Server virtualization increases the flexibility of your IT department while at the same time reducing costs and complexity. Server virtualization works by decoupling the server workload (operating system, application and application data) from the physical hardware. By removing the dependency between the two, your business can:
- Reduce costs by consolidating multiple workloads onto fewer physical servers.
- Enable disaster recovery simply and affordably.
- Decrease the time required to roll out applications to your employees, resulting in a higher level of customer service.
- Reduce downtime caused by both planned and unplanned outages using features like live migration and high availability built in to server virtualization.
Most server workloads require a dedicated, single purpose server. The proliferation of these single purpose servers is known as server sprawl. Server virtualization lets you run multiple workloads on the same physical server while ensuring they don’t interfere with each other. Consolidation provides cost savings in server acquisition and ongoing support and maintenance.
Disaster Recovery (DR)
Returning the company’s servers to a running state after a disaster becomes as simple as restoring files. Each workload is made up of a series of files, which can be backed up to tape or replicated to an offsite location over an IP network. In the event of a disaster at the primary location, the files are restored from tape or accessed on your remote storage. Bringing online the production virtual servers in the remote location is as simple as importing the files into a running virtual server at your DR location. The virtual servers are brought online with their existing operating system configuration, IP addressing, names, and application configuration so there is no need to reconfigure your client applications. Because the virtual server environment stays consistent, there are no driver compatibility issues as are normally seen when restoring a server to dissimilar hardware from a backup image. The hypervisor adds a small layer which isolates the virtual machine from any changes in physical hardware.
Deploy Applications with Ease
New projects often bring with them the need for new applications, which frequently require dedicated servers due to SLA requirements and vendor support. These silo servers are costly and time consuming to deploy. Rolling out virtual servers is made simple by using templates to automatically install the operating system with the virtual machine. If there is sufficient capacity on the existing virtual servers, a new virtual machine can be brought online within minutes without having to purchase any additional hardware. Your ability to quickly roll out new servers to support new applications greatly improves your response time to your users. Combining virtual servers with
virtual application delivery using Citrix, you can roll out a new application enterprise wide in just a few hours instead of weeks.
Reduce Downtime
Both planned and unplanned outages cost companies money in customer satisfaction and lost productivity. Using virtualization’s high availability (HA) component, virtual machines can recover from physical server failures in just minutes. When a physical server running one or more virtual machines fails, the Virtual Center (VMware) or Master role (XenServer) recognizes the failure and begins powering on the failed virtual machine(s) on other virtual servers within minutes automatically. Built-in checks make sure that the remaining physical servers have enough capacity available to start the failed virtual machines without impacting other running virtual machines.
HLB System Solutions has successfully deployed server virtualization in the insurance, professional services and manufacturing industries. We’ve helped businesses from just a few users to hundreds of users to effectively deploy and manage their virtual server environments. Let our team of experienced consultants provide you with an assessment and guide you in making decisions about your virtual server environment.