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Managing virtualization at a large scale is
fraught with hidden challenges.
BY eVanGeLos kotsoVinos
Virtualization:
Blessing
or curse?

VIRtUaLIZatIoN IS ofteN touted as the solution to many challenging problems, from resource underutilization to data-center optimization and carbon emission reduction. However, the hidden costs of virtualization, largely stemming from the complex and difficult system administration challenges it

 

poses, are often overlooked. Reaping the fruits of virtualization requires the enterprise to navigate scalability limitations, revamp traditional operational practices, manage performance, and achieve unprecedented cross-silo collaboration. Virtualization is not a curse: it can bring material benefits, but only to the prepared.

Al Goodman once said, “The perfect
computer has been invented. You just
feed in your problems and they never
come out again.” This is how virtualiza-
tion has come to be perceived in recent
years: as a panacea for a host of IT prob-
lems. Bringing virtualization into the
enterprise is often about reducing costs
without compromising quality of ser-
vice. Running the same workloads as
virtual machines (VMs) on fewer serv-
ers can improve server utilization and,
perhaps more importantly, allow the
deferral of data-center build-outs—the
same data-center space can now last
longer.