Understand Virtualisation |
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About virtualisationWhat is virtualisation? - Virtualisation allows a single computer to perform the same function as multiple computers and enables people to share a number of computers’ resources easily. Essentially it consolidates a number of servers allowing one computer to do the job of multiple computers... [Read More] The future of virtualisation - Virtualisation has been around since the 1960s when mainframes were the most common way of processing data. In the 1960s the idea came about that it would be useful to share the processing power of a number of mainframes or large computers in order to share their combined computing power... [Read More] Why virtualisation? - A major reason for an organisation to use a virtualisation system is to save costs by reducing the need to purchase more hardware and to reduce energy consumption... [Read More] Benefits of virtualisation - You can gain a number of benefits by implementing a virtualisation environment but these will depend on your requirements, your situation and your type of organisation... [Read More] Disadvantages and potential pitfalls - You should be completely clear about what you are looking to achieve before implementing a virtualisation system as it may be a something that perhaps you don’t require. While this may sound obvious, the benefits are not always clear cut and generally, virtualisation tends to suit organisations that have more than 100 employees... [Read More] Buying and installing virtualisationSix steps to successfully buying virtualisation - Identify the needs of your organisation and your users. You will need to analyse the workloads of your network and servers over months to find out which applications are used the most and which servers are either over or under utilised... [Read More] Points to remember when installing virtualisation - It is unlikely that you will install a virtualisation environment unless you are extremely technical competent. This is not an installation for the faint hearted! The information below outlines some of the areas that need to be considered... [Read More] Virtualisation case studiesThe hidden cost of virtualisation - Adopting a virtualisation infrastructure requires money. Servers might need to be purchased. Software and support contracts will need to be purchased. The IT department will need to put in additional hours in order to provision those servers. While these expenses are all obvious, there are some that are less obvious. And in some areas, such as energy costs and HVAC, virtualisation results in some additional expenses that must be offset in order to determine the net savings potential... [Read More - pdf] Planning a virtual infrastructure - In order for any virtualization project to be successful and deliver the best possible return on investment (ROI), extensive pre-migration planning is essential. An understanding of both virtualization concepts and the potential pitfalls is also critical to success. Thorough research should be undertaken prior to the commencement Protecting virtual servers - To meet disaster recovery requirements for production systems, administrators must design and implement protection strategies that afford these virtual machines the same safeguards as traditional servers. As we will see, the architecture of virtual machine software means that simply backing up an entire physical server Questions and answersWhat is virtualisation? - Virtualisation allows a single computer to do the same function as multiple computers. It enables people to share a number of computers’ resources easily... [Read More] How does it work in practice? - It works by allowing the resources of under utilised computers to be used by over utilised computers... [Read More] Why do I need a virtualisation system? - It will depend on your circumstances. Historically, it would benefit organisations with many employees (100+)... [Read More] Is it something that I can install myself? - This is a particularly complex and technical area and should only be carried out by professional personnel who have extensive knowledge... [Read More] In summary about virtualisationThe whole area of virtualisation is complex and particularly technical. As a result there will be costs associated to this as it will require a specialist company in order to implement, install and support such a system. You must therefore make completely sure that the benefits outweigh the potential costs. Virtualisation is of particular value to larger companies with many employees and multiple servers. However there are also some excellent systems for the smaller business but care and diligence should be taken before making a purchase. GlossaryMainframes - Mainframes were extremely large, powerful computers that needed to be housed in dedicated, air conditioned rooms. They were used during the late 1950s and 60s as the main way to calculate transactions and statistics for banks and other environments. Backup - This means copying or replication all of the information on a computer in case there is a technical issue and all of the original information is lost. Also see Go Understand Backup and Recovery. Disaster Recovery - Is a process that enables an organisation that has been effected by a disaster to be able to recover information and continue operating. This may entail using the resources of a third party company that will provide facilities such as office space, phone and computers that can then be used by the effected company’s personnel until the company can move back to their own offices. Migration Plan - This is a process that needs to be followed so that software, applications and data can be transferred from one computer system to another. RAM - RAM is also known as ‘Random Access Memory’. RAM is volatile memory that only stores information until the computer is switched off. This is unlike a hard disk which will store information indefinitely. The benefit of RAM is that it is much faster to access data that is stored in it, rather than the computer having to access data from the hard disk. As a result, generally the more RAM you have in your computer, the faster it will be. CPU - The Central Processing Unit processes the information within the computer. This is akin to a car’s engine, so the bigger the engine the faster the car. A computer’s performance will be determined by the CPU within it, the type and how many CPUs it has. Platform - A platform is the underlying hardware or software around which a system can be developed and on which applications can run. Servers - Computer programs that provide services to other computer programs (and their users). Any questions?Other subjects you might find interesting... |
