WHY SHOULD YOU CONSIDER VIRTUALIZATION?

written by: LuminIT 3/25/2016

Virtualizing is now common place in today’s IT. With the increase in power and memory capacity of processors, a single physical server can now act as five virtual servers. Instead of providing a new server for every new application, virtual servers can now run multiple operating systems and applications. This means significantly reduced expenses, flexible software redeployment and effective back-ups.

Doesn’t this sound appealing? Before purchasing any new hardware, consider virtualizing your IT infrastructure with IT Services, Cincinnati, to abstract the software from the hardware while ensuring network security.

ADVANTAGES OF VIRTUALIZATION

1. Cost Benefits:
Company Data Centers can consolidate server requirements to fewer, more powerful systems. This means no more hardware expenses, including maintenance and updates. Significantly less time and money will be spent on maintaining and running the servers and desk side support. It will also reduce space, power, port and cabling service expenses.

2. Simplified Data Back-Ups:
Virtual Machines simply take up-to-date snapshots of your servers which are then redeployed to another device, seamlessly. This cuts the waiting time for server reboots, unlike physical servers where you have to create backups of your server and current data.

3. Improved Disaster Recovery:
You can effortlessly migrate your virtual servers to another device and keep them working, in case a disaster strikes your physical servers. This eliminates the stress of accidentally losing files to disasters as if the incident never really happened.

4. Technological Versatility:
Instead of being tied down by a single IT provider, virtual servers have an added advantage of being flexible enough to run on various platforms, hardware’s and servers.

– Moving Things To The Cloud:
Visualization allows you to transfer your business to a prolific cloud environment.

– Increased Uptime:
Your company no longer needs to put up with long server downtimes; upgrading the hardware allows you to use thin clients in the workplace with virtual machines.

Virtualization has no significant disadvantages, which is probably getting you pumped up to set-up virtual machines. However, before you switch your business to virtualization, here are some IMPORTANT FACTORS TO CONSIDER:

– Before proceeding with your investment, thoroughly research the services and devices needed by your company, as virtualization does involve initial costs to set up your network’s hardware and software.
– Plan to have at least 5-7 servers running at your workplace, for effective Virtualization benefits. 10-15 servers are optimal to see a significant return on your investment. If you plan to have fewer servers than the numbers stated above, it’s better to opt for a different IT solution.
– It is important that your employees and staff members have the necessary skills and experience to operate a virtualized system. Do they require training? How can you help them transition to the virtual infrastructure quickly?
– Your business must have enough storage capacity at least 30-40 GB per user.
– Setting up failover is imperative to ensure the safety and security of your Virtual system.
– Mobile, media-rich and a few security apps are not compatible with virtualization. If your employees prefer to use these types of software applications, it might be best to deploy virtualization solution on a smaller scale.
– It is important to keep in mind the conditions involved in your software license. Installing some applications in several computers could increase costs.

Many small businesses are considering switching over to virtualization to upgrade their outdated IT systems. Although there are initial challenges involved while setting up the virtual system into your IT Infrastructure, the increased flexibility of virtual machines and cost-effective benefits offered by virtualization make it worth the effort.

Contact LuminIT, a Cincinnati IT Services company and find out if virtualization solutions are for you, today!