multiple [IT] technolo-gies together.”

Server & StorageVirtualization Basics

Server virtualizationhas probably had themost traction in datacenters so far. “Its wholeconcept is the ability totake multiple physicalmachines and consoli-date them onto one.Instead of running 100physical servers in adata center, you couldeffectively run 100 VMs on 10 servers,”Coutinho says. “Those10 servers might bebeefier servers, but you can run the sameworkloads in one-tenth of the space. Froman efficiency and TCO standpoint, it’s ahuge power and cooling savings.”

The primary cost for server virtualization(beyond hardware refreshes, which happenevery three to five years) is the cost of soft-ware. Although free virtualization softwareis available, they lack the managementcapabilities and support that paid versionsoffer, Coutinho says.

Storage virtualization works in much thesame way. “It lets you combine multiplestorage units to make it look like a [singlestorage unit] so that you can move thingsaround and use your storage more efficient-ly,” even if you are using physical storagedevices from different vendors, Coutinhosays. Storage virtualization tends to bemore popular in larger enterprises becauseof the cost of SANs, as well as the softwareneeded to virtualize them, he adds.

Client Virtualization BasicsClient virtualization comes in several

forms, but the two that have the most rel-evance for the data center are applicationand desktop virtualization. “Both let youdeliver applications and desktops to endusers in a centralized, efficient manner,”Coutinho says. For example, applicationvirtualization lets data centers store anapplication centrally that end users canaccess via Citrix (in most cases), so thatdata center managers don’t have toinstall the application on every PC.

Desktop virtualization has becometrendy lately because so many data centersare rolling out Windows 7. “Desktop vir-tualization lets you effectively build aWindows 7 virtual image in the data cen-ter once and be able to blast that out tothousands of users simultaneously,”Coutinho says. “You don’t have to worryabout people’s laptops and desktops. Youjust give them a URL, they connect to adesktop, and they’re done.”

Morrison says a lot of organizations arebuying into desktop virtualization becauseof the economies of scale and administra-tive efficiencies that result from leveragingit. “Centralized control means that [IT anddata center managers] don’t have to spendas much time going to individual worksta-tions, which have been configured with allsorts of idiosyncratic stuff on them.Serving a consistent [disk] image from acentral location is easier to maintain, back

up, and debug,” Morrison says. Becausethe data center is powering out the desktop,an organization also saves money on thecost of client PCs, he adds.

Virtualization ComplexitiesAt first glance, virtualization comes

across as a win-win situation for data cen-ters. But Marshall points out that virtual-ization isn’t just a matter of achieving agood consolidation ratio or reducingpower consumption.

“In the old, physical world, an IT adminor a data center administrator could walk upto a machine and know [where] a machineis in the rack, how it’s cabled, and what’s onit. But with virtual machines, your environ-ment is no longer static. Your VM could beon any rack on any [physical] server, whichcreates management complexities and visi-bility issues, especially when you need totroubleshoot,” Marshall says.

In addition, data centers can potentiallylose control of the procurement processwhen virtual machines, particularly servers,can be created with a simple right-click andcopy of an existing VM. “That adds to thevisibility problem because if you have 50VMs spread throughout your infrastructure,you may lack a good way of knowing whichones haven’t been updated, are no longer inuse, or are not in compliance,” Marshallsays. “Therefore, you need proper controlsin place” to handle the changes virtualiza-tion brings about. P

by Robyn Weisman• • •

VIRTUALIZATION IS A BUZZWORD that’sbeen tossed around so liberally over the pastfew years that there seems to be thisassumption that everybody knows its mean-ing. “It’s a word that’s become overloaded,”says Scott Morrison, CTO at Layer 7 Tech-nologies (www.layer7tech.com). “We’vebeen using it a lot throughout comput-ing, and [each time] it means something alittle different.”

Morrison boils down the fundamentaldefinition for virtualization as creating alayer between two different views of com-puting technology. “There is hardware, thesort of pure view of actual hardware,devices, and other physical stuff. And thenthe next view is the virtual view, which canessentially make better use of those underly-ing resources,” Morrison explains.

Perhaps you already knew this, or at leasthad a sense about the basics of virtualization.

