All the latest UK technology news, reviews and analysis
|
|
|
08 Aug 2008
IT managers looking to adopt virtualisation technologies must plan their migrations carefully or risk application failure, according to IT services firm Compuware.
Hadrian James, technology manager for the firm, said that IT leaders must initially weigh up whether a move to virtualisation would actually benefit their organisation, as the technology can cause some applications like SQL and Exchange to run slower than usual, or fail.
"Also, if your virtual server goes down you have lost lots of boxes rather than just one," he added.
He recommended firms to baseline test the performance of their apps to ensure that those running on a virtualised server run at the same performance levels as those on dedicated servers.
"IT should be looking to minimise the risk involved [in adopting virtualisation]," said James. "Therefore they should make one change at a time and do measurements before and after."
James also argued that companies need to take care when configuring their virtual servers' host machine, because if it is misconfigured it could overload and bring down all the apps sitting on it.
"There is one more machine to monitor in virtual environments," he added. " You need to monitor each virtual machine but also the external host machine – so there's an extra layer of complexity,"
Latest stories from Software
Related videos
Related articles
Related jobs
Poll
Are you confident that the UK's IT infrastructure is secure from attack in the wake of the Flame malware revelations?
Orange and Intel talk us through the ins and outs of their San Diego smartphone
Connect with V3.co.uk
Social networking is almost ubiquitous. This white paper examines the benefits and risks and it looks at the different ways companies can reconcile them
The importance of understanding your infrastructure
Credit Risk Modeller, SAS, London, £50,000 Title- Credit...
My London client is looking for an experienced Programme...
My leading client is looking for a number of excellent...
My client, a leading international name in Manufacturing...
Keep up to date with the latest products, services and technologies from the world's leading IT companies. IThound.com brings you over 2,000 white papers, case studies and analyst reports.
Do you agree?
Virtualisation Benefits Usually Outweigh The Risks
It's true that planning is very important and that consolidating multiple physical servers into just a few virtual servers creates an 'all eggs in one basket' situation ? a single point of failure for multiple applications. Still, IT managers should not feel apprehensive about virtualising their servers because of fears that it might make applications like SQL or Exchange more susceptible to disruptions. IDC considers virtualisation to be one of today's hottest technologies, reporting 54 per cent of companies will take the plunge in the next year. This is because the benefits of the technology, including simplified IT management, reduced hardware overheads, increased scalability, far outweigh any disadvantages, such as those outlined by Mr James. Furthermore, there are technologies available in the market, which have been designed specifically to protect virtual servers against downtime, whilst ensuring the continuity of operations. Migrating applications to a virtual environment doesn't have to be complex or jeopardise availability. IT managers need to be provided with enough information to enable them to assess whether virtualisation will be beneficial for their business and to make an informed decision accordingly.
Posted by: Brian Mullins 08 Aug 2008