VMware virtual machines are hardware-independent so any physical server can serve as a recovery target for any virtual machine. Organizations can significantly reduce the cost of hardware for disaster recovery by repurposing underutilized existing servers for recovery targets and disaster recovery testing. VMware Infrastructure also simplifies and accelerates recovery, helping IT organizations meet their time-to-recovery targets.
S O L U T I O N S D A T A S H E E T
Transforming Business Continuity with
VMware Infrastructure and Dell EqualLogic
Current Business Continuity Challenges unplanned downtime by automating the process of using VMotion to migrate running applications away from servers that cross utili- Implementing plans to ensure business continuity for key zation thresholds or moving virtual machines non-disruptively to IT services and business critical applications is an essential servers that have the needed compute resources. requirement for organizations today. Downtime of important applications is a costly proposition and extended downtime VMware High Availability (HA) provides easy to use, cost effective can even be fatal-industry research finds that a significant high availability for applications running in virtual machines. In the number of companies that experience extended interrup- event of server failure, affected virtual machines are automatically tion to IT services soon go out of business. restarted on other physical servers that have spare capacity. While most organizations recognize the importance of busi- Better Disaster Recovery with VMware Infrastructure ness continuity, their ability to provide high availability and disaster recovery for key applications in a physical (non-vir- V Mware virtual machines are hardware-independent so any physi-tualized) environment is often constrained by the following cal server can serve as a recovery target for any virtual machine. challenges: Organizations can significantly reduce the cost of hardware for disaster recovery by repurposing underutilized existing servers for . High costs. Many solutions require significant investment recovery targets and disaster recovery testing. in additional hardware, software and services. Disaster recovery plans in particular often require duplicating data VMware Infrastructure also simplifies and accelerates recovery, center infrastructure, resulting in a proliferation of under- helping IT organizations meet their time-to-recovery targets. Com-utilized servers. plex multi-step procedures using specialized software for bare-metal recovery and operating system recovery can be simplified to . High complexity. Most traditional business continuity single-step file recovery because virtual machines are completely solutions add significant complexity to data center environ- encapsulated in a small number of files and can be restored to any ments. Acquiring and managing additional servers, use hardware. of complex cluster tools, implementing and maintaining specialized software and processes all contribute to this Finally, VMware Infrastructure simplifies testing of disaster recovery complexity. plans and makes training personnel in disaster recovery procedures easier. . Failure to meet recovery time and availability goals. Due to the cost and complexity of business continuity Benefits of VMware Business Continuity Solutions solutions, organizations are often forced to compromise on solutions that are unlikely to meet goals for availability and C ustomers who use VMware Infrastructure to improve their busi-recovery time objectives. ness continuity plans experience numerous benefits, including:
. Insufficient reliability. Testing existing complex business Downtime reduction by eliminating planned downtime due to continuity solutions is challenging and requires significant maintenance, or reducing un-planned downtime through eco-equipment, expertise and personnel resources. The com- nomical sharing of fault-tolerant hardware features, and automated plexity of these specialized solutions also makes them rapid restart of virtual machines. difficult to maintain. Lower costs by implementing better business continuity at a lower cost, eliminating the need for additional hardware and specialized Higher Availability with VMware Infrastructure software. I ndustry-leading VMwareŽ VMotionT technology allows IT Simplified processes by removing the complexity of maintaining administrators to move running virtual machines from one duplicate physical systems for disaster recovery. physical server to another without downtime. This capabil-ity makes it possible to conduct zero-downtime hardware Learn Moremaintenance by simply using VMotion to move running To learn more about VMware solutions and products, visit applications to other physical servers as needed. http://www.vmware.com or call 1-877... [download for more]