After all, some forms of it, such as virtualmemory, have been around for close to 40years. But despite virtualization’s seemingubiquity, plenty of IT professionals stillhave only a fuzzy idea of what virtualizationdoes, what advantages it offers, and whatcomplexities it brings. So consider the forth-coming information as a primer of sorts thatcan give you a better understanding of theconcept and not make you feel as thoughyou just walked into “The Matrix.”

Abstractions & EfficienciesDavid Marshall, founder of VMBlog.com

(www.vmblog.com) and an editor of“Virtualization for Dummies,” describes the20,000-foot view of virtualization as an abstraction layer. “It’s no longer about a massive amount of servers or disks. You start to abstract away the underlyinghardware and carve things out,” Marshallsays. “In server virtualization, you haveunderlying hardware chopped up multi-ple times into virtual machines (VMs), all of which think they are that underlying levelof hardware.”

These abstractions lead to efficiencies,says Nathan Coutinho, virtualization solu-tions manager at CDW (www.cdw.com).“On a grand scale, virtualization is allabout trying to make data centers moreefficient, trying to save money throughthose efficiencies, and making it easier tomanage data center resources,” Coutinhosays. “Virtualization technology itselfhelps you do more with less by combining

C O V E R F O C U S

Study Shows Rare Earth MetalSupply At RiskFor the United States, the supply of rare earthmetals could be in danger, says a recent reportfrom the U.S. Department of Energy.

The DoE’s report, called the “Critical MaterialsStrategy,” explains how rare earth metals areused to create components such as PV films,magnets, batteries, and phosphors for cleanenergy products such as wind turbines, electricvehicles, solar cells, and energy-efficient light-ing. The report notes that these four producttypes were the report’s main focus because theDoE expects an increase in their deploymentduring the next 15 years.

Of the 14 rare earth elements examined, thereport identifies dysprosium, neodymium, ter-bium, europium, and yttrium as the mostessential to clean energy technologies—andthe most endangered.

Currently, about 95% of the world’s rareearth metal production is located in China,which also holds 36% of rare earth metalreserves. The United States maintains 13%of reserves, while other countries such asRussia and Australia oversee the remainder.

In 1999, China began imposing export quotason rare earth metals. Since then, additionalquota constraints have led to a 40% decreasein the number of exports leaving the country,and consequently, a shortage of rare earthmetals for use in clean energy technologies.China recently stated that it plans to raise ex-port taxes again early this year.

The DoE Strategy In a DoE news release regarding the Strategy,Secretary of Energy Steven Chu stated thatensuring reliable access to critical materialswould help the United States lead in the newclean energy economy.

In response to the endangered earth metals,the DoE’s “Critical Materials Strategy” alsoexplores eight policy and program areas thatcould be used to lessen the threat of short-ages. The policies and programs includeresearch and development, informationgathering, permitting for domestic production,financial assistance for domestic productionand processing, stockpiling, recycling, edu-cation, and diplomacy.

The report outlines each of these policies anddiscusses their potential. In particular, recyclingof rare earth metals may become more cost-effective as the materials are used in additionalproducts and in greater quantities. The DoEplans to examine recycling process develop-ment and other recycling-related possibilities.An updated report highlighting the findings ofsuch research will be published by the DoE atthe end of this year.

In the meantime, the report suggests that theUnited States should increase its domesticextraction and processing of rare earth metalsand also collaborate with international partnersto increase the production of each material.

by Kris Glaser Brambila

News

Key Points• Data centers generally focus on three

types of virtualization: server, storage,and desktop.

• Ideally, virtualizing portions of your datacenter will lead to improved efficiencies inphysical hardware, as well as cost sav-ings from hardware consolidation anddecreased power usage.

• Virtualization does introduce complexitiesand visibility issues to the data center,which makes planning and managementof implemented systems necessary torealize virtualization’s advantages.

Key TermsApplication virtualization: The ability topush out applications to end users from thedata center rather than loading those appli-cations on each client desktop or laptop.

Desktop virtualization: The ability to pushclient desktops from the data centers thatend users access via a URL.

Server virtualization: The ability to layermultiple software-based servers on top ofphysical hardware servers.

Storage virtualization: The ability to pro-vide storage functionality across multiplephysical storage devices, even when thephysical hardware being used comes fromdifferent brands.

A Clear View Of VirtualizationUnderstanding The Benefits & Drawbacks Of Virtualizing Storage, Applications & More

Page 12 Processor.com January 28, 2011