Manage

Server consolidation and improved resource utilization

• Taking charge of VM allocation, troubleshooting methods

  Long-term virtual infrastructure health leads to business growth. To achieve this, you must master virtual machine capacity planning and troubleshooting techniques. Continue Reading

• Consolidate servers with these performance enhancements

  Higher solid-state drive capacity and CPU core counts are just a couple of the factors leading to the next wave of server consolidation. So, footprint plan accordingly. Continue Reading

• Should you run MySQL on VMs or physical machines?

  Take stock of your current environment, including instance types, orchestration systems and storage devices, before deciding whether to deploy MySQL to VMs or physical machines. Continue Reading

• IT resource management and virtual server housekeeping tips

  Without regular monitoring, sprawl and overallocation can waste expensive compute and storage resources Continue Reading

• Reducing energy costs with virtualization and automation

  Virtualization allows administrators to cut down on the number of servers needed, which helps reduce energy consumption and save money. Continue Reading

• Here's what a cloud-ready infrastructure looks like

  A Cloud-Ready Infrastructure: A smart organization will want to be sure it is properly preparing a virtualized infrastructure to capitalize on the opportunities that cloud computing presents. While there are many public/hybrid cloud providers to ...Continue Reading

• What Is all that virtualization performance data telling us?

  Admins are gaining better insight into server and VM performance data, but what do they do with it? Virtualization tools at one time were thought of only for their monitoring capabilities. Developments have since allowed these technologies to be ...Continue Reading

• Blade servers vs. rack servers in the SDDC

  As a consolidation tool, blades seem like a logical choice for virtualization, but availability concerns mean the decision isn't cut and dry.Continue Reading

• Take a stand and regain control with a chargeback policy

  Allocating resources is an important task that users can overlook. Underutilizing and overloading resources can hamper the VM but there are solutions.Continue Reading

• Keep your virtual Java platforms in tune with these guidelines

  Author Emad Benjamin introduces the different types of large-scale Java platforms in this chapter and details the four key requirements for them.Continue Reading

• Five mistakes to avoid when developing a server consolidation plan

  There's a lot to consider when developing a server consolidation plan. Don't fall victim to these five common oversights.Continue Reading

• Hypervisors have limits: What not to virtualize

  Hypervisors now make 100% virtualization possible, but just because you can doesn't mean you should. Find out what not to virtualize.Continue Reading

• Capacity planning strategies for successful failover clusters

  Larger failover clusters improve resource utilization, but could also leave you vulnerable if you don't design around your biggest VMs.Continue Reading

• Five ways to push your company toward a 100% virtual data center

  Sometimes the biggest obstacle to virtualization is internal resistance. Learn how to convince your co-workers to embrace a 100% virtual data center.Continue Reading

• Base your server consolidation plan on availability and failover needs

  Squeezing more efficiency out of computing resources is great, but an overly aggressive server consolidation plan can limit your failover options.Continue Reading

• Is there a magic number: Finding the best server consolidation ratio

  A high server consolidation ratio means better resource utilization but often mean diminished resiliency and longer recovery times.Continue Reading

• Virtualization management tools can help reduce server power usage

  Emerging virtualization tools that automatically migrate workloads to optimize data center resources help improve server power usage.Continue Reading

• Resource contention and other key causes of VM performance bottlenecks

  Resource contention plays a huge role in the quest for optimal virtual machine performance, but it's certainly not the only source of bottlenecks.Continue Reading

• Why hypervisor tiering is the future of multiple hypervisor management

  If cost and complexity prevent you from adopting multiple hypervisors, the hypervisor tiering approach may have you rethinking your infrastructure.Continue Reading

• Server consolidation strategy pitfalls: Over-consolidation

  Continue Reading

• Dynamic Memory in Hyper-V 3.0 promises higher server consolidation

  With Dynamic Memory in Hyper-V 3.0, a new minimum-memory setting and second-level paging may yield increased consolidation ratios for IT shops.Continue Reading

• Server consolidation project planning: Three steps to success

  As the Boy Scouts always say: Be prepared. With a server consolidation project, you can prepare for consolidation in three distinct phases.Continue Reading

• Cloud management with Microsoft Concero: Battling VMware vCloud Director

  Microsoft Concero offers better virtualization integration, but VMware vCloud Director has the edge when it comes to other cloud management criteria.Continue Reading

• Server consolidation planning: Easy on the memory overcommit

  When you commit to a server consolidation strategy, don’t overdo the overcommit. Memory overcommit can impair VM performance if you exhaust resources.Continue Reading

• Server consolidation strategy pitfalls: Over-consolidation

  With server consolidation, it’s possible to have too much of a good thing. Over-consolidation can stretch resources to their limits.Continue Reading

• IT resource management: A new approach for the virtual era

  Once you’ve virtualized, you shouldn’t rely on old IT resource management methods. Take a look at your supply of resources and the demands of VMs.Continue Reading

• How Hyper-V Dynamic Memory improves your server consolidation plan

  Virtual memory allocation with Hyper-V Dynamic Memory can help boost your server consolidation plan. But beware VMs that take more memory than they actually need.Continue Reading

• P2V migration: Step one in your server consolidation strategy

  The P2V migration process gets the virtualization ball rolling. Once you master the art of P2V conversion, you can start consolidating physical servers.Continue Reading

• FAQ: Devising a server consolidation plan

  A server consolidation plan should optimize server capacity. A well-devised server consolidation project eliminates physical servers that waste resources and rack up hardware costs.Continue Reading

• Hyper-V server consolidation planning with Microsoft's toolkit

  If you have Hyper-V hosts, you don't have to worry about where to place guest virtual machines. Microsoft's Hyper-V server consolidation tool can automate a tricky process and help with server consolidation planning.Continue Reading

• Virtualization ROI calculator helps convince management

  A financial services provider used its proprietary ROI calculator to show its CIO the value of virtualization. Calculating virtualization ROI also exposed some problem areas.Continue Reading

• Virtual server consolidation strategy saves money, improves backups

  A strong server consolidation strategy helped one consulting firm save thousands of dollars. Virtual server consolidation also made backups and management easier.Continue Reading

• Virtual networking design, configuration and management guide

  This guide on virtual networking architecture and management explores how to design physical and virtual networks to reduce latency and manage virtual networks efficiently.Continue Reading

• Optimizing server resource use with systems management tools

  Most firms making the virtualization plunge cite improving server resource utilization as the top reason. One way to achieve this is with virtual systems management tools.Continue Reading

• Improving server consolidation ratios with virtual systems management

  Virtual systems management tools can make the difference between average and superior server consolidation rates.Continue Reading

• Server consolidation and virtualization project planning guide

  Combining server consolidation with virtualization can boost server utilization and reduce power consumption. Here are strategies to maximize server consolidation project benefits.Continue Reading

• Oracle relents (a bit) on hypervisor support policy

  With its new move to support VMware in Oracle E-Business Suite shops, Oracle caves -- a bit -- on its rigid virtual machine support stance.Continue Reading

• Reducing virtual and physical management redundancy

  In the mad rush to adopt virtualization, many IT managers have overlooked the redundancy between their virtual and physical infrastructures. This tip outlines how to manage physical and virtual silos and redundant tools.Continue Reading

• How virtualization impacts IT staff, security and change management

  Virtualization breeds three new challenges: reorganizing IT department taskforces, recognizing new security vulnerabilities, and working with a complex change management process.Continue Reading

• Managing full virtual and paravirtual hardware drivers in a Xen environment

  Sander van Vugt explains the differences between hardware drivers in full virtual and paravirtual environments.Continue Reading