What is Server Virtualization Technology?
Most of us are used to running one computer system on one computer, but many people actually run more than one system on a single physical computer. This is called “virtualization.” Some people run a second operating system for the sake of a special software; other users use virtual copies of operating systems in order to get the most use out of their hardware. To define it briefly, virtualization is running one or more independent virtual systems on a single physical system. These systems can be full user-interface operating systems or server systems. Server virtualization technology is especially useful for several reasons.
4 Benefits of Server Virtualization Technology
First, server virtualization technology allows network administrators to get more performance out of their physical hardware systems. Let’s consider an example. Suppose a network admin needs to run five different application servers. He could buy five different computers, dedicating each hardware set-up to a specific application. But there is a better option: dividing a single powerful computer into five different virtual server systems. This allows you to get five (or more) individual systems out of a single physical computer.
Second, server virtualization technology makes your server room more efficient. Rather than racks and racks of drives and server hardware, a single physical computer can house several individual virtual servers. This allows for savings in space and cost.
Third, server virtualization technology is also a money saving technique in the long run. For medium or low processing requirements, buying individual dedicated hardware becomes expensive quickly. A single powerful computer running several dedicated servers costs much less than purchasing multiple less-powerful systems.
A fourth benefit of server virtualization technology is data protection. The system itself is secure because each system is technically isolated from the others: there is no danger of exposing information to the wrong user. Further, in case of data loss or server outage, restoring back-ups is much easier. Running a back-up copy of a single virtualized server has all the same advantages over running individual back-ups of separate physical servers: space, cost, and performance. Additionally, restoring a back-up is easier because it’s simply a matter of restoring files, not resetting servers or rebuilding hardware.
How to Set Up Virtualization Technology
Setting up server virtualization technology is not very difficult. Most good virtualization tools come with automatic conversion tools that will take your existing servers and copy them correctly into virtual servers. There are some concerns to know about. An important issue is licensing: you will need to license software for each virtualized machine you run. Each server admin will need to find the balance between savings from virtualized servers and cost of licenses.
