Examining heterogeneous data center management methods

IT pros tend to favor one multi-hypervisor management tool or method over another, but other admins still question the benefit of the practice itself. Whatever your own opinion may be, the heterogeneous data center has become a common practice among IT teams, which increases the interest in management aids and multi-hypervisor strategies.

The flexibility associated with virtualization increases in mixed hypervisor environments, and deploying multiple hypervisors gives you more opportunity to customize your infrastructure. At the same time, this architecture can cause performance bottlenecks due to the incompatibility of certain tools and applications and may force admins to learn multiple skillsets.

Both major and third-party vendors have entered the multi-hypervisor management market by developing products that promise to work across a number of platforms. The number of vendors and vendor hype, product updates and debate can distract you from the facts. Get things straight by quizzing yourself on the tools and methods for managing multiple hypervisors.

This was first published in January 2013

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