May 28, 2007 -- Virtualization — the move from real,
physical hardware to virtual hardware — is being seen as one of the “next big
things” in IT. There are more virtualization options for IT departments than
ever before, including XenSource Inc.’s and Virtual Iron Software Inc.’s
open-source applications, Microsoft Corp.’s Virtual Server and VMware Inc.’s
venerable products.
But if you’re new to this party, you might not know
how to get started. Here’s the workflow and procedure I recommend for assessing
whether virtualization is right for you and, if it is, for getting things
moving.
|
A growing Awareness of server
virtualization |
| |
2005 |
2006 |
| Already using |
29% |
40% |
| Piloting |
12% |
11% |
| Aware and interested |
17% |
24% |
| Aware but not interested |
23% |
17% |
| Unaware |
19% |
8% |
Base: 603 North American IT
decision-makers, July 2005; 527 North American IT decision-makers, May
2006
Source: Forrester research inc., Cambridge,
Mass. | |
|
Virtual
Contenders |
For server virtualization on Intel-based servers, which single vendor
interests you most?
| VMware |
58% |
| Microsoft |
9% |
| Hewlett-Packard* |
9% |
| Dell* |
8% |
| IBM* |
8% |
| Other |
8% |
Base: 268 North American IT
decision-makers, May 2006
* Respondents' write-in
choices
Source: Forrester research
| |
1.
Determine whether your servers are ripe for consolidation. Consolidating
hardware is the No. 1 reason for considering virtualization. Aging hardware,
bursting data centers and burgeoning power needs all have played a part in the
move to virtualization. Why should you continue to acquire distinct physical
machines when you can move real servers to even bigger machines at ratios of
3-to-1 or even 10-to-1?
The first step in virtualization is determining
if you have the right type of infrastructure to support it. Look for a lot of
machines doing similar tasks, and make sure you have more than 10 of them. For
10 or fewer, the payoff is questionable.
Jonathan Hassell
Any complex move like server consolidation is
likely to affect some internal processes. As in any major project, it’s
important to get stakeholder support and management buy-in. You’ll most likely
need to present a business case for moving to virtual services, including total
financial outlay and money saved. You may also have to address staffing: As the
number of physical servers is reduced, some budgets dictate that staff size must
be reduced proportionally. You may be required to anticipate workloads and
quantify the effect that fewer physical servers — but more virtual servers —
would have on your department’s overall workload.
Also, examine your
licensing needs. Depending on which software you’ll be running on your virtual
machines and what their configurations are, you may need to adjust licensing.
3. Select your hardware and software. There are several choices
at a variety of prices. It all comes down to whether you need simple server
consolidation or advanced hosting and network configuration capabilities.
Several vendors have starter kits that let you pilot and explore the technology
for a relatively low cost.
4. Start moving to virtualization.
When the time comes to actually move from physical to virtual, there are
some migration tools that can help. Microsoft will soon release tools that let
you move a fully installed server running a supported version of Windows to a
virtual hard-disk format that is fully supported by its Virtual Server product.
VMware has a similar tool in the works. These migration utilities can save you
hours, if not days, when you’re performing the actual move. Other things to
consider:
- Take advantage of clustering capabilities. Using high-performance
clusters gives your virtual machines higher availability and improved
performance.
- Think about management. How will your staff manage the virtual
machines? What scripting languages and APIs does your virtual server software
support? Are you able to access certain controls via the command line for simple
remote-access-based administration?
- Don’t forget about storage. You’ll need a very fast disk subsystem to
get maximum performance from your virtualized servers. Typically, you’ll find
that iSCSI-based disk offerings are a good value. They are fast and reasonably
priced and have great configurability.
5. Monitor, assess,
tweak, improve. When the final boot into the virtualized operating system is
finished, your job still isn’t over. Keep tabs on the project as you begin
moving users and services to the new platform. Establish performance and usage
guidelines and thresholds, monitor them, and tie those metrics to future
enhancements. Consider tweaking hardware configurations and network setups or
increasing bandwidth as needed.
Hassell is a consultant and author of
Learning Windows Server 2003
, 2nd Edition (O’Reilly Media, 2006). Contact
him at .
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