Virtualization:

Controlling Server Sprawl

Speaker: Nelson Ruest

www.Reso-net.com
 Speaker Background
Nelson Ruest: nelson@reso-net.com
Senior enterprise consultant with over 20 years experience in migration,
planning and network, PC and server design
MVP, MCSE + Security, MCT
Free eBook:
The Definitive Guide to Vista Migration Free Chapters are available at:
http://www.realtime-nexus.com/DGVM.htm
Coming books:
Windows Server 2008 — The Complete Reference
MCITP Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-238): Deploying Messaging Solutions with
Microsoft® Exchange Server 2007
Deploying and Administrating Windows Vista Bible
MCTS Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-640): Configuring Windows Server® 2008
Active Directory®
Passionate Advocate for doing things right with Microsoft technology

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 Agenda
Introduction
Use a Five-Step Process
Step 1: Discovery
Step 2: Virtualization
Step 3: Hardware Maximization
Step 4: Architecture
Step 5: Management
Final Thoughts

© 2008, Resolutions Enterprises Ltd. 3

 Where do we stand today?
 It is time to reduce, reuse and recycle server processes
 We are starting to be charged a premium for power
 Europe has a ‘carbon’ tax
 California’s Pacific Gas & Electric is giving rebates of up to $4M
per site for physical server removals (
http://www.virtual-strategy.com/article/articleview/1770/1/22/)

 Save more than $1,000 per year in energy for each removed
server (server power plus cooling costs)
 We need to control server proliferation
 All projects are used to bringing and paying for their own servers,
sometimes several copies of their own servers
 The single-purpose server mind set must change
 Virtualization is the key to control IT budgets and server
proliferation
© 2008, Resolutions Enterprises Ltd. 4
 Where do we need to go?
CIOs are all asking the same questions:
What is virtualization?
Why would we need it?
How can it improve my business?
What types of virtualization technologies exist?
Which terms should I be familiar with?
What is the cost/benefit ratio of virtualization?
What new challenges will it bring to the
datacenter?
How should I structure my virtualization solution?
Is there anything else I am missing?

© 2008, Resolutions Enterprises Ltd. 5

 Use a Five-Step Process
Step 1: Discovery
Step 2: Virtualization
Step 3: Hardware Maximization
Step 4: Architecture
Step 5: Management
© 2008, Resolutions Enterprises Ltd. 6
 Use a Five-Step Process
Step 1: Discovery

© 2008, Resolutions Enterprises Ltd. 7

 Inventory, Inventory, Inventory
 Create an inventory of your server infrastructure
 Categorize server roles into specific categories:
◦ Network Infrastructure
◦ Identity Management
◦ File & Print
◦ Application & Web
◦ Terminal Services
◦ Collaboration
 Then, is it possible to rationalize?
◦ What is my server utilization ratio?
◦ Are there any ‘parked’ servers?
◦ Are there any obsolete machines?
◦ Is there any way to reduce the server footprint?

© 2008, Resolutions Enterprises Ltd. 8

 Begin with VMware Capacity Planner

Analysis
includes
CPU,
memory,
network,
and disk
utilization
on a server
by server
basis

View CPU utilization across all servers

© 2008, Resolutions Enterprises Ltd. 9

 Streamline IT Mgmt/Rationalize Everything

Use the analysis to identify:

Servers with poor CPU utilization
Servers ‘at rest’
Servers that can be simply shut down
Servers that are good candidates for virtualization
Servers that are good candidates as potential hosts
Categorize all servers
Create ‘batches’ of servers
Identify candidates based on complexity of transformation
(easy, moderate, difficult)
Rationalize everything
Get rid of anything you can
The easiest server to manage is the one that is not there

© 2008, Resolutions Enterprises Ltd. 10

 Use a Five-Step Process
Step 2: Virtualization

© 2008, Resolutions Enterprises Ltd. 11

 What Is A Virtual Machine (VM)?
Virtualization is a technology that partitions a computer into several
independent machines that can support different OSes and applications
concurrently
A hypervisor is the underlying software which runs directly on the
hardware and manages multiple operating systems
A virtual machine is self-contained operating environment that runs on
top of the hypervisor and behaves as if it is a separate computer
Each VM includes several different files:
Configuration file: contains machine
settings information
Hard disk file(s): contains any
information which would be
contained within a physical hard disk
In-memory file: contains information
that is in memory for the running VM and which will be
committed to the hard disk files when VM shut down
Other file(s): contain logs and other machine-related information
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 Virtualization Models
Free Virtualization Paid virtualization
Layer layer
Guest 1 Guest 2 Guest 3 Guest 1 Guest 2 Guest 3

Virtualization Layer Hypervisor

Hardware
Host OS

Hardware
What many use to start What many use in Production

There are two virtualization models:

