Server Virtualisation
IBM was the first to bring the concept of Virtual Machines to the commercial environment in the 1960's to make use of increasingly more powerful processing. Traditionally x86 based systems were assigned one workload, i.e. running email or databases, however with today's' hardware is capable of running multiple workloads simultaneously.
Virtualisation can deliver many benefits including reducing cost, improving system availability and simplifying business continuity.
Today there are multiple vendors offering virtualisation solutions and as one solution does not fit all requirements RCR can support the leading solutions available:
Citrix XenServer is a complete, managed server virtualization platform built on the powerful Xen hypervisor. Xen technology is widely acknowledged as the fastest and most secure virtualization software in the industry. XenServer is designed for efficient management of Windows® and Linux® virtual servers and delivers cost-effective server consolidation and business continuity
VMware vSphere delivers uncompromised control over all IT resources with the highest efficiency and choice in the industry. With the support of over 3,000 applications from more than 1,650 ISV partners, VMware vSphere with Operations Management is the trusted platform for any application.
KVM (for Kernel-based Virtual Machine) is a full virtualisation solution for Linux on x86 hardware containing virtualisation extensions (Intel VT or AMD-V). Using KVM, one can run multiple virtual machines running unmodified Linux or Windows images. Each virtual machine has private virtualised hardware: a network card, disk, graphics adapter, etc. KVM is open source software.
Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2012 is a hypervisor-based server virtualisation product that enables you to consolidate workloads, helping organizations improve server utilization and reduce costs.Hyper-V Server is a dedicated stand-alone product that contains the hypervisor, Windows Server driver model, virtualisation capabilities, and supporting components such as fail-over clustering, but does not contain the robust set of features and roles as the Windows Server operating system. Windows Server 2012 is recommended for organizations that need flexible and cost effective virtualisation rights.