Virtualization, which lets IT managers cram multiple computing environments onto one computer so that one physical server can perform the function of two or more machines, saves time, space, energy and money.
But getting an organization's datacenter to the point where it can start realizing all that's promised by virtualization isn't as easy as it could or should be, according to Glenn Keels, a senior project manager in Dell's PowerEdge server division.
"The industry, including Dell to a certain degree, is making consolidation and virtualization too complex," Keels told InternetNews.com. "There are some myths and misconceptions out there that are confusing customers. We've had customers coming to us asking if it's true that you need blades to virtualize."
Keels said Dell doesn't think it's in customers' best interests to be automatically steered to blade servers as part of their consolidation and virtualization efforts, even though they do take up considerably less physical space and consume less energy in the datacenter.
"We don't want to drive virtualization into proprietary systems," he said. "The customers receive the best price and performance by focusing on two- and four-socket systems. Let's not just blade everything. By whole-heartedly adopting that, you can actually increase complexity. Blades should be an option—and we love blades—but not a mandate."
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Terry,
ReplyDeleteI tend to agree that management of virtualized environments is a serious challenge that is yet to be fully addressed in a complete, coherent fashion.
I know of many interesting projects that have goals to offer a complete management environment for virtualized resources. None of them completely resolves the challenges.
I tend to agree that management is one of the most serious inhibitors to the full adoption of virtual environments.
ReplyDeleteI know of many projects to produce technology that will find virtual resources, provision them as needed, destroy them when needed and move them as needed. These solutions often do not really address the complete needs to manage all of the physical resources as well as the virtual ones.
Dan,
ReplyDeleteI must agree with you there that the management of virtualized environments can become a unmanageable chaos, should the business requirements not be addressed adequately. I know, it is easier said than done. A sales consultant sells the product, implementation consultant implements it and eventually you leave.
It remains a serious challenge, no wonder a research shows that the consulting revenues will continue to rise, simply because data centers might be rendered unmanageable, if not completely secured.
I think Change Management, CMDB, ITIL, SLAs and Account management will all need to be taken into account when managing virtualized environments. Whether its a sandbox or development environments or on-demand virtual Labs (for company trainings, etc), all must be accounted for. Resource allocation too must be managed within virtual environments, after all the computing resources four-cores (cpu,memory,disk and network)are only limited.