Modern servers only utilize 10-15% of their potential. With server virtualization you can increase this up to 80%. Virtualization will help you increase the efficiency and reduce overall costs which will give you a significant advantage over your competition.
This small virtualization guidebook is intended to help you find the proper solution for your company.
Why virtualization?
First of all, we should list the main reasons why your company should use virtualization.
- Easier management
- Less hardware
- Cost reduction
- Simplified infrastructure
- Redundancy and high availability
- Easier backup and recovery
What should I consider?
Virtualization
- How reliable is the solution?
- How easy can I install and run server operating systems?
- How easy can I import my existing installations?
Storage and backup
- How safe is the storage for virtual machines?
- What happens in the event of a total server failure?
- How can I backup my live VMs reliably and quickly?
Costs
- Can I combine storage with virtualization and save costs?
(Virtualization, Storage, Backup, Support) - How much does the overall solution cost me?
- Follow-up costs for upgrades and support?
How many manufacturers?
- How many manufacturers do I need to talk to?
- Is the manufacturer providing direct support for all functions (virtualization, storage, VM backup)?
- Is virtualization, VM backup and storage offered by a single source?
Virtualization, VM backup and storage should be offered by a single manufacturer
Some virtualization solutions will force you to communicate with 3 different manufacturers:
- Virtualization
- Storage
- Backup
In case of a problem, it can happen that they start blaming each other and that’s why having a single manufacturer for all features will make your life easier.
A manufacturer offering the whole functionality knows all the features and can offer much better support and consultancy.
Support
Moving to virtualization requires careful planing and that’s why having a competent partner who can provide you the best possible consultancy is essential.
Total costs
The purpose of virtualization is to lower operational costs.
Most virtualization solutions are focusing mainly on large server farms and don’t really care about small and medium-sized businesses with fewer servers.
Products are not only expensive but also you will be paying for functionality that you don’t really need.
Costs for support and software upgrades during the server lifetime is also very important (calculate for at least 3-5 years).
High Availability
High availability of virtual machines ensures accessibility and operation, even in the event of a server failure.
There are many ways to accomplish virtualization without a “single-point-of-failure”. Also, small and medium-sized companies cannot really afford expensive trainings, maintenance and complex infrastructure. Ideally the solution must be built as simply as possible and with the least amount of hardware/cable/switches.
Virtualization solution with less hardware and cabling will automatically be easier to manage and much less expensive. The more complex the configuration gets, the more errors can sneak in. The more hardware components, the bigger the risk that some component will fail …