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Virtualization - Call PBM IT Solutions at (888) 233-6471Q. What is a data center? A. A data center is a computer facility designed for continuous use by several users, and well equipped with hardware, software, peripherals, power conditioning and backup, communication equipment, security systems, etc. Per-rack power requirements constrain the number of racks a data center can support. A typical 10,000 - 20,000 sq. ft. facility designed for 50 - 100 watts/sq. ft requires 1/2 megawatt to 2 megawatts of power. Availability and cost of utility power in the megawatt range is expensive and difficult to obtain. Supporting infrastructure - generators, ATS, UPS, and distribution equipment - also are costly. Careful planning and growth projections must be maintained to ensure power requirements can be met. There is no single, standardized method to account for data center costs. Users need to define a chart of accounts that specifies all the cost elements that constitute the overall cost, and the key portfolios or categories (such as servers, software and networking) that are part of that cost. Operating system virtualization is the use of software to allow a piece of hardware to run multiple operating system images at the same time. The usual goal of virtualization is to centralize administrative tasks while improving scalability and work loads. In addition to using virtualization technology to partition one machine into several virtual machines, you can also use virtualization solutions to combine multiple physical resources into a single virtual resource. A good example of this is storage virtualization, where multiple network storage resources are pooled into what appears as a single storage device for easier and more efficient management of these resources. To qualify as a true enterprise solution, a storage management system must be able to scale across the entire enterprise. This means it must be able to handle multiple servers spread across wide geographical areas. The solution should further leverage technologies such as clustering and load balancing to support hundreds or even thousands of client computers. It also must support various network infrastructures and firewall configurations. The Cisco Unified Computing System streamlines data center resources to reduce total cost of ownership, scales service delivery to increase business agility, and radically reduces the number of devices requiring setup, management, power, cooling, and cabling. Green IT is making information technology itself more energy efficient, and going beyond that to using IT to reduce the carbon footprint of other operations. Both small businesses and global enterprises have users all over the world who require access to data 24 hours a day. Without this data access, revenue and customers can be lost, penalties can be owed, and bad press can have a lasting effect on customers and a company's reputation. Building a high availability IT infrastructure is critical to the success and well being of all enterprises in today's fast moving economy. The Cisco Nexus 1000V allows policy to move with a virtual machine during live migration ensuring persistent network, security, and storage compliance resulting in improved business continuance, performance management, and security compliance. |
