Virtualization applications and physical machines shut down
Jul 25th, 2008 by Damiano Buscemi
Server virtualization in Datacenters is one of the most implemented solution to make optimized utilization, improve efficiency and reduce consumption of the phisical infrastructure. While it is clear and well known to everybody what are the advantages of Virtualization from the IT point of view, the effects of virtualization on the physical layer of the datacenter are less popular. While having one single physical machine running one server means having one single point of failure (the machine) for each server, from an availability point of view, having multiple independent operative system (servers) running in one single physical machine, makes a larger number of servers dependend on one single point of failure (the machine). There are more Virtual servers than physical servers.
From this point of view it is more and more important to make the physical machine able to perform the necessary operations, for instance the shut down, while the multiple Virtual servers are running on it, and when critical power quality conditions exist.
UPS manufacturers for instance provide different client softwares which receive signals from their machines when the critical power event happens. Most of these Shut down clients are designed for traditional servers shut down. At this point we have to remember that between the phisical machine and the virtual servers there is an hosted or non Hosted application which needs to shut down after al the Virtual machines are turned off. It is more and more important to have clients able to shut down these applications which virtualize the hardware for each Virtual server, for example the VMware ESX or the Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 and perform a safe and complete software and hardware shut down.
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Hello Damiano,
I agree with your consideration but let me to add another point of view: the human resources optimisation.
I mean that if the operator must install a shutdown client every virtual machine should use at least twice the time he would use installing the client on the phisical server.
Let’s imagine the human resources saving in big Data Centres such server farm, services providers, bank and insurances.