Virtualisation

McDonach Consultancy & Support Services have engineers that have been implementing virtualisation strategies since the technology first appeared. Virtualisation comes in many different forms and offers significant benefits.

Server Virtualisation

Server Virtualisation allows multiple different operating systems and applications to run concurrently on the same physical hardware, in safety and isolation. The virtualisation software layer (ESX Server, Citrix Xen Server) allows operating systems and applications to be consolidated and run on a mix of hardware, and to move operating virtual servers between host physical servers on-the-fly. The virtual servers can be managed as if hosted on a single, standardised hardware platform.

Storage Virtualisation Storage

Virtualisation is the process of pooling physical storage from multiple devices into what appears to be a device, which can then be managed from a central console. Storage virtualisation is commonly used in Storage Area Networks (SANs) such as the LeftHand Networks NSM 4150. Storage virtualisation helps the administrator perform the backups, archiving, and recovery more easily, and in less time, by disguising the actual complexity of the SAN.

Desktop Virtualisation

Desktop Virtualisation allows the hosting of multiple virtual desktop environments on a single server. In effect this allows users to access their desktops remotely through a thin client application such as Citrix Presentation Server or VMware's VDI technology.

Application Virtualisation: Application virtualisation is the practice of running software from a remote server rather than on the user's computer. This allows for considerable flexibility in terms of software deployment on the desktop as by utilising this technology the application does not need to be installed locally, but can be accessed and run using the servers resources.

Benefits

By utilising this technology you can achieve a number of benefits including:

• Reduce Server Sprawl: By consolidating your servers and storage in a virtualised environment you can significantly reduce the quantity of physical servers and storage used in your business, whilst maximising utilisation of these resources.
• Reduce Costs: By consolidating your servers you not only reduce the number of physical servers and related hardware required you will also reduce the additional costs associated with this hardware such as space, cooling, power consumption and support\maintenance of your IT infrastructure.
• Reduces your Company's Environmental Impact: One of the advantages of virtualisation is that as your amount of physical servers and related hardware is reduced, you automatically reduce the usage of other resources such as power consumption. This has a direct impact on your company's carbon footprint.
• Improve Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Processes: Taking advantage of virtualisation technologies such as virtual imaging, cloning, replication and snap-shotting, can help you implement a comprehensive disaster recovery and business continuity plan, which can be easily scaled and maintained.
• Improve Desktop Manageability and Security: With virtualisation technology you can deploy, manage and monitor secure desktop environments that end users can access locally or remotely whether they are connected to your network or are working remotely.