The demand for virtualization platforms has greatly
increased in the past few years. The increase in demand stems from the
advantages that virtualization platforms offer in IT network efficiency
and the lower operating costs when compared to multiple server
platforms. These platforms provide an advance system that eliminates the
waste caused by the more common and outdated multiple server
environments.
Multiple server environments were the standard for many companies
because they were able to store all of their operating systems and
applications without worrying about a problem on one server affecting
information stored on other servers. Virtualization servers offer a
solution to the inefficiency of multiple server environments while at
the same time providing the same level of protection for a company’s
important information.
Spreading applications across multiple servers creates wasted space. The
space not used to store the application or operating system is
generally left unused and does not contain any information. In an
environment with many servers this space adds up and becomes
troublesome.
Additionally, multiple server environments waste a large amount of IT
network administrators’ time. Each server requires individual attention
from the IT admins to backup, archive, and generally care for it. This
time makes it hard for the admins to focus on other areas of the
company’s infrastructure and improve overall efficiency.
A virtualization platform allows a company to condense their operating
systems and applications onto a single server. The information held on
the server can then be accessed by different virtual machines that share
the resources of the single server. Free space is maximized because
information is stored in the same place rather than spread across
different servers. The level of security is the same as a multiple
server environment because each application and operating system is
stored in its own secure area. A problem in one area will not affect the
others.
There are several problems that can arise on a virtualization platform
that will negatively affect the platform’s efficiency. I/O bottlenecks
faster because of accelerated fragmentation, virtual machine competition
for shared I/O resources is not prioritized across the platform, and
virtual disks that are set to dynamically grow do not shrink when data
are deleted and result in wasted space. To achieve maximum performance
from their virtual platform a company needs to avoid these obstacles.
Installing a
virtual platform disk optimizer is the best way to protect a
virtualization platform from these problems. The most effective virtual
platform disk optimizer is V-locity from
Diskeeper Corporation.
V-locity uses four unique technologies to ensure the maximum performance
from the virtual platform.
IntelliWrite® Technology writes much larger sequential disk I/Os from
Windows virtual machines and creates much less work for the
copy-on-write technology that copies/tracks every write. This combines
with InvisiTasking® Technology to work in the background of the virtual
platform and ensure that the platform is working at peak efficiency.
Virtual Disk Intelligence recognizes the special virtual disk types that
a company is using and configures the software to get the most out of
the special disk. For companies that use Thin/Dynamic disks there is
often a lot of wasted free space that accumulates when the disks do not
resize after data are deleted. Virtual Disk Compaction displays a
graphical user interface that shows the amount of free space that can be
gained through compaction as well as offers a simple one-click option
to begin the compaction process.
To get the maximum benefit out of a company’s business infrastructure
the company should not use a multiple server environment but rather
switch to a virtualization platform. Once the company has made the
switch it is important that they take the necessary steps to protect the
virtual platform from the problems that cause it to lose efficiency and
the only way to get maximum performance from virtual machines is to
install V-locity.
