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Server proliferation wreaks havoc on IT budgets and management resources. Server consolidation via a virtual infrastructure offers lower total cost of ownership of servers and faster return on investment, more efficient utilization of servers, simplified operations, increased network availability, and easier manageability. Virtual server technology allows IT organizations to run multiple virtual servers on a single physical server. A virtual server runs operating systems and applications just as though they were running on dedicated physical servers. Common usage scenarios for virtual servers include resource consolidation, low-cost platforms for line-of-business legacy applications based on outdated operating systems, and affordable isolation of software development or pilot testing environments from production systems.
Virtual server products such as VMware and Microsoft Virtual Server give businesses the benefits of server segmentation and secure isolation but without the expense and management headaches that go along with trying to support a large number of physical servers.
A powerful element of virtual server technology is that it provides a complete virtual abstraction of the physical components of a server, such as disk and network subsystems, creating a single universal operating system configuration, regardless of the underlying physical server hardware. This makes it easy to move a virtual server to new server hardware without any configuration changes to the underlying environment of the virtual servers. This solves the vexing problems of upgrading physical servers.
Virtual server technology allows better utilization of server processors and memory by allowing multiple virtual servers to share a single physical server. Often dedicated and powerful servers are deployed for low-overhead applications, such as domain controllers, DNS servers, web servers, or eCommerce interfaces. For these applications, CPU and memory utilization is minimal. By combining multiple servers of this these type under a single physical server, utilization of the processor and memory is more in line with the power available on commodity server platforms.
Provisioning and deployment of new servers under a virtual infrastructure is dramatically simplified due to the standard environment created for a virtual server by the virtual host software. New servers can often be deployed in minutes instead of hours. Valuable IT expertise can be focused on higher value tasks rather than routine setup and configuration procedures.
Virtual server technology allows complete remote management and control of all servers. Remote console screen access through a web browser allows any operation that could be performed on a local physical console to be performed remotely. With CD-ROM emulation, even operating system installation and upgrades are a breeze. Wayward virtual servers can easily be reset or power cycled with just a few clicks.
The flexibility of easily moving virtual servers between physical servers allows for scalability and expansion of server infrastructure to match application demands. As the need for application computing power increases, additional virtual host servers can be deployed easily, and existing virtual servers can be load balanced across the array of physical servers.
One of the most exciting complementary technologies for network storage is virtualization. Virtual machines can simplify server spending, maximize hardware investment and smoothly expand or shrink server workloads and the possibilities for better availability and recovery are not just for datacenter customers. |
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Planning for Large Scale Virtualization: More Than Just a Sizing Exercise |
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Virtualization is rapidly gaining widespread acceptance as the solution to server sprawl. Virtualization offers immense opportunities for cost savings-with the proper up-front analysis and planning.
Many organizations fall into the trap of treating virtualization as a tactical fit or sizing exercise. The focus becomes "do these assets fit together on this server?" without consideration of "should they reside on the same server?"
When virtualization is rolled out on a large scale, it needs to be supported by sufficient analysis and planning that includes consideration for constraints not found in the test environments. Virtualization within non-production or test environments is often undertaken without taking into consideration important business factors such as compliance, ownership, geography, maintenance windows and availability targets. Large scale virtualization projects necessitate a data-driven planning approach, carefully evaluating elements, such as asset identification, business considerations, technical constraints, and workload patterns that can make or break an initiative. |
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Finding the Best Initial Placements for Virtual Machines |
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Advanced Networks offers the most complete virtualization analysis solution available. Advanced Networks software lets you compare multiple scenarios such as virtualizing onto different vendor platforms or repurposing existing underutilized servers as VM hosts. Whether analyzing for VMware, MSVS, UNIX based virtualization or Zones, Advanced Networks quickly finds the lowest risk, maximum impact transformation.
Advanced Networks's out-of-the-box virtualization Rulesets and Workload analytics enable you conduct a multi-dimensional analysis of all of the critical constraints: |
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What could go together from a configuration perspective. |
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What should go together from a business or non-technical perspective. |
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What fits together from a workload perspective. |
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Organizations that limit virtualization analysis to the peak workload of a server are missing critical data points on which to base virtualization strategies. Advanced Networks analyzes how busy servers truly are by examining how a server spends the majority of its time and the "personality" of the workloads. |
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Call 1- 800- 860- 4898 to set up a free consultation, or click here to request a quote! |
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