| With a management consulting background, I have | | | | 2009. Today more than 25% of the population of |
| seen so many fads sweep through business | | | | our planet use the Internet. And it is going to further |
| communities both here in the US and abroad that I | | | | expand. |
| can be as skeptical as the next person when it | | | | Virtualization technology is a sound and cost-effective |
| comes to the latest and greatest thing grabbing so | | | | solution to this problem. It makes it possible to host |
| much attention. I approached virtualization with a | | | | multiple guest systems on a single physical server and |
| squinted eye, did a lot of homework, and came to | | | | saves money for a company by not having to |
| the conclusion that, although virtualization is not right | | | | secure as much real estate or as many machines in |
| for everyone, it has substantial merit and is far | | | | order to store all their information. It is a HUGE |
| beyond being the latest gimmick. This particular | | | | benefit. |
| technological breakthrough has received global | | | | 3. Significantly rising energy costs |
| endorsements from the true movers and shakers in | | | | The cost of electrical power to run a business has |
| the IT world who certainly do not agree on | | | | dramatically increased over the years. A company's |
| everything - HP, Microsoft, IBM, Dell, EMC, not to | | | | IT infrastructure greatly contributes to that number. |
| mention major analyst firms. What are the factors | | | | When you think of the electricity required to power |
| that are driving virtualization to the forefront? | | | | a computer in each workstation, multiple servers, |
| 1. Hardware underutilization | | | | appliances and peripherals, plus air conditioning to |
| Processing power has been approximately doubling | | | | keep those servers cooled down, compounded by |
| every 18 months and there are no signs of this | | | | the number of servers required to satisfy the "one |
| changing any time soon. In fact, I predict that 25 | | | | application, one server" rule, it is relatively elementary |
| years from now, the realities of processing power will | | | | math to see the impact of that infrastructure on a |
| seem science fictional when compared to our current | | | | company's energy bill. |
| processing power. I remember the first computer I | | | | Virtualization technology offers a sound and |
| bought in 1990. The reality of processing power | | | | cost-effective solution to this problem. Heck, Pacific |
| today was science fiction in 1990. There isn't any | | | | Gas & Electric has even introduced a virtualization |
| CPU from 1990 that could crunch through any | | | | rebate program. |
| application on my computer today. Currently, we can | | | | 4. The rising costs in administering IT systems |
| run software without tapping into very much CPU | | | | Even one computer requires someone to look after |
| usage. | | | | it, even if it is just the user. A computer doesn't just |
| We are now utilizing only a fraction of a processor's | | | | take care of itself. It has to be started, sometimes |
| full capacity (Microsoft estimates this fraction to be | | | | restarted, made secure, defragmented, optimized, |
| 10 to 15 percent). This means that computing power | | | | cleaned, etc. In a network of computers someone is |
| is being wasted, especially in data centers, where 85 | | | | going to be forced to wear an additional hat called IT |
| to 90 percent of the servers go unused. Despite this | | | | Administrator and handle what can be handled with |
| waste, the servers continue to require power and air | | | | very limited technical expertise and call an expert |
| conditioning. That translates into a waste of | | | | when expert handling is required. A tiny company |
| corporate funds. | | | | usually operates at a break-and-fix level with fingers |
| This problem is compounded by the fact that in | | | | crossed in hopes of not having to spend anything to |
| traditional computing, IT has been limited to "one | | | | simply keep all those machines running. But if that tiny |
| application, one server" causing the purchase of | | | | company wants to survive for a period of years, it |
| additional machines for additional applications while the | | | | must expand. And expansion requires an expansion |
| machines that already exist continue to be | | | | of that patchwork quilt called an IT infrastructure. At |
| underutilized. | | | | some point a single-hatted IT Administrator must be |
| Virtualization technology has broken through the "one | | | | hired, then another and another. |
| application, one server" barrier and made it possible | | | | System administration is a labor intensive job. I once |
| to consolidate multiple applications onto one machine. | | | | consulted the US office of a software company. The |
| This is a sound and cost-effective solution to the | | | | office had a total of 90 employees with 4 of those |
| problem. | | | | dedicated to system administration. That consisted of |
| 2. Server sprawl causing data centers to run out of | | | | monitoring hardware status, replacing defective |
| space | | | | hardware components, installing OS and application |
| A whole heck of a lot of servers have been | | | | software, installing software patches, updating |
| purchased and put to use since 1990. In fact, it has | | | | software applications, monitoring critical server |
| dramatically escalated since 2000. Why? There has | | | | resources such as memory and disk use, and backing |
| been an explosion of data requiring new ways to | | | | up server data to other storage mediums for |
| store all that data. Bernard Golden, MBA, states, "In | | | | security and redundancy purposes. |
| 2003 the world's computer users created and stored | | | | System administrators do not come for a song |
| 5 exabytes (each exabyte is 1 million terabytes) of | | | | either. The four IT people working in that US office |
| new data. A recent study by the Enterprise Strategy | | | | cost the company around $250,000 per year. So at a |
| Group predicted that governments and corporations | | | | certain point of expansion, the cost for all this |
| will store over 25 exabytes of data by the year | | | | administration becomes significant. |
| 2010." Let me break that down even further: 1 | | | | And while virtualization technology will never eliminate |
| exabyte = 1 million terabytes; 1 terabyte = 1,024 | | | | the need for system administration, it can be |
| gigabytes; 1 gigabyte = 1,024 megabytes; 1 | | | | effective in lowering its cost by reducing the amount |
| megabyte = 1,048,576 bytes; 1 byte = 8 bits = 1 | | | | of system admin work necessary for hardware. One |
| keystroke. | | | | would still need system admin work for the guest |
| The Internet has certainly contributed to the | | | | OSes in a virtualized environment. This translates into |
| problem. In September 2009 there were | | | | less IT personnel required while at the same time |
| 1,733,993,741 worldwide Internet users. This | | | | making an improvement in the system administration |
| represents a 380.3% growth between 2000 and | | | | overall. |