25 Jul 2012
Posted by synt4x 
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Under any task you can cram in a couple of rack units, or have multiple virtual servers. Which is better? In this article we will discuss several advantages of virtualization. After all, it can save a lot of time, money and nerves.
It’s no secret that in recent years more and more different companies, regardless of the size and scope of the add, begins to resort to virtualization technologies work unit’s internal infrastructure, both in individual offices and large corporate inter-regional networks. Why there was enough and began to actively develop a tendency to introduce such a new and controversial technology yet at the stage of early development have?That is, for all the disadvantages of a virtual infrastructure, a key point in favor of virtualization? In our opinion, is simple: money.
More precisely, not so much the money as savings, primarily – financial, which can be achieved with successful implementation of a virtual infrastructure, compared with the contents of multiple physically independent operating units. Let’s not forget that one of the main tasks of any business other than profit maximization, is to minimize the costs and expenses to ensure its activities. Well, in this age of high speed and advanced technology, when the “space ships travel through the Grand Theatre,” an article costs associated with IT-aspect of any company is probably the largest, along with staff costs.It is to reduce the costs of these two articles, and helps to come virtualization. So, let’s look at real life examples.
Speaking of virtualization, it is necessary first of all take into account the translation server to a virtual state based or server-farm organization from scratch. In the first case savings is reduced only to reduce costs in the future maintenance and operation, the second – at the stage of initial planning economy becomes very noticeable in the first place – by reducing costs for the purchase of physical equipment.
1. Reducing the cost of purchasing and support equipment
How much does your company’s servers are involved? Two? Three? Five? Mail, File, Internet Gateway, LDAP, Exchange / mail, databases, “1C” and so on and so forth. Certainly, on one physical machine can be lifted for a few software packages that perform different tasks, but often there are situations where the introduction of new software solutions require an independent unit of the server. Take, for example, cases where the required software simply does not have support already operating in the infrastructure of the operating system: for example, MS Exchange Server in the existing UNIX-environment … In this case, just coming to the aid of a virtual machine with the required operating system “on board”, and implementation costs will have to emerge not from the purchase price of a new server and licenses for the OS and software, but only the cost of licenses .
We can also include cases where the network must have multiple independent virtual server with its own set of services and their low-level characteristics that must exist as an independent network nodes. A typical example: VPS-hosting services.
Often, a small load to buy a separate machine. This is the wrong decision to make much better and more practical to use a single physical machine to service multiple virtual and not to purchase additional “hardware”, which in such cases is usually chosen from the range of the budget (“So what? All the same load small! We do not predict the weather at this! “) and, consequently, is not always reliable enough and will require extra costs for maintenance and upgrades in the future.
2. Consequence of the first paragraph: reducing the server state
From the viewpoint of both technical staff and the owners of any enterprise, virtualization should be good by the fact that recourse to it, you can greatly reduce the number requiring support, maintenance and periodic updating of physical machines. As a result – less time and money spent on search, purchase and replacement of equipment. In addition, the reduced area allocated for the content server database. For example, if the density of the virtual infrastructure will average 12 virtual machines on one physical – it is saving on maintenance of 11 units of equipment: almost an entire rack off. Not to mention the fact that immediately reduces the cost of providing all of these additional 11 servers powered network and air conditioning.
3. Consequence of paragraph 2: reduce the cost of renting places in DC
In a situation where the company’s servers are not in their own possession, and placed on co-location basis in data centers, virtualization can help save not only numerous, but also for an extended period. For example, the company rents eight seats in DC for placing eight 1U-servers. The cost estimate, you can do. If it does not is that these servers are 1U-some very productive and provided the resident 100% load 24/7, then tell me, did not it would be wiser to replace them, for example, the two more efficient 2U-physical server? And they develop the same eight virtual machines, but eventually reducing by half the cost of rent?
In case, if the data center is located in its own possession, the decline in the number of physical machines is the same, as we have mentioned reducing the cost of providing power, cooling, and reduce the storage space occupied.
4. Time is money: reducing the time spent on maintenance
Yes, virtual machines, as well as physical, require periodic maintenance, upgrades, reboots and more. However, if you resort to the simple arithmetic and multiply the number of reboots the machine at the time it takes to reboot, implementing virtual infrastructure only to “reboot” can be a year to save a few months time. Of course, it is necessary to make allowance for the fact that this arithmetic is applied mostly to the Windows-based servers, while in Linux / UNIX-environment full reboot is required infrequently. In any case, regardless of the operating system, time waiting until the unit will return to work after restarting a fully functional state is large enough. What is there plus a virtual machine?
