Server Consolidation Technology
and Consulting
How Virtual Servers Simplify Server Management
Server proliferation wreaks havoc on IT budgets and management
resources. Server consolidation via a virtual infrastructure
offers lower total cost of ownership of servers and faster
return on investment, more efficient utilization of servers,
simplified operations, increased network availability, and
easier manageability. Virtual server technology allows IT
organizations to run multiple virtual servers on a single
physical server. A virtual server runs operating systems and
applications just as though they were running on dedicated
physical servers. Common usage scenarios for virtual servers
include resource consolidation, low-cost platforms for line-of-business
legacy applications based on outdated operating systems, and
affordable isolation of software development or pilot testing
environments from production systems.
Virtual server products such as VMware and Microsoft Virtual
Server give businesses the benefits of server segmentation
and secure isolation but without the expense and management
headaches that go along with trying to support a large number
of physical servers.
A powerful element of virtual server technology is that it
provides a complete virtual abstraction of the physical components
of a server, such as disk and network subsystems, creating
a single universal operating system configuration, regardless
of the underlying physical server hardware. This makes it
easy to move a virtual server to new server hardware without
any configuration changes to the underlying environment of
the virtual servers. This solves the vexing problems of upgrading
physical servers.
Virtual server technology allows better utilization of server
processors and memory by allowing multiple virtual servers
to share a single physical server. Often dedicated and powerful
servers are deployed for low-overhead applications, such as
domain controllers, DNS servers, web servers, or eCommerce
interfaces. For these applications, CPU and memory utilization
is minimal. By combining multiple servers of this these type
under a single physical server, utilization of the processor
and memory is more in line with the power available on commodity
server platforms.
Provisioning and deployment of new servers under a virtual
infrastructure is dramatically simplified due to the standard
environment created for a virtual server by the virtual host
software. New servers can often be deployed in minutes instead
of hours. Valuable IT expertise can be focused on higher value
tasks rather than routine setup and configuration procedures.
Virtual server technology allows complete remote management
and control of all servers. Remote console screen access through
a web browser allows any operation that could be performed
on a local physical console to be performed remotely. With
CD-ROM emulation, even operating system installation and upgrades
are a breeze. Wayward virtual servers can easily be reset
or power cycled with just a few clicks.
The flexibility of easily moving virtual servers between
physical servers allows for scalability and expansion of server
infrastructure to match application demands. As the need for
application computing power increases, additional virtual
host servers can be deployed easily, and existing virtual
servers can be load balanced across the array of physical
servers.
How to Get Help with Virtual
Servers
To get immediate help selecting, deploying and managing virtual
server solutions, call (866)666-7731 or email information@dcicorporation.com.
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