Typical to most server virtualization projects, the purpose is gaining overall computer utilization via reducing physical server count. As part of that kick-off, typically, new and more powerful servers are purchased and deployed as virtual hosts. Then, a comparatively small number of very safe workloads are virtualized. This results in server count reduction, with computer utilization staying about the same, as afforded by the new, more powerful replacement servers. And there is capacity for more servers to join the cluster, but with the next wave of workloads more mission-critical, careful planning becomes a requirement.
Gain Storage Space and Safely via Virtualization
The storage savings can be tremendous if more physical servers can be converted into their virtual counterparts. There is the hard reduction in the number of servers, which leads to a reduction in the power and cooling required for those servers. In turn, this allows admins the ability to manage more servers. Ensuring safe and predictable migrations remains the challenge.
To measure the current, stand-alone server environment, tools such as those from Tek-Tools can be utilized. At that point, the analysis can be compared and contrasted with the virtual environment to determine which systems can be prioritized and are best suited for virtualization. Simulations can actually be run prior to predict the effect of adding a workload to the virtual environment.
Server virtualization is geared towards doing more with less. It allows for significant reduction in number of physical servers and the space and power needed for their operation. The more an organization leans on server vitualization, the greater the space savings becomes. Using tools that can accurately predict the result of this increased density and then continuously monitoring the environment for greater virtualization can be done safely.
Virtualization Infrastructure Management: Meet Your Business IT Goals
These types of tools allow for greater virtual machine densities per virtual host while maintaining the right sense of balance for virtual machine migrations and disaster recovery.
The virtual environment can also be a potential storage waster. Often, virtual machines are created with templates. Templates are valuable aspects of server virtualization that enable rapid deployments of new servers. Typically, the storage in allocation for these templates is set to a default number. While administrators of virtual environments often set this to a “safe” default size, in which a particular machine doesn’t appear to wast much space, this may be damaging. The problem is that virtual environments almost always grow beyond just a few virtual machines. TBs of wasted disk space can be the result of the cumulative waste of each virtual machine, as the default size on the machines aren’t necessarily optimal.
By pinpointing and adjusting these virtual machines and potentially getting rid of the standard template deployment, tremendous savings in space and all other benefits of server virtualization can be realized.
Virtualization made safe and easy
Increased space utilization leads to savings, as well as reduction in floor space, cooling and power. Seeing that the standard average cost of data center floor tile runs at about $10,000 per month, the ROI in a proper data center management tool can be almost instantaneous.