This may make sense for general purpose environments, but not for Sparc virtualization. vtSparc must have unshared access to the hardware of the host it is running on, otherwise it may result in performance degradation or even more severe problems. The Sparc Operating Systems Solaris expects the Sparc hardware they run on to be available to them in full. Any delay in availability may be assessed as a hardware malfunction by Solaris, causing it to crash.

It is therefore mandatory to configure the Virtual Machine host such that the virtual Sparc environment receives the resources it requires, without sharing it with other guests on the host VM.