With technology changing almost
daily, and with business being conducted in a variety of ways in a host of places, it’s imperative that your company’s
technologies are working for you.
One way many companies are accomplishing this is through virtualization, the concept
of sharing the resources of a single technology across multiple environments. While virtualization is a great, if not vital, process to
implement, it is often done incorrectly.
“The problem with jumping into a virtualization solution is that you may not get the
total package your business needs and
deserves,” says Larry Gross, a business development executive at Technology Integration
Group (TIG). “Virtualization is a change that
needs to include all considerations, starting
with applications then covering servers, networking and storage, as well as backup and
disaster recovery. One of the industry’s new
and exciting ways to address this end-to-end
or data center virtualization consideration
focus is Cisco new switch level virtualization
that allows you to manage and scale your virtualization infrastructure from the core.
“The key is to purchase exactly what you
need, not what a technology provider is trying to sell you,” he says.
Smart Business spoke with Gross about
how to find a virtualization solution that is
right for you, without buying components
you don’t need.
What should a company look for in a technology provider?
A technology provider has to be focused on
your needs, not the manufacturer’s needs.
Technology providers have to understand
exactly what you’re looking for and why. If
they’re not asking those questions, they probably don’t have your best interests at heart.
Also, a provider should stay technically
trained on all products and services, be up on
all the certifications for the applications,
servers, networking and storage that will be
architected in the virtualization infrastructure, and be able to identify the exact practices that will benefit you and your company.
A virtualization solution is never just one
piece. Your technology provider should
touch everything, from data centers to applications to networks to storage.
What parts of virtualization should be
focused on first?
In virtualization, most people are concerned with processor speed and dual core
versus quad core. But, the No. 1 area of concern when you virtualize is input/output
(I/O). The No. 2 area of concern is RAM, and
No. 3 is storage. This sometimes surprises
people, but even in a virtualized world, when
you look at servers and the utilization of
processors, it is extremely low utilization due
to proper load balancing and the ability to
share resources in a virtual cluster.
How can a total virtualization solution benefit business?
A total solution allows you to downsize,
consolidate and increase availability, all with
little to no downtime. One thing that really
opens eyes is when you realize you can avoid
a crashed or sluggish server. With certain virtualization tools, you can identify what server is your top priority, then, when that server
reaches a peak that you set, resources are
taken off that server and spread out over
other lower utilization hosts. Then, your
main server is focused on handling the peak.
When the peak is done, everything moves
back to the way it was. This way, you have
multiple VMs (virtual machines) just waiting
for these types of peaks and requests. By
spreading out resources, you work more efficiently without down time. With VMware,
tools like DRS, V-Motion and Storage V-Motion that allow you to implement HA
across applications are the keys to a total
solution.
If a company wants a total solution, will it
have to scrap everything and start from
scratch?
In many cases, once we identify the requirement for virtualizing an environment, we are
able to use existing servers, storage and other
infrastructure. It’s a matter of just adding I/O,
RAM and storage in most cases. A good technology provider will help you improve and
upgrade what you already have.
What are the consequences of not having a
total solution?
Not many companies are going to take 100
percent advantage of 100 percent of a total
solution all of the time. Your technology provider should help you understand your environment and then make recommendations.
Then, you need to decide exactly what you
need and when you need it. You don’t have to
implement a total solution in phase one.
It is also important to know not to move a
bad physical environment to a virtual environment. It’s like when you move to a new
house. Do you take broken appliances or old
things that don’t work for you? No, you trash
what you don’t need and start with a fresh
working environment. By cleaning and tuning your servers and storage and getting rid
of old files and bad techniques first, you’ll
have a clear picture of what virtualization can
do for you, and you’ll be able to alleviate any
other pain that’s been bringing your technologies down. The impact will vary, but a
total virtualization solution will make all your
systems work to peak performance, which
will only enhance business.
LARRY GROSS is a business development executive at Technology Integration Group (TIG). Reach him at (858) 566-1900 x4510 or
[email protected].
