A
Virtualization
Roadmap
from Dell and Intel
Virtualization is more than a technology. It is a way of thinking
about problems that allow us to go beyond the physical limitations normally associated with entire classes of hardware, from servers to storage.
Attaining the maximum benefits of virtualization, however, requires a
plan and constant monitoring to ensure peak performance.
INTRODUCTION
Virtualization is a technology solution
that addresses the real business drivers of cost, time and quality. The basic
principle is that a virtual solution hides
physical limitations from end users,
enabling them to consider, for example,
one physical device to be several logical
devices.
Server virtualization, the most popular starting point for a virtualization
strategy, allows one real hardware
server to run multiple instances of operating systems and environments under
the supervision of a layer of software
called a hypervisor. This allows better
utilization of hardware resources, real
estate, energy, and personnel. Advances
in virtualization software have made
some level of adoption a simple decision for most organizations.
VALUE
Flexible Sourcing
Consumption Based Billing
Self-Service Consumption
Dynamic Resource Pooling
Simplified Service Model
Fully Stateless Infrastructure
Rapid Deployment
Improving Availability
Enabling Mobility
Improving Utilization
requires IT resources, but does not want
to be constantly aware of the limitations
of specifying, implementing, and managing it.
As shown in the diagram above, an
enterprise approach to virtualization
can begin with technical benefits of
improving availability, enabling mobility, and improving utilization, but the
benefits do not stop there. They extend
to simplifying the IT architecture, and
ultimately to accurately aligning billing
with consumption.
BUSINESS BENEFITS
OF A VIRTUALIZED ENTERPRISE
THE CONTINUOUS
VIRTUALIZATION LIFECYCLE
As shown in the figure at right, we can
technical benefits of improving availability,
ultimately to accurately aligning billing with
Attaining the full benefits of virtualthink of this approach as a continuous
enabling mobility, and improving utilization,
consumption.
however,
requires
more than
cycle with four phases, from planning
butization,
the benefits
do not stop
there. They
the simple
purchase
of hypervisors
though provisioning, protection, and
extend
to simplifying
the IT architecture,
and and
changing software licenses. It requires
operations. A roadmap for virtualizaan enterprise to take a complete lifetion will include ongoing iterations,
The cycle
C o n t iapproach
nuous Vi rtualizat
i o n Lapplica
i fecycle
to hardware,
tion
with successive cycles moving the
and data management.
As shown in the figure at right, we can think of
The efficient enterprise today and
this approach as a continuous cycle with four
into
the
futurethough
willprovisioning,
leverage virtuphases,
from
planning
alization
and an array
of technoloprotection,
and operations.
A roadmap
for
virtualization
will include
ongoing iterations,
gies designed
to remove
human error
with successive cycles moving the enterprise up
and labor from the tasks associated
the value stack as previously discussed.
with establishing and scaling the IT
infrastructure.
During
the planning phase it is important to
Coming
from
a history
reacting to
prioritize
and identify
short
durationof
projects
with the
highest
impact
from
virtualization.
For
demand changes with long lag times,
each cycle, IT will go through a process of
this on-demand approach to allocation
discovery and inventory of applications and
of IT resources is generally a welcome
infrastructure to identify the best opportunities
change to the
line of business
staff who
for improvements.
In conjunction
with ongoing
application portfolio management efforts, one
would expect to see ongoing attention to capacity
planning.
As
2 virtualization technologies have improved,
Dell, Intel and VMware have collaborated to
optimize them to run natively on Intel Xeon
INTEL XEON PROCESSOR 5600 SERIES
enterprise up the value stack as previously discussed.
During the planning phase it is important to prioritize and identify short
duration projects with the highest
impact from virtualization. For each
cycle, IT will go through a process of
discovery and inventory of applications and infrastructure to identify the
best opportunities for improvements.
In conjunction with ongoing application portfolio management efforts, one
would expect to see ongoing attention
to capacity planning.
After each planning exercise, the high
value virtualization projects will be allocated to resources from the processor
up through the selected hypervisor. Effective workload migration is critical to
the success of the effort, at this stage.
As virtualization technologies have
improved, Dell, Intel and VMware have
collaborated to optimize them to run
natively on Intel Xeon processor-based
platforms. This has allowed for more
effective workload migration across
multiple generations of Dell Xeon servers, including the latest in the Power
Edge family of servers, the 5600, 6500
and 7500 series.
As shown in the diagram above,
better virtualization technology helps
a new 5600 Series platform with approximately 5X the raw performance of
a 2006 Xeon 5100 platform deliver up
to 8X the virtualization performance
of the same platform using industry standard VMmark performance
measurements.
