The Benefits of Server Virtualization for the Small and Medium Business a Principled Technologies White Paper 2

BENEFITS PERFORMANCE CONFIGURATION MANAGEABILITY TCO VIDEO REPORT GUIDE STUDY STUDY

Wouldn’t it be nice to simplify your server setup, putting all of your important business applications in one place, and get better performance, simpler management, and lower costs? Virtualization lets you do just that. Server virtualization is one of the hottest trends in business today because the benefits are impressive and no company is too small to reap them. With it, you can  save money, time, and space by improving server utilization  have fewer servers to purchase, manage, power, and protect  manage your servers more efficiently  make vital business data more secure and available  deploy new servers and applications in minutes—and remove them just as quickly when you no longer need them  employ “green” technology standards and use less energy  host multiple applications on a single server  control, monitor, and optimize your IT infrastructure

Whatever your level of knowledge about virtualization, if you would like to learn more about the value it can bring to your business, this paper is for you. After you’ve read it, you can dig deeper by exploring the other reports in our study. To do so, just click the different report tabs at the top of this page.

A PRINCIPLED TECHNOLOGIES WHITE PAPER Commissioned by Dell Inc.; October 2011

WHAT IS many VMs simultaneously on one analogous. Studies have shown VIRTUALIZATION—AND server than to run each OS- that businesses typically use as HOW DOES IT HELP MY application set on separate little as 10 percent of their COMPANY? physical servers. servers’ total capacity. Virtualization is a simple Replacing many physical Why don’t businesses utilize approach to computing that brings servers with one is only the the resources they pay good value to companies of every size. beginning of the advantages of money for? Often, they run only Through virtualization, you take virtualization. one main application per server in multiple business applications that BUY FEWER SERVERS, GET an attempt to minimize the impact have traditionally resided on their MORE OUT OF EACH of a crash or conflict on other own servers and bring them You wouldn’t continually run applications. together to run on a single your dishwasher with only one or Unfortunately, having physical server. two plates in it, wasting water and underutilized servers not only Each of these applications runs electricity; such underutilization increases power consumption and on an operating system (OS) in its would make no sense. However, necessitates more physical space, own virtual machine (VM), when it comes to servers many it also requires more equipment independent of the other VMs on businesses are doing something and hardware maintenance, which the server. The applications increases operating costs. behave just as if they were located Additionally, each new on individual physical servers. application might require a new By setting up one or two server (and all the added work servers to house virtual machines, that comes with setting it up and you gain the ability to respond maintaining it). quickly and easily to the inevitable In contrast, virtualization gives fluctuations in your business you the confidence to run multiple needs, along with the ability to applications on each server without fear of a single application keep your data running 24/7. Figure 1 displays a traditional Figure 1: A traditional non-virtualized bringing down the entire server. If non-virtualized setup with five OS- server setup. an application crashes and hurts application pairs, each running on one VM, the others keep running. its own physical server. Figure 2 Companies that virtualize can shows a virtualized setup in which enjoy 80 percent server the five OS-application pairs are in utilization—and still leave some separate VMs that are all running capacity for especially busy times. on one physical server. These VMs They can fit 10 or even more share the physical server’s virtual servers onto a single hardware resources. physical server—and eliminate Modern servers have hardware those extra machines and the enhancements that make it much costs of running them. easier and more efficient to run Figure 2: A virtualized server setup.