First of all, the VM, in principle, rarely require more than three to five minutes for a full reboot, since all the physical components of the emulated “hardware” in themselves are not reloaded, and all services to manage, operate below the hypervisor, remain intact. Therefore, the typical delay switch-off of equipment and management software for running virtual machines have no effect.
Secondly, more importantly, restart the virtual machine, which operates under a certain set of services inside the network, does not entail a reboot of other virtual machines running on the same physical, but also responsible for other tasks, which is impossible when all services are running at the same time on the same server without virtualization. That is, if you need a physical server, for example, to restart the Exchange virtual server and database, a virtual server for the company’s Web site will remain intact. If they worked in parallel on a single machine rather than two virtual, they are both on the restart would be available.
5. Less work – fewer hands. Less arms – less mouths to feed.
As for the technical staff, the author notes that the item is a sore spot, but from the standpoint of the employer – the company’s management, reduction of staff – is a serious reduction in expenditure the company, and that IT pros – people dear, this is already a recognized fact. In the service of a smaller number of physical machines need less people. Less people – less mouths to feed that need to pay salaries and even happens to be awarded.
6. Ease of maintenance
Now think, if we have the possibility of a physical server to remotely add a hard disk, change the volume, connect / disconnect devices? Alas! And in a virtual machine? YES!
Imagine a situation in which one of the low-power servers in the middle of the night suddenly no longer enough memory or the CPU needs to be replaced … What are you doing? Contact a duty officer at DC, asking to disable the server (and not the fact that the employee simply clicks the toggle switch instead divert the server shutdown). Next we have to go to the data center, to receive a pass, run, take a pass … But how much time and – most importantly – nerves could be saved if all done remotely … As an example, in the case of virtual machines.
7. Virtualization jobs of employees = safety + savings
All that we have so far examined, based on the examples of operation of servers. However, in fairness it should be noted that almost all the same rules apply to the organization of jobs for employees. For example, an average power of a server, a dedicated service for virtual machines can provide the normal operation of approximately 10-12 employees. Thus, if a company, for example, opens a new office, for it would probably be less expensive at first and more cost-effective in the future to have a virtual server jobs and save on the purchase of equipment for each individual employee. After all, the computer will require a virtual client only the bare minimum of computing power – the whole work will be done on the server. And although it is that such an organization operating a network is often less convenient for non-IT staff, consider this option still stands. Also, the further development of the company owners do not have to upgrade the entire fleet of client PCs – will be sufficient only to provide funds to increase the capacity of the central server, virtual machines, which, under any circumstances, be both cheaper and faster and easier to perform.
In addition to that – such an organization the corporate network will provide an additional level of safety and security of data, because all network traffic and virtual file systems can be encrypted, scanned for malware and leaks at the level of the VM and the hypervisor level and below. In addition, it is worth noting that each virtual machine in such a scheme operates in isolation (except, perhaps, a network of exchange) from the other, in the case of critical violations in the work of one of the cars all the others served by the same server will remain intact.
8. Cloning and redundancy
Another important advantage of desktop virtualization is the ease of cloning virtual machines. For example, the company opened a new office, which is required to arrange jobs for 20 employees. No virtual machine technician would have to assemble computers, test them for performance, as well as install and configure the operating system as much as twenty times. Provided that, at best, the duration of this procedure for a single location will be about a half hour, then the park would have to be spent over thirty man-hours. With virtual machines, it is sufficient to create a VM and clone it 19 times, which happens almost automatically, and requires little or no control over the process. Will only have to spend on each VM additional configuration to the needs of individual employees.
The same applies to backup data. If a physical machine backups possible, either partially or requires a complete cessation of operation of the system, then create full copies (snapshots – snapshot) Virtual machines can be at any time without interrupting it, and restore from a saved state is several times faster rather than full restoration of the state of a physical machine. As a result, we again obtain a simple formula: saving time = saving money.
Conclusion
So, we looked at some of the most, in our view, strong arguments in favor of the introduction of virtual infrastructure in enterprises. We do not make any findings and to insist on anything. We just shared some of my experiences and simple calculations. In this case, particularly, we note we have considered only positive examples, not taking into account the negative factors associated with the use of virtual infrastructure. We have given you food for thought, let alone how it will be useful for the individual and specific to your situation – to identify you. But in the end, unless something prevents a try?
