What is Data Center Virtualization?

What is Data Center Virtualization?

Data center virtualization is the process of creating a virtual replica of a physical data center resource. This includes all hardware and software resources, such as a server, storage device, network, OS, apps and platforms. Data center virtualization allows organizations to reduce costs, improve efficiency, enhance security, and access the latest technologies.

How Data Center Virtualization Works

Data center virtualization systems are created using hypervisors. Hypervisors are a specialized type of software used to create and manage virtual machines (VMs). A VM is a software-based emulation of a physical computer that can run an operating system and applications. A VM can be thought of as a virtual layer that exists on top of a real data server or machine, isolated from other VMs.

There are two types of hypervisors:

• Type 1 hypervisors, also known as bare-metal hypervisors, run directly on the physical hardware, without the need for an underlying operating system. They have direct access to the hardware resources and can offer higher performance and security. Examples of type 1 hypervisors are VMware ESXi, Microsoft Hyper-V, and Citrix XenServer¹.
• Type 2 hypervisors, also known as hosted hypervisors, run on top of an operating system, such as Windows or Linux. They rely on the host OS to manage the hardware resources and can offer more flexibility and compatibility. Examples of type 2 hypervisors are VMware Workstation, Oracle VirtualBox, and Parallels Desktop¹.

Using hypervisors and managing VMs, users can create one or multiple virtual data centers to better leverage resource utilization. Once the VM starts running, data center virtualization can be used to virtualize a variety of resources, such as:

• Servers: Server virtualization is the process of dividing a physical server into multiple logical servers, each running its own operating system and applications. Server virtualization can increase server utilization, reduce power consumption, simplify management, and enable faster provisioning and recovery².
• Storage: Storage virtualization is the process of pooling multiple physical storage devices into a single logical storage unit that can be accessed by multiple servers or VMs. Storage virtualization can improve storage efficiency, availability, scalability, and performance².
• Networking: Network virtualization is the process of creating a virtual network that can span across multiple physical networks or devices. Network virtualization can provide network isolation, security, load balancing, routing, and switching functions².
• Security: Security virtualization is the process of applying security policies and controls to the virtualized environment. Security virtualization can protect the data and applications from unauthorized access, malware, and cyberattacks².
• Management: Management virtualization is the process of automating and orchestrating the tasks and processes related to the virtualized environment. Management virtualization can simplify administration, monitoring, troubleshooting, and optimization of the data center resources².

Benefits of Data Center Virtualization

There are numerous benefits associated with data center virtualization, such as:

• Cost savings: Data center virtualization can reduce the capital and operational expenses of maintaining physical infrastructure. Organizations can consolidate their servers and storage devices, avoid upfront costs of hardware and software licenses, reduce power and cooling costs, and lower maintenance costs. Additionally, data center virtualization can enable cloud computing services that offer pay-as-you-go models and scalability².
• Access to technology: Data center virtualization can provide access to the latest technologies and innovations that can enhance the performance and functionality of the data center resources. For example, data center virtualization can enable artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), big data analytics, automated APIs, and other advanced tools that can improve business outcomes³.
• Visualization and centralization: Data center virtualization can break silos, centralize data and infrastructure, and increase visualization. This can create more agile and responsive systems that can adapt to changing business needs and customer demands. Data center virtualization can also facilitate data-driven decisions by providing insights into the data center performance and risks³.

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