Increase Server Capacity by Enhancing Server Virtualization

Server virtualization projects typically kick-off with a goal to reduce physical server count and to increase overall computer utilization. As part of that kick-off, typically, new and more powerful servers are purchased and deployed as virtual hosts. Then, a comparatively small number of very safe workloads are virtualized. While this does result in the server count typically being reduced, computer utilization is not, as the new servers have significantly more power than the ones replaced. And there is capacity for more servers to join the cluster, but with the next wave of workloads more mission-critical, careful planning becomes a requirement.

Tool allows you to track and respond to utilization of physical resources and offer predictive alerting.

The storage savings can be tremendous if more physical servers can be converted into their virtual counterparts. Cooling and power necessary is reduced, with the hard reduction in number of servers. Consequently, more servers can be managed by the current number of admins. The challenge is making these upcoming migrations predictably safe.

Using tools like those from Tek-Tools, the current, stand-alone server environment can be measured in real time. At that point, the analysis can be compared and contrasted with the virtual environment to determine which systems can be prioritized and are best suited for virtualization. In fact, simulations can be run to predict the impact of adding a workload to the virtual environment.

Server virtualization is geared towards doing more with less. This can lead to a significant reduction in the number of physical servers deployed and the space and power they consume. By growing the virtual machine population, space savings growth is afforded. By utilizing the resources that will accurately predict the results of increased density and monitor the environment in an ongoing fashion, safety can be ensured.

Virtualization Infrastructure Management: Meet Your Business IT Goals

These types of tools allow for greater virtual machine densities per virtual host while maintaining the right sense of balance for virtual machine migrations and disaster recovery.

An important counter point to consider is that the virtual environment can also, potentially, be a storage waster. Often, virtual machines are created with templates. Templates are valuable aspects of server virtualization that enable rapid deployments of new servers. Allocated storage for these templates are usually set to a default number. Most virtualization administrators set this to a “safe” default size which, on an individual virtual machine basis does not appear to waste much space. The problem is that virtual environments almost always grow beyond just a few virtual machines. The result is cumulative waste, as each virtual machine with default size can lead to TBs of wasted disk space.

Recognizing the problem template deployment can cause, and identifying and optimally adjusting the virtual machines can ensure excellent space savings and all other benefits of reduced storage allocation.

Virtualization made safe and easy

Greater space utilization, either for the computer environment or the storage environment, leads to cost reduction from delayed purchases but also reductions in floor space, power and cooling. Seeing that the standard average cost of data center floor tile runs at about $10,000 per month, the ROI in a proper data center management tool can be almost instantaneous.