10 dangerous errors in merging servers

Merging servers can save costs, but beware of these errors.

Many enterprise CIOs and data center managers take a server consolidation approach to save IT infrastructure
The cost of the facility. It is easy to justify the practice from an economic standpoint, but that does not mean it is easy to implement.

1 merging means acquiring new hardware

Merging does not imply the need to buy new, expensive hardware. Merging the systems you already have is a very cost-effective way to do it, and that should be the first thing you should consider. Once you have maximized the utilization of your existing systems, you can then consider buying new hardware.

2 focus only on simple workload patterns

Although workloads are an important factor in considering server consolidation, it is only based on workloads that indicate which servers are available for compatibility. It simply does not show the compatibility of the server or what content should be virtualized. In addition, workload analysis is often too simple.

3 did not consider the non-technical limiting factors

The rapid adoption of mergers and virtualization processing, without taking into account the non technical factors, can cause problems later. While it may seem tempting to merge many applications onto the same physical server, all applications are affected by this single hardware alone. If these applications have different service-level requirements, there is a problem.

4 Act on the basis of outdated information

Analyzing a merged project sometimes lasts several months. It is risky to take action on the basis of this analysis, which has been in effect for several months. Given the rapid pace of change in many IT departments, it is important to take action based on the latest information.

5 clarify intent before collecting information

IT staff may feel that consolidation is bad for them. Some people think it will weaken their influence and importance, because there are fewer things to manage, and even think it will jeopardize their work. So the best thing to do is to gather experience information from your surroundings and then talk to your IT staff to clarify your intentions.

6 Virtualization is the only merging strategy

Many people think only of virtualization when considering merging servers. This thinking will limit the positive impact of mergers. While virtualization is powerful and highly flexible, these strategies, like application stacking (application stacking) and operating system stacks (OS stacking), are often attractive because they don't incur overhead, license fees, and complexity like virtualization. In addition, some servers and applications are simply not suitable for virtualization and are excluded from the merge scope.

7 Exclude the database server from the merge scope

Immediately following the sixth common error, I/O restrictions mean that the database server is not very well suited for virtualization. The fragmentation of the database servers is a major problem for many organizations, and there are ways to significantly reduce the number of such servers as long as there are appropriate merger analyses and measures.

8 exclude Application Server from merge scope

Application servers are often unaffected in the consolidation project. If properly planned, the application server (the Java environment and the corresponding Web servers that are often significantly overloaded) can actually be merged, resulting in significant results.

9 excluding the test/development environment from the consolidation scope

The most common phenomenon in development and test environments is the fragmentation of hardware and software. In many cases, a considerable number of database servers can be merged without any impact on productivity or effectiveness.

10 lack of in-depth consideration of economic benefits and variable factors affecting return on investment

There are many factors that can have an economic impact on mergers. For example, merging a database server can often be a significant cost savings because it is easier to operate. Merging complex applications that require a lot of testing will result in zero return on investment because it takes a lot of time and effort. So you want to make sure that you select the appropriate merge object.

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