Has the fizz settled?

From SOA to Web 2.0, from cloud computing to virtualisation, history repeats itself on binary screens. A technology surfaces from nowhere, burgeons unnoticed, bubbles up thanks to hype and then bursts as soon as new technology hype steals the thunder. So before the buzz around server virtualisation becomes history, why not try a quick download?

Server virtualisation has emerged as a technology for hiding the physical characteristics of IT resources from the other side of the curtain in which different systems, applications or end-users interact with those servers. And servers, we know, form a thick slice of the pie called budget.

Interestingly, with a freeze on IT investments, server virtualisation has become all the more critical. For instance, server shipments on a global scale have tanked over the last few quarters (in the second quarter of 2009, worldwide server shipments dropped 28% year-on-year, according to Gartner). Yet, the dependence on IT has only increased thanks to all the automation or productivity measures. Little wonder, for the IT manager who has to eke out more processing power from lesser or same equipment, virtualisation is the only key.

The hype part is not entirely untrue, asserts Indivar Nair, Consultant at Independent Information Technology Consultants and an expert on virtualisation based out of Mumbai. Though there are the obvious and highly talked about features like savings in costly floor space, cooling, power and infrastructure management, it does not make them any less important, he says. For many, it started as an underdog technology since VMware had been around for a few years before the buzz about server virtualisation started in the IT industry. But now virtualisation is a hot topic.

Says Deepak Tawri, Engineering Manager at Qlogic Software, In recent years, it has moved towards mainstream in production servers. And the faith is that there is still room to grow. I understand that about 75% of large enterprises use virtualisation to some extent, but most of those have virtualised only about 10% of their servers. So, when one virtualises servers, there are definitely some benefits that focus the spotlight on the IT manager.

Headaches are history
Smoother software migration, reduced downtime, less physical system maintenance, fewer headaches, business agility getting real, increase in service capabilities and flexibility of business processes, reduced hardware constraints leading to faster deployment cycles and server consolidation are just a few upside areas to start with.

On an average, enterprises report that they get around four to five different functional benefitsbetter SLAs, faster recovery from failures, improved audit, and faster provisioning, as Andi Mann, V-P of Research, Enterprise Management Associates (EMA) suggests. However, business continuity anddisaster recovery outshine everything else.

Air Max