Leading the Way to Next Generation Solutions
Leading the Way to Next Generation Solutions
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Virtualization, the concept of one computer doing the job of multiple machines, has likely impacted every IT environment to one extent or the other. Whether you do casual virtualization for test environments or complete virtualization for all systems, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. With 100% of the Fortune 100 embracing virtualization technology to some extent, there is no denying the business value that virtualization can deliver in terms of reducing complexity and minimizing capital expenses. But, before you go out and invest in virtualization applications, here’s a rundown of the things you need to know about the whole virtualization space:
Sure VMWare is the current leader, but it has plenty of company in both the server and the desktop virtualization spaces. The newest player to the server virtualization arena is Citrix XenServer. The Xen Server Enterprise platform is quickly gaining in both features and management offerings, rivaling those of VMware Virtual Infrastructure 3 (VI3), based on ESX 3.5 and Virtual Center 2.5.
Microsoft’s Hyper-V virtualization hypervisor is also going to be a player with Windows Server 2008. Hyper-V will provide another strong rival to VMware’s VI3 for the Windows Server environment. The Hyper-V virtualization platform on Windows will also offer some desktop virtualization options that supplement the server virtualization platform.
Launching a server virtualization implementation of any scale requires a lot of careful planning in the areas of storage and networking. In a server virtualization project, the migration from local storage to shared centralized storage requires an accurate estimate of adequate sizing requirements and careful planning. Further, administrators are challenged to rethink the provisioning of virtual servers.
Networking virtual environments poses a second set of issues. When considering a virtualized server environment, management strategies are adapted to reflect additional connectivity requirements, high availability, and virtual switching. Anticipating and planning for adequate cabling requirements, virtual LAN (VLAN) assignments, and redundancy are steps that require multiple passes to ensure all connectivity requirements will be met in a redundant fashion.
Basic virtualization technology is becoming a commodity that will eventually be more dependent on hardware resources than on virtualization hypervisor technology. Management tools will be the driving force in successful virtualization technology decisions. The packages that offer the most options in terms of storage and networking management, machine migration, high-availability, and efficiency configuration options will deliver the flexibility business leaders require.
Virtual appliances (VAs) make up a new space that has emerged as virtualization has become more popular. The VA model is simply a purpose-built virtual machine that designed to provide a canned set of functionality. VAs are available to provide DHCP roles, provide chargeback to virtual environments, act as Wiki servers for intranets, and to fulfill many other purposes. VMware’s Virtual Appliance Marketplace will have some company, as current VA vendors are adding support for Citrix XenServer and other virtualization platforms.
Many virtual machines are available for free with open source applications and free operating systems. The VA model can bring specific functionality to your infrastructure without additional licensing or hardware costs. Many VAs also work on the free virtualization products to allow businesses to conserve availability of expensive hardware resources on your enterprise virtualization system.
Do you have a large number of like-configured desktops? If so, you may want to consider a desktop virtualization solution. These solutions give administrators a new level of granular control over the installed inventory, permitted hardware accessibility, and network connectivity. Desktop virtualization also makes reversion back to the base image a snap. No longer will this process require a trip up to re-image and re-personalize a system.
Some desktop virtualization packages also deliver efficient storage management. Imagine providing a virtual desktop to 1,000 computers, but instead of hosting an image of the base install for all of those computers, the virtualization package manages only the change in storage. In most cases, that will be simply the profile and current usage data. In this particular example, the backend storage requirement for 1,000 virtualized desktops is very small in comparison to the number of systems being hosted.
If you’ve used products like Citrix MetaFrame and XenApp (formerly known as Presentation Server) before, application virtualization isn’t a new concept. But, additional technologies are now available that virtualize applications outside of the simple presentation mode. The key difference between application virtualization and other virtualization strategies is that the encapsulated application takes place completely on the client, from the processing standpoint. There isn’t a background server providing the processor resources for the virtualized application. However, policies define what applications are to be run on the clients; the package for the application is provided to the client, and that environment is virtualized locally. In this fashion, there is no central collection of hardware resources to deliver the application.
Depending on the scale of your virtualization implementation, some elements of your infrastructure will need to be revisited. Aspects including backup and restore, storage management, network connectivity, and the server build process must all be addressed before businesses can move successfully to the virtual world. All hassles aside, virtualization is clearly a viable opportunity for many companies to utilize hardware efficiently, meet disaster recovery requirements, ensure business continuity, enable capacity management, save on server hardware, and increase the level of central management.
Virtualization clearly offers many advantages. Net-Tech invites you to evaluate our Virtual Hosted Network (VHN) solutions and see how our turn-key solutions can help effectively virtualize key areas of your infrastructure. With our VHN solutions, virtualization is no longer just for the large enterprise.
