Differences between storage virtualization and server virtualization

The two concepts are similar, but belong to different technologies. Server virtualization and Storage virtualization technologies are designed to separate physical systems from specific workloads in order to simplify the environment by consolidating and quickly allocating resources. Server virtualization solutions typically encapsulate operating systems and applications into virtual servers, while storage virtualization solutions are designed to optimize the data storage environment by storing pools, resource partitions, or by allowing disk systems to emulate tape systems.

In terms of server virtualization, the biggest difference now is that the players ' teams are vastly expanded--from processor-level AMD and Intel to OS-level Microsoft, from the emergence of a plethora of third-party software vendors to the high profile of server system vendors, We've seen a server virtualization technology that tends to be complete. The ecosystem is gradually forming.

"Virtualization is changing from a small market to a mainstream market, especially after Microsoft has entered the market," the industry said after Microsoft announced its virtual Server 2005 plan.

In introducing Microsoft's virtualization project, almost all media have described it-like other server virtualization technologies, Virtual Server 2005 allows users to partition servers so that they can support multiple operating systems and applications.

Storage virtualization refers to the abstraction of hardware resources to represent them in virtual form. Virtualization separates the physical storage system from the data-driven concrete workload, allowing you to store resources on demand as you wish. Virtualization involves the pooling of multiple physical storage resources into a single virtual storage resource, which can then be centrally managed or partitioned into several virtual machines in a logical manner. Virtualization can also be used to render a disk to the application as tape.