VMware Song: U2VL

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Whether it's "go to the IoE", or U2VL (from UNIX to virtualization and Linux), these are just the tip of the iceberg, and the shift is all about the changes in the ecological environment that technology relies on.

From the mainframe era to today's cloud computing, the Big Data era, recalling the development of it history, at every stage, there are "rulers" (mainstream manufacturers and technology), as well as "spoilers" (Emerging Manufacturers and technology). "Rulers" and "spoilers" have been playing games, the result is likely to be "spoilers" successfully replaced the "ruler", Quantitation became a new era of "rulers."

　　Suitable for application needs is a prerequisite

Today, the contention between UNIX and x86 about the architecture of the server architecture can be said of a "white-hot" degree. From the statistics, the UNIX server market is shrinking globally, and the application of x86 server is fully rolled out, and it begins to penetrate into key business areas. This is the trend. For most business users, the smart choice is to follow the trend.

But from another point of view, although we have entered the era of cloud computing, the big data, but the mainframe still exists, and has a considerable amount of "iron powder." This means that in some segments or specific scenarios, the mainframe still has its own living space and cannot be replaced. Even today, many people want to use x86 servers instead of UNIX servers, and it does not mean that UNIX technology is useless, but in the face of a large number of distributed workloads today, as well as user requirements for economic, open and convenient expansion, x86 the advantages of this architecture is more obvious and more appropriate.

Users in the choice of specific technical architecture, products, first to understand what their needs are, and then choose the most appropriate technology and products. UNIX servers, x86 servers, and even mainframes may be one of the options, and it's critical to see whether the technology you choose will meet the needs of your application today and in the future.

Ecosystems are key

Song, global vice president of VMware and president of Greater China, acknowledges that UNIX itself is a great technology, but today the choice between UNIX and x86 needs to be considered from the perspective of overall market trends, application environments and ecosystems. The era of UNIX dominance is fading away.

From 2011 onwards, the growth rate of the UNIX server market began to decline gradually. This explains from an angle that the ecosystem of UNIX servers is aging. In the face of new applications such as cloud computing, mobility, and big Data, UNIX is no longer the primary ecological environment. Even some of the oldest UNIX server vendors are now embracing x86, cloud computing.

In the mobile phone market once dominated Motorola, Nokia, now has sunset even disappeared. The result of this is not Motorola, Nokia does not work hard, nor simply because they are not as good as people, but the whole ecological environment has changed.

Apple, Android, these "spoilers" gradually became "rulers", and Motorola, Nokia has not been able to keep up with the new era of change, so outdated. This phenomenon is repeating itself in today's server market. It is understandable that manufacturers want to protect vested interests and markets, but it is impossible to stop the market trend. Therefore, manufacturers should and users to explain what the current market trends are, but also let users can clearly understand what is happening outside now, rather than let the user passively accept the product pushed by the manufacturer. In this era, the role of manufacturers is no longer a simple product and solution provider, but should be the user's strategic partners and consultants, to provide enterprises with appropriate solutions to their needs in order to continue to gain the trust of users.

Song, for example, "a large state-owned enterprise has been using a combination of SAP software and UNIX servers." However, when the customer went abroad to visit, see the foreign counterparts mostly have swapped with the x86 server, began to blame its IT vendors ' cheat ' him. Later, the client invited VMware to negotiate, and the end result was to replace all UNIX servers with the x86 server. ”

A healthy, vibrant ecosystem that is responsive to market trends is important. This determines whether the future of the partner, the vast majority of users, will remain in this ecosystem for deeper and broader development and continues to drive the development and expansion of this ecosystem.

There's nothing to be replaced

From today's megatrends, x86 servers are gradually eating away at traditional UNIX domains. However, is there a "forbidden", is the x86 server is not yet accessible? Song bluntly: "I can't imagine what UNIX servers can do that x86 server can't do." "Many times, users will hear that a database such as Oracle does not support VMware virtualization technology. In fact, this is not the case. At the global level, examples of Oracle databases running in VMware virtualized environments abound. Just in some people's inertial thinking, only UNIX servers are competent to handle Oracle databases.

In China, the UNIX server makes many users feel very strong, one important reason is that it has been built up ecosystem is still playing a role, a large number of system integrators in the past ten or twenty years based on UNIX platform to create a variety of applications. For many Chinese customers, IT system security, smooth operation is the most important. Although some users are already very aware that the maintenance of the existing structure may be costly, some applications were developed more than 10 years ago, has been relatively backward, but to let them really resolve to replace all, it may not have to have a relatively large force to push the line. In foreign countries, the conversion speed of U2VL is very fast, a fundamental reason is that foreign customers value business and cost, if a technology can bring significant expenditure reduction, promote the rapid innovation and development of business, then they will not return to the choice of new technology.

In his contacts with Chinese customers, Song said, he has been able to feel that more and more Chinese users are beginning to talk about the redistribution of IT budgets, clearly saying that they cannot be "off the beaten track." "Some businesses require that a new application be launched within a week. In traditional UNIX systems, the development of a new application may take several months, which clearly does not meet the needs of users. But it's easy to develop and deploy a new application in the cloud. This is also an important factor in promoting U2VL conversion. "Song said.

In addition to technical factors, are there any other factors that hinder the implementation of U2VL? For example, many large enterprises for historical reasons, have a large number of legacy systems and applications, if not smooth, secure transition to the new platform, can cause irreparable damage to the enterprise. Is this one of the reasons why some companies choose to "sit tight"?

Song's experience is that no matter how the underlying IT infrastructure changes, the use of virtualization has little impact on the upper tier. The reason why people have legacy systems and applications that are difficult to change is ultimately a matter of mentality. Some users will always think of course that from UNIX to x86, the system is unreliable and performance is poor. In fact, VMware has responded with its own practice: using Virtualization with x86 systems and Linux is even more reliable than UNIX.

There's a few more to go.

However, Song also said that there are many u2vl to achieve. He cited an example. When the CIO of a bank met with him, the first 5 minutes were saying that all the applications of the bank could not be changed. But after a one-hour conversation, the CIO changed to say, "Why should the application not be changed?" The application will change sooner or later, so let's change it quickly.

Song told reporters: "This customer is the reason for this change, because he did not know very well the value of new technology can bring them." By the time I explained it to him, he suddenly found that many of the problems he faced now could be solved with new technologies, and that he was not the first person to eat crabs, and many of his peers were already doing so. As a result, he had a 180° shift in his attitude. ”

Chinese customers may have another hurdle to take. Foreign customers themselves have a strong technical understanding and control capabilities, in the advent of new technologies, they can make decisions to use or not. But Chinese customers rely more on system integrators to support their systems operations or to do application development. Chinese customers who want to move or make big changes may have to wait for both vendors and system integrators to move. This is one of the reasons why there is a "time difference" between China and foreign countries in IT applications.

When talking to customers about U2VL, Song usually says, "We don't want you to give up on your past investments." If you feel you can continue to develop your business on the UNIX platform and benefit continuously, you can keep going. It must be made clear, however, that if companies do not prepare for changes in technology and application environments, they are likely to face risks or be eliminated by the market. Users should take a holistic look at the technical, economic, and even political levels before making the decision to change. ”

This article is from the "Guo Tao Storage World" blog, so be sure to keep this source http://gtstorageworld.blog.51cto.com/908359/1606833

VMware Song: U2VL