The first is often used to begin virtualization projects because it relies
on free technologies, but is less efficient because it requires an
underlying host OS
When you move to production, you must use the second model
For example, VMware ESX Server 3i is a 32 MB hypervisor
that does not require an OS and can run directly from firmware or a
USB key, this gives us the opportunity to create a new diskless host
server model using nothing but RAM to host virtual machines
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 Operating System Virtualization
 Three main commercial solutions
 Citrix XenServer
 XenExpress v4 (free)
 XenServer v4
 XenEnterprise v4 or OEM
 XenDesktop
◦ Microsoft:
 Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1 (free)
 Virtual PC 2007 (free)
 Windows Server Hyper-V (Hypervisor)
◦ VMware
 VMware Server (free)
 Workstation 6.0
 Virtual Infrastructure 3.x
(ESX Server 3.x or 3i)
 Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
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The Virtualization ‘Playing Ground’
VMware
Has more than 20,000 customers
and 80% of the market however it’s
hypervisor is only 32-bit even though
it can run 64-bit virtual machines.
Citrix
Also offers an OEM version
of their hypervisor and it is a
true 64-bit hypervisor.
Microsoft
Offers true 64-bit hypervisor (Hyper-V)
but requires Windows Server
(Server Core) to run.
Oracle, IBM and Sun
Have also entered the fray with their
own hypervisors confusing the
field even more.
Virtual Iron
Also offers Xen-based virtualization
platform.
This creates an opportunity for
hypervisor-agnostic management tools.
 Use a Virtual Infrastructure

© 2008, Resolutions Enterprises Ltd. 15

 Server Virtualization Scenarios
Production Server Business Continuity
Consolidation Management

Test and
Development Dynamic Datacenter

© 2007, Resolutions Enterprises Ltd. 16

 Benefits of Machine Virtualization
Rapid machine deployment
Mobility, can move a VM from one host to
another
Ease of use, VMs are just easy
Standard configurations, just copy the source VM
Security, secure VMs through machine isolation
Scalability, need more power, create a new VM
Disaster recovery, just backup the whole VM
Certification, ensure VMs run according to host
standards

© 2008, Resolutions Enterprises Ltd. 17

 A New Datacenter
Virtualization lets you
map computing
resources to business
requirements
Lower IT costs through
increased efficiency and
resource allocation
Virtual
Provision resources on Layer

an as-needed basis
Treat datacenter as a
single pool of resources
Resource
Turn all end user Layer

service offerings into

virtual workloads
© 2008, Resolutions Enterprises Ltd. 18
 Desktop Virtualization
Virtual Desktops support:
Enterprise-standard PCs on
unmanaged remote PCs
Time-controlled PC images
Lock-down Enterprise PC
images
Secure information by
keeping desktop in
datacenter
Encapsulate complex or
sensitive applications
Provide a new migration
path to new OS
Support Testing and
Development

© 2008, Resolutions Enterprises Ltd. 19

 Application Virtualization
 Application virtualization creates software or
service isolation on top of the operating system
 Several vendor solutions:
◦ Application Virtualization through Streaming
Technologies
 Microsoft SoftGrid — available through desktop Optimization
Pack for Software Assurance
Citrix Presentation Server
◦ Application Virtualization through Local System Filters
Symantec Software Virtualization Solution (SVS) — also
supports streaming with AppStream add-on
 ‘Agentless’ Application Virtualization
VMware Thinstall Virtualization Suite
 Provide support for application consolidation

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 Application Virtualization Advantage

Virtualization
Layer

Traditional application installations penetrate the OS and change its

configuration
Application Virtualization protects operating systems from any
modifications and can work in secure environments
The AppV layer can let applications run in any version of Windows!

© 2007, Resolutions Enterprises Ltd. 21

 Potential AppV Solutions
No matter
which solution
you choose,
application
virtualization
will pay for
itself in a very
short time because
it makes
applications
independent of the
underlying OS

© 2007, Resolutions Enterprises Ltd. 22

 Impacts of Virtualization
Servers
Supports hardware consolidation
Increases the ‘green’ footprint of servers
Provides the best model for business continuity
Desktops
Supports desktop centralization
Supports information protection
Provides for a secure desktop environment
Applications
Provides the only model for distributed system
management

© 2008, Resolutions Enterprises Ltd. 23

 Use a Five-Step Process
Step 3: Hardware Maximization

© 2008, Resolutions Enterprises Ltd. 24

 Move to 64-bit Servers

The current price of 32- and 64-bit server-

class machines is nearly identical
Both AMD and Intel offer x64 processors
Do not confuse with IA64 processors from Intel
x64 systems address more memory
Up to 32 GB of RAM
16 TB of virtual memory
x64 systems can manage large datasets as in-memory logical
objects
x64 systems are more secure because they support Data
Execution Prevention (DEP)
64-bit systems run either x86 or x64 OSes

