Using Virtualisation To Consolidate Existing IT Resources

Server virtualisation is held up by most vendors as a paragon of virtue when it comes to cutting costs and simplifying an organisation's IT resources.

But whilst the first virtue is relatively easy to prove on a return on investment (ROI)-based spreadsheet approach, the second task, that of simplifying an organisation's IT resource, is lot more difficult.

Companies, for example, quickly discover that, whilst they can back up their virtual servers in the same way as they do their physical servers, they may not get the same results.

It's very simple, IT staff tend to find, to back up virtual servers if you treat them like physical servers, but then you don't get the benefits of server virtualisation.

The problem is that, if treat virtualised servers like physical servers, you have to manage each one individually, which undercuts any improvements in management efficiency.

You will also have to buy and install a backup agent on each virtual server as if it were a physical server, which will almost certainly require more work and entail additional licence fees for your backup software.

The solution is to source software that is specifically engineered to support virtual server backups and allow you to take advantage of the cost efficiencies that arise.