5 Steps to Determine When You Should Virtualize

Step #2 - Evaluate a virtualization solution.Five Steps to Determine When to Virtualize Your There are many virtualization solutions available today. Servers In addition to VMware Infrastructure 3, you can evaluate Microsoft Server virtualization isn't just for big companies. Entry-level Hyper-V, Xen/Citrix or Virtual Iron, to name a few. If you choose to virtualization tools are free or low-cost, and there are many evaluate or analyze all of them, you may be spinning your wheels.benefits to virtualization (including saving money). It's not a question of "if" you should virtualize your servers;it's a To date, VMware has held the dominant position in the question of "when." In this article, I outline five steps you virtualization market space, with more than 100,000 customers should take to determine when to virtualize your servers. globally. No one else in the marketplace has come close to matching the maturity, breadth of offerings, reliability, or adoption There are a number of server virtualization solutions available today. However, this article isn't about which solution to rate of VMware. Many times, all that the competition can offer is a choose. Many virtualization questions are "solution agnostic," lower price tag. and the question of "when" to virtualize your servers is one of When selecting the right virtualization solution for your company, them. consider the following:So, if you haven't started using virtualization or you haven't . Don't choose the "newest" or "cheapest" solution just because they fully virtualized your IT environment, I recommend the are new and inexpensive. following five steps to determine when you should make that move. . Look for a solution that has been around for a long period of Step #1 - Verify your motivation for going virtual. time to ensure the technology has been tested with a variety of applications You don't want to undertake a virtualization project without understanding why you are making this effort. Most of us . Look for a solution that has been proven in production IT have to justify a project like virtualization to a manager, environments director, VP or CIO. Even if you don't have to do that, you . Choose a solution that offers flexibility and options to fit the needs should be able to answer the "why" question for yourself with of your company an answer that's more concrete that "because it's the next big thing." Below is a list of reasons why most administrators In my opinion, two solutions meet these criteria. They are VMware feel compelled to virtualize their server infrastructure: Server and VMware ESX version 3.5 with the VMware Infrastructure . Save time - Administering virtualized servers over physical Suite. The first is available for free and is a good way to start your servers can save a huge amount of time. company on the path toward virtualization. The second product can be evaluated for free and purchased as a low-cost acceleration . Save money - Any way you measure it, virtualization comes kit for smaller deployments. out as a cost-saving proposition. Dollars are saved in less administrative time, fewer infrastructure requirements and While these two solutions each have their own unique fit, they less energy utilization. both have been proven by businesses of all sizes over a long period of time and they have the most to offer of any virtualization . Simplify management - Virtualization enables the use solution available today.of advanced features like resource optimization, high availability and point-in-time snapshots of servers. The only way to truly get comfortable with virtualization is to try it for yourself on your own servers and perform tests in your . Recover from disaster - Having a reliable disaster environment. Download and evaluate any solution before making a recovery plan is essential for ensuring business continuity. purchasing decision.Virtualization offers hardware independence and decreased Step #3 - Determine if applications are going to work well recovery time in case of a disaster or failover. with virtualization.Once you and your management team are convinced that virtualization is the right decision for your company, move One of the reasons I have heard from administrators who haven't on to the next step. virtualized their servers yet is that they believe their applications might not be "virtualization friendly." While there may be cases in which this is true, the numbers of servers that can't... [download for more]