The Many Faces of Virtualization
Submitted by vcadmin on Fri, 10/31/2008 - 02:33
Applications are written to use resources available from the OS. When we install an application, it often tweaks the OS to suit its needs. There are instances when conflicts arise as different applications vie for the same OS resources. Microsoft, XenSource (recently purchased by Citrix) and Altiris (a Symantec subsidiary) skirt around this by developing technology which effectively isolate the application from the OS. They call this application virtualization.
Brocade and Cisco dominate the technology we know as network virtualization which takes the same principles as storage virtualization but involves the management and pooling of all resources connected to the network including storage, servers and services.
If you are confused, you are not alone. But don't blame it on technology. IT merely mirrors the complexity with which businesses operate today. But that does not give vendors a blanket excuse to create solutions that only techies can understand. If any, vendors must deliver solutions that are easy to install, operate, manage and maintain. The underlying complexity should be masked and only accessible as and when it is absolutely critical.
So how did we get to the point where we are today?
Too many servers, too many users demanding to access data across platforms of all shapes and sizes, and too much data sitting at different locations creating the potential for data lost or security breach, as well as a swelling headache for IT as the custodian of a company's information.
"Users need instant access to real-time data. They want to be able to securely share that information with partners, customers and outsourcers. They also want their applications kept up-to-date without impacting their productivity," says Dennis Rose, vice president, Citrix Systems Asia Pacific.
Article Source: articlesbase
About the Author: Jose Allan Tan is a technologist-market observer based in Asia. A former marketing director for a storage vendor, he is today director of web strategy and content director for Questex Asia Ltd. He also served as senior industry analyst for Dataquest/Gartner and was at one time an account director for a regional PR agency.
Virtualization is arguably one of the most abused words in the tech industry in 2006. Virtualization is different things to different vendors depending on what is appended to it. Server and operating system (OS) vendors like IBM, HP and VMware define it as the masking of server resources, including processor and OS, into multiple, isolated virtual environments. Why do you want to do this? Gartner claims that we use only, on average, less than 10 percent of a physical server's computing resources. So why would you buy another server if you are under utilizing an existing one?
Applications are written to use resources available from the OS. When we install an application, it often tweaks the OS to suit its needs. There are instances when conflicts arise as different applications vie for the same OS resources. Microsoft, XenSource (recently purchased by Citrix) and Altiris (a Symantec subsidiary) skirt around this by developing technology which effectively isolate the application from the OS. They call this application virtualization.
Brocade and Cisco dominate the technology we know as network virtualization which takes the same principles as storage virtualization but involves the management and pooling of all resources connected to the network including storage, servers and services.
If you are confused, you are not alone. But don't blame it on technology. IT merely mirrors the complexity with which businesses operate today. But that does not give vendors a blanket excuse to create solutions that only techies can understand. If any, vendors must deliver solutions that are easy to install, operate, manage and maintain. The underlying complexity should be masked and only accessible as and when it is absolutely critical.
So how did we get to the point where we are today?
Too many servers, too many users demanding to access data across platforms of all shapes and sizes, and too much data sitting at different locations creating the potential for data lost or security breach, as well as a swelling headache for IT as the custodian of a company's information.
"Users need instant access to real-time data. They want to be able to securely share that information with partners, customers and outsourcers. They also want their applications kept up-to-date without impacting their productivity," says Dennis Rose, vice president, Citrix Systems Asia Pacific.
Article Source: articlesbase
About the Author: Jose Allan Tan is a technologist-market observer based in Asia. A former marketing director for a storage vendor, he is today director of web strategy and content director for Questex Asia Ltd. He also served as senior industry analyst for Dataquest/Gartner and was at one time an account director for a regional PR agency.
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