In part one of this "series" ( ok, mini-series) I spoke about the benefits of Server refresh. It is pretty huge for most installed servers. In many cases an IT manager could see a 5x jump in compute capacity by replacing depreciated servers. If these are older single core processor based servers, the number is probably even greater. Hopefully a 5x increase in capacity can push out your data center construction needs.
My next recommendation revolves around virtualization, or more specifically consolidation through virtualization. You can skip the words now and jump to the video below.... but since you are still reading, here is an intro to the video. I have seen a lot different data on "enterprise server utilization" but most of it pegs the meter at 10-15% utilization for volume landscape servers. ( By the way, that is a low number, not something to be proud of) Now, if you follow my advice and replace all these less-efficient older servers with cutting edge high efficiency Intel quad core machines, on a one for one basis, you are going to see some pretty un-pleasant utilization. Think single digit. In a nutshell, it is time to virtualize and consolidate. If you both virtualize and carefully manage and balance your workloads, it is reasonable to expect another 5x capacity boost through improved utilization. AND 5x*5x=*25x* more capacity ( in the same space and power!) (Try out the Intel consolidation calculator) vid 2
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Apr 19, 2008 9:02 PM
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K_Lloyd
K_Lloyd
@npb,
Thanks for the comment. Security does remain a concern in virtualized deployments. Some of this is just perception and fear, but there are valid concerns about achieving absolute isolation of partitions on single virtulized machine. I have read of several approaches to managing security in virtualized environments, but have not seen anything that assesses the cost quantitatively. I would be interested in anything you could point me to. I encourage you to look at the entries posted by Matt Rosenquist on security in the enterprise.
I feel in this excitement about virtual storage, we should not overlook virtual secuirty or virtsec as it is increasingly being called. The cost of extra security might take away from any financial benefit that virtualization may offer.