In this White Paper IDC sees the use of static x86 server configurations is quickly becoming an outdated concept with the introduction of modern solutions based on blade architectures, which can offer both intelligent configuration and management and the ability to perform physical-to-virtual migration to promote uptime and efficient resource usage. When combined with the quickly maturing x86 hypervisor technologies available from a variety of solution providers, the synergy of blade architectures and virtualization offers customers the ability to dramatically increase utilization of their server investments, boost uptime, provide a more resilient and available infrastructure, and roll out new infrastructure and services more quickly.
W H I T E P AP E R B u s i n e s s V a l u e o f V i r t u a l i z a t i o n : R e a l i z i n g t h e B e n e f i t s o f I n t e g r a t e d S o l u t i o n s Sponsored by: HP Al Gillen Tim Grieser Randy Perry July 2008 mo E X E C U T I V E S U M M A R Y c.cdi. The use of static x86 server configurations is quickly becoming an outdated concept www with the introduction of modern solutions based on blade architectures, which can offer both intelligent configuration and management and the ability to perform 510 physical-to-virtual migration to promote uptime and efficient resource usage. 4.539.8 When combined with the quickly maturing x86 hypervisor technologies available from 05. a variety of solution providers, the synergy of blade architectures and virtualization F offers customers the ability to dramatically increase utilization of their server 002 investments, boost uptime, provide a more resilient and available infrastructure, and 8.27 roll out new infrastructure and services more quickly. 8.805. But equally important, these same technologies can also lower costs both directly, P through an immediate reduction in power and cooling costs, and indirectly (but not AS with a lesser impact), through a reduction in IT administrative costs associated with U 10 server hardware and the layers of infrastructure software management. 710 A IDC analysis of the potential to lower IT costs by moving to a virtualized infrastructure M , finds that the savings can be significant: mahgni ! Adopting a simple virtualized infrastructure can result in a reduction of up to 35% mar of total annual server costs per user compared with an unvirtualized static x86 F te server configuration (see the Appendix for included cost items). Described in this ert IDC White Paper as "basic virtualization," this starting point of virtualization refers S ne to basic x86 server consolidation using virtualization software. It is commonly ep applied to test and development environments, along with at least some S 5 : production use. sretra ! u Our research finds that the use of more advanced virtualization technology, along qda with increasingly sophisticated systems management tools that manage both the eH guest environments and the virtualization engines themselves, can further extend lab the benefits of virtualization significantly. olG
! An optimally managed or "advanced virtualization" infrastructure, described as an infrastructure that includes penetration of virtualized servers of more than 25%, storage virtualization, and the use of systems management tools, can deliver a total reduction of up to 52% per user per year.
! Integrated solutions from vendors such as HP, which offers the HP Insight Dynamics - VSE in conjunction with the company's HP c-Class BladeSystem products (using the HP Virtual Connect technology — a means of virtualizing Ethernet and Fibre Channel network connectivity for blades), provide essentially all of the same benefits of a basic virtualization scenario through a hardware-based solution. In addition, this solution can utilize a hypervisor to further extend customer benefits and, in that scenario, delivers some of the attributes IDC defines in an advanced virtualization scenario.
Table 1 compares the annual server cost per user for three types of deployment:
1. Unvirtualized — physical x86 server/physical OS usage/no virtualization and systems configured at less than 10% capacity
2. Basic virtualization — x86 server consolidation via virtualization without advanced functionality such as live migration and with limited automation and management applied selectively; systems achieve from 20% to 40% capacity utilization; common deployment for test and development scenarios, but limited production use
3. Advanced virtualization — widely virtualized infrastructure (>25%), including both server virtualization and at least some storage virtualization; use of management tools and automation tools such as workload redistribution and automatic workload migration — used both on live VMs and on cold OS images — for meeting service-level agreements and availability goals; systems achieve 40% to 60% or more capacity utilization
