What Is Server Virtualization?
Hyper-V is a long-awaited technology that has been anticipated to help Microsoft leap past rival virtual server technologies such as VMware and XenServer. Although Microsoft has had a virtual server technology for a few years, the features and capabilities have always lagged behind its competitors. Windows Server 2008 was written to provide enhanced virtualization technologies through a rewrite of the Windows kernel itself to support virtual server capabilities equal to, if not better than, other options on the market. This article introduces the Hyper-V server role in Windows Server 2008 and provides best practices that organizations can follow to leverage the capabilities of server virtualization to lower costs and improve the manageability of an organization’s network server environment.
Server virtualization is the ability for a single system to host multiple guest operating system sessions, effectively taking advantage of the processing capabilities of very powerful servers. Most servers in data centers run under 5% to 10% processor utilization, meaning that excess capacity on the servers goes unused. By combining the workloads of multiple servers onto a single system, an organization can better utilize the processing power available in its networking environment. Just 2 to 3 years ago, virtualization was used primarily as a test environment solution for information technology (IT) departments. If an IT administrator wanted to test new software, rather than building up a full physical server and loading software on that system, the administrator would install the software on a virtual server system and fiddle with the software off the virtual server. A virtual server enabled the IT administrator to load up several different test systems without purchasing or setting up separate computer systems.
However, virtual servers were not considered reliable or robust enough to handle the dayto- day demands of an organization’s IT needs. Much of that belief stemmed from the limitations of computer hardware capacity that existed just half a decade ago; server systems were underutilized but still taking up 20% to 30% of system capacity. Whereas hardware provided significant excess capacity to consolidate server processes into fewer server systems, the social interest to go “green” has driven organizations to decrease their power consumption and improve their resource utilization. Virtualization enables an organization to decrease the number of physical computers they need to purchase, and in doing so also decreases the power and air-conditioning cooling demands that physical computer systems require. An organization that can decrease the physical number of its servers by 50% to 75% can decrease their electrical power requirements by a similar percentage.
Virtualization also decreases the computer data center “sprawl,” whereas the increase of physical servers in the recent past caused organizations to continue to increase the square footage of their data centers. With virtualization physical server systems, an organization can decrease the size of their data centers and decrease the overall footprint required to host their information systems. Many organizations now realize that fewer server systems and lower demands on electrical power, air-conditioning costs, and the decrease in data center space are lowering the cost of IT operations. To increase profitability, or just to manage overhead costs, virtualization enables organizations to decrease costs and better utilize IT resources.
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