Virtualization: The New Data Center Paradigm, Again

Virtualization is almost as old as enterprise computing itself. First introduced in the 1960s to allow partitioning of mainframe hardware, it has been a mainstay of high-end proprietary server environments ever since. Today, virtualization is once again a hot topic of conversation in the data center because emerging technologies have the potential to remedy issues relating to resource utilization, efficiency, scalability and manageability. Armed with virtual machines on commodity hardware, data center administrators hope to create new levels of flexibility and agility in their environments at a lower total cost of ownership.

Virtualization can drive up resource utilization on individual servers, thus increasing the total return on those investments. Moreover, it can integrate distributed systems, transforming disparate racks of compute and storage servers into a bona fide enterprise IT platform.

Two new major developments will have a dramatic effect on virtualization technology adoption. On the hardware side, x86 architecture-based microprocessor manufacturers have released a new generation of chips that support virtualization natively. On the software side, the emergence of the open-source Xen* hypervisor virtual machine technology has eliminated much of the performance impact associated with the mediation layer that accompanies full virtualization and software emulation. The introduction of Xen also drives down the overall cost of virtualization.

These developments could completely decouple software from the underlying physical implementation. The result would be impressive new levels of resource utilization and improvements in availability, manageability, scalability, performance, application security and much more.

But virtualization is not a panacea. Without the right infrastructure and management tools, virtualization may do very little to stem the tide of complexity and inefficiency that has overwhelmed even administrators’ best plans. Thus, when selecting a vendor to help you virtualize your data center, you should choose one with the management tools and experience to help make your implementation a successful one.

Novell® sees virtualization as a tremendous opportunity for its data center customers. Novell envisions virtualization-enabled data centers in which there is highly sophisticated integration of components that are largely isolated today. It’s an environment in which Novell expertise and technologies will play prominent roles. SUSE® Linux Enterprise 10, the flagship Linux* platform from Novell, continues to lead the way in data center virtualization, with support for both x86based processors and mainframes.