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Is virtualisation the answer to
disaster recovery?
OGY
Simon Ashford, virtualisation expert at system and application
management company NetIQ, offers his views…
TECHNOL
Virtualisation has taken centre consideration for a later this is at a later phase, as this
stage in the IT world for phase, or considering DR up will save time and energy
A
TION
plenty of good reasons which front so that adequate down the line. A simple
ALIZ
can broadly be summed up planning can be done ahead example here is in naming
under the headings of: cost of time usually providing both conventions, so that you can
TU
savings, Green IT and time and cost savings down avoid confusion and set up
VIR manageability. Yet, as those the road. Where DR is a naming conventions for your
who have already embarked consideration up front it’s virtual systems that give
on this road will bear witness, generally for the purpose of consideration to DR. Another
unless carefully planned and adding weight to the whole example relates to capacity
executed it can spiral out of virtualization business case planning and optimising the
control and result in various and it doesn’t actually receive use of server resources.
issues and potentially the adequate planning. The Imagine, for example that
dreaded VM Sprawl which has issue with this is the benefits your host server can run eight
precisely the opposite effect of including DR in the plan virtual guests and you need to
of those early good from the off are in fact missed provide adequate headroom
intentions. Without the same – disaster, pardon the pun. for DR fail over so you only
if not greater levels of checks It’s surprising that many run four virtual guests to
and due diligence in adding companies still don’t have allow for doubling up in DR.
new virtual servers as solid disaster recovery plans This could potentially mean
typically accompanies physical in place. This fact along with that 50% of capacity is not
server deployments it can the perceived benefits of being utilised! If you
remain largely unnoticed and virtualization appears to carefully analyse performance
gradually erode the cost present the ultimate solution metrics over time you could
benefits for which the system to many problems, with host your dev and test
was originally justified and adequate planning, forward environment within this
subsequently deployed. thinking and automation the otherwise unutilised DR
benefits of such a solution headroom. In the event of a
One area that is increasingly can also be realised. failover the dev and test
being considered in the march guests can be shutdown
towards virtualisation is that Forward planning is key giving back the resources to
of disaster recovery. Yet I’d However, if you’re still in the allow the failover to succeed,
like to sound a warning bell planning process of a meanwhile your host servers
for those of you considering virtualisation roll out, the best are 100% utilised which
such an option. At this advice I can offer is to equates to 100% ROI.
juncture there are a couple of carefully forward plan your
trains of thought that should migration. It is certainly Seasonal trends are also a
be considered; that of cutting advisable when embarking on major consideration that is
your teeth on non critical the route to virtualisation to often overlooked when
systems such as dev and test predict which areas of your analysing performance
servers with DR a business it will touch, even if metrics. An educational
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