Determining When to Virtualize Your Servers

by David Davis

Server virtualization isn’t just for big companies. Entry-level virtualization tools are free or low-cost, and there are many benefits to virtualization (including saving money). It’s not a question of “if” you should virtualize your servers; it’s a question of “when.”

Davis says following these five steps when determining if virtualization is right for your servers should help to alleviate some of the pains commonly associated with consolidating IT environments.

Step 1: Verify your motivation for going virtual

Most likely you will have to justify the reason to virtualize to a manager or a "C" level executive. Even if you don’t have to do that, you should be able to answer the “why” question for yourself with an answer that’s more concrete that “because it’s the next big thing.”

Step 2: Evaluate a virtualized solution

When selecting the right virtualization solution for your company, consider the following:

• Don’t choose the “newest” or “cheapest” solution just because they are new and inexpensive.


• Look for a solution that has been around for a long period of time to ensure the technology has been tested with a variety of applications.


• Look for a solution that has been proven in productiveIT environments.


• Choose a solution that offers flexibility and options to fit the needs of your company.

Step 3: Determine if applications are going to work well with virtualization

I have heard from administrators who haven’t virtualized their servers yet that they believe their applications might not be “virtualization friendly.” While there may be cases in which this is true, the numbers of servers that can’t be virtualized are small compared to the vast majority of all servers that can.

Step 4: Analyze the cost of virtualizing your server infrastructure

As most of us work for businesses, and businesses are in the business of maximizing profits, it only makes sense that before undertaking a virtualization project, you should analyze the cost and potential savings (the ROI).

Even if you don’t use numbers, the cost savings of virtualization is obvious. Virtualization requires:

• Fewer servers


• Fewer infrastructure costs – cooling, UPS, generator


• Less spent on electricity


• Less space needed for you IT infrastructure


• Less time spent administering servers


• Faster response to business needs

Step 5: Analyze the time and skill needed to virtualize your infrastructure
Minimizing the time and skill required to create a virtual environment is hard to do. Depending on the scope of the project, it could be very quick or it could be a more significant undertaking.

Read more...

Finding the right organization that provides you with pertinent information regarding virtualized environments and showing you working references where they have proved their ROI in this arena, is where QeH2 stands above their competition. We provide you, the decision maker, with the right tools and information to make an informative decision regarding the best fit for your organization. Whether that's QeH2 providing you some ideas as to how we would implement virtualization or taking complete control executing the project, we are there to help you to move your business forward with our IT services.