Super Consolidation and Virtualisation
Enterprises should change their thinking about consolidation and pursue a server virtualisation strategy rather than a server consolidation project
Repton, Swan House, 203 Swan Road, Hanworth, Middlesex TW13 6LL Tel: 020 8894 9000 Fax: 020 8894 0084 www.repton.co.uk
Repton define VIRTUALISATION as the decoupling of operating systems, applications and features from the physical
Consolidation
What's it all about?
Consolidation is the buzz word of the moment, but what exactly is it all about? It's a lot more than just simply replacing a lot of small servers with a few bigger ones. The goal is to optimise and simplify an IT infrastructure from end to end - not just the servers but the storage, data, applications and systems management tools that bring it all together. So at it's core consolidation is a discipline of enabling technology in the broadest sense and truly finding ways to better align and manage your existing IT infrastructure whilst establishing a flexible foundation to handle future requirements.
Why should you Consolidate?
Various industry surveys show that the server consolidation is a reality, with businesses of all sizes actively exploring or implementing server consolidation solutions. If you're involved in maintaining or planning your organisations IT infrastructure, then chances are you are currently faced with one or more of these difficult issues: Total cost of ownership Consolidation can help you to reduce complexity, implement better systems management practices and optimise capacity utilisation. This can enable better management of human, financial and IT resources, which can significantly lower costs. Improved service levels of application A more efficient infrastructure is generally a more effective one. That means consolidation can help you to enable the applications that drive the business to deliver increased data access, higher levels of availability and faster response times to end users. Increased security With consumers demanding that any information about them be kept private, and new regulations being written to enforce privacy rights, data security is becoming a competitive necessity. Consolidation can help manage the security of key information. New business solutions Business success today depends on finding new ways to deliver customer value, which can require new applications. But many organisations are finding they must first rationalise their server topology before they can implement critical new solutions that may enable a competitive edge. New applications often require new servers and this can soon spiral out of control. Information as a strategic business tool The distributed computing model often created islands of applications and data. Consolidating IT resources can help you ensure that critical business information and processes are accessible across the business.
Server Consolidation
Centralising a number of smaller servers onto fewer Enterprise-Class Scalable Servers
Application Consolidation
Using VMware to virtually partition a server and share resources to a number of operating systems and applications
Storage Consolidation
Centralise storage for easier management, better utilisation of capacity and centralised backup
Network Consolidation
Centralise and reintegrate networks for easier management, simplicity and better utilisation of capacity
Data Source Consolidation
Using modern software tools to integrate and accelerate data from multiple sources and provide a single query engine
Infrastructure Consolidation
Infrastructure consolidation is the medium term future of IT! It's that simple and its here today
Desktop Consolidation
Using VMware software to integrate and accelerate data from multiple sources and provide a single query engine
Virtualisation
What's it all about?
Virtualisation is the de-coupling of operating systems and their applications and features from the physical hardware. By inserting a low latency, highly resilient software/firmware layer between the physical equipment and the users it is possible to generate an immensely flexible architecture. This can deliver what customers want without having to buy every physical device required. For example it is possible to have multiple servers that actually are multiple copies (instances) of the chosen operating system(s) running on a single or clustered server. The users and the software still see many servers and all the systems behave in a way that appears to involve multiple individual servers; its just that the users are interacting with different copies of the operating system running a single server. The same is available in storage where files can be called and written that actually reside on different and shared topologies, not necessarily from the manufacturer whose file system is being used! On networks it is possible to set up virtual capabilities (VPN has been available for years) that give greater capability at a far lower price than buying lots of separate products. Blade technologies can now collapse both storage and networks into the server and manage them all with a single piece of management software.
Why should you virtualise?
As enterprises grow, IT organizations must rapidly add computing capacity - often in the form of new servers with disparate operating environments. The resulting server sprawl is costly in terms of capital and people needed to operate, manage, and upgrade new servers.
Virtualise Hardware
Consolidation By consolidating physical systems in the data center onto servers utilizing virtualisation technologies, enterprises experience increased operational efficiency whilst reducing hardware acquisition and operational costs. Rapid Deployment Business success depends on finding ways to deliver customer value, including new applications. Many organisations find that by using virtualisation they are able to deploy critical solutions far quicker for that competitive edge. Brand new severs can now be deployed in to the business in hours instead of weeks. Test and Development Automation Migrating the development and testing environments to virtual infrastructure results in immediate improvement in time to market and lower defect levels. Virtualisation eliminates repetitive configuration tasks from testing cycles plus enables developers to copy exact multi-module production environment into virtual machines for testing. Business Continuity Virtualisation removes the dependency of the OS from the hardware itself, thus enabling faster, simpler and less expensive disaster recovery between primary and failover servers. Virtual Machines can failover from one Intel/AMD hardware device to another, regardless of manufacturer.
Virtualise Applications
Remote Installation Virtualising applications makes it possible to execute locally on desktops or terminal servers, without local installation being required. Applications then run without modifying the operating system. Remove Application conflicts Any virtualised application can run side-by-side on any client at any time, enabling different versions of the same application to run simultaneously on the same computer. Multi-user access Applications that do not run in multi-user mode and, therefore, can not run within Terminal Services / Citrix MetaFrame, can now do so when virtualised; and function correctly for multiple users on a single server.
Why Repton
The experience and in-depth capabilities within Repton allow us to look at your infrastructure and identify the opportunities available to you. We lay out the options, choices, costs, timescales, and savings. We provide the designs, proof of concept, delivery, installation and ongoing support that will provide you with a successful deployment.
Experience
Repton's experience is peerless. Our vast experience with mainframes, Unix, storage, applications and networks will be brought to bear on your situation. The lessons learnt from mainframe consolidation work really well on Unix, Windows and Linux. Years of refining storage and application management allow Repton to provide high quality advice in these areas.
Technical Strength
Repton has always been a technically superior organisation. With over twelve years in specifying, supplying, deploying and supporting IT to customers, many of whom have been with us for over ten years. Your plans and your needs will be a major part of our assessment of the choices available to you.
Vision
The knowledge of the available technologies and the experience of where these can be successfully deployed, allow Repton to see where consolidation opportunities would work for you.
Dedication and Commitment
Repton's obsessive commitment to Customer Service ensures that we act in your very best interest. We know that the most successful way ahead for our customers is to layout all the options, including the technical, financial and timescale choices. Then be rigorous in identifying those with a positive saving that can be practically deployed.
Project Management Expertise
Many years of deploying £3000 to £3M solutions has built a superb project management capability within Repton. We apply the controls that effectively keep every element on track, yet retain the flexibility to adjust to your day-to-day changes that are part of the real world.
Finance Options
Repton can put up the widest range of finance options. From straight purchase and multi-year leases through to rental and rental with purchase conversion, to deferred payment and pay-as-you use. Making the payment fit your budget is our primary objective.
Technology Management
Technology Management. To make it all work for you Repton can provide a vast range of management software that will inform you of what is happening and what can be changed to optimise the performance to suit your needs. Simple tools allow you to make those changes to stay on top of your technology, deliver results to your users and demonstrate what exactly is going on inside your IT.
Repton, Swan House, 203 Swan Road, Hanworth, Middlesex TW13 6LL Tel: 020 8894 9000 Fax: 020 8894 0084 www.repton.co.uk