Planning Virtualization Moves Wisely
Company: Computerworld
Published: Aug 2008
Not so long ago, if Underwriters Laboratories needed to add three additional servers worth of computing power in three weeks, the company just bought three new units, says Kent Walker, manager of computer operations for UL. With more time for capacity analysis - which is both labor and time-intensive - Walker might be able to shift resources around and stave off the purchase. But when the need is immediate, there's no time for that. That's why CiRBA's data center intelligence tool appealed to Walker. The product is designed to automatically analyze a server installation and recommend ways to consolidate hardware using virtual servers instead of physical. Walker asked CiRBA in for a 100-server trial evaluation, to see if the vendor could help rein in his sprawl of underutilized servers. "They dazzled us," Walker says. Other tools can tackle pieces of the analysis, such as examining server utilization levels to plan capacity. But CiRBA's tool is comprehensive, letting users factor in technical, business and workload constraints specific to their organizations, analysts say. A financial institution, for instance, might need to stipulate that its trading and research groups not share the same virtual servers due to regulatory requirements.
Published: Aug 2008
Not so long ago, if Underwriters Laboratories needed to add three additional servers worth of computing power in three weeks, the company just bought three new units, says Kent Walker, manager of computer operations for UL. With more time for capacity analysis - which is both labor and time-intensive - Walker might be able to shift resources around and stave off the purchase. But when the need is immediate, there's no time for that. That's why CiRBA's data center intelligence tool appealed to Walker. The product is designed to automatically analyze a server installation and recommend ways to consolidate hardware using virtual servers instead of physical. Walker asked CiRBA in for a 100-server trial evaluation, to see if the vendor could help rein in his sprawl of underutilized servers. "They dazzled us," Walker says. Other tools can tackle pieces of the analysis, such as examining server utilization levels to plan capacity. But CiRBA's tool is comprehensive, letting users factor in technical, business and workload constraints specific to their organizations, analysts say. A financial institution, for instance, might need to stipulate that its trading and research groups not share the same virtual servers due to regulatory requirements.
