This IBM® Redbooks® publication presents the new IBM PowerKVM virtualization for scale-out Linux systems.

PowerKVM is open source server virtualization that is based on the IBM POWER8™ technology. It includes the Linux open source technology of KVM virtualization, and it complements the performance, scalability, and security qualities of Linux.

This book describes the concepts of PowerKVM and how you can deploy your virtual machines with the software stack included in the product. It helps you install and configure PowerKVM on your Power System server and provides guidance for managing the supported virtualization features by using the Web interface and command-line interface (CLI).

This information is for professionals who want to acquire a better understanding of PowerKVM virtualization technology to optimize Linux workload consolidation and use the new POWER8 processor features. The intended audience also includes people in these roles:

It does not replace the latest marketing materials and configuration tools. It is intended as an additional source of information that, along with existing sources, can be used to increase your knowledge of IBM virtualization solutions.

Before you start reading, you must be familiar with the general concepts of kernel-based virtual machine (KVM), Linux, and IBM Power architecture.

This book was produced by a team of specialists from around the world working through the International Technical Support Organization, Poughkeepsie Center in New York state, USA.

Rafael Folco is a software engineer at the STG Linux Technology Center, IBM in Brazil. He has twelve years of experience with Linux and eight years at IBM. He holds a postgraduate degree in Software Engineering, and his areas of expertise include virtualization, cloud computing, continuous integration, and performance.

Breno Leitao is a Software Engineer at IBM in Brazil. He has been using Linux since 1997 and working in the Linux Technology Center at IBM since 2007. He holds a degree in Computer Science from the University of São Paulo. His areas of expertise include Linux, virtualization, networking, and performance.

Dinar Valeev is an IBM Certified software engineer (IBM Power Systems and Storages) who is currently employed by SUSE. He maintains openSUSE for IBM PowerLinux™ port and is heavily involved in SLES 12 development for IBM POWER8 systems. Dinar’s involvement with KVM on Power systems started in early 2012 with KVM on IBM POWER® enablement for the Open Build Service and openSUSE for PowerLinux. He is also known for doing SUSE Studio for Power proof of concept, KIWI image building system for Power, and openSUSE Power Little Endian architecture enablement.

The project that created this publication was managed by:
Scott Vetter, PMP

Thanks to the following people for their contributions to this project:

Murilo Opsfelder Araujo, Steve Biggs, Donald Brennan, Bill Buros, Richard Conway, Arx Cruz, Kleber Sacillotto de Souza, Jessica Eber-Stark, Alexander Graf, Jenifer Hopper, Ricardo Marin Matinata, Christy Norman Perez, Tiago Santos, Gustavo Yokoyama, and Jose Ricardo Ziviani

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