Whenever executives discuss IT and cost cutting, invariably two topics come up: Virtualization and the Cloud. Don’t even get started on the topic of the cloud, and the chance for rain. Virtualization is a good topic to discuss since some items may be unfamiliar to you (especially those in the SMB).
By now, most companies have adopted, or at least looked into, overhauling their IT infrastructure with virtualization solutions. Virtualization is said to reduce costs, simplify management and scalability, and limit the toll computing has on the environment. Since 2005, virtualization software has quickly changed the landscape of enterprise computing.
For those unfamiliar with the concept, virtualization involves abstracting computer resources by combining several physical systems into virtual machines on one powerful system. Virtualization consolidates underutilized hardware, such as servers, storage devices, and network resources, virtually partitioning it for multiple machines.
The reason virtualization has become such a favorable trend in IT computing is probably because the advantages are so easy to grasp. First of all, the physicality of managing hundreds of machines is simplified while allowing for a scalable infrastructure. Plugs and cables do not have to be rearranged every time there is a change in hardware. This reduces the workload of the system administrator. Virtualization allows hardware resources to be pooled such as sharing storage or network bandwidth, so hardware does not go underutilized. Less hardware means less energy costs, both to run and to cool. Altogether, these advantages lower the costs for infrastructure, hardware, power, and cooling.
You’ve probably had the green benefits of virtualization stressed to you. According to VMware, for every server virtualized, you can save about 7,000 kilowatt hours, or four tons of CO2 emissions, every year. Virtualization can cut the power demand of ten machines down to one and save almost 80 percent on an electricity bill. VMware even has a green calculator on their website which allows you to see your virtualization benefits in terms of energy savings, cost reduction and environmental impact. A quick calculation shows that virtualizing 200 servers is the equivalent of planting 4,000 trees.
Of course, businesses are more concerned with reducing costs than reducing the size of their carbon footprints. With this in mind, there are a few disadvantages, or at least pitfalls, that may be created with a switch to virtualization.
But there is a down side – it is likely that performance degradation will occur when switching to a virtualization infrastructure if the virtual infrastructure was not properly architected. (which seems to be the case all too many times we get involved). In most organizations there is often a lack of tools and expertise available to monitor and analyze virtual environments to find and correct issues that affect performance. A study by Aberdeen shows that enterprises that had an 85% success rate in identifying performance issues in a physical environment, now only have a 37% success rate in a virtualized one. Also, improved response time for managing business-critical applications fell from 67% in a physical environment to 39% in a virtual one.
Many enterprises find that there is a tradeoff between decreased staffing and power costs and less than optimal performance. Sometimes this means that the advantages manifested by virtualization are less than expected so ensure you have adequately measured the minimum performance requirements for your infrastructure before you go run off and virtualize everything.
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