storage

 

I recently came across a thought-provoking blog post by StorageIO analyst and author Greg Schultz. Ruminating on themes in his new book “The Green and Virtual Data Center,” Schultz laments that the natural link between the concepts of virtualization and data center consolidation has led many to mistakenly conclude that these terms are synonymous. They aren’t. And even though consolidation is one of the leading reasons to virtualize today, it’s not the only good reason to consider the technology.

Furthermore, while the inherent cost and energy savings in consolidation are fueling much of the growth and interest in virtualization today, that won’t always be the case. Does that mean that when the economy rebounds, virtualization will become yesterday’s news? Far from it, argues Schultz. Despite “the perception and industry messaging that incorrectly pigeon holes virtualization to mean consolidation, and consolidation to mean virtualization,” Schultz warns us not to be sucked into the notion that virtualization without consolidation doesn’t have a bright future. “To the contrary, the reality is that there is life beyond consolidation (and) there are even more scenarios and far greater market opportunity for non-consolidation virtualization deployments over time, than what has already been seen for first wave of consolidation-centric virtualization scenarios.” Read More »

In keeping with the purpose of using virtualization technology the data storage solution must also be resilient and dynamic. Options in tasking and deploying storage for a virtual machine must follow suit with the core technology. Your choice for data storage needs to have high availability and fault tolerance for optimal uptime. Access to the data needs to be fast so as not to affect the performance of the virtual machine. Optimally, the data storage should be easily expandable without creating additional volumes.

The storage technology used and its method of access typically determines if all or parts of the objectives are met and if so, to what degree.

The practice of data storage on the same hardware as the virtual machine is strictly taboo as it defeats the purpose of deploying virtualization in the first place. Virtualization data storage is usually accomplished with Network Attached Storage (NAS) or a Storage Area Network (SAN). Both forms of storage have their benefits and drawbacks as will be explained later in this article. Read More »

Could virtualizing your company’s servers actually be part of your patriotic duty? It may seem a little far-fetched at first glance, but let’s take a deeper look at national trends and the important take-aways from recent national political campaigns that drew a bead on our country’s most pressing problems: a teetering economy, our alarming dependence on foreign oil, and a growing need to address environmental concerns such as global warming.

Is there something IT professionals can do that has the potential of addressing this triple threat of social, economic and environmental ills? The answer could be virtualization. Proven technologies that allow a single server to take on a variety of unrelated tasks that would normally require the use of multiple dedicated servers offer some obvious benefits in the areas of cost savings and efficiency. Can those benefits also translate into improved fiscal performance, reduced consumption of energy resources and a lower carbon footprint? The consensus seems to be in the affirmative. Read More »