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1. What is Server Virtualization?
2. What is a Virtual Machine?
3. How does virtualization work?
4. What are the Advantages of Virtualization?
5. What is Disaster Recovery?
6. Why Plan for Disaster Recovery?

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What is a Virtual Machine?

"Virtual machine" is the term applied to the server environments running on a piece of hardware. So, in the example above, the decoupled Linux and Windows servers running on a single blade server would be referred to as virtual machines.

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How Does Virtualization Work?

Generally, server virtualization solutions work by introducing a thin layer over the physical server. This layer partitions the physical server into separate areas that the virtual servers then run on. Computing resources from the underlying server are viewed as a pool of resources which can then be shared among the virtual machines sitting on top. With the exception of that sharing of computing resources, each virtual server acts as its own entity; problems with an application on one server do not affect other virtual machines on that same physical server.

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What are the advantages of virtualization?

The advantages of a properly planned for and implemented virtualization project are great. They include:

• Server consolidation: The most often talked about benefit of virtualization. If applications running on separate computers do not utilize the computing resources of their computers, they can be consolidated onto a smaller number of servers using virtualization technology. Infotech, an IT research firm, estimates that distributed physical servers generally use only 20 percent of their capacity, and that, by virtualizing those server environments, enterprises can boost hardware utilization to between 60 percent and 80 percent. Doing the math, that's a 3:1 or 4:1 consolidation ratio, though some companies have reported consolidation ratios as high as 12:1.

• Smaller footprint: Virtualizing servers decreases the number of physical boxes that a company must use. This means a smaller datacenter, with the resulting decreases in cooling and electrical costs.

• Hardware costs: Because virtualization allows for greater utilization of existing resources, fewer physical servers are required, saving money both on upfront hardware costs and and on maintenance costs.

• Flexibility and agility: Often used buzzwords, "increased agility and flexibility" really do apply to virtualization. Because virtualization allows for the quick creation of different operating system environments, it is easy to run legacy applications alongside new versions, migrate applications to new environments, and restore systems in post-disaster scenarios.

• Ease of Testing and Development: In a similar vein as above, virtualization speeds up the development and testing process because it makes it easier to create different operating system environments. Virtualization allows designers to compare application performance across different operating environments, as well testing out applications in virtual environments (which therefore avoids destabilizing the system that users are currently using).

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