A virtualized infrastructure can benefit companies and organizations of all sizes.
Virtualization is a method of running multiple independent virtual operating systems on a single physical computer providing a way for organizations to make more efficient use of existing software and hardware. Virtualization greatly simplifies a physical IT infrastructure to provide greater centralized management over your technology assets and better flexibility over the allocation of your computing resources. This enables your business to focus resources when and where they’re needed most, without the limitations imposed by the traditional “one computer per box” model.
What is a Virtualized Server?
Basically, a virtual server, or VM, is an instance of some operating system platform running on any given configuration of server hardware, centrally managed by a virtual machine manager, or hypervisor, and consolidated management tools.
Note: The software providing the virtualization is called the VMM (virtual machine monitor) or hypervisor. A hypervisor can run on bare hardware (native VM) or on top of an operating system (hosted VM).
A single instance may operate in isolation or share resources with several other instances of the same (or separate) server platforms.
What are the Primary Benefits?
Virtualization software enables you to create VMs that share hardware resources and transparently function as individual entities on the network. Consolidating servers as VMs on a small number of physical computers can save money on hardware costs and make centralized server management easier. Server virtualization also makes backup and disaster recovery simpler and faster, providing for a high level of business continuity. In addition, virtual environments are ideal for testing new operating systems, service packs, applications, and configurations before rolling them out on a production network.
Note: Some companies even deploy virtualization of call centers or help desks, greatly reducing costs for those services.
Storage Virtualization
Server virtualization and consolidation are driving the need for more efficient storage platforms. That’s why it’s important to understand how the right storage choices can unlock server virtualization potential.
Server virtualization brings your company more efficient, more available IT infrastructure, but it also changes storage requirements. Traditional controller-based SANs often can hold you back from realizing the full potential of virtualization. HP P4000 G2 SAN solutions (formerly LeftHand) can help:
- Eliminate storage bottlenecks associated with a virtualized server environment and the growth of VMs
- Enable high availability and disaster recover with an all-inclusive enterprise feature set
- Reduce costs as you boost storage efficiencies
Virtualization is changing the IT landscape by enabling more efficient adaptive IT infrastructures. HP LeftHand SANs promote this transformation, making them an ideal fit for the next-generation virtualized data center. HP LeftHand SANs help you drive down costs by increasing storage utilization. They help you work within budget constraints by allowing you to purchase storage only when you need it., not months or years in advance. With HP LeftHand SANs, every storage purchase adds capacity and performance, making the most of your storage investments and avoiding the bottlenecks of monolithic storage systems. Built-in high availability and disaster recover features enhance server virtualization capabilities to deliver better business continuity – without disruption. The ease of management that HP LeftHand SANs provide means that both server and storage administrators can manage the SAN, helping to make the most of limited administrator resources.
BusinessWare Solutions has the expertise, technology and portfolio of products, solutions, and services to help ou find the best data storage solution. BusinessWare Solutions will assist you in designing the best storage solutions with your needs in mind.
