Optimizing IT infrastructure
IT Challenges
Lately processing ability of servers has drastically increased. Complexity of processor architecture is constantly growing, at the same time index of the equipment utilization falls. Most of the modern infrastructures are loaded not more than 10% from their processing ability.
At the same time expenses for maintenance and modernization of data processing centers are constantly growing. Most of the expenses go for:
Power for equipment supplying and cooling down;
Specially designated server rooms;
Network equipment, data storing systems, sources of uninterruptible power supply;
Hardware administration;
As index of processing resources utilization falls and business requirement grow it leads to a quick grows of servers. Rapid technology development does not allow creating a single technical application for IT-infrastructure organization. Besides data processing centre very often consists of the various equipment models from different vendors, for implementing every new service certain equipment model is being used. Equipment delivery may last up to 8-12 weeks. Influence of all mentioned above factors does not allow doing a long term planning of IT-infrastructure development and effectively react to business demands.
Business Goals
Business makes tougher and tougher demands of IT. Among the most relevant business tasks next ones should be mentioned:
- Need for a drastic It-infrastructure expenses cut
- Cutting in power usage
- Implementing of new IT-services in the shortest period of time, to secure competitiveness on market and have technological advantage
- Implementing of new IT-services under the condition of limited resources (room, additional power supply, limited budget)
- Creating mobile, standardized and fault-tolerant IT-infrastructure
- Ensuring continuity of business processes
- Releasing of IT-specialists resources for work on new tasks
Application Urgency
IT-infrastructure solutions are urgent for any company, regardless type and field of activity.
Resource virtualization is one of the best solutions during implementation optimization projects for existing resources usage, new IT- infrastructures creation and IT- infrastructure expansion. Virtualization technologies are used to solve a wide range of tasks, including utilization rise of existing resources and creation fault-tolerant, dynamic IT- infrastructures.
Many companies come across the problem of low electrical power, which limits further IT-department development but establishing additional power sources is costly and long term task. Also lack of room, high price of new server platforms and cost of creating new data processing centers are limiting factor for a lot of companies. At the same time business demands new IT-service implementation in the shortest possible period of time, with minimal budget and high quality. IT-infrastructure optimization solutions allow freeing 80% of existing resources and redirecting them for business demands satisfaction.
Used Software
When creating and building this solution we use VMware company products:
VMware Capacity Planner,
VMware ESX Server 3.5,
VMware Virtual Center Management Server,
VMware Update Manager,
VMware Converter,
VMware Infrastructure Client.
Solution Description
Decreasing of physical servers amount allows to decrease operational outlay up to 70-80%, major expenses up to 40% and low joint IT-infrastructure maintenance expenses up to 70%. At the same time infrastructure preparation for new IT- services implementation takes from 10 minutes to one hour. Optimization solution includes instruments for centralized administration and monitoring of IT-infrastructure and business processes continuity technology. In our solution servers are being considered as a pool of computational resources that allows creating mobile and completely hardware-independent infrastructure and switching from IT-infrastructure components administration to services administration.
Technology of Virtualization
IT-infrastructure optimization solution are built on VMware company virtualization technology. This company is undoubted technological lieder on virtualization market. Methods of solution implementation are based on the best world experiences and high competency level of our specialists.
Traditionally when building IT-infrastructure we use the method:
One server-One operating system-One application
Visualization concept lies in separating operating system from hardware by using hypervisor. For every operating system set of virtual hardware resources RAM, HDD, CPU, NIC and input/output interface is being created. Hypervisor is an interface between virtual and physical tools and distributes resources of physical tools between virtual equipment. This method allows compressing server (virtual tool, operating system and application) into a file and starting any number of different operating systems on one physical server.
Physical servers are united in resource pools, at the same time virtual tool is placed on a remote data storage system using processing ability of the server from the indicated resource pool. Virtual tool can be easily moved between servers in the resource pool and between different pools. Placing of the virtual tools, which create different loads, on one physical server allows achieving high degree of server consolidation- tens of virtual servers can be placed on one physical server with virtualization operating system. This solution helps drastically reduce amount of equipment in the data processing centre.
Architecture of the Solution
Main software, which is the part of the solution, is virtualization server VMware ESX Server 3.5 with hypervisor. Software VMware ESX Server 3.5 grants interface for monitoring, configuring and managing of virtualization server. Access to the virtualization server interface is granted with the help of the VMware Virtual Infrastructure Client software or web-browser (using https). Virtualization servers are being united into cluster. This helps to use such functions as Dynamic Resource Scheduler (DRS) and High Availability (HA). DRS option allows balancing loads in automatic or semi-automatic mode by redistributing virtual tools between virtualization servers. For example in case of exceeding threshold value of server utilization, virtual tool can be automatically moved on other server in the cluster.
