A look at virtualisation technology and its role in cloud computing
Cloud computing and virtualisations are terms that are thrown around a lot in the IT and tech industry, often used as an generic terms for a wide array of different platforms, services, and systems. It’s not a surprise then that there is some confusion over what these labels actually mean and it only gets more confusing since they both share so many things in common!
Luckily we at Nettko pride ourselves on our expertise with cloud computing and virtualisation technology so allow us to try and shed some light on this topic! Virtualisation technology has become a standard for IT infrastructures over the past few years and was one of the steps towards the cloud computing revolution. At a basic level virtualisation refers to the act of creating a non-physical (virtual) version of a device or resource that acts in the exact same way the physical device or resource would act. Don’t worry, we’ll explain further.
A practical example of virtualisation
As a real world exercise I want you to imagine that your business currently leases 20 servers from a data centre and has each of these servers performing a single but important task. In many cases with these servers only operating 1 task or application they will only be utilising 5% to 10% of their available resources. This is massively inefficient for the servers, you, and your business.
Virtualisation allows you to pool all the hardware together and have “virtual” servers (that do not physically exist but) utilise ALL the available resources. Due to the increase in efficiency the “pool” of resources can be reduced significantly. In this case our 20 servers become 4 which is an automatic 80% reduction of your hardware costs.
Business benefits of virtualisation
But what core benefit does this provide your business? This means in the end you get tremendous savings due to the consolidation of your hardware. Case studies show the kind of consolidation ratios are from 10:1 up to 20:1 for scaling down hardware. In terms of data center costs the average return on investment (ROI) has shown to be tremendous. On average customers are finding that the ROI is now less than 3-6 months and ongoing operating costs are greatly reduced. This is because it now completely changes the way that you can build, manage and change your IT environment and therefore, reduce painful overheads for your whole business.
In brief: Virtualisation equals less hardware which equals less costs to your business
After consolidating the servers in the above example a virtualised solution will continue to grant your business increased efficiency. If for example your business required another server, prior to virtualisation you would have had to wait weeks for hardware to become available, setup, and for software to be configured and everything to be installed. For the modern day business, this is unacceptable. That is why every day, we are helping more and more businesses move away from this slow and inefficient process. So what can we do now with virtualisation? Well, in a virtualised environment an IT professional can create a new virtual server with the click of a few buttons, a solution in literal minutes instead of weeks. As a business owner, this is crucial for your growth phase. Don’t let technology slow you down, today’s technology is here to make your operations more effective and more efficient.
Virtualisation and the cloud
So how does this virtualisation technology relate to the concept of cloud computing?
While virtualisation is the creation of “virtual” servers that use your current hardware. Cloud computing takes this a step further by placing all these virtual solutions out onto the internet in a secure cloud. Basically we take your shared computing resources, software, or data and deliver them as a service and on-demand through the Internet. This is why virtualisation is considered a technology and a solution while cloud computing is considered something closer to a “service”. Virtualisation was alive and well before cloud computing came along but without it cloud computing could not exist.
Still have questions about cloud computing, virtualisation or how Nettko can dramatically optimise your business today with such a solution? Reach out to us on our contact page here or give us a call on 1300 NETTKO
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