An organization’s success and ability to react to market and environmental changes are now more dependent than ever on an effective and efficient IT infrastructure. This white paper provides a starting point for organizations contemplating server consolidation. Download this guide for an overview of server consolidation concepts and techniques, plus guidance on methodologies that should be employed.
IBM Global ServicesDecember 2006
An examination of server consolidation:
trends that can drive efficiencies and
help businesses gain a competitive edge.
Moonish Badaloo Business Development Executive IBM Global ServicesAn examination of server consolidation: trends that can drive efficiencies and help businesses gain a competitive edge.Page
Introduction Contents An organization's success and ability to react to market and environmental changes are now more dependent than ever on an effective and efficient IT 2 Introduction infrastructure. Yet IT departments have become increasingly complex and 3 Server consolidation costly, making it more difficult and time-consuming to support changing busi-techniques ness requirements. In addition, this complexity continues to increase the cost 5 Factors to consider of doing business by making the management and maintenance of these IT 8 Methodology environments more expensive. In order to become more efficient and improve 13 Areas of savings their competitive stance, organizations need to find ways to simplify their 15 Sustaining the new IT environments-without disrupting their business operations.environment16 Conclusion Organizations often embrace server consolidation as an ideal path to stream-lining the IT environment. Unfortunately, many look at it only as a way to reduce the number of servers and therefore fail to realize all the benefits of such an initiative. IBM is taking a more strategic approach to server consoli-dation. Viewing it within the context of resource optimization, IBM believes server consolidation can not only address an organization's IT infrastructure but also help to align IT objectives and processes with the organization's business needs. Server consolidation can provide the first step toward design-ing and implementing a more rational, efficient and flexible IT environment that truly supports an organization's overall strategic business objectives. But taking this first step involves more than just eliminating a few servers here and there-it requires a thoughtful approach, one that takes into consider-ation both business and IT objectives and constraints.
This white paper provides a starting point for organizations contemplating server consolidation. It includes an overview of server consolidation concepts and techniques and provides guidance on methodologies. It also looks at the potential cost savings associated with server consolidation and offers information on how organizations can sustain the advantage they have gained by consolidating their servers.An examination of server consolidation: trends that can drive efficiencies and help businesses gain a competitive edge.Page
Server consolidation techniquesHighlights There are several ways to approach a server consolidation project. The follow-ing are a few of the more commonly used techniques.
Popular server consolidation Centralization techniques include centralization, Centralization involves consolidating multiple servers within fewer sites. physical consolidation, application Examples might include moving 20 servers dispersed throughout three integration and data integration. floors of a building to a single server room, or moving 200 servers originally installed in 20 locations to three. Centralization is often the first step an organization takes when it wishes to use server consolidation to control costs. It also is generally an organization's initial step toward rationalizing the architecture after a realignment of responsibilities.
The primary benefits of centralization are:
. Lower data center costs associated with elements such as power and floor space. An easier-to-manage IT environment due to more consistent standards, improved tools and specialization . Increased availability and recoverability. Improved disaster-recovery capabilities. Reduced security risk as a result of having fewer locations to protect.
Physical consolidationPhysical consolidation is often what comes to mind for most people when they think of server consolidation. It is the process of reducing the actual number of servers by replacing many servers with fewer, more powerful servers or clustered systems. This can take place within the same architecture or across architectural boundaries. For example, an organization may replace several An examination of server consolidation: trends that can drive efficiencies and help bu... [download for more]