Typically executed next or in parallel
with the provide step, although planned
for in advance, the protect phase
App
AppAppAppAppAppApp
App
OS
OSOSOSOSOSOS
OS
t t t t t VMOTION TECHNOLOGY q q q q q
ESX Server
ESX Server
Hardware
Hardware
includes backup and disaster recovery
activities and testing.
Going into the operational phase,
systems are tune for optimal virtual
machine performance, and measured
against SLAs set during the planning
phase. A key advantage of modern
virtualization software is the ability to
reallocate virtual workstreams from one
physical machine to another without
interruption. This capability, known as
live migration, enables both fault tolerance and dynamic capacity management. As shown in the diagram at right,
a typical configuration with Dell ESX
servers based on Intel Xeon processors
and VMotion technology from VMware allows such seamless operation.
Shared storage is a requirement for live
migration.
Over 40% of the virtualized platforms
today feature live migration. By 2011,
that number is expected to reach 80%.
The requirement to offer live migration
will create increased demand for shared
storage. As users come to expect seamless failover or scalability, the demand
will continue to increase.
Throughout these phases, constant
attention must be paid to regulatory
compliance and enterprise governance
issues, including appropriate audit and
security measures and controls.
COMPLETE VIRTUALIZATION
LIFECYCLE SUPPORT FROM
DELL AND INTEL
Virtualization is the cornerstone of
computing for the foreseeable future,
so a comprehensive strategy to benefit
from all it offers is now a business requirement. As with many technologies,
the road to success is often best when
traveled with a trusted partner. Dell,
Intel, VMware and their partners have
made some of the seminal advances in
this area, and offer complete product
and service support for the enterprise,
PHASE
MAJOR
ACTIVITIES/CONCERNS
DELL & INTEL
PARTNERS
Planning
Test lab/QA
Discovery/Inventory
Capacity Planning
VMware, Symantec
Vizioncore, Platform Computing
Microsoft, PlateSpin
Double-Take
Provisioning
Bare Metal
Hypervisor Deployment
Workload Migration
VMware, Citrix XenServer
PlateSpin, Double-Take
Microsoft, Symantec
Vizioncore
Protect
Back up/Disaster Recovery
High Availability
VMware, Citrix XenServer
PlateSpin, Double-Take
Microsoft, Symantec
Vizioncore
Operations
Charge Back
Workload Orchestration
SLA/Policy Mgmt
VM Performance
VM Update/HW Update
VMware, Citrix XenServer
PlateSpin, Platform Computing
Microsoft, Symantec
Vizioncore, Double-Take
Compliance
Audit & Compliance
Antivirus, Firewalls
Symantec
Reflex
regardless of how advanced the firm
is today.
In the chart above, we highlight some
of the additional partnerships Dell
and Intel offer to support enterprises
through each cycle, from planning
through optimizing the operational
systems. As always, it is important to
begin with setting and then exceeding
realistic user expectations, and nobody
has more experience in this area than
the team from Dell and Intel.
The modular approach to virtuali-
zation and IT infrastructure planning
enables firms of all sizes to choose an
appropriate starting point and attain the
business objectives that should be at the
heart of all technology investments.
A comprehensive data center strategy
for virtualization clearly extends beyond
server virtualization, and requires specialized expertise in a number of areas.
As shown in the figure above, Dell,
with a portfolio of partners driven by
customer-demand, offers a wide range
of services to accommodate customer
budgets and unique requirements. Each
of the boxes represents a field tested offthe-shelf solution that can be tailored to
an individual firm, bringing the benefits
of best practices and experiences from
Planning
&
Management
Platform
Optimization
&
Virtualization
Data
Management
Data Center
Strategy
Server
Virtualization
Capacity
Planning &
Performance
Mgt.
many similar engagements. This enables the Dell team to offer comprehensive virtualization services on a fixedprice basis to reduce risk and improve
ROI for clients in all industries. p
Facilities
Efficiency
Networking
Disaster
Recovery
Capacity,
Storage
Efficiency and
Consolidation
Reliability
Opt.
Optimization
Business
Impact
Assessment
Cloud
Computing
(Private &
Public)
Storage
Optimization
Site
Selection
Performance
Tuning
Planning
and
Architecture
Systems
Management
Virtualized
Operations
Data
Protection
Conceptual
Design
Capacity
Planning
Design &
Implement
Systems
DC
Consolidation
& Migration
Windows
Server
(Hyper-V)
Data Center
Operations
Database
Optimization
Energy
Management
Program
Management
Testing and
Compliance
HPCC
Unix to
Linux
Active
Directory
