What Is Virtualization? - Part 2

What Is Virtualization? Part 2

by Michael E. Callahan aka Dr. File Finder

Last week in part one of this two-part series on virtualizationI talked about the benefits that this technology brings to business. I also expressed my opinion on the benefits I feel it could bring to schools, universities, and homes. If you missed it, go read part one:

Part 1 of What Is Virtualization?NEEDS LINK

For many home users the information in part one may be enough to get you curious. You can try the free VMware Player and "virtual appliances" with no cost involved. If you're like me you may find that purchasing either the VMware Workstation or Parallels Workstation, which lets you create your own virtual machines, is worth the investment. Today I'm moving on and talking just a little bit about virtual infrastructure.

Virtual Infrastructure: The Basics

The purpose of a virtual infrastructure is to continue to lower the costs involved. Yes, you still have to buy hardware, but you don't have to buy as much of it. The resources, like hard disk space, can be managed by an IT department and allocated as needed.

Once again, just as with "virtual machines", the hardware aspects of computing are removed from the software concerns. Each user sees fully functional virtual machines and IT departments can manage the use of the hardware resources those virtual devices run on. That helps to lower costs.

Software that completely virtualizes infrastructure does so with all aspects including storage, servers, networking, and more. The result is increased utilization of hardware, decreased operating costs, and decreased costs for both software and hardware. For many businesses it makes good sense to "virtualize" their infrastructure.

Virtualization makes sense for business because it saves time and money.It saves on equipment costs. When you create base virtual machines you totally eliminate the need to setup a new computer. You can create virtual appliances to handle specific tasks.

Summing It Up

"Virtual" infrastructure saves companies time, money, and also aggravation. With a virtual infrastructure in place it's faster, and more efficient, to do just about everything. Intel has been working on virtualiztion technology for both home and business computers.Companies like Microsoft, Parallels, and VMware have software solutions to help you virtualize now.

In the coming weeks look for a number of articles on virtualization hereon Tucows. I'll be reviewing software products from Parallels,Microsoft, and VMware, as well as providing tutorials on how to create and work with virtual machines using a range of software. I hope you'll find it beneficial. I personally think that"virtualization" is a powerful concept for both home andbusiness use. Stay tuned and we'll tell you more about it.