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 Rely on Shared Storage

 Store all VMs on shared

storage subsystem
 Supports high
availability through
‘clustering’—one
system can hand off
VM workload to another
without moving files
 Provides site-level
redundancy

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 Rely on New Server Form Factors

HP BladeSystem
c3000 can now blend
servers and storage
in the same Kell Systems sells
enclosure new smart enclosures
www.hp.com that fit in any office
www.kellsystems.com

SMBs and Remote

offices will be able to
depend on the server
in a box concept
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 Beware of Licensing Costs
Windows Server R2 Enterprise Edition
includes 4 Virtual Instances
Physical host OS and up
to 4 guests
Windows Windows Windows Windows

Virtualization Layer Each additional license

gives you up to 4 more
‘Any’ Hypervisor
guests
Hardware
Windows Server
Old License Model Datacenter Edition allows
Total: 5 Windows Licenses unlimited guests
Windows Server R2 and 2008
Total: 1 License
Use the Microsoft
Virtualization Calculator
at
http://www.microsoft.com/window
© 2008, Resolutions Enterprises Ltd. 28
 Use a Five-Step Process
Step 4: Architecture

© 2008, Resolutions Enterprises Ltd. 29

 Build the Datacenter Ecosystem
Integrate virtualization layers into one single service
architecture…in the Datacenter

Virtual
Service
Offerin
g
Securit
y
Contex
tResourc
e Pool
Security
Context

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 Use a 7-Layer Virtual Architecture

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 Virtual Environment Architecture
Create an architecture for hosts and VMs
Include Host and VM Security (ACLs)
Perform Host Sizing
Create standard Virtual Machine Configurations
• Identify number of processors per VM
• Identify amount of RAM for VMs
• Identify number of disks and disk space per VM
• Identify number of NICs per VM
Identify VM Provisioning Process
• Administrative and Technical

Learn to work with Virtualization Layer

Use NIC provisioning in virtualization layer
Create VLANs in virtualization layer
Aim for top-level performance for VMs and hosts
© 2007, Resolutions Enterprises Ltd. 32
 Use a Five-Step Process
Step 5: Management

© 2008, Resolutions Enterprises Ltd. 33

 Update Operations Management
Datacenters are divided into
layered services
Operations should be
separated between:
Resource Pools (RP)
Virtual Services Offerings (VSO)
Resource Pools are now
nothing more than physical
resources the same as network
devices and storage area
networks

For a list of more than 150 administration tasks for RPs and
VSOs, see Windows Server 2008: The Complete Reference
by Ruest &Ruest from McGraw-Hill Osborne
From: Enterprise Architectures, see
www.reso-net.com/articles.asp?m=8#f under
© 2008, Resolutions Enterprises Ltd. Architectures. 34
 P2V: Catalyst to Virtualization

There are several products both free

and paid that support the physical to
virtual move process
Just point to a physical server and
transform it into a virtual machine
But, is it that easy? In reality, no.
You must make sure that the P2V tool you
use can convert the system drivers from
actual hardware to simulated hardware.
Not all tools can do this.

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 Conversion at Work

A combined tool supports any conversion situation

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 Acquire Proper Tools

Obtain Proper Management/Monitoring Tools

VMware Infrastructure includes many of the tools you need:
• VMware Virtual Center, VMotion, Lab Manager and VMware Converter
Microsoft System Center Operations Manager
• Obtain Virtual Server Management Pack version 2
• VMware management through nWorks VMware Management Pack
Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager
• Manages VMware and Microsoft Hypervisors

Additional Tools
Also need a P2V or P2P or V2V tool
(Converter, Platespin, Acronis)
Backups Tools
(Consolidated Backup, CommVault Qinetix, Vizioncore)

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 Focus on VM Management
Ask the right questions when looking for new management tools:
1. How are VM source images tracked and updated?
2. How are VM snapshots tracked?
3. How are move, adds and changes (MAC) tracked?
4. How are workload policies prepared and deployed?
5. Are there special dependencies between apps and VMs?
6. How is security managed between resource pools and virtual service
offerings?
7. What kind of troubleshooting support does the tool provide when VMs or
hosts go down?
8. Is the tool fully-functional and does it provide a one-stop shop?
9. Should we use the same tools for the resource pool and the VSOs?
10. Is the tool hypervisor-agnostic? Will it grow with my needs?

