BANOS a‘TOVRTUALZATION nome THE RIC AT erver virtualization has, in a short stretch of time, proven itself to an extent that many technologies never do. Its benefits are com- pelling and plain to see: better server perfor- mance, less maintenance, reduced power costs and a more efficient and manageable data center. The difficult part is sorting through the various options. Planning and executing a virtualization project means nav- igating a crowded market and determining answers to a se- ries of questions about cost, sophistication and support. To capitalize on server virtualization technology, an orga- nization needs to match the many available products to the needs of a specific IT environment. A further consideration is to look ahead to see how that IT infrastructure might change over time. Choosing a virtualization product that can’t properly adapt to those changes will result in a missed opportunity and possibly even an expensive mistake. The virtualization options discussed here are based on regular server-grade hardware built around an Intel or AMD CPU. High-end hardware platforms like AS/400 and IBM Mainframe can use an expensive integrated virtualiza- tion method, but that’s not being considered for this guide. 42 SERVER VIRTUALIZATION BASICSavvroncnies ‘TOVRTUALZATION No THE RG FT ‘THE MARE PLAYERS APPROACHES TO VIRTUALIZATION Virtualization products can handle their missions in different ways. The most common approach is hypervisor virtualization. A hypervisor is used to pass instructions from the virtual machine to the underlying hardware as if the vir- tual machine is addressing the hardware directly. The hypervisor can be seen as a minimal operating system. Its most important task is to redirect instruc- tions issued by the virtual machines to the hardware with the lowest amount of overhead possible. Most of the common virtualization products now in use are based on hy- pervisor virtualization—for good reason. Itis an effective, relatively simple solution that works with any operating system. If you're looking for a flexible virtualization platform, make sure it is hypervisor-based. A different approach is used in container virtualization. With this technique, many instances of the same operating system run on top of one operating sys- tem kernel. The fact that all of these instances are using the same kernel makes container-based virtualization highly efficient. A minimal amount of system resources is needed to run a maximal number of virtual machines. This also presents the biggest disadvantage of container-based virtualization: There is no flexibility in choosing the guest operating system. All guest operating sys- tems must be the same as the host kernel. A third way to create virtual machines is by using a virtualization pro- gram that runs on top of a graphical desktop, such as VMware Workstation or Oracle’s VirtualBox. These are not recommended for use in a data center, where efficiency is an important requirement, because all instructions need to be trapped and sent to the hardware by the host machine's operating system. From a performance point of view, this is inefficient and should be used only for testing purposes. FINDING THE RIGHT FIT If it’s flexibility you're looking for, then hypervisor-based virtualization is the technique that makes the most sense. The next step will be to look at these essential factors:avvroncnies ‘TOVRTUALZATION No THE RG FT ‘THE MARE PLAYERS > Cost + Availability of support + In-house skills + Integration issues > Management tools > Reputation. The price of virtualization products has become a major issue over the last few years, leading many vendors to give away a startup version of their plat- forms. The free version, of course, isn’t necessarily going to be the cheapest solution over the long term. After the successful launch of a virtualization proj- ect, you might find you need advanced features—a realization that can mean a hefty new annual subscription. In that situation, you might have been better off selecting another product from the beginning. This makes it important to consider more than attractive pricing; be sure to look at features you might need once you begin expanding your organization’s virtualizs ion project. Another important issue is the availability of support for the product you choose. It may be nice to save some money when buying a virtualization prod- uct, but if that means you're able to get hands-on support only through an ex- pensive support contract with the vendor, you don’t win anything at all. Also, your virtualization solution should be manageable by people within your company. Ideally, you already have staff members who know how to use the product you're going to work with. If not, it shouldn't be hard for your staff. to learn how to manage it. Even more