Virtualisation and Virtual Servers
What is IT virtualisation, and why is it now considered so important as a cost saving and energy efficiency initiative?
The use of electrical power has increasingly become one of the largest and growing costs of operating a data storage facility within any business.
As servers have become more complex and more powerful, data held within companies has expanded resulting in the growing number and size of storage systems in existence. Over the last decade innovation in servers, storage, and networking technology have made possible an entirely new way of designing energy-efficient data storage systems.
What is IT virtualisation?
Virtualisation enables multiple operating systems to run on a single server. Server virtualisation improves IT asset utilisation and creates a resilient IT infrastructure that can quickly adapt to a company’s IT requirements. A typical room housing standard servers and storage facilities would require a data centre 10 times the size of a virtual server. By creating a virtualised environment savings of typically around 80% can be achieved.
The average server in operation within a business operates at only ten percent of its processing capacity, while using 80% of its maximum power.
Virtualisation reduces this inefficiency, as multiple virtual servers can run on a single piece of hardware. As a result a business implementing a virtual server can operate at a fraction of the same power usage, heat production and floor space of single application servers. It provides a cost-effective and efficient method of conserving energy and space.
The benefits of virtualisation
- Massive cost reductions in IT support costs.
- The ability to implement offline hardware and software maintenance and upgrades with minimal disruption.
- Public awareness of environmental issues has provided a "social advantage" to be gained by companies that protect the environment. Read more about Green IT
- Reduction in time taken to implement new server upgrades.
- A significant reduction in the space, power and cooling requirements of a business.
Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V
Glo-Networks one of the UK’s leading IT Support companies based near Cardiff in South Wales, has recently implemented a virtual server installation for one of it’s clients - GAP Personnel.
GAP Personnel is one of the leading recruitment service providers in the UK. The company has complex data storage requirements with :
- In excess of 1,500 active clients
- Circa 5,000 temps deployed daily
- 200 staff members
- Across nearly 40 locations
Using the Microsoft Hyper-V platform running on Windows 2003 R2 servers, 6 physical servers have been converted to 2 and with a significant speed increase. The impact of the Glo Networks service has been substantial, with large cost savings being experienced by the company as well additional savings in time and resource. The recent project saw a reduction in the cost of their server hosting by over 50%.
If you would like to discover how to make your IT work more efficiently for you contact Chris Connor, Managing Director at Glo Networks
Based in Bridgend, near Cardiff in South Wales, Glo Networks provide virtualisation services, virtual server implementation and Microsoft Hyper-V support to clients in Cardiff, Newport, Bristol and throughout Wales and the UK.
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