virtualization for competitive advantage - eric vanderburg

© Eric Vanderburg 2009

Virtualization for Competitive Advantage

Cleveland State UniversityMarch 13, 2009Eric Vanderburg


About the Presenter•Network Operations Manager at JurInnov,

ltd.•Adjunct Professor of CIS at LCCC•Vatterott College Board Member•Working on Doctorate in Information

Assurance•Over 15 vendor certifications•Served as an expert witness•10+ years in IT•Given presentations around the world


Overview•Terminology•Virtualization benefits•Challenges•Options


Terminology•Virtual Machine – a computer that resides

on another operating system consuming a portion of the available resources

•Hypervisor – Software that virtual machines run on top of

•Virtualization ambiguity…


Why Virtualize•Reduce costs

▫Hardware▫Power (Enhances green initiatives)▫Rack space

•Increase agility•Scale better•Tap unused resources•Business Continuity Management•Recover Quicker


Hardware SharingMost datacenter servers are only 10-15% utilized.

(IDC)•More RAM than exists can be allocated so

that individual machines can “burst”•Transparent page sharing – the

hypervisor stores only one copy of a duplicate file in the host RAM.

•Virtual hard drives can be variable size


CAPEX and OPEX Savings•According to VMWare virtualization…

▫Increases server utilization by 80%▫Allows consolidation of servers at a 12:1

ratio▫Reduces datacenter space▫Servers can be deployed in hours rather

than weeks


Power and Cooling SavingsBefore Virtualization After Virtualization

• 1 CPU 300 units 475 W• 2 CPU 500 units 550 W• 4 CPU 200 units 950 W• 8 CPU 0 units 1600 W• 200 racks or 4,700 sq ft• $289,878 / year in power• $362,348 / year in cooling

• 1 CPU 0 units 550 W• 2 CPU 38 units 675 W• 4 CPU 38 units 1150 W• 8 CPU 4 units 1900 W• 10 racks or 235 sq ft• $36,718 / year in power• $45,897 / year in cooling


Design and Simulation•Non-production environment•Variables can be changed on demand•Machines can be saved “point-in-time”•Scenarios can be built from templates•Prototypes can be moved from site to site

electronically facilitating a distributed workforce.


Training•Mistakes can be rolled back•Reduced setup time for new training•Same hardware can be used for different

tasks•Students are free to try new things

without impacting other students


Flexibility and Economies of Scale•Niche needs can be achieved by taking a

small piece of hardware in a larger system.

•The additive cost for each new machine decreases since the software scales.

•Management machines can be reused


Eliminate Legacy Equipment•Dynamically balance VMs•Run different operating systems on the

same hardware•Virtualize systems that are hard to

support such as AS/400 or DOS machines.

•Servers now run on more reliable hardware with manufacturer support


Business Continuity Management•Disaster recovery sites can be brought up

much faster•Disaster recovery sites can utilize

different hardware to host the same virtualized systems


Challenges44% who said they had deployed server virtualization technology were unable to declare their deployment a success. Inability to quantify ROI was a key factor in their reticence to definitively claim positive results. (Information Week)•Management

▫It is easier to lose track of virtual machines when virtualization is implemented at a large scale. Procedures and controls, especially change controls, are necessary to protect resources and licensing.

▫Viewing virtual machines as free▫Employing experienced virtualization

professionals


Challenges• Technical

▫ Servers need to be prioritized and balanced▫ VLAN management crosses hardware (switches,

routers) and software (Hypervisors)▫ Shared storage is necessary

▫ “The single largest outlay for virtualization is shared storage” (Java World)

• Security and Risk▫ Consolidation of resources also increases the

impact of resource unavailability▫ Virtual machines could be transferred

Secure less secure - less secure hypervisor giving unauthorized access

Less secure secure – backdoors, viruses, or lax machine policies existing in a secure site

▫ Hypervisors make tempting targets


Products• VMWare ESX

▫ Offers Vmotion to move machines between servers▫ Single software application for all VM tools – virtual center▫ Mature product (10 years)

• Microsoft Hyper-V▫ Server 2008 with Hyper-V has a larger HCL▫ Requires 3rd party replication to do VM failover▫ Better than previous Virtual Server platforms because Server

2008 can run in core mode using fewer resources• Xen (open source)

▫ Flexible HCL on top of Linux▫ Complex to administer

• Parallels for Mac OSX• Virtual PC• FastScale Composer – lifecycle management for VMs,

prompts when a machine is about to expire, tracks usage, reporting…


Contact info

[email protected]://scholarlyportal.comhttp://www.jurinnov.com

virtualization for competitive advantage - eric vanderburg

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