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Virtualisation isn't just for large data centres. Small and medium-sized businesses can also benefit from using virtual servers to simplify infrastructure and to increase resilience.
Today's server hardware is designed to support virtualisation. Using the hardware support built into both Intel and AMD processors, it's easy to install a hypervisor on your existing server and start consolidating your server infrastructure - saving on space, and on power. With a quad core Intel system costing less than £500 (though you'll need to spend a little more on storage and on memory), there's plenty of scope for consolidation even on the tightest budget. It's relatively easy to move existing servers from the physical to the virtual, with off-the-shelf tools available to handle the move - leaving you with hardware that can be reused or set aside for disaster recovery.
As software becomes more and more virtualisation-aware, using several virtual servers to host key applications makes a lot of sense, especially when you can control and backup your servers from a single control panel. Instead of separate hardware for email, for CRM, and for BlackBerry, it can all be run on a single machine, with each virtual server in its own memory partition, unable to affect the others. If one crashes, you can restart without having to reboot your server, keeping services running. It's an approach that treats IT infrastructure as a utility that provides services to your business applications, making it more flexible and responsive to business needs. Need more power to handle the accounts at year end? Just add resources, before returning them to the rest of your applications when they need them.
Virtual servers simplify testing new applications before deploying them to your users. Instead of having to configure new hardware each time you want to qualify an application, or an update, you can clone an appropriate virtual server, and then install the software or patch. Self-service tools mean that there's no need to spend time setting up hardware. Users can quickly deploy their own servers, reducing IT management overhead, letting you concentrate on more complex (and more important tasks). All you need to think about are just how much CPU, storage and memory you have, and when you'll need to buy more.
Virtualisation has other practical advantages that matter to your business. IT outages aren't minor inconveniences that can be resolved by turning servers on and off again. Hardware failures and data loss are significant risks to small and medium sized businesses, with around 50% of businesses failing as a result. Business continuity isn't high on most organisations' agendas, but with the risks associated with outages so high, it's important to have some form of disaster recovery in place.
In the event of a server outage it can take a significant amount of time to restore data and to reinstall applications and services. That can be hard for small businesses with just one or two servers, who can't afford to run duplicates all the time. While you're hard at work rebuilding IT infrastructure, staff can't access applications or data - leaving them without the tools they need to handle business processes, or even send an email.
Virtual infrastructures are a lot easier to recover. Regular snapshots can capture server state - right down to running applications. They're easy to copy and backup, and you can be up and running in minutes, with snapshots loaded onto a replacement server, or even on to desktop PCs. There's no need to reinstall operating systems or applications, as all you need is a compatible virtualisation host. If you want to reduce risk still further, it's also possible to regularly copy snapshots to off-site servers, giving you the ability to be up and running even if you're unable to get into your premises - though you'll also need to mirror your data on a remote server.
There's a lot of scope for virtualisation in small businesses. Consolidation saves money and makes you more flexible, while regular image snapshots give you fast recovery from outages. You may not get the same ROI as a large IT organisation that's looking to scale using extreme standardisation, but you'll certainly gain in terms of reduced administration costs and lower power and hardware bills - as well as saving space in your server room.
Increasing the use of server virtualization is a top priority for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). According to ESG's 2010 Spending Intentions Survey, it is nearly tied as the top priority for SMBs over the next 12 to 18 months.
Server virtualization isn't just for big companies. Entry-level virtualization tools are free or low-cost, and there are many benefits to virtualization (including saving money). It's not a question of "if" you should virtualize your servers;it's a question of "when"...
Small and midsize businesses are making virtualization one of the hottest trends in IT. The reasons? Virtualization reduces the cost and complexity of technology, frees up time to make their businesses more responsive and improves their ability to rebound from disasters.
Without an adequate disaster recovery plan, your business may find itself in serious trouble after experiencing a major disaster. Unfortunately, many small and medium sized businesses rely on archaic backup and restore plans that are insufficient for survival.
Disasters - natural or man-made - can wreak havoc on your IT infrastructure and severely impair your ability to conduct business. Even a minute of downtime on a single server can cost millions in lost revenue. Fortunately, virtualization enables hardware independence that prevents the effects of server downtime caused by any type of disaster in your datacenter.
