System News for Sun Users

Hyper-V and VMware vSphere Architectures: Pros and Cons

2013-05-06T16:00:00+01:00

"Both VMware and Microsoft have been in the server virtualization scene for a number of years -- VMware for more than a decade now, while Microsoft entered into it relatively recently.

It is imperative for IT workers or organizations to understand the differences between the Microsoft Hyper-V and VMware vSphere architectures as well as the advantages and disadvantages each technology offers before they propose the virtualization solutions to their customers or employees -- or before using it in a production environment..."

Storage Problems Are Holding Back App Virtualization, Survey Finds

2013-05-06T16:00:00+01:00

"The overall cost of storage and performance issues appear to be the two most significant storage-related barriers preventing agencies from virtualizing more of their mission-critical workloads, according to a survey of 477 IT professionals from industry and government conducted by DataCore Software.

Storage continues to be the biggest chunk of the investment in server and desktop virtualization projects, respondents said in the Third Annual State of Virtualization Survey released by DataCore, a developer of storage virtualization software. Fifty-two percent of those surveyed said storage accounted for more than 25 percent of their virtualization budget..."

Virtual Machines Inching to Portability

2013-04-29T16:00:00+01:00

"While some progress has been achieved in getting virtual machines to run across different types of hypervisors, more work is still needed to bring them to the level of portability that enterprises are seeking, according to a study released by the Open Data Center Alliance (ODCA).

"There's the greatest intent in the industry for interoperability, but we're still a ways off," said Das Kamhout, who is the ODCA technical workgroup advisor as well as the head of Intel's cloud operations. Achieving such interoperability is vital because "IT shops want to be able to move virtual machines, between private and public clouds and between different private clouds."

Overall, the study concluded, VM interoperability is still at an early stage. Vendors are modifying their hypervisors to meet the specifications for VM portability, though much work still needs to be done..."

Virtualization showdown: Microsoft Hyper-V 2012 vs. VMware vSphere 5.1

2013-04-22T16:00:00+01:00

"Any comparison of Microsoft's Hyper-V versus VMware's vSphere has to take into consideration a number of different factors. First, there's the target customer and the feature set for different sizes of deployments. The needs vary widely depending on the number of virtual machine instances, and these requirements should drive the architecture and configuration choices. Second, there is the topic of management, which is also tied closely to the size of the installation. Beyond these considerations are a number of other issues, including cost, performance, scalability, and usability..."

Making Storage the VDI Solution, Not the Problem

2013-04-22T16:00:00+01:00

"Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) has found a niche in call-center types of environments where very large numbers of workers run essentially the same desktops. But in the broader market VDI hasn't seen the same success, a fact typically blamed on the high cost of supplying storage performance that's adequate to deliver a satisfactory user experience..."

Is a Fully Virtualized Infrastructure a Good Idea for Your Business?

2013-04-22T16:00:00+01:00

"When it comes to server virtualization, there seems to be an endless debate over whether it is better to virtualize all of an organization's servers or to leave some running on physical hardware. While there is no definitive answer, there are a number of points to consider when determining whether a fully virtualized infrastructure is a good idea for you..."

Cost Effectively Increasing VM Density

2013-03-18T16:00:00+01:00

"The initial return on investment (ROI) of server virtualization projects has been impressive. Ten-fold (or greater) reductions in physical servers have been common and led to significant cost savings for data centers of all sizes. In reality however, this has only scratched the surface of the savings potential for virtualization, there is more ROI to uncover. The cost of designing a storage infrastructure to respond to the random I/O of an increasingly consolidated architecture remains a key limitation..."

Getting Real With Virtualization

2013-03-11T16:00:00+01:00

"The very essence of virtualization is to fool us. That is, it takes what is real and makes it infinitely more valuable by making its 'realness' disappear. This ability to fool us provides the key enablement for solutions such as IT as a service (ITaaS) and Cloud. That is, solutions like ITaaS demand ubiquity, which can occur when we can create granular processing entities afforded by different virtualization techniques that are now available..."

Virtualization Gains Popularity Despite Problems

2013-03-11T16:00:00+01:00

"Virtualization is a huge buzzword in the enterprise. CIOs around the globe are questioning whether they should stick with existing infrastructure or switch to a new virtual server setup that, according to vendors, will deliver all of the benefits of legacy solutions but with fewer headaches.

However, a new study commissioned by Veeam Software, a virtual backup company, tells a much different story..."

Companies take bold steps into desktop virtualization

2013-03-11T16:00:00+01:00

"At the new Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, the maxim "do no harm" extends beyond caregivers to members of the technology team, especially when they undertake a sweeping desktop virtualization project that could impact the daily routine of up to 9,000 clinicians.

'If we're going to take on technology change inside a critical care setting, and with systems that serve our sickest patients, we've got to have a well-thought-out plan for making sure it works and that there's backup,' says Stephen Sears, director of cloud and virtualization services at the 1.6 million-square-foot hospital.

The sheer physical size of the new hospital meant clinicians would need to be more mobile and rely more heavily on wireless computing. In addition, caregivers were adopting a new clinical documentation system, and Sears knew that they would be spending much more time on desktops and mobile devices..."

