Vm Paper

ABSTRACT

In this paper, we explain virtualization and discuss using virtual machines to address continuously supporting the 24/7 operation of a network and its growth as well as current problems with processing power and cost.

Categories and Subject Descriptors

C.5.5 [Computer System Implementation]: Servers

General Terms

Management, Performance, Economics, Design, Reliability, Security

Keywords

VMware, Virtual Servers, Virtual Networks

Introduction

Among the leading business challenges confronting CIOs and IT managers today are: cost-effective utilization of IT infrastructure; responsiveness in supporting new business initiatives; and flexibility in adapting to organizational changes. Driving an additional sense of urgency is the continued climate of IT budget constraints and more stringent regulatory requirements. Virtualization is a fundamental technological innovation that allows skilled IT managers to deploy creative solutions to such business challenges. By using virtual machines, we can reduce the cost of acquisition and increase processing power of the servers needed. Also, by tapping the wide bandwidth of a high-performance processing server, we can increase the network bandwidth which is referred to as Server Proliferation.1

Virtualization has actually been around more than three decades. Once only accessibly by the large, rich and prosperous enterprise, virtualization technologies are now available in every aspect of computing, including hardware, software, and communications, for a nominal cost. In many cases, the technology is freely available or included in the price of products such as operating system software or storage hardware.

Well suited for most inline business applications, virtualization technologies have gained in popularity and are in widespread use for all but the most demanding workloads. Understanding the technology and the workloads to be run in a virtualized environment is key to every administrator and systems architect...