The benefits of server virtualization for the small and medium business A Principled Technologies white paper 2

Figure 3 depicts this difference server with virtual machines is increase. Instead of having to buy in server utilization when much easier to set up, use, and a new server, you just copy an consolidating five servers into one. maintain than a physical server. existing VM and install an Having fewer servers to buy, Setting up a VM is easy—you can application on it. It’s so easy that power, and maintain saves you create one with a few clicks of the you can now afford to experiment time and money. mouse, load the server operating with new applications at minimal RESPOND TO CHANGING system into it, install the cost and downtime. BUSINESS NEEDS application you want, and start If you no longer need a VM, A virtualized environment the VM. From start to finish, the you can remove it just as easily. makes it easy to reallocate process takes only a few minutes. This kind of flexibility is impossible computer resources among in a traditional, non-virtualized applications as needs dictate. One setting, where each new instance where this is useful is application requires a new when your company is phasing out physical server. an older application in favor of a Because virtualization reduces newer one. Today, all your the time you have to spend employees are using the older managing your servers, you free app, but over the next several staff time to focus on improving weeks, your IT staff will be moving other aspects of your business’ groups of employees to the computing activities. updated version. Virtualization IMPROVE SERVER makes this kind of migration a SECURITY snap—each time a new group of The applications and operating users makes the switch, IT can systems on virtual machines are reduce the resources allocated to completely isolated from one the old VM and expand those another and depend on only the allocated to the new VM. single physical server. If one VM Consider also a scenario where Figure 3: Improved server crashes, the crash does not affect your IT staff is testing a new utilization with virtualization. any of the other VMs. Moreover, application. They can create a Setting up a physical server you can restart the failed VM with moderately resource-intensive VM might easily have taken you a just a click of the mouse. for the pilot period and then, once week or more in the past when Similarly, each VM is isolated the new app is ready to go live, you include the time to order it, from the physical server on which dedicate the full complement of receive it, configure and test the it runs. It cannot tamper with that resources with a few mouse clicks. hardware, ensure you have server. SPEND LESS TIME enough power for it, and so on. In addition, if a virus or a MANAGING SERVERS As your business grows and you software problem compromises a Virtualization also greatly need to expand the number of virtual machine, you can shut simplifies server management, servers and applications you use, down that VM easily and restart a saving your IT staff time. A single the savings from virtualization new, clean copy of it in moments.

The benefits of server virtualization for the small and medium business A Principled Technologies white paper 3

Likewise, you can transfer the require you to take the physical If the physical server the VMs applications and data on the server offline. You can apply run on crashes, so do the virtual compromised VM to the new one upgrades or patches with a few machines themselves. Fear not, and so avoid any loss of data in mouse clicks, and then promptly however: You can add a the event of a VM crash. return the VM to full operation, redundant server that You can copy VMs, move them, without the usual delays of automatically takes over if the first back them up, and so on. It’s easy booting a physical server. server fails. This way, no single to save a copy of a VM to a file so Similarly, you can change how a hardware failure could cause data that, if a VM is compromised, you VM uses system resources with a loss or downtime for your can roll back the VM to the clean few clicks, whereas on a physical business. saved version without any trouble. server, you would have to Figures 4 and 5 depict the This is much simpler than manually shut down the system difference, with Figure 4 showing restoring a compromised physical and change its hardware. a simple one-server setup and server. With virtualization, it is easy to Figure 5 showing a high- KEEP YOUR SERVERS add more disk space, increase availability setup with a redundant RUNNING AND YOUR memory, add processors, and server. Note: In these solutions, DATA AVAILABLE more. Managing and maintaining each server is connected to a Every business must ensure the resources a VM uses is switch, a hardware component that critical data is always considerably simpler and quicker that links pieces of equipment. available and protected against than doing so for a physical server; The switches connect the servers computer failures and security it’s the difference between to external network storage, breaches. Virtual machines spending hours tangled in cords which many users can access at provide a first level of isolation and minutes clicking a mouse. once. and protection against data loss. You may be wondering, “But The connecting lines illustrate While you may need to briefly what happens when the one the possible paths that saved data interrupt normal work for physical server needs can take from the server(s) to software maintenance, e.g., to maintenance?” storage. In the high-availability apply operating system upgrades Virtualized solutions can keep solution, all data has duplicate or patches, with virtualization, your business running even when pathways. such routine maintenance doesn’t your physical server needs work.

