“Virtualization” can describe many things in the world of enterprise computing. It is used generically to refer to system or server virtualization, and it broadly reflects a technology that abstracts computer resources for platforms, applications, sessions, storage, and desktops. Dell™ PowerEdge™ servers can run many virtualization products. This page provides a basic reference that introduces virtualization and the different types of virtualization products and approaches that are available for enterprise data centers.

VMware

VMware® ESX Server and VirtualCenter—which are parts of VMware Infrastructure 3—are available for enterprise server virtualization. The ESX Server hypervisor runs directly on the hardware and in conjunction with VirtualCenter provides the ability through VMware Motion™ to hot-migrate or move virtual machines (VMs) from one physical server to another without interrupting the operation of the VMs.

VMware Server runs on top of a host OS (either Microsoft® Windows® or Linux® OS) and provides the ability to run VMs on the system in addition to the host OS that is also running on the system. No capability to VMotion among VMware Server systems exists, but they can be managed with VirtualCenter. VMware Workstation is similar to VMware Server in that it runs on top of a host OS, but it is designed to provide robust snapshot features for developers. VMplayer is a thin virtualization product that is designed to allow a system to run or "play" VMs, but it does not provide the capability to create or modify VMs.

VMware ESXi
VMware ESXI is an OS-independent hypervisor that is available for free download and provides the same functionality as VMware ESX on a 32 MB footprint. ESXi provides for upgrading to VMware Infrastructure 3. Built on the same technology as ESX, ESXi offers simplified setup and management as well as high performance and high consolidation.

Microsoft virtualization

Microsoft Virtual Server runs on top of Microsoft Windows and can be managed with Microsoft System Center Operations Manager (SCOM) and Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM). Microsoft Hyper-V™ technology, which integrates directly into Microsoft Windows Server® 2008, offers a next-generation hypervisor-based virtualization product that is available in all Dell-supported Windows Server 2008 x64 Editions operating systems. It allows enterprises to run VMs on a single physical server.

Microsoft Hyper-V Server
Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 is a stand-alone hypervisor that is available for free download. It provides a command-line interface from the host for managing Windows or Linux OS-based VMs supporting a Hyper-V role with minimal virtualization functionality. Like Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V, Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 can be integrated with SCVMM to provide a GUI for managing the Hyper-V layer—the Microsoft Management Console (MMC)-based Hyper-V Server Manager console can also be used for GUI-based management on a client system.

Citrix XenServer Dell Edition

With the 64-bit open source Xen hypervisor at its core, Citrix® XenServer Dell Edition™ offers powerful virtualization that enables efficient resource consolidation, utilization, dynamic provisioning, and integrated systems management. XenServer Dell Edition provides a small footprint and is optimized to run from internal flash storage in Dell PowerEdge servers. Dell and Citrix have partnered to bring pre-qualified and virtualization-ready platforms for dynamic and growing data centers. Factory installed in PowerEdge servers, the XenServer host is designed to run on VMs and requires minimal configuration.

Desktop virtualization

Desktop virtualization is in many ways different from "normal" virtualization; however, it is worth mentioning here because PCs that enterprise users work with are not the machines that do the actual computing work. Typically, these computers use software such as Citrix and provide for controlling one user context on a server in the data center with a keyboard, mouse, and monitor. Other software examples besides Citrix include NoMachine NX Server and RealVNC Virtual Network Computing (VNC).

Virtualization Management

When considering a virtualization strategy for your enterprise, most organizations need to consider more than just the hypervisor. Considerations on how the virtualization project will affect their Enterprise Systems Management platform, Backup, Recovery, Archive (BURA), and Disaster Recovery plans need to be brought into consideration. Below are some examples of tools and products that can assist in virtualization management.

Disaster Recovery
VMware Site Recovery Manager - create successful recovery plans by automating the recovery process and eliminating the complexity of managing and testing recovery plans.
Veeam Backup and Replication - allows for VMware .vmdk level backup and image or file level restore of Windows and Linux VMs. Also provides for unlimited replication of VMs between local and remote ESX and ESXi hosts.

Monitoring
VMware vCenter Server - Provides centralized control and visibility at every level of virtual infrastructure (VM, ESX Host, VMware Datacenter).
Veeam Monitor - Provides performance analysis, storage monitoring, Dell CIM/SMASH hardware monitoring, event correlation, and capacity planning of VMware vSphere, ESX and ESXi environments.
Veeam nworks MP for VMware for SCOM/MOM - Provides a full view of Dell CIM/SMASH hardware monitoring for vSphere, ESX and ESXi environments in Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007 and MOM 2005. The nworks MP for VMware publishes VI configuration, performance, state, capacity, topology, and VMware vCenter™ events directly into Microsoft System Center Operations Manager.

Reporting
Veeam Reporter Enterprise - Provide a detailed view of your VMware Virtual Infrastructure into Microsoft Visio, Excel, Word, and PDF. Includes Change Management and Compliance reporting and is PowerShell integrated.

Configuration Management
Veeam Configurator - Automatically discovers VMware ESX and ESXi configurations across the enterprise and creates Veeam host profile templates. These templates can then be applied to groups of VMware hosts, and periodic scans can uncover inconsistencies and allow administrators to enforce defined templates to ensure policy compliance. The templates can also be used to quickly provision a new or re-build an existing ESX host.