Virtualisation The Impact Of Technology On Information Management

Virtualisation, The Impact Of Technology On Information Management Dr Kevin Mc. Isaac IBRS kmcisaac@ibrs. com. au

IBRS: Who We Are An Australian Company That Provides Research And Advice To IT And Business Managers In Australian And New Zealand Organisations.

Overview n n n Virtualisation Overview Vendor And Technology Landscape What You Must Know For Your Information Management Projects

Virtualisation Overview n n n What is Virtualisation? Why is it the most important trend in IT infrastructure? Technology 101

What is Virtualisation? n A way to loosely couple “workload” to “hardware” by n Making all devices look the same n n n Making a single server look like many servers n n n While still providing robust isolation and resource control Enables consolidation which increases hardware utilisation and lower TCO Making many storage units look like a single unit n n n Reduces diversity and simplifies the environment Enables change, i. e. , applications, or data, can be moved around Hides storage complexity, simplifying storage management Enables policy based storage management Today it is all things to all vendors, beware! Server virtualization & consolidation are CIO’s #1 & #2 priorities - Goldman Sachs Survey

Why Is It So Important? n It is the most important infrastructure trend in the last 7 years & the next 7 n n Today it enables capabilities that support business needs affordable n n n Totally changes IT infrastructure Virtual HW Virtual HW Resource Pool HA, DR, CO, Co. D, rapid provisioning All on commodity hardware By 2015 commodity infrastructure becomes a unified system n n n Remarkably like the old M/F Resources managed by policy to SLAs Virtualisation is the data centre O/S By 2015 You Will Buy A “Datacenter in a Box”. Virtualisation Is Essential To Harness the Power

Technology 101 n Server Virtualisation n Storage Virtualisation n n Some benefits but take caution Virtual Desktop (VDI) n n Already mainstream Hypervisor now free Probably just a niche like Citrix Application Virtualisation n The next important desktop enabler The Hypervisor Is A Commodity And The Management Tools Are The Differentiators

Vendor & Technology Landscape n n Who Are The Market Leaders? Separating The Facts From The Hype

Who Are The Market Leaders? n Server Virtualisation (IDC) n ’ 07: 35% of new servers virtualised n n n 50% of firms using it now. n n n Implies 90% of all new workloads! Projecting 52% in ‘ 08 90%+ in the next 18 months. App-V &Thin. App emerging in App Virtualisation market Citrix still strong in Display Virtualisation n Many challenges in moving beyond this How Does Microsoft Entry Change The Market?

Separating The Facts From The Hype n n Virtualisation is the hot buzz word, BEWARE of vendors product hype!!! Server Virtualisation – VMware is mature and ready for use n VMware is the clear leader, most organisations should use this strategically n n MS will struggle to displace VMware n n Xen is probably defunct KVM will be the open source choice Storage - Thin provisioning is the next key storage virtualisation n Technically inferior, 18 month to 3 years behind. Will try to change the goal posts to dynamic IT. Not achievable for most Open source is not the answer either n n Now the hypervisor is free, MS’s major advantage has been neutralised Network based virtualisation has limited traction IP storage will grow rapidly, especially in a Virtualised environment Virtual Desktop (VDI) - beware vendor hype n n Many small pilots but very few in production (1 or 2 in Australia) Cost benefits do not stack up, move to stateless PC architecture instead

What You Must Know n n The benefits The questions you need to ask

The Benefits n n n Lower TCO Simple, low cost HA and DR Rapid provisioning Continuous operations Capacity on Demand

The Questions To Ask n Is my application suitable? n n What are the savings, benefits and risks from using it? n n Where can I source these skills. Can I use consultant to build & transfer? How does this impact my outsourcer? n n More quickly provide new services/applications Do we have the skills? How will operations change? n n Look for lower, shared server costs, affordable HA & DR, agility What can I do now that I could not afford before? n n If not why not? Challenge the status quo? Push back on vendors! Do they provide it? What is their cost model? Is it flexible? How does this new infrastructure get funded?