important is the integration of your virtualization product with your existing IT environment. Often, a virtualization tool requires additional software to be present. Think of specific brands of database or Active Directory to make management easy. If you already have these installed, starting off may be straightforward. If not, you may find that after buying a virtualization solu- tion, you'll need lots of additional software. Also, make sure the solution you choose fits your environment. If you're an all-Microsoft shop, it doesn’t make sense to install a Linux-based virtualizatavvroncnies ‘TOVRTUALZATION No THE RG FT ‘THE MARE PLAYERS solution, just as Hyper-V won't be a big success if you aren’t running Windows servers. When starting your virtualization project, you'll also need to look at the way it is managed. A good solution comes with an integrated management tool that allows you to manage the entire virtualized environment—not just individual virtual servers. Management is so much easier if you can see all the servers from an integrated interface and apply settings once so that they are automati- cally used by all servers in your environment. This ensures that all servers are set up according to the standards that you've defined for your data center. Some offerings come with a basic management interface, but an additional pur- chase is required for the integrated management solution. Lastly, while it’s worth considering the reputation of the virtualization prod- uct you might buy, don’t put too much weight on that. Products that are well- regarded might come with a price too high for what your organization is trying to accomplish. Be sure to look for the specific features you need, instead of rely- ing on reputation alone. ‘THE MARKET PLAYERS There are five major virtualization products: > VMware vSphere > Microsoft Hyper-V + Citrix XenServer + Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization + Oracle VM. VMware vSphere It’s not by accident that VMware's vSphere is the market leader. VMware of- fers stable and scalable products—from the free ESXi host software up to in- tegration with VMware Cloud software. All that comes at a price, though. The base version is free, but you'll soon find you really need vCenter Server for integrated management, which requires an additional purchase. Also, someavvroncnies ‘TOVRTUALZATION No THE RG FT ‘THE MARE PLAYERS other useful features, such as High Availability, are offered only in the more expensive versions of vSphere. Because VMware is so widely used, informa- tion and expertise on managing it are easy to find; many IT professionals consider the VMware Certified Professional designation a valuable addition to their résumés. Also, VMware's maturity means you'll rarely have trouble working with it. Microsoft Hyper-V Hyper-V owes part of its success to being a Microsoft product. Since many companies have their entire IT infrastructure already based on Microsoft, Hy- per-V integrates well. It is fairly easy for an IT staff to learn how to work with Hyper-V, and external support is widely available through Microsoft partners. With all of these attributes, you might forget that Hyper-V is a relatively new player in the market. That means that some features long included with other products are relatively new or still underdeveloped in Hyper-V. Citrix XenServer Before the rise of Microsoft Hyper-V, the battle for virtualization market share was mainly fought by VMware and Citrix, which has been offering its Xen- Server product for a long time. Since Citrix is also a dominant player in desktop virtualization, many companies are comfortable choosing Citrix for their virtu- alization projects as well. The longevity of XenServer has given rise to a broad network of professional partners, making it easy to get support. A critical fac- tor to be aware of is that this tool is based on the Xen hypervisor, which means Linux skills are required to fully understand the product. Citrix promotes XenServer by telling buyers they'll get an integrated centralized management tool for free. While true, some management features are available only after purchasing the more advanced versions of Citrix XenServer. Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization ‘The message that Red Hat has been sending to the market is that its Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization (RHEV) product gives users everything they need— without the higher prices of its competitors. RHEV is managed from a browser,svoroncies ‘TOVRTUALZATION ‘THE MARKET PLAYERS and you'll see your complete RHEV environment from this interface, with many features available by default that are only available as an additional purchase in other products, Nevertheless, there are some issues to be aware of before starting with RHEV. Most importantly, it is a relatively new product. That means it might be difficult to obtain support outside Red Hat or to find staff with the skills to manage it. