Presentation virtualization isolates processing from the graphics and I/O, making it possible to run an application in one location but have it be controlled in another. This is helpful in a variety of situations, including ones where data confidentiality and protection are critical.

CIOL: What happens in a virtualized environment?

NA: Virtualization in an IT environment is essentially the isolation of one computing resource from another. It allows users to separate the different layers in the logic stack, and can enable greater flexibility and simplified change management – they no longer need to configure each element for them to all work together. Virtualization creates multiple virtual servers on a single hardware machine, allowing multiple users to access applications from the same platform.

As a result, virtualization helps drastically reduce the number of software and hardware resources being deployed by an organization.

For example, currently we may be running DNS and Domain Controller Role on two different physical systems. While the real utilization of these physical systems may show us that these are underutilized. With Windows Server 2008, Hyper-V we can consolidate these two role of two different physical systems on to a single physical server but still isolate them as they existed earlier by having them run on two different Virtual Machines on the same Physical Hyper-V Server.

Hardware maintenance cost, space requirements for two different systems can now be reduced. Based on the requirement you have options of making these virtual machines to be made highly available.

In a virtualized environment you also expect to be running different Operating Systems on the same physical server as different Virtual Machines. These Operating systems could be different versions of Microsoft Operating Systems themselves or non-Microsoft operating Systems.

CIOL: From where and when should an enterprise begin virtualization?

NA: The need for virtualization arises from the benefits offered from its deployment such as power reduction, reduced physical space, quick ROI, simplified backup and recovery, business continuity built-into model and dynamic provisioning. Current economic situation, where every organization looks for cost reduction, virtualization helps achieve that.

Adopting virtualization across the enterprise should naturally follow a maturation curve. While each scenario provides concrete and compelling benefits, it is best if an organization adopts these approaches in a reasonably defined order. Different circumstances will dictate some modification to this sequence, but a structured roadmap can guide organizations to effectively employ virtualization in their respective scenarios.

Analyze your system's virtualization capability. To be able to use existing hardware to run virtualization, hardware should support virtualization extension. Most modern processors come with virtualization extensions.

Test and development environment: The natural place to begin piloting all types of virtualization is in the test and development environment. IT managers can model the OS, application, security, and management environment prior to putting these into production in a more streamlined and efficient way, providing greater flexibility and quickly identifying potential conflicts.

Server infrastructure: Consolidating workloads from a large array of discrete, underutilized physical servers to an environment where complimentary workloads are isolated and aggregated on to a smaller number of physical servers is the most common application of this technology, and is where immediate cost savings can be realized. Server consolidation is an ongoing process - it is more of a journey than an end state.

Early on, IT organizations can and should focus on non-business critical production workloads, to harvest the low-hanging fruit while learning how to efficiently manage virtual and physical servers across their infrastructure.

As their processes become more mature and the expertise improves, a more proactive strategy that includes business-critical applications makes sense for consolidation. Here, the benefits in disaster recovery and business continuity become more critical than simply cost savings.