As covered in Part 1, servers are very costly machines in terms of purchase, setup, and maintenance. Part 2 will discuss the uses and benefits of VMs (Virtual Machines).

Uses & Benefits of VMs

VMs are mostly used for testing resources, running an outdated operating system utilized by a legacy system, designing and testing software, and consolidating servers. Four of the most popular uses are summarized below.
• Consolidating Servers: Virtual server technology lets companies deploy a single server for hosting several other servers, saving significant sums.
• Desktop As A Thin Client: A virtual desktop can convert a PC that has little resources into a machine of productivity.
• Software Testing: Testing of new software prior to its installation into a company’s computing infrastructure is one of the more common VM uses.
• Trial of New OS (Operating System): Trying a new OS on a VM can assist administrators and technicians in determining whether or not the OS will be a fit for their company.

Business Benefits

The following summarizes ways desktop and server virtualization can give an organization a competitive edge.
• Decreased Hardware Costs: Studies have found small business servers use only 60% of their resources. Rather than purchasing more servers, a company can spin up virtual servers.
• Energy Conservation: Virtualization decreases the energy use and office space required by physical machines.
• Data Backup and Disaster Recovery (DR) Improved: Streamlining backup and DR through server replication in the cloud, virtualization can ensure business continuity within minutes after an incident.
• IT Operational Efficiency Increased: Routine administrative tasks can be handled by creating several virtual machines after partitioning one physical server.
• Migration & Portability: VMs can be easily transferred across virtual environments because they are hardware-independent.
• Rapid Desktop / Server Provisioning & Deployment: Instead of the time-consuming process of setting up a physical server, a virtual server can be deployed within minutes by using secure pre-configured server templates.
Part 3 will cover the Frequently Asked Questions about virtualization.
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