Virtualisation helps stretch IT budgets
Microsoft Adds Virtualisation to Unified Communications
Microsoft continues its foray into Unified Communications (UC) with its support for a virtualised topology in Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2, it now supports virtualisation in several OCS R2 components including presence, IM and group chat. The virtualisation is enabled through Microsoft's Hyper-V hypervisor as well as other Server Virtualisation Validation Program (SVVP) certified virtualisation technologies.
Galdon Data CEO Garry Ackerman says virtualisation is an important and growing trend and many businesses are now incorporating virtual solutions within their IT infrastructures. “Hyper-V in the Windows Server 2008 operating system is a powerful virtualisation technology that can be used by corporate IT departments to consolidate servers that are under used. Using these servers reduces total cost of ownership (TCO) and maintains or improves Quality of Service (QoS).”
Based on hypervisor technology, the Hyper-V virtualisation feature in the Windows Server 2008 operating system is a thin layer of software between the hardware and the operating system that enables multiple operating systems to run, unmodified, on a host computer at the same time.
Virtualisation means running software within a virtual environment. This is created when operating systems and desktop applications are emulated and don’t run directly on physical hardware. More importantly, when software is virtualised, one can run several applications and operating systems on one physical server.
“More importantly, virtualisation can apply to all the elements of your IT infrastructure: servers, operating systems and desktop applications. Microsoft offers end-to-end virtualisation options that encompass all these areas,” he explains.
“Our customers getting significant savings by deferring purchases of additional dedicated servers and by avoiding the maintenance and overhead those servers would require. In addition, increased speed has also had far-reaching business benefits.”
Considering that virtualisation enables companies to run multiple operating systems and applications on a single server rather than several, it enables them to get more from their servers; save money by reducing the number of servers; enjoy better business continuity and disaster recovery; and become greener with lower power requirements.
If companies want to get the most from their resources and improve efficiency, virtualisation technology is the answer:
· Get the flexibility one needs to respond quickly to changing business objectives and challenges
· Deploy a virtual infrastructure or alter ones set-up in a fraction of the time it would take with a physical system
· Safeguard ones business critical information and systems through easy disaster recovery features
· Simplify tasks like maintenance and backup because there is less hardware to deal with—reducing scheduled and unscheduled downtime
· Dramatically reduce costs for IT management, hardware, power consumption and maintenance
· Run several different operating systems, software and even legacy applications simultaneously on a single server
· Save energy—fewer physical servers means a smaller carbon footprint
Microsoft is highly experienced in providing end-to-end virtualisation options, covering everything from servers to desktops. The new Windows Server 2008 operating system has powerful virtualisation capabilities and moreover, Microsoft server licensing has been designed with virtualisation in mind. In many cases, being fully licensed on the server will give clients unlimited virtualisation, maximising affordability and value for money.
