Virtualization Actually Makes Management More Complicated

 

Another myth involves the belief that that resource reservation simplifies virtualization management. In other words, it is thought that specific resources can be assigned to specific virtual machines to prevent conflicts and interference.

"Resource reservation may reduce risk but requires more specific knowledge of logical and physical infrastructure, introducing more complexity," said Laczynski.

In reality, resource reservation is not always possible and it is far from efficient. While CPU and memory can have static assignments for a virtual machine, those resources are better used for dynamic loads to reduce waste. What's more, other elements, such as disk and network, cannot be statically assigned to a virtual machine, further complicating the management conundrum.

A third myth is that virtualization platform metrics are sufficient for effective management.

However, native management platforms only focus on a single dimension, specifically the number of physical resources a virtualization platform uses. In reality, according to Ramanathan, multiple dimensions need to be managed and monitored, such as how much of a physical CPU is being used by an individual virtual machine and how much of those resources are being used by the applications being run inside the virtual machine.

The only way to get the full management scope of a virtualization solution is to know what is happening on the virtualization platform, as well as in each and every virtual machine running on the platform and every application being run on those virtual machines, said Ramanathan. That information proves critical for assigning resources, scaling systems, managing hardware use, as well as maximizing the savings that can be offered by virtualization.

Another false notion is that virtualization is another IT silo. Simply put, this means that virtualization falls into the hands of IT and is then segregated into its own management group, where the virtualization team manages the VMs and operates independently of the enterprise operation team.

While some think an independent VM management team helps expedite the rollout of a VM platform, the truth is that virtualization is a critical component of the overall IT infrastructure, and a problem with the virtual infrastructure affects business services. That means virtualization management should be integrated with overall IT management, allowing a unified approach. One way to manage all this is to invest in cloud infrastructure that someone else, like a Datapipe, runs off premise.

"However, managed service providers can provide the benefits offered by both physical and virtual servers, without introducing sprawl, by incorporating the most appropriate solution to a customer use case," said Laczynski. "There is a better way to operate, where businesses aren't worried about sprawl at all, or the complexity of it, because they use providers to manage that problem space for them."