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES VMware vs, Microsoft: Ferocious Pricing War from the User Perspective Microsoft and VMware are starting to sound like used car salesmen, with each ‘one attempting to best the other by offering incentives to sweeten the deal. Can Red Hat's Low-Price B: c nee Customer: Red Hat unveiled lower-cost cloud management and virtualization software to better compete with Microsoft and VMware, yet IT pros say it will take more than a cheaper deal to sell them on Red Hat. VMware vSphere vs. Microsoft Hyper-V: Which is Cheaper? Conventional wisdom says that Microsoft's Hyper-V is cheaper than VM- ware's vSphere across the board, although vSphere boasts more advanced features. Depending on the size of the shop and the type of workload being, virtualized, neither of these statements may be true. Proceed with Caution: Multi-Hypervisor Management Tools ‘Multi-hypervisor management tools are great for common provisioning and monitoring tasks, but they fall flat when it comes to deeper functionality. Are Hyper-V savings Worth the Cost of a VMware Rip and Replace? The premise behind comparing prices is, after all, that users would make a switch from VMware to Microsoft if they find lower prices compelling enough. Putting the Hypervisor Market into Perspective ‘Only a few years ago, the concept of virtualization was little more than a tech- nological curiosity. A recent TechTarget survey revealed that at least 60% of organizations are now deploying some form of server virtualization. mavvroncnies ‘TOVRTUALZATION No THE RG FT ‘THE MARE PLAYERS Oracle VM Since acquiring Sun Microsystems, Oracle has been working on a one-stack solution that focuses on Oracle database environments, Oracle databases run best on Oracle Unbreakable Linux, so if you want to virtualize them—and have optimal support—you might prefer virtualizing on Oracle VM. Oracle wants to make it as easy as possible for its customers to run a complete stack supported entirely with its products, and that’s the key reason some companies choose Oracle VM. Each of these virtualization tools has rye Think about how distinct benefits and disadvantages. Cus- ‘ you will use hyper- tomers who choose VMware are opting for the market leader and the guarantees that visor technology, come with that. For companies with an all- how it fits with what Microsoft IT policy, Hyper-V is the logical you have in your choice. Citrix XenServer is popular with data center and how companies starting a virtualization project that includes both virtualized desktops and servers, as Citrix is one of the most impor- tant players in desktop virtualization, With Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization, Red Hat targets the part of the market that, you'll manage it once you take the plunge. hasn't started any virtualization projects yet by offering a complete package for a significantly lower price. Finally there is Oracle, which wants to offer its cus- tomers a one-stop option to run Oracle databases. Weigh these options carefully before pressing ahead with a virtualization project. Think about how you will use hypervisor technology, how it fits with what you have in your data center and how you'll manage it once you take the plunge. =‘TovmTUALZATION mame THERIOT TT ‘THE MARKET PLAYERS SANDER VAN VUGT is an independent trainer and con- sultant living in the Nether- lands. Van Vugt is an expert in Linux high availability, virtualization and perfor- mance and has completed several projects that imple- ment all three. Sander is also a regular speaker at many Linux conferences all over the world. He is the writer of various Linux-related books, such as Beginning the Linux Command Line, Beginning Ubuntu Server Administra tion and Pro Ubuntu Server Administration. 9 SERVER VIRTUALIZATION BASICS “CoO~ TechTarget Server Virtualization Basics is @ SearchServerVirtualization com e-publication Margie Semilof Editorial Director Lauren Hor Executive Editor Christine Cignoli Senior Features Editor Keith Kessinger Site Editor Phil Sweeney Managing Editor Eugene Demaitre Associate Managing Editor Laura Aberle Associate Features Editor Linda Koury Director of Online Design Rebecca Kitchens Publisher tkitchens@techtarget.com, TechTarget 275 Grove Street, Newton, MA 02466 www.techtarget.com ©2012 TechTarget ne. Nopart ofthis publication ‘may be ronsmitted orreproducedin any form or by any means without written permission fom the publisher TeerTorget reprints re available through The YGS Group, Asour TeciTaneet: TechTarget publishes ‘medi for information technology pression Sis. 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