Figure 4: A standard one-server solution. Figure 5: A high-availability solution with redundant servers.

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Figure 6: VM failover keeps your workloads running even when a physical server fails.

As Figure 6 shows, you can set affordable servers, this have been regularly backing up things up so that, in the event of redundancy is inexpensive and your VMs, you can easily restore an unexpected physical server easy; you, too, can enjoy constant your VM to any device that can failure, the VMs on that server server availability. host virtual machines. automatically move to the other GET BETTER DATA PREPARE FOR THE FUTURE server. This can happen so quickly PROTECTION WITH SPACE TO GROW that the VMs are back in service Data loss can be a calamity. Being able to easily copy virtual within a few minutes. Having to fix servers or servers to a single physical server When a physical server needs reconstruct lost data from means you aren’t locked into the routine maintenance, you simply archives and other backup media hardware limitations of any move the VMs on that server to is a major headache. Moreover, particular physical server. You can the other server with a few mouse data loss can threaten your replace multiple older servers with clicks. This allows you to carry out relationship with your customers. a single newer one, and place routine server maintenance You often can’t respond quickly to multiple virtual servers on your without downtime, which means their needs if your server setup is new physical server. If you want to IT staff need not be in the office out of commission. increase the computing power late, and your customers and Virtualization improves data available to your applications, you workers need not suffer the protection by making it easy to can easily move your VMs to a inconvenience of being unable to recover from hardware failure. As new and more powerful physical access important data. we mentioned, in a high- server, again with a few mouse In the past, only larger availability solution with two clicks. companies had the budget and servers, the VM is restored Virtualization lets you access expertise for these sorts of automatically and almost more of the capabilities of your solutions. With new virtualization instantaneously. In the single- physical servers and makes it easy technologies and ever more server solution, as long as you to move to a new physical

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server if necessary to gain more computing power. Adding future software products is also easier than ever. Building new VMs is simple. Some software companies even sell their software in pre-built virtual machines. You simply download the prebuilt VM (also called a virtual appliance) and instantly Figure 7: The Dell 2-2-1 solution. have a VM running the new much as $12,000 a year in power  Two sets of network software. 1 costs. connections between the servers, via two Dell USE LESS POWER & SPACE THE DELL APPROACH Virtualization is green PowerConnect™ 5524 high- Dell is ready to help you move performance switches technology, good for you and for to a virtualized computing  One Dell PowerVault™ the environment. Because it environment. Dell provides MD3200i storage array or reduces the number of physical support and services to help you EqualLogic PS4100 or PS6100 servers you need, it saves you move in the right technological for data storage space and power. direction for your business. Dell The two servers share the It can be difficult to find has extensive experience network switch connections and sufficient floor space for physical providing server solutions to small the network storage. servers. Cramming physical businesses and is a leader in the To learn about our first-hand servers into a space also increases implementation of virtualization experiences with server cooling costs, because every solutions. virtualization using the Dell 2-2-1 server generates substantial heat. Dell 2-2-1 solutions provide solution, see our additional Virtualization reduces the virtualization for smaller reports and benefits video. number of servers, which means businesses. Figure 7 shows one you consume less electricity. such 2-2-1 solution, which Because power and cooling To help guide customers includes the following shortages cause server or storage through mission-critical IT components: downtime in about half of server decisions, Dell provides  Two Dell PowerEdge™ R410 software like the Dell installations, a reduction in energy physical servers, running Performance Analysis Collection use also minimizes this risk. either VMware® vSphere® or According to a recent Dell Microsoft® Windows Server® Kit (DPACK). This application estimate, moving from five servers 2008 R2, that provide the gives you a true sense of your safety of a redundant solution to a single server can save you as current IT environment and helps you identify areas for further optimization. 1 http://i.dell.com/sites/content/business/smb/ sb360/en/Documents/wp-improve-datacenter- perf.pdf (based on an estimate of $200 per server per month)

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