Virtualization

Virtualization differs from the traditional one server/one application environment in that software is run within a virtual environment.

These virtual environments are created when operating systems and applications are emulated, and do not run directly on physical hardware.

By having virtualised software, you can run several applications and operating systems on one physical server

An example of a typical virtualized environment might see 2 physical hosts connected to a shared storage device. These hosts provide the processing and memory capacity whilst all data relating to virtual servers is stored on the Storage Area Network.

The virtual infrastructure provides far greater flexibility and extremely high availability from a simpler hardware model with fewer things to go wrong.

By implementing virtualization the entire network infrastructure becomes portable making disaster recovery far quicker and more effective.

Virtualization – Key Advantages

High Availability

Virtual machines can be moved to an alternative host in minutes. An entire virtual server can be restored with the ease with which you would use Shadow Copies to restore a previous file version. This ensures no more downtime incidents caused by issues such as severe blue screen Windows failures

Flexibility

You can run as many virtual servers as your host and SAN capacity allows. If you need to expand your capacity, simply add another host which would be able to run another four or more servers (assuming typical loads).

Increasing memory or processing capacity is straightforward and cost-free - simply shut down the virtual machine, assign more memory or processing power from the shared resource pool and restart the virtual machine.

Technology Testing

For testing purposes you can have server templates so that you can safely run your own test lab on the same physical hardware. If you wished to test a new accounting package or database, you would simply create a new virtual server and invite a select group of users to test it.

Disaster Recovery

If your building was destroyed by fire or flood, the infrastructure is portable and could be transported to our data centre. Backups of the virtual images could be redeployed within hours, allowing your business to remain functional.

Lower Cost of Ownership

Virtualization requires less hardware than the traditional approach so there is less capital investment in hardware, less to go wrong, and more cost-effective expansion.