Practical IT Research that Drives Measurable Results Avoid Server Virtualization Implementation Pain

Introduction Implementers generally report success in their virtualization projects. Where there are problems, they tend to be both operational and technical. Taking the time for infrastructure assessment and planning can mitigate some potential pitfalls. It’s all about expectations management. Implementation success is normally related to excessively high expectations of what can be virtualized and how much will be saved. One way to implement virtualization is simply to keep virtualizing until something breaks and performance suffers. Avoid the pain of hitting the limits of virtualization through assessment and candidate selection.

Executive Summary Anticipate the potential limitations on virtualization and how to mitigate them. Carefully manage expectations to avoid frustration and disappointment. Assess both technical and the business environment readiness for server virtualization. Plan for appropriate capacity across processors, network, and storage. Focus on application provisioning and service levels, not hardware, in dealing with the rest of the business. Scope application needs and test applications in the virtual environment first. Make sure licensing terms for virtualized servers are fully understood Be sure to address any potential security concerns up front.

Server virtualization works. A solid majority of implementers say their virtualization projects met or exceeded expectations. Implementation pain points are typically encountered when expectations are too high. Technical limitations, for example, are encountered when too much virtualization is done on not enough hardware. Take the time for infrastructure assessment and planning to mitigate some potential pitfalls and avoid surprises. Manage expectations and avoid performance gaps through careful assessment and capacity planning Info-Tech surveyed clients across a range of technology implementations and found that most server virtualization implementers said server virtualization met or exceeded expectations. Steps include: 1.Assess the resource utilization of current servers and plan capacity. 2.Scope application needs and test them in the virtual environment first. 3.Make sure licensing terms for virtualized servers are fully understood. 4.Focus on application provisioning and service levels, not hardware, in dealing with the rest of the business. 5.Be sure to address any potential security concerns up front. Well Below Expectations Somewhat Below ExpectationsSomewhat Below ExpectationsSomewhat Below Expectations 5% Met Expectations 47% Somewhat Above ExpectationsSomewhat Above ExpectationsSomewhat Above Expectations 31% Well Above Expectations 16%

Physical Servers Build redundancy into the virtualized architecture by deploying multiple physical servers to host virtual machines. Aim to host 3 VMs per powerful multi- processor server. Processor Standardize processors across all physical machines. Aim to maintain similar processors across all machines to facilitate moving VMs when necessary. Opt for the most advanced processors available to avoid future incompatibilities. Assess the resource utilization of current servers and plan for appropriate capacity across processors, network, storage Assess All Server Workloads Include current memory, processing, and I/O needs of each application. Measure and test current usage of these factors to find peak usage periods. 1 Plan Hardware Redundancy Avoid using only one physical server to house all VMs. Multiple physical servers will boost availability and provide extra capacity for further application development on VMs. 2 Develop a Storage Strategy Storage planning should precede virtualization planning. Develop a comprehensive consolidated storage strategy before implementing server consolidation 3 Select a Scalable Hardware Ensure the processor chip set of each server has a defined future. Look to chip sets that have built in virtualization optimization features. 4 Storage Provide physical servers with access to shared storage such as an iSCSI or SAN array. Take advantage of SAN array management features such as VMWare’s High Availability and Distributed Resource Scheduler to enable virtual machine failover and maximize resource utilization. Info-Tech Insight: The pitfall of poor virtual machine performance is often a result of having too many virtual machines sharing not enough virtualized hardware resources.

Scope application needs and test applications in the virtual environment first Consult Vendors Specifications Review vendor data on hardware compatibility in order to make a no/go decision on virtualization. Ensure that the proposed virtualized solution meets the vendor’s requirements for running an application in a virtual environment. 1 Test Application Testing is the only surefire way to tell if an application will work in a virtualized environment. Global answers are impossible to discern as multiple variables affect the usability of a virtualized application. 2 Info-Tech Recommends: Virtualize lower resource utilizing applications first and focus on building capacity for move more resource intensive applications. Test applications with real world workloads. I/O performance bottlenecks are where implementers will often encounter problems. For example, applications that access large databases over a SAN network create large amounts of disk traffic from virtual machine to storage. Though this situation is being mitigated by hardware and software developments, high I/O apps remain a caution area. Common Pitfall – I/O Bottleneck: Common Pitfall – Memory Constraints: Memory constraints are another common pitfall for application performance on virtual machines. Here, too, progress is being made, but make sure that the application memory requirements can be adequately provisioned in the virtual machine..

