Intel on Thursday said it is working with VMware on technology that makes it possible to move software-running virtual machines from servers running older Intel processors to the chipmaker's next-generation Xeon designs.

VMware is building support for Intel's FlexMigration assist for virtualized environments in VMware's Vmotion technology, which is used to move running virtual machines from one physical server to another. The collaboration is expected to help VMware customers move virtual machines to Intel's upcoming processors based on its 45nm scale process technology, Jake Smith of Intel's Advance Server Technology Group told InformationWeek.

Intel is scheduled to ship in November its first 45nm server chip built using 45-nanometer technology, codenamed Penryn. That release is expected to be followed in 2008 with Nehalem, codename for Intel's upcoming microarchitecture.

The collaboration between the two companies, including part of their ongoing engineering partnership, is expected to ease software migration to new servers capable of running more business applications than older machines. Such changes can reduce the number of servers in a data center, and can cut energy costs.

Nehalem, a redesign of Intel's existing Core architecture, has the ability to host up to eight cores, Intel has said. Chips based on the architecture were shown in operation at the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco earlier this month.

Nehalem-based processors will use Intel's improved transistor technology. Parts of the transistors are built to reduce memory leakage over previous generations. The architecture, according to Intel, has three times the peak memory bandwidth of competing processors, which is important for software designers building hypervisors for virtualization machines.