Planning Primer: Architecture

Planning Primer: Architecture

You can't just slap your virtual infrastructure together -- you need to know where each piece lives in the production stack to get the most out of it.

August 15, 2008 · by Danielle Ruest and Nelson Ruest

There's a lot of hype in hypervisors, especially with everyone and their dog getting into the virtualization game, but one thing is certain: virtualization and hypervisors are part of your future if you work in a data center. If you're not using virtualization yet, then you'll want to start with the design of your virtualization architecture. If you're already using virtualization, you've probably come to realize that a virtualization architecture is an absolute must as you start building your virtualization layer cake. After all, you'll be using virtualization for many years to come, and like a cake, you'll want your virtualization architecture to stand on its own and not flop the first time it comes under pressure.

Learn Your ABCs

Building a virtualization architecture and moving to a dynamic data center -- a data center where you completely control the provision of services on an as-needed basis in response to changing business requirements -- is as simple as A-B-C.

First, architect your virtualization solution.

Second, build your virtualization infrastructure.

Third, convert physical machines to virtual workloads.

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Throughout this process, you'll need to keep key factors in mind and monitor the impact virtualization will have on various aspects of your infrastructure, including your network operations, business processes and the bottom line. Also keep in mind that you should manage the move to virtualization like a project and aim to get it right the first time.

The 7 Layers

Start by learning what can be virtualized and how it affects a complete virtualization architecture. A complete virtualization architecture includes seven different layers, each affecting a different...