3 Reasons SMB Virtualization Projects Fail

2013-02-18T17:00:00+01:00

"Virtualization ranks among the top IT priorities for the majority of small and midsize businesses (SMBs), according to new Techaisle data, but those projects often come with some pain. Seventy-two percent of SMBs included in the research listed virtualization as relevant to their business, second only to backup and disaster recovery in appeal. Yet more than half (56%) said virtualization is one of the toughest technologies for them to understand, ranking ahead of business intelligence, big data, data centers and mobility in complexity..."

Virtualising a server to retain legacy software

2013-02-17T17:00:00+01:00

"Virtualisation can buy you a little more time when you can�'t face replacing that aging application. Mark Pimperton describes how and why his company did it.

We never run servers outside their manufacturer warranty, and certainly no longer than five years. (If you have physical servers older than that, I hope you have a good risk management strategy in place.) Six months ago I knew we were due to replace our oldest application server in January 2013. Trouble was, the server runs our time and attendance (T & A) software, which won�'t run on any OS later than Windows Server 2003. Although it�'s often this kind of situation that leads to companies replacing applications, we had neither the time nor the inclination to do so..."

Overcoming The VMware RAM Problem

2013-01-30T17:00:00+01:00

"Each time a host is added to a VMware Infrastructure, in order to support more virtual machines (VMs), the return on investment (ROI) of the project is reduced. To prevent this, data centers need to focus on increasing the VM density on each host. While there is plenty of CPU horsepower available to do this, there�'s also a shortage of DRAM. This shortage needs to be overcome for ROIs to be maintained and even increased.

Modern mid-range servers with eight or more cores can support 5 to 10 times the number of VMs found on the typical host but DRAM and storage performance can become bottlenecks to achieving this kind of density. In this article we'll provide some tips about overcoming the RAM challenge in VMware environments..."

48% of IT Staff Fear Unauthorized Access to Virtual Servers

2013-01-29T17:00:00+01:00

"Data security in visualized environments is often neglected by IT organizations, with 48% either reporting or suspecting unauthorized access to files on visualized servers, according to Varonis.

The study, conducted at VM World conferences, suggests that there is a limited awareness of security matters when it comes to visualized servers, with 70% of respondents having little or no auditing in place on virtual servers..."

TPC Kicks Out Quick-And-Dirty Virty Server Test

2012-12-13T17:00:00+01:00

"For the past two and a half years, the members of the Transaction Processing Council consortium, which creates and audits transaction processing and data warehousing benchmarks for systems, has been working on a virtualization benchmark. The new test, called TPC-VMS, has finally made it out of committee and is ready for use..."

Cloud Computing Security: 10 Tips for Protecting Virtual Systems

2012-11-19T17:00:00+01:00

"More and more enterprises are moving to server and desktop virtualization to conserve power, cooling, rack space, computing power, storage, and networking�'all the things eWEEK has been writing about for years. The broadest trend in all of IT during the last decade is about "smaller but more powerful, more efficient, and easier to use." As one might imagine, security becomes even more strategic as enterprises move from physical to virtual spaces and more business is done in the cloud. But, as with most disruptive IT, there are strings attached..."

Little fanfare for important cloud standard OVF

2012-11-19T17:00:00+01:00

"I was suspicious earlier this week when both Citrix and Microsoft blogged about their support of Open Virtualization Format... In case you aren't familiar with OVF, it's a specification for packaging software so that it can run on any virtual machine. It addresses the dreaded vendor lock in problem and is an important enabler for workload portability among clouds that use different hypervisors."

IBM Moving To Replace Silicon with Carbon Nanotubes In Computer Chips

2012-10-29T16:00:00+01:00

"IBM has hit a milestone in its quest to come up with a successor to silicon computer chips.

The company said Sunday its research into semiconductors based on carbon nanotubes, or CNTs, has yielded a new method to accurately place them on wafers in large numbers. The technology is viewed as one way to keep shrinking chip sizes once current silicon-based technology hits its limit.

IBM said it has developed a way to place over 10,000 transistors made from CNTs on a single chip..."

Virtual Desktops: User Tips from the Trenches

2012-10-29T16:00:00+01:00

"The lure of virtual desktop infrastructure -- less costs for endpoints, reduced power requirements, lower management costs, better security -- is compelling but mastering the environment is tricky, say users that have embraced the technology.

VDI is not for everybody, customers agree, but despite its pricey initial costs and the need to tweak in order to keep performance high, interest in the technology is growing, says IDC, with sales of virtual client computing to grow from an actual $2.3 billion in 2011 to a projected $3 billion-plus by 2015, a third of that specifically VDI."

SDN and Virtual Networking Seen As a Key To Growing Hybrid Clouds

2012-10-22T16:00:00+01:00

"If the OpenStack Summit held this week is any indication, virtual networking is a hot IT topic.

A panel discussion about virtual networking in the cloud featuring representatives from HP, Big Switch and Midokura was packed to the brim. Talks by engineers from eBay and Nicira about their software-defined networking implementations in an even larger conference room were standing room only..."

