| Current Market Challenges | | | | corporations view virtualization as an important |
| The global financial crisis, pressure on enterprise | | | | building block to cloud computing. |
| pricing and profitability, and increasing cost of capital | | | | The Beginnings of Integrated Virtual Data Center |
| are driving today's corporations to demand more for | | | | Environments |
| less. In addition, organizations are seeking to reduce | | | | Virtualization is a method of abstracting software |
| general and administrative expense, including those | | | | systems and resources from the underlying physical |
| expenses associated with IT hardware, storage, | | | | hardware which hosts them (i.e. virtual memory in a |
| networks, and applications in order to maintain | | | | computer). By breaking the bond between physical |
| shareholder value. Most importantly, Information | | | | hardware and software, virtualization allows for: |
| Technology (IT) departments must reduce ongoing | | | | Running multiple virtual machines with heterogeneous |
| management and maintenance costs to free up the | | | | operating systems at the same time on the same |
| necessary funds for development and critical | | | | physical machine. Enabling multiple data networks to |
| investments in new technology to support a more | | | | share the same physical infrastructure, increasing |
| responsive, agile, and on-demand technical | | | | flexibility, security, and optimizing network |
| infrastructure. To accomplish this, corporations are | | | | performance. Optimizing storage platforms based on |
| continuing to rationalize assets deployed during the | | | | what data needs to be used and retrieved when, |
| 1990's IT spending spree, by leveraging a more | | | | reducing costs of storage, and simplifying |
| efficient global delivery model, and by turning | | | | management of the storage infrastructure. Rapidly |
| towards virtualization technology. In fact, according | | | | deploying and managing highly available, fault tolerant |
| to a recent survey conducted by IDG Service Group, | | | | data centers and computing systems, based on |
| 72% or corporations are currently investing in server | | | | simple computing building blocks, and do so at a very |
| virtualization, 41% in desktop virtualization, 41% in | | | | low cost. Transforming disparate resources into a |
| storage virtualization, 23% enterprise/data center | | | | pool of computing assets than can be dynamically |
| virtualization, and 22% application virtualization. | | | | allocated. End users consume IT resources where |
| Key Market Drivers for Virtualization Solutions | | | | and when they are needed resulting in a fractional |
| IT departments continue to invest during flat and | | | | ownership approach for infrastructure and |
| declining budget cycles by optimizing existing server | | | | applications. |
| and desktop virtualization and by gaining further | | | | Today's virtualization technology represents almost a |
| synergies through the adoption of additional | | | | back-to-the-future approach, providing many of the |
| virtualization technologies. One of the most significant | | | | cost, security, and management benefits of a |
| benefits of virtualization is that it has the ability to | | | | centralized mainframe to dumb terminal infrastructure, |
| scale applications and infrastructure as needed. In | | | | while eliminating many of the disadvantages through |
| addition, it enables accelerated time to- market by | | | | the use of a pool of data center resources linked to |
| increasing the speed, flexibility, and quality of service | | | | responsive and GUI-enabled thin servers. IBM |
| and infrastructure. Virtualization improves business | | | | incorporated early virtual technologies within its |
| continuity, disaster recovery, availability of resources. | | | | mainframes produced in the 1960's and 70's. Digital |
| Virtualization also extends the business benefits of | | | | Equipment Corporation evolved virtualization even |
| services oriented architecture (SOA) by facilitating | | | | further with the virtual file system embedded in its |
| the sharing of reusable IT assets within multiple | | | | VAX operating system. Virtual technologies were also |
| operating systems. | | | | used more recently in Unix/RISC systems. The |
| The rapid adoption of virtualization is also being driven | | | | concept was popularized in the 1990's with the |
| by the need to continue to employ legacy systems | | | | introduction of increasingly sophisticated products |
| prior to and during migration efforts. The focus on | | | | from VMware designed for computers based on x86 |
| corporate green initiatives to the lowering power and | | | | architecture. CPUs based upon x86 architecture |
| cooling requirements associated with infrastructure is | | | | operates using a sequence of stored instructions, 17 |
| also driving the implementation of virtualization. | | | | of which cause difficulty when attempting to |
| Further fueling the trend toward virtualization is the | | | | virtualize a machine. VMware developed a technique |
| increasing sophistication and capabilities of the | | | | that traps these problematic instructions and |
| technology itself. Newer hypervisors result in minimal | | | | converts them into safe commands that can be |
| differences between bare metal and virtualized | | | | virtualized. As a result, VMware remains a clear |
| systems, and technology in other virtualization areas | | | | market leader in virtualization products, although |
| such as storage, network and application, is maturing | | | | companies such as Citrix, Microsoft, and others are |
| rapidly. Finally, because it isolates end users from the | | | | also attempting to gain market share. |
| actual resource via a layer of abstraction, | | | | |