A quick-start guide to virtualization issues

1. Best practice Linux
guide: Virtualization
A quick-start guide to
virtualization issues
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2. Open Source alternatives are offering real
competition for Linux server virtualization.
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3. WHY OPT FOR VIRTUALIZATION?
Virtualization can...
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4. WHY OPT FOR VIRTUALIZATION?
Virtualization can...
Consolidate the number of servers used
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5. WHY OPT FOR VIRTUALIZATION?
Virtualization can...
Consolidate the number of servers used
Reduce power consumption
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6. WHY OPT FOR VIRTUALIZATION?
Virtualization can...
Consolidate the number of servers used
Reduce power consumption
Save money on hardware
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7. WHY OPT FOR VIRTUALIZATION?
Virtualization can...
Consolidate the number of servers used
Reduce power consumption
Save money on hardware
Act as a first step towards Cloud readiness
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8. WHY OPT FOR VIRTUALIZATION?
Virtualization can...
Consolidate the number of servers used
Reduce power consumption
Save money on hardware
Act as a first step towards Cloud readiness
Offer flexible disaster recovery
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9. WHICH TO CHOOSE?
The choice used to be simple,
all you had to do was choose a
hypervisor:
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10. WHICH TO CHOOSE?
The choice used to be simple,
all you had to do was choose a
hypervisor:
VMware if you needed all the most
advanced features
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11. WHICH TO CHOOSE?
The choice used to be simple,
all you had to do was choose a
hypervisor:
VMware if you needed all the most
advanced features
Oracle VM to run Oracle
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12. Today it’s more complex: there are options to blend
and multi-source hypervisors for different aspects
of the enterprise. And now, Open Source alternatives
offer real competition in the Linux server virtualization
market. Here’s a brief run-down of the alternatives:
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13. UNDERLYING TECHNOLOGIES -ESX
ESX Server
Full x86 virtual machine supports any x86 OS guest
Now also supports paravirtualization
VMware
(Proprietary)
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14. UNDERLYING TECHNOLOGIES - XEN
KVM
Paravirtualization that modifies the guest OS but with
hardware-assisted CPU virtualization
Xen 3.x also supports fully virtualized guest OSs
Citrix and Oracle, for example
Xen is Open Source but products based on it are often not
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15. UNDERLYING TECHNOLOGIES - KVM
KVM
KVM is part of the mainline Linux kernel
Supports Linux and Windows
It runs on x86 and x86-64 systems with hardware supporting virtualization
extensions.
Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization
Based on Open Source software
Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization includes management tools similar to VMware
and enables system admins to maintain control of the server environment.
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16. Choices
There are about 30 different
providers offering IaaS
(Infrastructure as a Service)
integration products and
destinations
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17. Choices
Cloud integration is easiest
when the Clouds are
based on interoperable
environments - for example
Red Hat Enterprise Linux
and Amazon Web Services
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18. Choices
Red Hat CloudForms can
manage hybrid Clouds using
existing resources such
as hypervisors from many
different vendors.
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19. Linux virtualization to-do list
Consider a multiple vendor hypervisor strategy
Consider enlisting the services of a Linux support
specialist to help make an assessment around
which applications to virtualize and implement
Linux server virtualization
Guard against ‘virtual sprawl’ - when planning
your infrastructure and deployment, think
of virtual machines as if they were physical
machines
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20. Linux virtualization to-do list
Consider your workload and the underlying
hardware. Be aware of the limits of your solution
and the migration tools you will need depending
on whether it is possible to carry out a simple
physical to virtual migration
Consider whether there are constraints born of
how the application has been written to perform
in a physical or virtual server environment
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21. Linux virtualization to-do list
Look at your entire Cloud strategy and consider
moving workloads to and from different public
Cloud destinations.
Ensure staff get the relevant training so that
they can take full advantage of your Linux
virtualization.
www.linuxit.com

22. Linux virtualization to-do list
Look at your entire Cloud strategy and consider
moving workloads to and from different public
Cloud destinations.
Ensure staff get the relevant training so that
they can take full advantage of your Linux
virtualization.
www.linuxit.com
Hitesh Patel is Senior Business Partner
Manager UKI, Virtualization and Cloud at Red Hat

23. www.linuxit.com
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