Make sure licensing terms for virtualized servers are fully understood Challenge Vendor Licensing Virtualization has forced the licensing landscape to change considerably. But not all vendors have modified licensing for shared virtual environments. Challenge software vendors to provide roadmaps for licensing for virtual infrastructures. 1 Volunteer to be a Test Case Vendors hesitate to support virtual server implementations as the software’s functionality is unpredictable. Offer to work with vendors as a test case to get around vendor hesitation and form the basis for future support arrangements. 2 Vendor Insight: Microsoft has improved their server licensing, now allowing unlimited Microsoft server virtual instances to share a single licensed physical server. This privilege, however, comes at the price of having to purchase the more expensive Windows 2008 Data Center Edition. Licensing Costs Server virtualization will not reduce licensing costs for the organization. Benefits of virtualization include running more applications on fewer physical servers. Plan to save on capital expenditures as hardware costs decrease with increased utilization. Support and licensing costs will not decrease with server virtualization. Vendor Support Applications that license by the processor could cost more if ported from a single processor machine to a VM running on a multi-processor. Vendors may refuse to support the software in a virtual mode.

Critical Application Specs Provision applications according to maximum hardware required. For example, an application sitting on a server with 16GB of memory that only ever uses 750MB is wasting capacity. 1 Application Migration Compare hardware usage in the application’s current home to the availability of hardware in its new, virtualized environment. Conduct capacity planning and testing at the outset to facilitate this. 2 User Involvement Test all applications in a virtual environment before migration. Involve critical user groups of each application during the testing phase. Support benchmark figures with experienced user feedback. 3 Focus on application provisioning and management, not hardware acquisition, to facilitate buy-in Communicate the end goal of virtualizing and its benefits to facilitate buy-in among resistors Virtualization is Black Box Intangibility is a common complaint of virtualization; servers are not visible and, therefore, the technology seems less valuable. Combat this mentality by explaining that regular physical servers have an average utilization rate of 20%. Avoid a hardware-centric view when talking about virtualization. For example, describing a virtual instance as going from 100% use of a processor, to a fraction of a multiprocessor server leads to the impression that the user is getting less service. Focus on application provisioning and service levels, not hardware, in dealing with the rest of the business

Enforce Host Security Compromised hosts puts all VMs running under that host at risk. Enforce strict control of access to the host system in order to combat malicious entities entering the system. 1 Manage VMs as Equal to Physical Servers Develop management tools and policies to ensure attention is paid to the creation and management of virtual servers as well as physical servers. Ensure the implementation includes tools that provide visibility into the black box. 2 Treat VMs as Equal Network Nodes Treat virtual machines as equal to any other node on the network. Silo VMs to facilitate security throughout the architecture. 3 Treat VMs as equal to their physical counterparts to protect against unforeseen security risks Potential windfalls of server virtualization include compromising architecture and tracking Server Tracking VMs are easy to create and deploy once the infrastructure is in place. Similarly, they are equally vulnerable to malicious software. Focus on tracking and patching VMs as diligently as their physical counterparts to remain secure. Secure Network Architectures Silo VMs to facilitate security throughout the architecture. For example, consolidating a series of physical servers that were once in a DMZ into VMs that reside in a DMZ is more effective than mingling servers with various security needs. Be sure to address any potential security concerns up front Virtual infrastructure is not inherently more or less secure than physical infrastructure. It does represent, however, an additional infrastructure layer that will require security due diligence.

Conclusion Perform due diligence on potential servers; hardware is critical. Assess Servers Take the time to plan the capacity required out of servers up front to save time and hassle during application provisioning. Capacity Planning Use Info-Tech’s “Assessing Candidate Servers for Virtualization” Tool to aid with assessing candidate servers for virtualization.Assessing Candidate Servers for Virtualization

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