Clarifying seven misleading ideas for successful implementation of virtualization

Laura DiDio, chief analyst at Information Technology Intelligence (Information Marvell FDI), points out that virtualization technology has tremendous savings in potential and technical benefits through server consolidation and the need to reduce space and power. However, these benefits are not automatically realized.

Here are 7 questions you should consider thoroughly before you implement a virtualization project. Let's call these 7 questions misleading half-truths. If you do not consider these potential obstacles, your virtualization deployment will fail.

1. Virtualization will make my life easier

Virtualized servers greatly reduce the time it takes to speed up new work. Some IT departments report that they can deploy a new virtual machine within 30 minutes, rather than a few weeks as the physical server is deployed. Virtualization simplifies it in many ways it is true.

However, virtualization also produces some management challenges that cannot be overlooked. IT departments need to have strict policies or use Third-party automation tools to stop virtual machines from spreading. Burton Group analyst Chris Wolf says that even though the number of physical servers has decreased, the overall management object has not diminished as the number of hypervisor and virtual machines has increased.

Martijn Lohmeijer, chief advisor to the IT outsourcing and consulting firm Trinext, says many users think management time will be reduced, but in reality the virtual infrastructure itself must be managed, and many virtual infrastructures require new centralized storage systems.

Disappointingly, many software vendors do not provide the same level of technical support for applications running on virtual machines and applications running on physical servers. Microsoft reduced some software license restrictions last year. However, analysts still criticize Oracle and other manufacturers for restricting the support of virtualized environments. The calculation of software license fees is more complex in virtual data centers.

DiDio says not all server virtualization licenses are the same. You must study the terms and conditions of the license contract provided by each manufacturer.

2. Consolidating to fewer servers is simple

The first goal of a server virtualization project is usually consolidation. If you can run on 10 servers before you need 100 servers, why not integrate as quickly as possible? "Unfortunately, many of the IT departments that are planning to implement consolidation are slower to consolidate than expected," said George Pradel, a strategic alliance manager Vizioncore, a virtualization management firm. It is also easy to say that every new workload must be run on a virtual machine. However, moving old workloads from one physical server to a virtual machine is not that simple.

Pradel says that converting from a physical server to a virtual server requires some magic tricks. This conversion does not occur in a vacuum. This conversion occurs in the planning of different business units and can withstand the impact of shutdown.

3. Virtualization automatically reduces power usage

If you consolidate to fewer servers, you may say "I solve the problem of power usage". Don't jump to conclusions so fast. Although the number of servers you are using power is reduced, each server will run at a higher processor capacity and require more power. John Turner, network and systems manager at Branders University in Massachusetts, reported that a virtualization project at the university actually increased the overall power consumption. Although Branders University has significantly reduced the number of servers, it is now able to provide more services to users because it is easy to add new virtual machines. Each new workload will increase power usage.

If you walk behind a virtualized server rack, Turner says, you'll feel a lot of heat coming out of these servers. We see more calories entering the computer room than ever before.

The other issue to consider, says Jim Simonelli, chief technology officer at APC, is that if you shut down many servers, the datacenter needs to reconfigure to prevent direct cooling to the empty space.

The need to consider power and cooling needs is becoming increasingly important when implementing virtualization, he said. If you just implement virtualization without changing your infrastructure, you're not achieving the efficiency you should be.

4. Virtualization makes me safer

Cloning virtual machines and the ability to migrate virtual machines from one physical server to another provides greater possibilities for disaster recovery, preventing your business data loss and shutdown time. However, virtualization also poses a new security risk without proper management. This risk threatens the security of the data and the continuity of the business system.

IBM security expert Joshua Corman says people and processes are not ready for virtualization and the security risks that virtualization can bring. DiDio, a leading analyst at information Technology Intelligence, points out that virtualization poses a new attack interface and the risk of various operations and availability. Consolidating many applications to one server brings you to a single point of failure.

If you are affected by a virtual machine spread problem, you may find it difficult to track all of your virtual machines, so it is difficult to ensure that the virtual machines are properly using the security patches. In addition, the management program does not employ encryption technology, thus providing the possibility for man-in-the-middle attacks such as xensploit. This attack can intercept data that is not encrypted while the virtual machine is migrating between physical servers. This does not mean that you should avoid using virtualization technology, but the best approach is usually to start with a small system and study ways to protect your mission-critical applications.

5. Desktop virtualization allows me to save money immediately

Virtualization should make it easier to deploy new desktops to users, use patches, and perform other administrative tasks. In the long run, virtualization can also save costs. A logistics company based in Denver predicts the company will get 61 in 8 years by buying thin clients. 90,000 dollars in return on investment. Thin clients have a longer lifespan than traditional PCs.

However, IT departments must remember that desktop virtualization requires a lot of upfront input. These costs include the purchase of user devices such as thin clients and the purchase of servers, blades, and networked storage devices that support virtual machines.

The company's analyst at Forrester Research found that in the first year of implementing the Desktop virtualization program, companies need to spend about 860 dollars for each user, including the cost of upgrading the network. A well done Desktop virtualization project can be cost-effective in the long run. It only takes a few years to get a return on investment.

6. Virtualization is like cloud computing

Kristof Kloeckner, the head of IBM Cloud computing software, says virtualization is the key factor in cloud computing. However, installing new VMware Software on a single server does not mean that you have built a proprietary cloud. In addition to virtualization, a proprietary cloud computing requires service automation technology and self-service interfaces for configuring new resources.

In a blog post titled "Virtualization is not cloud computing," Kloeckner, founder of cloud computing start-ups Enomaly Reuven Cohen, said virtualization is a component of cloud computing. The real key is the abstraction of each layer of the IT stack.

The key to cloud computing infrastructure, Cohen says, is abstraction to the extent that it doesn't matter. Your infrastructure is always available and completely fault tolerant. Think more about the delivery model for iphone apps in Apple App Store, and less about the past desktop application model. The enterprises that will succeed are those that adopt this new mix of Internet-centric models. To put it simply, cloud computing is a computer.

Cloud computing can even do without virtualization. Google officials have confirmed this view. Google officials said they did not virtualize production hardware, but instead used Google's own work-scheduling system to manage thousands of servers.

7. Virtualization is a completely technical

This view does not surprise people who have been working in the IT industry for so long. Sometimes it is these people, not the technology, that become an obstacle. As Corman points out, people and processes are often not ready to meet the new challenges of virtualization.

Even if your virtualization project succeeds, you can be a victim of your own success. Once users know how easy it is to add a virtual machine, they may need more virtual machines, making it harder for IT departments to focus on other tasks. Conversely, users who prefer to insist on using a physical server may object to virtualization.

Pradel likes to call politics the 8th layer of the network stack. He says the political layer you deal with the most difficult things about virtualization. You will encounter server extremists in the business unit. They do not want to cancel their physical servers, although they will benefit from virtualization.