Virtual Desktops: User Tips from the Trenches

2012-10-22T16:00:00+01:00

"The lure of virtual desktop infrastructure - less costs for endpoints, reduced power requirements, lower management costs, better security - is compelling but mastering the environment is tricky, say users that have embraced the technology.

Desktop Virtualization No Cost Saver?

2012-10-08T16:00:00+01:00

"An industry consultant has a message for IT organizations looking to bring the benefits of virtualization to the PC: Don't believe the hype when it comes to VDI.

Don Krueger, principal consultant at GlassHouse Technologies, said that while Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) can bring lots of benefits to the enterprise and to knowledge workers, cost savings isn't one of them..."

Do the Virtualization Math: When Four CPUs Aren't Four CPUs

2012-10-08T16:00:00+01:00

"One of the major advantages of virtualization is the ability to dynamically add CPU and RAM to running virtual machines. Have a box that gets a sudden spike? Add more RAM on the fly and let it go. It's a fantastic way to deal with certain compute issues, and it can make a tough decision disappear due to the fact that downtime and reboots aren't required.

However, allocating CPU and RAM with the click of a mouse -- dynamically or otherwise -- can have deleterious effects on your servers in some circumstances. You really need to understand your workload and your OS..."

Top Enterprise Controversies of the 3D Web

2012-09-20T16:00:00+01:00

"If you've been watching the development of videogame technology and user interfaces, you might have noticed that we're getting closer and closer to the point where the Matrix becomes a reality. At some point in the future, most of us will be socializing, working, and having fun in a vast virtual landscape -- also known as the 3D Web, the metaverse, or the hypergrid.

But there are some issues that need to be addressed. I'm not talking about the technical stuff -- that part is easy and inevitable. The pioneers of the new 3D Web have some major philosophical differences on a number of subjects. How these get resolved will help determine the future evolution of the Internet, and, possibly, the future business model of your company..."

Why Virtualization Breaks Monitoring Systems

2012-09-17T16:00:00+01:00

"I like to know what's going on with the stuff I manage, so I'm a big proponent of heavily monitored infrastructures. I've written more code to monitor, manage, and track IT infrastructure components than I can remember. Folks still email me about plug-ins or code I wrote years ago and have since completely forgotten.

Many of those efforts were intended to monitor fixed systems, from UPSes to PDUs, air conditioners, servers, switches, routers, firewalls -- the whole gamut of IT gear. Until recently, they shared one trait: They stayed put in the same data center running on the same hardware using the same IP addresses. These days, except for power and cooling gear, that's not necessarily a safe assumption..."

Implement Server Virtualization

2012-09-10T16:00:00+01:00

"Virtualization is a great way to use your physical servers more efficiently and effectively. You can also consolidate your existing servers to save money and space inside your data center. But there are right and wrong ways to go about server virtualization, and there are multiple approaches that may not be a fit for every company.

As with any technology adoption, you should research virtualization as much as possible to educate administrators and employees on how to best use it. We�'ll give you a head start and show you what you need to know about server virtualization, how to implement it, and how to make server virtualization an integral part of your data center for years to come..."

When Virtualization Becomes Your Worst Enemy

2012-09-04T16:00:00+01:00

"Try as we might to keep chaos at bay, there will come a time when the perfect storm hits and everything falls apart. Usually a confluence of elements triggers total meltdown, but sometimes one overlooked weak link fails and causes a cascade of problems that takes an entire network offline.

These situations are never easy to deal with and are generally compounded by the fact that admins are feverishly working to fix problems while being bombarded with alarms from other systems that are also failing due to the initial outage. It�'s like trying to rebuild a house while it's falling down on top of you..."

Overcome Storage Virtualization Challenges

2012-08-27T16:00:00+01:00

"Virtualized storage is growing more and more common in the IT industry. Companies are finding new and creative ways to save storage space or at least efficiently utilize the space they have available. But the move to virtualization can sometimes be a difficult one and there will more than likely be challenges along the way. Here we�'ll show you a few things to keep in mind as well as a few tips that should help you get through the virtualization process unscathed..."

Crisis Malware Infects VMware Virtual Machines, Researchers Say

2012-08-21T16:00:00+01:00

"The Windows version of Crisis, a piece of malware discovered in July, is capable of infecting VMware virtual machine images, Windows Mobile devices and removable USB drives, according to researchers from antivirus vendor Symantec.

Crisis is a computer Trojan program that targets Mac OS and Windows users. The malware was discovered by antivirus vendor Intego on July 24 and can record Skype conversations, capture traffic from instant messaging programs like Adium and Microsoft Messenger for Mac and track websites visited in Firefox or Safari..."

Five Tips for Effective Data Protection In Virtualized Environments

2012-08-08T16:00:00+01:00

"As midsized IT environments increasingly adopt server virtualization, administrators are challenged to find appropriately featured backup to protect their investment. VM architectures require more advanced backup and recovery processes than traditional server architectures, but these need not be complicated to select, configure and use �- if appropriate consideration is given to the potential problems..."