VMWare

The VMWare Approach

VMWare allows you to transform your CPU, RAM, Hard Disk and Network Card hardware into a Software Resource as a Virtual Machine running it’s own operating system and applications just like a real computer. This enables you to run one or more Virtual Machines on one set of physical hardware without interfering with each other. The VMWare approach is to create a layer between the Software and the Hardware called the Hypervisor which controls and manages each of the the Virtual Machines allocating resources dynamically as required and transparently between them.

Virtualising a single computer is the beginning of where VMWare can add value to your IT investment. It is possible to scale a whole Virtual Infrastructure across multiple physical computers and storage locations in your organisation.

History of Virtualisation

First developed in the 1960s to partition large mainframe hardware, virtualisation is a proven concept in the IT industry. Implemented by IBM as a way separate a Mainframe into several virtual machines allowing multi-tasking via multiple applications or processes to be run at the same time. Mainframes were an expensive technology at the time and therefore return on investment was very important.

Today, Server architecture is faced with the same problems of underutilisation that Mainframe Systems faced in the 1960s. VMWare invented virtualisation for the x86 architecture in the 1990s to address underutilisation and other issues. Today VMWare is the global leader in this technology.

The Need for Virtualisation

The distributed computing model of the 1990s established x86 Server architecture as the industry standard. Companies built client/server applications running on dedicated hardware to build islands of computing capacity. The growth in server and desktop deployments has introduced some new IT infrastructure and operational challenges:-

Low Infrastructure Utilisation

Typical utilisation on a server deployment averages between 10-15% of total capacity according to the IDC (International Data Corporation)

Companies dedicate application servers to a single task to avoid vulnerability or conflicts between applications

Increasing Physical Infrastructure Costs

The operational cost to support a growing physical infrastructure have steadily increased. Power consumption, air-conditioning and other costs are not proportional to utilisation

Increasing IT Management Costs

As computing environments become more complex, the level of specialised knowledge and experience required to maintain them increases

Rising personnel costs against disproportionate time and resources to perform manual tasks associated with server maintenance

Insufficient Failover & Disaster Recovery Protection

Companies are increasingly affected by the downtime of critical server applications and critical end user desktops.

The risk of natural disasters such as flooding are increasing in the UK, security threats from the internet and employees has elevated the importance of business continuity planning for both desktops and servers.

High Maintenance End-User Desktops

Managing and securing desktop environments presents numerous challenges. Controlling and enforcing security policies without impairing the users ability to work is complex and expensive. Numerous patches and updates must be continually applied and managed to eliminate security vulnerabilities.

Top 5 Reasons to Adopt Virtualisation

Server Consolidation and Infrastructure Optimisation (Achieve higher resource utilisation by pooling common resources and breaking the dedicated server mould)
Physical Infrastructure Cost Reduction (Reduce the number of physical servers and related physical storage and electricity consumption needed to house them)
Improved Operational Flexibility & Responsiveness (Reduce Administrative time on repetitive tasks such as monitoring and maintenance)
Increased Application Availability & Business Continuity (Securely backup and migrate entire virtual environments with no interruption in service)
Improved Desktop Manageability & Security (Deploy, manage and monitor secure desktop environments on almost any standard desktop, laptop or tablet PC)

A Sample Virtual Infrastructure