In September 2009, Red Hat delivered Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 5.4, the fourth update in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 (RHEL) release family. One of the new features of RHEL 5.4 is the commercial release of the Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) virtualization technology for x86-based servers. KVM virtualization is integrated into the Linux kernel and takes advantage of all standard operating system characteristics such as stability, security, scalability, and hardware and software support already available for RHEL 5.

Designed to leverage the latest advances in x86 virtualization support from Intel and AMD, KVM technology improves performance by reducing the overall overhead of virtualization.

Combined with the high performance and energy efficiency of HP ProLiant DL785 G6 servers, Red Hat Enterprise Linux KVM virtualization enables customers to significantly cut costs through the consolidation of multiple physical servers onto a single server resulting in savings for power, space, and data center operations.