Virtualization
We can provide modern virtualization infrastructure for your setup, whether it be small configurations or computing clouds, we specialize in the KVM virtualization system, which we recommend, but we can also deliver XEN, VMWare and VirtualBox based solutions.
What is virtualization?
Virtualization is a means of consolidating multiple physical servers into one, whilst retaining the separate software installations. This is done by the means of a Hypervisor. Todays modern form of virtualization is called paravirtualization.
How does paravirtualization work?
Paravirtualization works by providing a special virtualized hardware device for each class(disk, ethernet,..) to allow maximum performance for the guest OS. For instance, to get fast disk I/O speeds in a virtual machine, the paravirtualizing hypervisor will make available a special paravirt disk instead of an scsi or sata controller. The guest OS will then load a paravirt disk driver and use instead of an ahci driver(for sata disks). This provides for maximum performance as the hypervisor does not need to emulate real hardware, which is ineffecient. Instead it will use the paravirtualized hardware, which is designed specifically for effecient passthrough of disk I/O Ops between the Guest and Host OS.
What are the benefits of virtualization?
There are many benefits. First of all, you get to consolidate many services onto one server, while still keeping the benefits of having multiple operating system installations. You can save on energy by reducing 5 or 10 physical servers into one. Additionally it provides simplified maintenance, and lowered total cost. When deployed with reliability in mind, it can also significantly decrease downtimes during maintenance or other problems, as redundancy is much more practical.
Are there any downsides?
Generally the benefits outweigh the downsides of virtualising your services, the downsides is that you have more of a single point of failure, however, this is mostly not a concern or applicable, as it depends greatly on the setup at hand.
Contact us for more information regarding how virtualization can help your business reduce cost and save energy.