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Transform More Than Your Data Center: Transform Your Value To The Business

ace it: It’s time to do something about your

data center.

It is probably too complex, running

too many applications, too difficult

to manage, consuming too much power and

overloaded with more equipment and cable than

you want. And that’s just for starters.

More than 40% of IT managers said they are

planning to make “significant changes” to their data

centers in 2010, according to Symantec’s recent

2010 State of the Data Center Survey. Only 9% said

they are making no changes at all.

The challenge, however, is not to merely change

the data center: The real opportunity is to transform

it.

By turning to a virtual-ready infrastructure, IT has

the opportunity to put in place a next-generation

architecture that fundamentally changes the way

data centers work for now and the future. In doing

so, IT has the opportunity to transform its own value

to the organization by making the infrastructure more

flexible and ready to move at the speed of business.

This next-generation infrastructure can also transform

the way IT departments operate, so administrators

can be more efficient and strategic.

What does this next-generation data center look

like?

In many ways, it resembles a cloud-computing

model in that the applications and services

supported by the data center are decoupled from

the actual infrastructure. In other words, operations

are executed using logical definitions of the data

center resources, such as servers, storage, networks

and workload. The logical definitions are mapped

to physical resources, transparent to users. The

result is a dynamic data center that streamlines and

automates resource management and delivers more

efficient use of resources, making the infrastructure

more agile at responding to the needs of the

business.

Rather than having dedicated servers doing

the same functions all year, in this virtual-ready

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infrastructure IT can dynamically allocate resources

depending upon the business need. For example: An

online retailer is releasing a hot new product for the

summer and is expecting a huge increase in traffic and

orders during the first three weeks in June. Instead of

adding new servers and storage to handle this peak

period, IT can simply and easily allocate resources to

handle the load. When the demand diminishes, the

resources can be dynamically re-allocated somewhere

else. The infrastructure—storage, servers and

networks—works together dynamically and in synch.

Transforming the Value of IT

By transforming the data center, IT professionals

have the opportunity to transform their value to

the business. For example, 80% of IT budgets are

spent on maintenance. This means when that next

important project comes along it gets scheduled

behind when fixes get done. With an infrastructure

ready to operate at the speed of virtualization—or

virtual-ready—IT administrators can re-deploy

workloads at the click of a button and turn their

attention to the next business imperative the day it

arrives in the inbox.

Transforming the data center not only adds value

to the business, it also provides tremendous benefits

to the people within the IT organization. A virtual-

ready infrastructure—done right—can mean less

time provisioning new devices and it can make life

much easier for IT professionals by filling in some

of the gaps between server, storage and network

administrative functions.

Of course, not all virtual-ready infrastructure

solutions are created equal. In order to truly make

life easier for IT professionals, several features and

functions are critical when deploying a virtual-ready

infrastructure. These include:

• Rapid provisioning of new devices, whether they

are servers, switches or storage devices;

• Support for open standards, for now and the

future;

• Support for heterogeneous devices, so IT

departments are not locked in to a single vendor;

• The ability to incorporate your existing

infrastructure—why rip and replace when you can

reinvigorate what you already have?

If these features and functions are important to

you then it is essential to look at which solutions

are delivering state-of-the-art innovations in virtual-

ready infrastructure architecture and design. In most

cases, the solution that will offer the most flexibility,

functionality and simplicity to install and manage will

be the Dell Advanced Infrastructure Manager (AIM).

That’s because of all the vendors, Dell has taken the

most open approach to infrastructure management

and has focused on developing a solution that

provides for maximum flexibility and scalability.

Enabling the IT Organization

Dell AIM allows IT to combine new and existing

servers, storage, networks and workloads into a

unified solution that dynamically allocates resources.

There are many advantages to this approach,

including: rapid provisioning of new hardware and

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applications; support for multiple hypervisors and

operating systems; support for existing hardware,

as well as hardware that may be purchased in the

future; a single point of management for both physical

and virtual servers, and others. In fact, even existing

non-virtual servers can be transformed to achieve

virtualization-like functionality, including automated

failover, dynamic load balancing and business

continuity.

For IT professionals, the advantages of this

approach can be staggering.

Provisioning workloads, for example, is one of the

important functions that is dramatically simplified

by this next-generation data center. With a virtual-

ready infrastructure as enabled by Dell AIM, IT can

simply and easily provision the correct server settings,

allocate a workload to a server and then allocate

networking and storage resources to that workload.

This saves the IT organization considerable time and

expense in provisioning new devices and services, and

it enables the data center to be much more responsive

and adaptable to the needs of the business.

For the individuals involved in managing various

areas within IT, this means less time is devoted to some

of the basic tasks and more time is available to focus

on delivering more value—quickly—to the business.

Here’s how a virtual-ready infrastructure through the use

of Dell AIM, can make lives easier for IT professionals:

Server Administrators: The way most data

centers work now, if you are adding a server,

you install it and then provision it. The server

administrator has to spend hours – sometimes days

– provisioning the new server. This is challenging

enough for physical machines: For virtual machines it

can be even more difficult. With a Dell AIM solution,

this provisioning is completely automated for both

physical and virtual servers. Beyond that, when it

is time to roll out new services or applications, this

is automated as well, so there is no worry about

adjusting every server in the organization. The time

it takes to accomplish these tasks is significantly

reduced. Also, when a server goes down, Dell

AIM provides automated failover, resulting in less

downtime and fewer spare servers to manage.

Another benefit to the server administrator: Today

even a simple action such as remotely powering

off a server requires an administrator to be trained

with a specific management tool supplied by the

manufacturer. With Dell AIM, the administrator can

simply instruct the system to power off the server.

