Many IT organizations have more servers than needed, leading to high costs. Server virtualization allows multiple virtual servers to run on single physical servers, reducing costs and increasing flexibility. However, traditional system management tools may not account for this dynamic virtual environment. IT organizations must adapt tools and processes to fully benefit from virtualization.

1. M
any IT organizations today have
an abundance of servers, most of
which are underutilized. According
to various industry estimates, servers typi-
cally operate at five to 20 percent of full
process­ing capacity. Underutilization is a
major contributor to high data center costs,
which include money spent on power, cool-
ing, floor space, administration, and software
license fees. The costs scale in direct pro-
portion to the number of servers installed.
This over-provisioning of servers not only
drives up costs, but because servers are
typically siloed and dedicated to specific
applications or jobs, it also hampers business
agility. Consequently, it’s difficult to repurpose
servers to meet changing business needs.
To address the problem, many organizations
are consolidat­ing and virtualizing their server
environment. According to May 2006 Gartner
research, virtualization has been cited as one
of four key trends set to drive technology
further into the business.1
Innovation
Consolidating servers permits IT to do more
with fewer servers. Server virtualization
technology is an important enabler of this
consolidation. Virtualization provides the
ability to run multiple server images — called
virtual servers — on a single physical host
server. Each virtual server appears to the
environment as a separate physical server.
Virtualization enhances flexibility. A single
physical host server can run multiple operating
systems and applications concur­rently in
isolated virtual machines. The components of
a single application can run across multiple
virtual servers residing in multiple physical
host servers to boost perfor­mance. In addi-
tion, virtual servers can be moved dynamically
among physical host servers to meet changing
workloads. Server virtualization technology
reduces the number of physical servers, as
well as the number of hardware com­ponents
associated with servers, such as network
and storage devices.
Resulting Complication
The problem with virtual server technology
is that the assump­tions built into traditional
system management tools may no longer
be valid (since traditional tools are based
on a static server environment). For example,
with some event manage­ment products,
IT can define a set of rules that help an
administrator understand the implications
of server events on applications and jobs.
These rules are usually based on the
assumption that the server environment
is static; that is, each physical server is
dedicated to running certain applications
and jobs. Consider what happens with a
tool that automatically distributes operating
system patches to servers. These types of
tools are usually based on the assumption
that each server is dedicated to running
a par­ticular operating system.
With virtualized servers, however, the envi-
ronment is dynamic. A physical host server
can play multiple roles from an oper­ating
system, application, and workload perspec-
tive — and those roles change over time.
BMC indust r y insights
Server Consolidation and Virtualization:
Issues and Actions
By Tom Bishop, Chief Technology Officer, BMC Software

2. BMC indust r y insights
Operating systems and appli­cations may
bounce around between different physical
servers as workloads change. In this highly
dynamic environment, rules based on a static
environment may no longer apply.
Implication and Action
Despite its benefits, virtualization introduces
complications and presents new challenges
to the IT staff. Unless the organization fully
addres­ses these complications and challen­ges,
virtualization may increase the complexity of
managing the IT environment. Organizational
change and shifts in attitude and philosophy
are essential to overcoming the challenges.
For example, the IT department will need
to eliminate working in silos to fully exploit
virtualization.
Business Service Management (BSM) solution
providers have to rethink their solutions across
the board, and find ways to accommodate
the new, dynamic, virtualized environment.
BSM means that the goals of IT are driven
by business goals. This approach involves
automating the management of technology
and IT process workflows based on best
practices to drive revenue, reduce business
cost, and lower business risk. It is based on
a shared view, across all IT, of how IT re­­
sources directly support business services.
BSM providers must evolve their tools to
tolerate the complications introduced by
virtualization, so that those tools operate
effectively in the new environment. More
importantly, they must enhance the tools
to permit IT to fully exploit the new virtual-
ization capability.
Solution providers need to:
> Incorporate the ability to dynamically change
server per­sonalities (for example, change,
release, and configuration management
applications will need to operate with both
virtual and physical servers to enable auto­
matic and dynamic repurposing of servers
without sacrificing disci­plined processes)
> Provide a real-time view of the IT environ­
ment that includes the virtual servers
> Update automatic discovery tools and
the configuration management database
(CMDB) to include virtual servers and map
them to their physical server hosts
> Enable monitoring tools and service level
agreement (SLA) applications to monitor
both virtual and physical servers
> Enhance service impact modeling tools to
map business services to both the virtual
and the physical servers that support them
Business Benefits
Server virtualization and consolidation offer
significant bene­fits. With fewer physical
servers to purchase, maintain, and manage,
the organization enjoys lower costs. The
resulting higher server utilization delivers
higher return on investment (ROI), and the
ability to easily and dynamically repurpose
servers allows IT to respond more quickly
to shifts in the business environment —
providing greater agility.
BMC Software offers solutions that address
these issues. For more information, visit
www.bmc.com/virtualization.
End Notes
1 “Gartner Identifies Key Trends that Will Drive Technology
Further Into the Business,” Gartner, Inc., May 2006,
Press Release.
To learn more about how BMC can help activate your business, visit www.bmc.com or call (800) 841-2031
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