As organizations continue to deploy server virtualization, questions have shifted from "if" to "how." Out of all 220 inquiries Forrester's IT infrastructure and operations team answered on data centers, servers, and virtual appliances in 2008 to date, 72 were specifically in regard to server virtualization. These IT professionals' most common inquiries addressed vendor comparison, optimum physical to virtual consolidation ratios, expected ROI, and situation-specific concerns regarding the possible benefits that virtual servers could provide. These inquiries came from organizations in the early stages of implementing server virtualization — if you are considering or are in the process of implementing, you too should be asking these questions.
For IT Infrastructure & Operations Professionals
September 30, 2008
Inquiry Spotlight: Server Virtualization, Q3 2008by Galen Schreckwith Natalie Lambert and Lauren E. Nelson
Executive SummaryAs organizations continue to deploy server virtualization, questions have shifted from "if " to "how." Out of all 220 inquiries Forrester's IT infrastructure and operations team answered on data centers, servers, and virtual appliances in 2008 to date, 72 were specifically in regard to server virtualization. These IT professionals' most common inquiries addressed vendor comparison, optimum physical to virtual consolidation ratios, expected ROI, and situation-specific concerns regarding the possible benefits that virtual servers could provide. These inquiries came from organizations in the early stages of implementing server virtualization - if you are considering or are in the process of implementing, you too should be asking these questions.
Virtual servers Should be in your data centerAccording to Forrester's Enterprise and SMB Hardware Survey, North America and Europe, Q3 2007, 28% of firms had already implemented server virtualization by July 2007, and another 11% planned to implement virtual servers by July 2008. These firms also anticipated virtualizing 42% of their servers 1by July 2009, which is a significant increase from the 24% reported in July 2007. In short, the interest in virtual servers is still on the rise for both veteran and inexperienced firms, and thus these firms are finally asking the questions that will help them succeed in their deployments.
Your Peers Are Asking: "What Hypervisor And VM Management Tools Should I Use?"Fifty-four percent of all server virtualization inquiries between January 2008 and September 2008 included questions on vendor selection and management tools (see Figure 1). Some IT professionals wanted a hypervisor vendor recommendation, while others focused on the management tools necessary to administer virtual servers.
· What you need to know: At present there are three main choices for a hypervisor: VMware ESX, Citrix XenServer, and Microsoft Hyper-V (see Figure 2). There are other variants, such as Symantec's Veritas Virtual Infrastructure, which bundles Symantec storage management and virtualization with Citrix XenServer. In addition to the hypervisor itself, you need two extra classes of tools to successfully deploy and manage a virtual environment: migration/capacity planning tools and a system management platform. Most virtualization vendors offer physical-to-virtual migration and capacity planning tools at little to no cost. However, third-party tools like Novell PlateSpin provide more automation as well as the ability to revert to physical hardware if desired. Others, like CiRBA, offer planning tools that can optimize VM placement to maximize your hardware savings.
HeadquartersForrester Research, Inc., 400 Technology Square, Cambridge, MA 02139 USATel: +1 617.613.6000 . Fax: +1 617.613.5000 . www.forrester.comInquiry Spotlight: Server Virtualization, Q3 2008 2For IT Infrastructure & Operations Professionals
There are three main system management platforms available for ongoing management of your virtual environment: VMware's product suite, Microsoft System Center, and Citrix XenCenter. This system must be compatible with the hypervisor and migration/capacity planning tools you have selected. The hypervisor you select will have a big impact on which tools you ultimately use to manage your overall environment.
· What you should do about it: Most customers we speak with continue to favor VMware, which is considered the highest performing virtualization platform on the market. In addition, the capabilities of VMware's extensive management and automation tools exceed what is available from competing virtualization providers. In the coming 12 to 18 months, this decision becomes less straightforward, because competitors will begin to match certain must-have features like live migration or fault tolerance. Even so, we believe that VMware still maintains a lead in technical specs like the maximum amount of virtual machine memory, processors, and I/O bandwidth.
Over the next couple of years, hypervisor performance will become less of a deciding factor. You'll need to make your decision based on the management tools and their integration with 2your existing infrastructure.
Figure 1 Vendor Comparison A... [download for more]
