Virtualization

Virtualization...Turning our Servers into Savants


Operating at Max Capacity…

It is widely known that humans only use a small percentage of their brain capacity.  The argument in the scientific community is that we are operating at about 10% of our full potential, in regards to brain usage.  So what if we could tap into that other 90%?  Would we all develop into geniuses like Rain Man and Mozart?  Just imagine how productive and efficient we could be.

This concept of working at full potential translates to the IT industry.  With the demands of energy efficiency and carbon footprint reduction, trends like virtualization are sweeping the IT nation.  Just as humans are wired to operate at minimal potential, so are IT hardware components like servers.  It is estimated that the standard server is programmed to operate at around 10-30% capacity, and with the growing demands that technology places on today’s businesses, that can amount to a lot of servers.  Consequently, more servers equal more racks, more floor space, more management, and now we are talking about some expensive real estate.

Virtualization solves the quandary that IT managers are facing on a daily basis.  It allows them to utilize each of their servers to their full potential, tapping into the unused 70-90% of capacity.  Solving efficiency and spatial dilemmas, a virtualized server is the savant of the data center.

How Does It Work?

Virtualization software like VMware, Hyper-V and Xen, act as enablers for servers to utilize their full CPU (Central Processing Unit) usage.  The software allows a physical server to multitask, and host multiple operating systems at one time.  Now, instead of running one OS and sitting idle in a rack for the majority of the time, a server is a work horse, and can be utilized to its fullest potential.  This means that one single virtualized server can now take the place of around 5-8 servers.  As you can imagine, this is a true game changer for the IT industry.  Virtualized servers not only increase server utilization, but consolidate server farms, reduce complexity, and decrease total cost of ownership. 

Now I don’t know about you, but with this concept of virtualization, images from Star Wars are running through my underutilized brain.  This is the future of the IT Industry…and you don’t to be the last one on the Virtualization Train.