| By :
Dirik Hameed
There are several reasons why you may want to consider server virtualisation for your company or business. This article highlights some of the benefits to server virtualisation and in addition some aspects to consider before you decide on server virtualisation. Disaster recovery or application backup and/or recovery is quicker and simpler on a virtual server than a physical server because virtualised data is not dependent on the hardware it runs on, which makes it easily transferable. To get an application that is running on Windows on a physical server onto another server, you first need to install Windows on the new server and then install the application and configure it for the new server. It's significantly faster to do the same process between virtual servers. Some applications though don't run well or at all on a Linux VPS host for example. Applications that don't transition to virtualisation very well can be linked to hardware for example, such as scanner software. It is therefore a good idea to check which of your applications will undergo virtualisation well before you start the virtualisation process. If you are thinking about refreshing your company's hardware, upgrading its applications or you would like an improved disaster recovery plan, then it may be suitable to do server virtualisation for your company. Server virtualisation can free up IT staff to work on other tasks and it can free up premise space as one virtual server can replace several physical ones. Businesses often run only one application on a physical server because they don't want to risk the application crashing and bringing down other applications on the same server. There are estimates that most physical servers only run at 10-15% of total capacity. Virtualisation though can make one physical server into a multitasking server. Businesses can spend a great deal of money on powering server capacity that is not being used. Cooling and power costs can be cut through virtualisation as there are fewer physical servers required. If you have fewer physical servers, you can spend less time on manual maintenance. Network storage resources can be better managed through storage virtualisation which pools the resources into what appears as a single storage device. Archiving, backup and recovery is much easier and faster as well. Virtualisation is very good for scalability, allowing businesses to add resources to virtual servers instead of changing or installing additional physical servers. Businesses can save on hardware costs by sharing resources between virtual servers. Managing virtual servers is similar to managing physical ones, but if a company has a small IT team it may be necessary to bring in a virtualisation expert to help get things up and running. The range of server virtualisation skills required includes server skills, networking skills, application skills and storage skills. There is a range of free and available-to-buy virtual servers. You can get advice from other business owners about the virtual servers they utilise, as well as talk to integrators or vendors who are specialists in business virtualisation. You should research what experience the vendors or integrators have, find out if they have worked with companies in the past that are the same size as your company, and don't forget to get references before hiring any virtualisation specialist.
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