DRS option is based on VMotion technology, which allows moving tools in urgent mode without braking TCP-connections. This technology also permits manually move virtual tools with business applications in case if any regulation procedures regarding maintenance of virtualization server need to be done. This technology helps to eliminate idles caused by equipment maintenance. In case of a sudden server in a cluster brake down HA option allows in automatic or semi-automatic mode to restart virtual tools on a runnable server. Thus HA option minimizes idles caused by hardware breakdowns. VMware Virtual Center Management Server software is used for virtual infrastructure unitized administration. It helps to administrate DRS/HA clusters as well as separate virtualization servers. Besides instruments for virtual structures administration VMware Virtual Center Management Server Software gives tools to administrate accounts of virtualization software users and monitor availability and productivity of virtual infrastructure components. Monitoring information consolidation allows creating hardware load reports, determining changes in hardware utilization and do planning for IT-infrastructure development.
On physical level virtual tool can be situated on inner virtualization server storage as well as on outer disk storage. Using of the inner system of the data storage allows maintain virtual tools centralize- do backup infrastructure copies on files level (virtual server is compressed into file), move infrastructure and its separate components, create additional fault-tolerant configurations, distribute load between virtualization servers in urgent mode. In such system backup data processing centre creation can be achieved by simply ensuring synchronized data replication between two data storage systems.
Solution Implementation
Business Solution Company offers qualified service for optimization solution implementation:
IT-infrastructure inspection
Evaluation of optimization capabilities and economical effectiveness from IT-infrastructure optimization
IT-infrastructure optimization solution designing
Solutions implementation
Virtual infrastructures support and modernizing
Users training
Optimization solutions assume transferring operating systems exact copies from IT-infrastructure servers to virtualization servers or creating new virtual tool with similar software. For example 10-15 operating systems from physical servers can be moved on 2-3 virtualization servers. Consolidation level, ratio of physical servers quantity in IT-infrastructure before and after virtualization can reach 40:1
VMware Virtualization Assessment, service provided by our company, helps to determine exact quantity and power of the equipment that is needed for virtualization during the evaluation stage. This service also helps to evaluate economical effects from optimization and formulate recommendations for virtual infrastructure designing.
During the evaluation detailed audit of the existed equipment, which can be used in virtual infrastructure (SAN equipment, data storage systems, network equipment, servers) is being held. Reports, build on the received data about IT-infrastructure, help to make valid decision about virtualization technology implementation scenario.
Specialist of our company design solutions that allow securing fault-tolerance on the hardware level, at the same time they take into consideration special demands for every infrastructure.
Distinguishing Feature of the Solution
IT-infrastructure optimization solution is the first step toward creating mobile and flexible IT-infrastructure. This solution has number of distinctive features:
- Virtual infrastructure is easily scalable,
- Existing equipment can be used during the solution implementation,
- DRS and HA options allow to create fault-tolerant configuration,
- Solution includes instrument for monitoring and backup coping,
- Virtual tools configuration can be moved, copied and replicated with the help of any data storage tools,
- Majority of software producers give considerable discounts for licenses for virtual infrastructure users.
Solutions Out-look
Besides IT-infrastructure optimization solution allows cutting IT-infrastructure maintenance cost, new solutions in the area of administration and automation are built on its base:
- Integrated software solutions for fault-tolerance assuring without using clusterization software and additional equipment,
- Unified mobile data processing centers for brunches of big companies, which allows quickly create and replicate IT-infrastructure,
- Reserve data processing centers (based on VMware Site Recovery Manager Software),
- Software creating and testing laboratory (based on VMware Lab Manager software),
- Services life cycle administration (based on VMware Stage Manager software),
- Virtual server life cycle administration (based on VMware Life Cycle Manager software)
VMware products are used by more than 20000 companies all around the globe. More than 80% of those companies use VMware virtualization technologies as platform for business application placing, more 40% use VMware as IT-infrastructure corporate standard. Virtualization solutions are highly effective and stable, which can be proved by constant grow of virtual infrastructure quantity all around the world. Virtualization technology is strongly support by main software-hardware producers like IBM, HP, Intel, AMD, Dell, Sun, EMC, Fujitsu-Siemens and many others.
Specialists of our company have all the necessary resources, solutions and qualification for professional and effective implementation of various difficulty level projects for companies of all sizes.
For any additional information please call +380 (44) 323-23-23, or write e-mails.