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 Potential & Real Costs Savings
Category Potential Savings
Power Savings $300 to $600 per virtualized server
Cooling Savings Up to $400 per virtualized server
Hardware Savings From $2,500 to $$$ per virtualized server
License Savings (Microsoft) 75% of Enterprise license per virtualized
server
License Savings (Open Nil, except for support costs
Source)
Processor Savings (AMD) Between 15 to 65% per processor
Power Rebates Up to 50% total cost of the project
(Selected Utility Firms)
Government Rebates Variable reduction rates on income tax
(Selected States)
Space Savings 90+% space reduction (based on an average
of 10 VMs per physical host)
Feel Good Ratio! 100% because you’re doing something good
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for you and the planet!
 Final Thoughts
Use OS virtualization to consolidate and better utilize
hardware resources
‘Liberate’ service offerings by detaching them from hardware
Provide an immediate improved business continuity strategy
Realize an immediate 75% savings on Windows Server license costs
Don’t rely only on OS virtualization
Look to other rationalization methods:
• Desktop virtualization
• Application virtualization
• Storage virtualization
Move to the 21st Century Dynamic and ‘Green’ Datacenter
Remember: reduce, don’t augment server numbers

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 More Information
Nelson Ruest:
nelson@reso-net.com

The presentation is available at:

http://www.reso-net.com/presentation.asp?m=7

Attend a full-day course on Virtualization at

Interop Las Vegas or New York this year:
http://www.interop.com/lasvegas/education/workshops.php

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 Resources
VMware Capacity Planner
http://www.vmware.com/products/capacity_planner/
VMware Virtual Lab Manager
http://www.vmware.com/
VMware Infrastructure
http://www.vmware.com/products/vi/
VMware VirtualCenter
http://www.vmware.com/products/vi/vc/
VMware Converter
http://www.vmware.com/products/converter/
Virtual Server 2005 R2 Management Pack Guide
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/mom/mom2005/Library/e5859950-20db-4cb3-80

Download Virtual Server 2005 Management Pack

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=BF21F798-9B10-40DC-BCDD-4A8

System Center Virtual Machine Manager

http://www.microsoft.com/systemcenter/scvmm/evaluation/overview/default.mspx

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 Resources (cont’d)

Reso-net.com/Articles/White Papers
http://www.reso-net.com/articles.asp?m=8
Standardized Systems Management
Virtualization, From Concept to Reality
The Power of x64 and Multi-Core
Designing High Availability for IIS
Virtualize Your Business Desktop Environment
Reso-net.com/Articles/Migration & Consolidation
http://www.reso-net.com/articles.asp?m=8
Make the Most of Server Consolidation
Use the Proper Tool when Consolidating
You’re Fired
Consolidate Your Web Servers with IIS 6.0
Virtual Machine Management at Your Fingertips

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 Resources (cont’d)

Reso-net.com/Articles/Application Lifecycle Management

http://www.reso-net.com/articles.asp?m=8
Enterprise Software Packaging Practices, Benefits and Strategic
Advantages
Reso-net.com/Articles/Security & Privacy
http://www.reso-net.com/articles.asp?m=8
Plan Your Defense Strategy
Use Server Roles to Heighten Security
Reso-net.com/Articles/Step by Step
http://www.reso-net.com/articles.asp?m=8
Build a Server Cluster
How to build and manage a Virtual Laboratory
Creating a "Super" MMC

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 Resources (cont’d)

Reso-net.com/Articles/Storage & Disaster Recovery

http://www.reso-net.com/articles.asp?m=8
10-Minure Solution: Using the Volume Shadow Copy
10-Minute Solution: Consolidate Files Shares
Creating a Resilient Windows Infrastructure
Reso-net.com/Articles/System Administration
http://www.reso-net.com/articles.asp?m=8
Take Control of Your Network
Reso-net.com/Articles/Windows Server System
http://www.reso-net.com/articles.asp?m=8
How Does x64 Measure Up?
Reso-net.com/Presentations/06 Webcasts
http://www.reso-net.com/presentation.asp?m=7
Move to the Power of x64

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 Resources (cont’d)
Reso-net.com/Presentations/2006 Microsoft Management Summit
http://www.reso-net.com/presentation.asp?m=7
Software Virtualization — Ending DLL Hell Forever
Reso-net.com/Presentations/2005 Microsoft Management Summit
http://www.reso-net.com/presentation.asp?m=7
Building a Virtual Laboratory
Reso-net.com/Presentations/2005 ManageFusion
http://www.reso-net.com/presentation.asp?m=7
Simplifying Your Infrastructure with End to End Management
Reso-net.com/Presentations/Past Conferences
http://www.reso-net.com/presentation.asp?m=7
Standardizing IT Frameworks
The Definitive Guide to Vista Migration
Download Chapter 3 — Creating the Migration Test Bed
http://www.realtime-nexus.com/DGVM.htm

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