What does infrastructure virtualisation involve?
A simple definition
Infrastructure virtualisation in companies consists of establishing a level of abstraction between the physical hardware and the applications and services that make up the system. In other words, it allows multiple devices to be connected to a single physical system, also transforming network functions, hardware resources, and software into an holistic virtual network.
How infrastructure virtualisation works
At the heart of infrastructure virtualisation is the hypervisor, an operating system that connects to the hardware and divides it into multiple secure environments called virtual machines (VMs). These machines use the hypervisor to separate and optimise hardware resources.
What are the advantages of virtualising an infrastructure?
In a sector undergoing perpetual transformation, the benefits of enterprise infrastructure virtualisation are wide-ranging. From accrued flexibility to a lower cost of investment, virtualisation has become essential for system optimisation and for increased competitiveness in general.
An increase in flexibility.
Infrastructure virtualisation offers companies the option to reduce the numbers of servers while considerably enhancing their level of management. More specifically, it enables virtual machines to be added and removed as needed, making it far more flexible than traditional infrastructures.
Another major benefit is the flexibility of each individual virtual machine’s workloads It also makes it possible to allocate more resources to a machine at peak times, for example to respond to high volumes of traffic on a website. What’s more, these resources can then later be accessed and reallocated to flexibly adapt to varying demand.
Resource optimisation
All the machines are grouped on a single server, allowing for maximum use while reducing procurement, energy consumption, and cooling costs. Simplified, centralised management of monitoring, maintenance, and updating the entire infrastructure also enables more efficient management of resources.
Lower investment costs
Virtualisation, by consolidating several virtual machines on a single server, allows for considerable investment cost reduction within the infrastructure. This reduction translates into significant savings in terms of IT hardware purchases. And since fewer physical servers are required, less actual space is needed in data centres and can be reduced considerably.
Managing a lower number of physical servers compared to managing a large number of dispersed servers is far simpler and cheaper to maintain. In a virtualised environment, updates, repair, surveillance and backups are carried out more efficiently and more cheaply, contributing to infrastructure management that’s more affordable overall.
The best system security
Virtualisation gives you the possibility to segment different tasks to a physical server across multiple, separate virtual machines while they all stay isolated from each other. This process allows for efficient compartmentalising of services. Should software become infected with malware, data is then divided up across several separate virtual machines. This is the opposite of a traditional system, where data from all environments is centralised on a single server, making it easy for a virus to infect all devices.
Security is also intrinsically linked to ensuring a long system life as virtual machines can be transferred to new servers when their physical hosts start to show signs of deteriorating. Virtualisation also makes backup easier, taking snapshots of virtual machines which can be used to restore environments to a previous point in time in the case of issues.
How can we manage infrastructure virtualisation?
The topic of infrastructure virtualisation raises many questions as it is quite labour intensive to implement. ScaleComputing has published a report on this topic, highlighting customer concerns about server virtualisation. Getting a handle on your virtual network is essential—and we’re here to give you some pointers.
Ensuring compatibility
When virtualising an existing infrastructure, the aim, naturally, is to keep the existing systems running just as well as before. Compatibility issues between virtualisation and its virtual machines and legacy components can cause malfunctions, downtime, or potential conflicts that can disrupt the entire infrastructure.
Setting up monitoring
Server virtualisation—establishing an abstraction layer between the physical hardware and the virtual machines—creates additional complexity in an infrastructure that requires meticulous attention. To enable more rigorous monitoring, it is recommended to segment virtual environments into network zones with several technicians assigned to each, ensuring constant surveillance.
It’s also imperative to train teams in cybersecurity for virtual server systems so that all staff understand the risks and form a united front against potential threats.
Managing bottlenecks
Managing bottlenecks is essential when transitioning to virtualised servers. These issues arise when key resources, such as CPUs or storage, become overloaded, leading to performance limitations. A preliminary infrastructure evaluation can sidestep this, taking detailed stock of resources used, reallocating as needed, and ensuring constant monitoring in order to maintain stable performance.
How to choose the right providers?
One point raised in the ScaleComputing report is that server virtualisation is sometimes unreliable. Process quality and provider expertise are key factors to consider. Here are some tips for choosing the right providers.
Choosing the right server virtualisation provider is a crucial strategic decision that impacts on various key areas. First of all, it’s essential to ensure that the provider implements rigorous security measures to guarantee that sensitive data stays protected and that cybersecurity standards are met.
It’s also key to clearly define who can access server data by setting up clearly defined access policies to keep unauthorised users out. Gradual integration into the existing system is also crucial for avoiding operational disruption.
In terms of legal conformity, it is necessary to ensure that your provider respects local laws, above all those concerning data protection and confidentiality. And finally, reputable providers will provide consultation on both implementation and on long-term maintenance. This consultation can help to optimise performance, identify and resolve potential bottlenecks, and anticipate future customer needs in terms of technological changes.
Conclusion
Infrastructure virtualisation has been quite a challenge for companies in past years, in particular for servers coping with the growing demand of exponentially growing amounts of data, but it brings with it such a raft of benefits. ScaleComputing offers solutions to significantly modernise, automate, and simplify business infrastructure.