Virtualization in today's mission-critical computing environment is not only a hot topic, but also a real solution for companies looking to do more with available data center resources. While many differentiators in virtualization occur at the hardware and OS level and vary across multiple platforms, at the core of the solution is Intel's Virtualization Technology for Itanium (VT-i). Intel's VT-i replaces lower-level hypervisor functions and provides extended guest OS support for existing virtualization solutions, as well as providing a strong foundation for innovative solutions in the future.

Virtualization separates applications from a specific piece of dedicated hardware. Physical resources, such as servers, appear as a single logical resource and the virtualization management software determines which and how many of these physical devices should be deployed to run applications in a data center. Virtualization solutions result in increased utilization of computing assets, along with helping lower power and cooling costs, easing software lifecycle management, and providing less complex backup and disaster recovery operations.

Itanium-based systems can be virtualized to perform the following usage scenarios:

-         Server Consolidation

-         Hardware Migrations and Upgrades

-         Test and Development of New Applications

-         Hosting Legacy Applications

-         Capacity Planning

-         High Availability and Disaster Recovery

The Value for Business

According to IDC, system utilization averages between 5 and 25 percent in most situations. That leaves 75 to 95 percent of capacity within many servers sitting unused. Many of these instances come as a result of servers being assigned to one specific application or task. The worry is that one day you might need that entire system to perform a particular task or the application vendor won't support the software unless it runs on its own server which results in a dedicated system siphoning power and money from your bottom line.

The ability to consolidate a number of different applications on a single physical server, provisioning computing proportionately gives businesses the opportunity to not only cut down on unused hardware due to underutilized machines, but also reduces maintenance and staffing costs associated with running a larger number of servers.

Looking Ahead

As data centers continue their evolution, virtualization technologies will be deployed more frequently to consolidate and develop the most efficient mission-critical computing environment possible. Partnerships between the various Alliance member's chip and system suppliers, ISVs and OS vendors will continue to propel the advancement of virtualization by addressing the current and future needs of mission-critical computing.

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