Build a Server Acquisition Strategy for the Internal Cloud

Introduction When replacing end-of-life servers and/or adding new servers there are a range of tactical choices to be made. What is the most cost effective configuration? Are blades the future or will traditional rack mount do? How many processors/cores and how much memory per server is optimal? These tactical decisions should be informed by a solid strategic context. Consolidation and virtualization mean that a x86/x64 server is no longer a stand-alone silo running a single Windows or Linux application. It is now a single processing node in something variously called a utility infrastructure or an internal cloud. This solution set will provide strategic guidance for server acquisition with the following actions: Establish a strategic and tactical context for server acquisition. Balance maximum capacity with lowest Total Cost. Make the case for acquiring capacity.

Executive Summary Inform server acquisition with consolidation strategy Tactical server acquisition should be made in a strategic context of server consolidation. Consolidation enablement, along with acquisition cost, is ranked high as a decision factor by IT decision makers making server acquisitions. Think of servers as nodes of processing capacity The server is only one layer of a multi-part consolidated infrastructure along with storage, networking, and virtualization. The role of the server in this consolidated infrastructure is to provide processing capacity to host current and future application workloads. Measure capacity in processors, cores, threads, and memory The workload capacity of individual servers is a function of multiple processor cores plus addressable memory and I/O bandwidth. Significant progress has been made in processing capability that has exponentially increased the workload capacity of modern servers. Now is the time to evaluate (and re-evaluate) server capacity Server capacity has grown an order of magnitude since early 2009. In evaluating various server configurations and form factors seek to maximize a balance of capacity for consolidation with the lowest possible TCO. Justify configuration against capacity goals for consolidation Use the Info-Tech Server Acquisition Business Plan template to build out a cost justification for your server purchase. 3

Roadmap Strategize Compare Select Set server acquisition within consolidation. Make overall capacity requirements drive acquisition. Compare Establish capacity requirements Evaluate configurations & form factors Compare TCO across server types Select Make a strategic business case for server acquisition Proceed to the vendor evaluation & product selection

Make server consolidation a continuing strategic goal to save capital spend and improve infrastructure efficiency Server consolidation is simply about doing the required compute work with fewer physical servers using shared resources (such as storage). Fewer physical server requirements mean less hardware to purchase, less physical complexity to manage, and less space requirements. Server virtualization is a critical enabler of consolidation (multiple app workloads sharing physical servers). Info-Tech has seen one-time and ongoing hardware acquisition cost savings of 40% to 75% in consolidation projects leveraging virtualization. Non-virtualized servers are also part of the consolidation picture. For example, increasing processing capacity of physical servers reduces the number of concurrent clustered servers required for high performance data processing. Virtualization App Single (native) Apps Two Server Cluster Consolidated servers form a utility infrastructure where individual physical servers are units of processing capacity that are managed as a pool to provision enterprise applications. Info-Tech Insight:

Consolidation has its biggest impact in industry standard x86/x64 servers – by far where most server acquisition is being made Improvements in x86/x64 architecture is the tide that rises all boats (whether those server boats be from IBM, Cisco, Dell, HP, Sun or others). Unlike proprietary server platforms that are based on different processor designs (e.g. Sun Sparc, IBM Power, or Intel/HP Itanium), all industry standard servers all based on the same processors from Intel or AMD. Consolidation enablers, such as server virtualization and shared network storage, are a relatively recent development (within the past decade) for this class of server (originally intended for distributed stand-alone processing). Close to 89% of server acquisition is for x86/x64 architecture All others are far behind in terms of share and are fragmented across various proprietary architectures, such as IBM Power, HP Itanium and Sun Sparc Source: Info-Tech Research Group N=63

Support for consolidation – along with server cost – are the most important factors in server acquisition Though overall capital cost and vendor support rank highest in importance, support for consolidation is proportionally the highest ranked factor as Extremely Important. Meeting physical space requirements also ranked high in importance. Reduced server footprint is a benefit of consolidation. Easier physical management and reducing power requirements are two other areas of potential benefit in consolidation. For a complete breakdown of importance rankings, see Appendix 1 Source: Info-Tech Research Group N=65

Relate server acquisition to overall consolidation planning Relate server acquisition to overall consolidation planning. Servers are just one layer of the utility infrastructure A consolidated and fully virtualized infrastructure, for example, is like a peculiar “layer cake” in which servers are one layer along with network gear and consolidated storage. Virtualization is the “icing on the cake” in that it provides an abstraction layer between the hosted applications and the physical infrastructure. A consolidated utility infrastructure that leverages virtualization is increasingly being referred to as an Internal Cloud. Info-Tech’s utility infrastructure (Internal cloud) layer cake is a high level reference architecture for consolidation; see: Build an Optimized Infrastructure-as-a-Service Internal Cloud. Optimizing the internal cloud will require optimization of each of these components Storage Processing Network Virtualization

There is more than one way to bake a cake There is more than one way to bake a cake. Components will vary but can adhere to the same model Info-Tech’s consolidation layer cake diagram is a high level reference architecture for consolidation and virtualization. Servers are a critical layer of this architecture, but the configuration and form factor of the servers can vary. Below are two examples that share the same basic architectural components though the layers are very different. Both are valid. VMware vSphere 10 Dual Processor Blade Servers 10 Gigabit Ethernet NetApp Fibre Channel/iSCSI Array Microsoft Hyper-V 3 Dual Processor Rack Mount Servers Gigabit Ethernet Dell EqualLogic iSCSI Array Don’t let vendors limit choice to a single model (e.g. server blades) as the only way to build out consolidated infrastructure. Your needs may be better served by a different combination. Info-Tech Recommends:

It is about acquiring capacity, not just purchasing servers Whether it is called consolidated utility infrastructure or an internal cloud, there are three laws that govern investment: 1 What this means for server acquisition Alignment is Software Applications are the intersection point between the strategic and operational goals of the enterprise and IT. All investments need to be considered first in how they enable the applications that enable the business. Start with application requirements, current and future. Model capacity requirements based on application needs plus reserve capacity. Base acquisition on maximizing capacity at lowest TCO per workload. Vendors will likely not differentiate around capacity but, rather, on management and how the servers fit into the larger consolidated infrastructure. 2 Hardware is Capacity Applications are provisioned with processing, memory, and storage resources that are derived from underlying hardware. The important business measure is cost per unit of capacity as well as the value added cost per unit of capacity of risk mitigation and service levels. 3 Management is the Differentiator Software that efficiently manages the utility infrastructure for business processes is a key value add. Management software can also provide visibility into the infrastructure for compliance and performance monitoring purposes.

Think gas gauge rather than speedometer in server strategy Server acquisition has traditionally been about getting the fastest server at the best price to provision a single application. Taking a consolidated and holistic approach, server acquisition is now about providing adequate current and future capacity for multiple application workloads. Capital purchases are driven not by individual workload projects but rather by needs to maintain adequate total capacity. An individual physical server is a unit of capacity. Application workloads, virtualized and otherwise, consume capacity. Each time capacity is devoted to an application, it is removed from available capacity. Remaining capacity is the gas gauge or planning point for adding necessary units (servers). Server hardware matters. Virtualization does not magically boost processing capacity. That comes from the server layer. Virtualization enables better utilization and sharing of the capacity. Info-Tech Insight:

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