1. Server Consolidation and Virtualization
Joanne M. Kossuth, Vice President for Operations and CIO,
Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering

2. Definitions: Consolidation
Implies combining workloads from separate machines/applications into a smaller number
Combine heterogeneous workloads from multiple servers into a single larger server
Multiple workloads may be combined under a single OS, reducing OS images.
Multiple applications such as or databases can be combined into a single system
Centralized, physical, operational

3. Definitions: Virtualization
Virtualization tools include:
Partitions
Virtual machines
Resource management software
All enable multiple workloads to run simultaneously on larger servers

4. Here is what Server Virtualization looks like:
                                                                      

5. Approach Alternate approach to growing the data center Implications:
Real estate
Use less space
Potential cost savings
Requires fewer resources for renovations
Allows for reclamation of space for other institutional needs

6. Implications, Cont. Energy usage Improves efficiency
Uses less electricity
Requires less cooling equipment
“Greener” approach

7. Implications, Cont. Flexibility and agility Simplification
Increases responsiveness to customers
Allows for increased development and test opportunities
Simplification
Standards
Images
Support
Hardware utilization
Increased utilization
Better metrics

8. Implications, Cont. Costs Reduced TCO Reduced support Licensing?
Disaster recovery/business continuity
Increased opportunity
Improved reliability and uptime
Reduced recovery time
Others?

9. Questions to Ask Licensing Life time costs Compatibility
Shared storage requirements
Network hardware requirements (GB?)
Support
Internal
External

10. Planning the Project Understand your goals
Assess the existing environment
Work with vendor partners on potential designs
Evaluations and assessment of vendor solutions
Staff training
Make sure to work with YOUR potential configurations and software

11. Planning II Deployment plan Ongoing evaluation and support
Don’t forget about backup planning
Multiple front ends, one backend storage array?
Standards
Implications for user experiences
Planning for change and next gen

12. Olin College Experience
Goals
Increase development and testing environments
Reduce the total number of servers supported
Improve agility
Reallocate costs
Streamline operations

13. Your Experiences Share your experiences Positive Negative
Lessons learned?

14. Other Opportunities Network virtualization Storage virtualization
Desk top virtualization

15. THANK YOU