SAN/iQ: Enabling Technology For Effective VMware Deployments

IT organizations are recognizing the benefits of virtualizing their datacenters, and many of them are enabling server virtualization with VMware Infrastructure 3. VMware Infrastructure 3 allows IT organizations to manage their server infrastructure as a single pool of resources on which applications can be deployed and then moved dynamically from server to server as workload and business requirements dictate. Some VMware Infrastructure 3 features, including High Availability (HA), VMotion, and the Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS) require shared storage.

With applications and their host operating systems encapsulated into individual virtual machines, they are no longer bound to a specific physical server. IT organizations can finally break free of the legacy of silo-oriented applications that limit sharing and require each application to run on its own dedicated set of underutilized hardware. By virtualizing and consolidating their applications onto a smaller number of more highly utilized physical servers, organizations can re-claim valuable datacenter space and reduce their power and cooling requirements. With applications and servers decoupled, they are free to allocate resources to applications as their workloads change and as their business priorities dictate. Rolling out new applications does not always require deploying new servers because they can draw on the power of a shared infrastructure.

VMware Infrastructure 3 offers compelling features for IT organizations concerned with resource management, high availability, and disaster recovery. VMware VMotion enables running virtual machines to move from server to server. This allows administrators to balance workloads and performance to match user demands, and even to vacate a server in order to take it offline for maintenance. VMware HA monitors the state of running virtual machines and, in the event of a server failure, restarts the virtual machines on alternate servers.