Information Technology Dept moving to Virtualization
What is virtualization?
The basic idea behind virtualization is to use software to simulate the existence of hardware. This powerful idea will allow us to run multiple computer systems on a single physical computer system. Each of the simulated computers is called a virtual machine or VM, hence the term virtualization. This is the direction most companies have already taken, so the community support for Virtualization is outstanding.
Why are we virtualizing our hardware? To take advantage of the multiple benefits of this technology as well as to position ourselves for growth. It will also provide redundancy which translates directly to reduced downtime if a system fails. Here are a few more details about why we decided to make this move.
- It saves money: Virtualization reduces the number of physical servers we will need to run, which means savings on hardware costs and on the total amount of energy needed to run hardware and provide cooling.
- It’s faster: Newer virtualized servers can process workloads faster than our existing servers, and it takes minutes, not days to build new servers.
- It reduces system administration work: With virtualization in place, Nutramax IT will not have to support so many physical machines. This will allow us to focus on more strategic administrative tasks.
- It makes software installation easier: Software vendors are pouring more money into R&D with their products preinstalled in virtual machines (also known as virtual appliances), much of the traditional installation and configuration work associated with the software will disappear.
- Redundancy: Server virtualization will provide a way for us to practice redundancy without purchasing loads of additional hardware. Redundancy refers to running the same application on multiple servers. This minimizes any interruption in service. We will have some of our mission-critical applications replicated onto separate hardware. If the primary virtual machine or the hardware where it lives were to fail, the second instance will be brought up very quickly.
Nutramax has been using a form of virtualization for many years, but still, have several important systems that haven’t been virtualized yet. We will be migrating our existing virtual environment and other physical servers into a new VMware environment. VMware is the market leader of virtual solutions. Ultimately this translates into a better experience for our Nutramax employees. We are so excited to finally see this project come to fruition.
