Flexibility overrides cost savings as a driver for adopting server virtualization technology, a recent industry survey indicates.
"Participants in our round table discussions said they were [unsure] about the hardware savings they would achieve in the short run, but really liked the flexibility virtual machines provide," said Frank Gillett, principal analyst at Cambridge, Mass.-based firm Forrester Research Inc.
The Forrester survey findings are echoed by a Canadian survey of 500 large and mid-sized firms conducted by research firm IDC Canada Ltd. in Toronto.
Twenty per cent of the companies polled had some form of virtualization already in place, while another 20 per cent intended to deploy the technology within the next 12 months.
The development of management tools should be a priority for companies adopting virtualization technology, according to Alan Freedman, research manager for infrastructure hardware at IDC Canada.
"When you install any virtualization software, you are adding a level of complexity. I see a need for management tools that will make the environment more user friendly," said Freedman. IT staff, he said, need to bone up on how to manage virtual machines (VM) in their organization.
Virtualization software allows a single host computer to create and run one or more virtual environments. Gillette said users like the fact that virtualization isolates operating systems (OS) from hardware-specific drivers. "[This] enables users to easily move virtual servers from one box to the next without adjustments to the OS configuration."
He said in some instances users were able to carry out migration operations in three hours or less, compared to the 20 to 30 hours needed to physically move servers.
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