In our previous post, we defined virtualization – essentially, the act of allowing one computer to act as several – and then started our list with the first 5 of Focus Research’s conclusions regarding the top 10 things to know about virtualization. Today, we conclude our list with the other 5 key advantages to this hot new server technology, being employed in companies small and large across the business landscape.
6. Virtualization complicates application licensing: Not all software vendors have come to agreement on how to price their offerings on a virtualized platform. Some do it by the image, while others use a per-processor or per-server basis. Check your vendors’ licensing schemes before presuming to run hundreds of instances of a common application across the enterprise.
7. Virtualization costs vary: Just what it says… some vendors price by “the socket” or by the number of processors per server. Microsoft and VMWare are two virtualization standard-bearers who offer free “hypervisors.”
8. Virtualization needs – and can help to improve – management: You’re introducing a new layer of software between the hardware and the operating system, creating new objects that must be managed. When managed well however, virtualization can “ease, speed and lower the costs and complexities” of IT management.
9. Virtualization has many sources: There are many vendors, many offerings, many products, and also many open-source projects. Do your homework.
10. Virtualization is not a panacea: Some applications (web servers, for example) make more sense than others (print servers, for example) to virtualize. Still, odds are that your IT department’s needs will be better served – as will your bottom line – by the benefits of virtualization, and the corresponding reduction in ‘server sprawl’ right now.
Focus Research’s complete report is an extensive and well-informed white paper running to 18 pages. Additional sections not discussed here cover the history of virtualization and a description of essential server virtualization features. Their full paper can be accessed here. We highly recommend it.
Despite skipping over many parts of their report, we will report on one final aspect of their research in a future post coming soon. That will be Focus Research’s “Needs Checklist: 10 Signs Your Data Center Needs Virtualization.” Watch for it in an upcoming (June) blog post here.
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