Network Administrators: In today’s data centers,

every time a new server is installed, it must be

connected to the network. The process for doing

this is often manual and subject to confusion and

delays: Basically, the server administrator has to tell

the network administrator when there is a new server

and the network administrator has to make sure it is

attached to the network. With Dell AIM, this function

is fully automated, and when new hardware is

provisioned—servers, switches or storage devices—

it is automatically added to the network. This

saves time and it eliminates the risk of downtime.

In addition, Dell AIM supports multiple varieties of

network switches, so administrators are not locked

in to one vendor and can choose best-of-breed

products throughout the network. AIM supports any

network configuration, so network administrators

don’t have to undergo wholesale changes in

transforming the data center.

Storage Administrators. One of the big challenges

for storage administrators is managing a wide variety

of devices, all delivering different levels of performance

and functionality for the organization, including solid

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state drives, Fibre Channel, iSCSi drives, as well

as storage-area networks. The last thing a storage

administrator wants to do is rip out these devices

and start anew. Dell AIM not only supports existing

devices—as well as open standards —it enables

the additional provisioning of new devices simply

and easily. Dell AIM allows storage administrators

to assume more control of the data infrastructure by

enabling them to eliminate local storage on the servers

and move storage onto SANs. For both network

and storage administrators, there will be savings in

time and worry by not having to think about making

changes every time there is a change in a server.

Transforming the Data Center, Strategically

While many IT professionals are ready to make

significant changes in their data centers—and almost

all are prepared to make some changes—the idea of

completely transforming the data center can sound

both harrowing and overwhelming. The reality is that

it doesn’t have to be either: The technology to make

this transformation can be rolled out in stages and

it doesn’t require IT to rip out and replace a single

piece of their current infrastructure. When you are

thinking about turning to a virtual-ready infrastructure

solution, here are some of the questions you should

be asking, both of yourself and your potential vendor.

1. Does the solution support open standards? Most

IT departments don’t want to get locked into a single

vendor, whether it is for hardware or software. The idea

of transforming your infrastructure is to support the

best technology solutions—no matter which vendor—

since you want this data center architecture to last

for a long time. If it turns out that you want a mix of

VMware and Hyper-V, you should be able to have that,

right?

2. Does the solution support your existing

infrastructure? You also don’t want to have to throw

out everything and start fresh. If your data center

is like most data centers, there is a wide array of

heterogeneous solutions in place: Rack and blade

servers from various vendors; solid state, SATA and

Fibre Channel storage; several different network

operating systems. The new data center should support

all of this and enable you to add new technology based

on the value of the technology to your organization, and

not based on the strategy of a particular hardware or

software vendor.

3. Is the functionality easy to manage? One of the

big challenges in managing today’s data centers is in

connecting the separate silos that have been artificially

created between servers, storage and networks. You

will still need separate teams to manage those silos,

but you must be able to simplify management and

bridge all of the gaps between the networks, servers

and storage. You want the tools to be in the hands

of the people who know how to use them, and you

don’t want the tools to be so complicated that you

need a PhD in order to run them. Dell AIM offers

synchronization of tasks for each specific role and

puts the power in the hands of the administrators.

4. Does the solution improve business continuity?

Downtime is expensive in every way: It costs money,

drains resources, impacts a company’s reputation

and gets upper management quite upset. In a virtual-

ready infrastructure you can quickly recover from

server failures without having to rebuild a server from

scratch. Within minutes the functions performed by the

failed server—virtual or physical—are re-targeted to an

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available spare server and the applications are back up.

Another important consideration is to determine how

easy the system is to deploy. In most cases, you will

probably want a solution that can be rolled out over

time, so that the IT organization can deploy it gradually

if it so chooses. This way, IT can get used to how it is

working; determine which departments and applications

might benefit from it; and decide how it might be

successfully deployed across the entire infrastructure.

It is also important that the solution be flexible: If the

organization chooses to go back to physical servers for

any particular application or function, it should be able

to do so within the architecture of the infrastructure.

Now’s the Time to Make the Transformation

It is not often that IT has the opportunity to

transform the way in which it operates, and also

transform the way in which it delivers value to

Delivering Value To The BusinessWith a Virtual-Ready Infrastructure

Here are some of the specific ways in which a

virtual-ready infrastructure can transform the value of

IT to the business:

• Lower Costs: With IT looking to save money

in every nook and cranny, having a virtual-ready

infrastructure is a surefire way to create immediate

as well as long-term savings for the organization. The

business will be able to use fewer servers, consume

less energy and consolidate space in the data center.

It will also be able to save money by eliminating

local disks in the servers, if it chooses, as well as by

reducing the number of idle spare servers.

• Better ROI: In addition to reduced spending,

the ROI for the organization’s entire infrastructure

will improve dramatically. The cost, time and

complexity of provisioning new servers will all be

reduced. A virtual-ready infrastructure enables instant

provisioning of storage and network devices as well.

This not only saves the organization money over the

long term, it frees up precious IT resources.

• Maximum Flexibility: The goal of the IT

infrastructure is to seamlessly support the business

and be flexible so it can adapt as the needs of the

business change. A virtual-ready infrastructure—at

least one done right—can enable the organization

to shift resources transparently and without putting

additional costs and strain on the data center. IT

management is simplified and scalability is enabled.

• Improved Efficiency: Almost every goal of IT

can be enhanced through the use of a virtual-ready

infrastructure, including security, compliance, energy

efficiency, redundancy and disaster recovery. When

all IT resources—virtual as well as physical—are

managed in the same environment, it makes for far

more efficient data centers and IT infrastructures.