What is Virtualisation

Written by: Jason Neville
Server virtualisation is becoming increasingly popular, particularly in Australian Organisations where it's uptake is actually outpacing the rest of the World

What is Server Virtualisation?
Server Virtualisation is essentially hosting several "Virtual" servers, on the same physical piece of hardware. The technology takes advantage of the theory that in most cases only a portion of a physical server's resources (CPU, memory etc) are utilised, and therefore more "virtual servers" can be hosted on the one machine, sharing these unused resources on an as needed basis.

Often the "Images" (the Virtual Server's core data) are stored on a central storage location (such as a SAN) independent of the physical server. This physical abstraction has a number of advantages, particular in high availability solutions.

What are the Benefits?
The benefits of Server Virtualisation are compelling, particularly for any organisation looking to implement 5+ servers.

• Lower TCO - less capital expenditure on hardware, less maintenance & running costs; electricity, power & housing costs
• You get more out of your IT investment through better utilisation of resources
• Faster response to business demands - you can deploy additional new servers in a matter of hours on the same Virtual Server Host
• Simplified management of servers & performance monitoring
• Improved flexibility & scalability
• High availability (fast migration of Virtual Servers from 1 Physical Host to another) meaning less downtime
• Easily spawn/copy servers to test patches & applications

Virtualisation Solutions

VMware
VMware is the leader in Server Virtualisation technology. VMWare has a free version allowing hosting up to 4 virtual servers or a paid version which has a number of advanced features such as DRS/HA & Vmotion. These tools allow you to automatically migrate live Virtual Servers to a new Virtual Host in the event of hardware failure. VMotion also allows you to "Click Drag" Virtual Machines from 1 physical VMware host to another without having to take it down.

VMWare ESX runs on LINUX. To manage VMware you must have a seperate VMware management server.

Hyper-V
Hyper-V is Microsoft's answer to VMware and Server Virtualisation. It's introduction into the market was greeted with mixed reviews. Based on our experience implementing both solutions, Hyper-V has virtually caught up in performance and functionality to VMware, although it was previously rather lacklustre. 

Virtualisation in the Cloud
Virtualisation can also be taken advantage of without the need to purchase any local servers through the use of Cloud Computing. Using the same principles, a "Virtual" or "Hosted" Server can be provisioned for a particular client, leveraging the Cloud Providers infrastructure. This removes the need for any capital investment, and is generally charged on a per server per month basis.

For more information or consultation on how Server Virtualisation can shape your business either locally or as part of a Cloud Solution, contact us on 07 3018 0280. R & G Technologies is a VMware certified partner, and has VMware certified proffesionals that are able to assist with the planning & implementation of solutions.

Case Studies

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