Immaturity holding back virtual servers: research

CALIFORNIA, USA: A research to determine the top priorities and challenges of today's virtualization professionals, "Removing Barriers To Better Server Virtualization Efficiency” points out some concern factors. According to the research, 45 per cent of respondents now use server virtualization for most new production servers, and an additional 15 per cent have made virtual servers their default server policy.

However, 49 per cent of respondents believe the immaturity of virtualization management is one of the top three factors holding back more extensive virtualization deployments.

The top three concerns identified by Virtualization Administrators that came up were - preventing critical events affecting performance or availability of virtualized environments; diagnosing problems; and configuration management.

Another factor was guaranteeing performance and availability for virtualized servers is a top barrier to wider VM use.

Also, 57 per cent of respondents are significantly concerned that application failure in one Virtual Machine could affect other VMs in the future.

Over the past 10 years server virtualization technology has been rapidly adopted. In Tripwire's experience however, management challenges can limit the amount of cost driven out of virtual environments. Organizations can overcome these barriers to virtual server scalability and wider production deployment by adopting better tools and processes that aggregate information from virtual systems, provide real-time control, and reduce overhead by consolidating management tasks, a press report adds.

Stephen Beaver, Virtualization Evangelist at Tripwire, comments, "Virtualization has gained a firm foothold in many IT organizations with its ability to deliver more computing power for less money. However, in the headlong rush to gain cost benefits there is a very real risk that companies are moving into virtualization far ahead of their ability to understand and manage the technology."

Eighty percent of respondents reported significant interest in management tools to consolidate virtual and physical server management. These tools can assist with helping to drive down the cost per VM without sacrificing availability or performance.

Beaver continues, "If organizations improve system management and visibility into virtual environments they can significantly avoid the stumbling blocks that have obstructed other firms from attaining greater deployment of server virtualization."

He concludes, "If not taken seriously, the issue of mismanagement in virtual environments can undermine all of virtualization's benefits. By creating a level of transparency and control, businesses will be in a better position to reap the rewards that virtualization has promised. Without implementing adequate management tools and best practices today, the challenges and risks posed by this incredible technology will continue to mount."