hot trend. Virtualization
has gained a significant
foothold in the SME space
(in this instance we equate
SMEs with staff sizes of
between 250 and 5,000
employees). Two thirds of
enterprises surveyed by
Info-Tech in this employee
numbers range say they
are using virtualization in
some capacity and a third
of respondents say they
are using it a production
environment or will be
doing so within a year.
The growing use of
virtualization is in line with
Info-Tech predictions that
virtualization of Windows/
Linux servers would be a
dominant trend in 2006.
Virtualization will be pervasive on x86/x64 servers and
also desktops by the end of
the decade. Reasons for this
prediction included:
was acquired by EMC
Corporation in December
2003, continues to lead the
market with up to 20,000
enterprise customers.
However, VMware will
experience stiff competition
during 2007 from Microsoft
Virtual Server and Virtual PC, as well as from the
open-source alternative Xen
from XenSource.
Virtualization of
Windows/Linux
servers and workstations
is a critical component of
next generation
centralized service-oriented IT infrastructure
Processor enhancements for
virtual machines. Virtual
x86 machines typically run
entirely in software emulation with hardware calls
interpreted by the virtualization software. Intel and
AMD have both debuted
processor technologies that
allow their processors to
do some of the work of the
virtual machines, boosting
performance of the virtual
machine instances.
which are heavy spenders
on servers and likely can-
didates for infrastructure
consolidation.
Continued move to server
consolidation.
Virtualization of Windows/Linux
servers and workstations
is a critical component of
next generation centralized
service-oriented IT infrastructure. With virtualization, an enterprise can
boost hardware utilization
to between 60 per cent and
80 per cent by consolidating
multiple virtual instances
on a few powerful multi-processor servers.
Centralization
and consolidation
a key driver
Server consolidation and
a move toward centralized
management of servers and
storage as utilities continues
to be a key driver of virtualization adoption. Info-Tech
has found that most SMEs
are pursuing a centralized
server strategy, with the
emphasis on centralized
management growing with
industry size.
Virtualization adoption is
highest amongst enterprises
in the Manufacturing, Business Services and Financial
Services sectors, all of
Virtualization
tipping point
The smallest enterprises,
those with 100 or fewer
employees, are generally not
using virtualization. There is
a clear tipping point between
100 and 250 employees
toward virtual machine
testing and deployment. In
enterprises of 100 or fewer
employees, fully 75 per cent
of survey respondents say
they are not using virtualization. That proportion
drops to 50 per cent among
respondents in organizations
of 101 to 250 employees.
In addition to enterprise
size in terms of employees,
Info-Tech sees a tipping
point in virtualization
adoption with increased
number of servers. As with
fewer than 100 employee
enterprises, three quarters
of those with simple desktop application-oriented
infrastructure are not using
virtualization.
Typically, virtualization
starts to make sense when
the number of servers
passes 15 with 30 servers
or more leading to greatest
and most demonstrable
cost savings and benefits. It
is interesting to note, and
indicative of the strength of
this trend, that even among
the small enterprises and
enterprises with simple
back office infrastructures,
there are still a solid
minority (in the range of
25%) that are using virtualization even if mainly in a
testing mode.
Multi-Core Processor Premiums
The cost to move from single core to dual core or dual core to quad core
processors is not significant.
Maturing of product offerings
and competition. VMware
has been the most successful pioneer of virtualization. The company, which
For example:
HP ProLiant DL320 G5 server
Single core Pentium 4 : $1420
Dual core Pentium D: $1568
HP ProLiant DL360 G5 Server
Dual core Xeon 5050: $2410
Quad core Xeon e5310: $3039
Difference: $148
Difference: $629
Source: Info-Tech Research Group, 2007.
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