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| 02 | 2007 |
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| Virtual Servers Bring Efficiency to Data Centers |
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For those who don’t spend their days in a data center, “virtual servers” sounds like a term taken directly from an episode of the Jetsons. But even the Jetsons couldn’t have dreamed of this. Virtual servers simply emerged from the new mother of invention: growth. The almost overnight acceptance of computer technology and reliance on a form of storage that makes paper and file cabinets obsolete, created a chain effect that has begun to impact the very core of the largest IT storage container – data centers. Simply put, more information requires more storage. And when data centers run out of space, there are only two solutions – bigger data centers or more efficient servers.
Virtualization has quickly gone from being scrutinized by skeptics to becoming the norm in nearly any size data center. Previously, dedicated servers were setup with each new server requiring the individual installation of software, tools, hardware and other components and using the same amount of energy regardless of whether it contained 500 or 5 billion bytes of data. According to a recent article in eWeek, the majority of dedicated servers use only a portion of their storage capacity. “It is common to find that companies write only 10 to 15 percent of their business data to a storage apparatus, leaving 85 to 90 percent of capacity in machines that constantly draw in power for availability and cooling. With the current emphasis on power conservation and eliminating so-called greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, having servers – or portions of servers – sit idle is not the most efficient use of expensive capital goods.”
Virtualization essentially pools the resources of all the servers and then divides them up into virtual private servers which are run by a hypervisor, making it possible to create multiple virtual servers on one machine. VMware, a leader in virtualization software, defines it as “an abstraction layer that allows multiple virtual machines, with heterogeneous operating systems to run in isolation, side-by-side on the same physical machine.” This creates a number of advantages, and as with any recent technology, a number of obstacles as well. Three of the most impacting benefits are: lower costs, ease of use and the benefits to business continuity and disaster recovery. The first on the list (lower costs), are the easiest to forecast. Pooling and redividing storage into more efficient partitions by transforming underused dedicated servers into multiple virtual private servers means less machines are needed and therefore less energy and operating expense. With cooling power being one of the biggest drains on a data center’s bottom line, reducing the number of machines can cut costs considerably. In addition, it enables data centers to handle much more growth without the need for expansion.
The flexibility and scalability provided by virtualization make it easy for businesses to scale back or increase growth, and easily manage storage, software, hardware and monitoring. The ability to use virtual appliances can also reduce the costs associated with IT maintenance. “The use of such virtualized files, says Rich Lechner, IBM’s VP of Virtualization, could knock down the maintenance portion of IT budgets – historically 70 percent of overall costs – by as much as 20 percent,” according to a recent article in Information Week.
It is this same flexibility and ease of use that has begun to make virtualization a key factor in business continuity and disaster recovery. The ability to quickly and easily move a company’s entire system offsite, including the operating systems, applications and databases, and have them up and running almost immediately, is essential to disaster recovery plans. In addition, virtualization simplifies the transfer of workloads from legacy systems to new systems and reduces downtimes caused by data center system failures, maintenance or other changes.
Unfortunately, pooling a data center’s workloads or physical servers into a single virtual environment brings with it its own unique set of challenges and risks. Topping the list is the issue of security. Charles Babcock, writer for Information Week, sums it up best in a recent article where he states, “What’s not immediately apparent about virtualization is that it fundamentally changes the relationship between software and hardware. An application usually runs on an operating system that’s been tuned to a particular piece of hardware. Virtualization breaks the operating system’s tie to the hardware, then re-establishes it directly with the application itself. That’s led to so-called virtual appliances.”
The flexibility garnered by this new virtual environment requires a much more complex administration and potentially leads to confusion when it comes to system management, security patches, firewalls, anti-virus software and other services. For example, a security breach which results in access to the hypervisor, means that not just one client, but ALL virtual private servers managed by that hypervisor are at risk. In addition, software updates and security patches are traditionally implemented on each physical server. With virtualization, those updates must encompass not only the physical machines, but each virtual private server’s operating system as well. Licensing fees for proprietary products and receiving tech support for applications running in a virtual environment can also pose challenges, forcing vendors to rethink their pricing structures and the very methodology of their product or service.
Despite these potential obstacles, the flexibility and cost benefits of virtualization are so appealing that most data centers have already begun the transition to a virtual environment. “Analysts at companies such as IDC, Gartner and Forrester Research report that 75 percent of Fortune 2000 companies are now using some form of virtualization every day in production environments,” according to an eWeek report last month. And, the results of a survey published this month in Information Week announced that of the 250 business technology professionals polled, nearly 90 percent have either already begun virtualization projects or are planning for them.
With this kind of overwhelming support for virtualization, the obstacles and challenges created by using virtual machines are bound to be met with a positive response by vendors offering products and tools developed specifically for such a dynamic environment.
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About The Brookfield Group
The Brookfield Group has become a leader in IT, ISP, ASP and web solutions by providing next level technology solutions managed by experts who give you peace of mind without the tech-talk. The company's services are customized to fit any enterprise-size businesses and include: IT project management; hosting solutions and maintenance; systems security and patches; telecommunications services, server and desktop setup, repair and applications; network infrastructure design; audio visual products; surveillance and security solutions; as well as a variety of other software, hardware, services and accessories. Located in Carmel, Indiana, more information about The Brookfield Group products and services is available at www.thebrookfieldgroup.com or by calling 317.524.6000.
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