Virtualization Market Matures
Oct 19th, 2007 by Pete Manca
Even with the incredible traction virtualization is making in the market it’s still easy to get confused as to what virtualization means in every case. Is it server virtualization provided by hypervisors like Xen or ESX? Is it storage virtualization? Network virtualization? Broadly, it’s all of the above.
One thing that’s clear is that the market for virtualization is growing and maturing, and one advantage of this evolution is that the industry analysts are starting to categorize and differentiate between virtualization technologies and virtualization vendors. This helps us sure, but it also helps customers understand where they are in their own deployments vs. where they can go in the future.
Recently, the pundits have begun making distinctions between the different types or phases of virtualization. For example, IDC has identified two current levels of virtualization; Virtualization 1.0 and 2.0+. Virtualization 1.0 is defined as server virtualization – using hypervisors to partition resources – while Virtualization 2.0+ is defined as the next generation of virtualization technology – focused on virtualizing data center infrastructure beyond just the server.
Virtualization 1.0 is targeted at reducing capex through consolidation, something that hypervisors do extremely well. Virtualization 2.0+ focuses on reducing opex by adding capabilities around infrastructure virtualization, management tools to simplify management, and higher value tools like Disaster Recovery and hardware failover. Ultimately, Virtualization 2.0+ transforms data center infrastructure into flexible, changeable assets that can be deployed, moved and managed seamlessly.
As I said, the categorization that’s happening now is important. It allows customers to wade through the confusing virtualization landscape and choose products that they can actually benefit from and complement what they already have installed. We know that virtual machine sprawl is becoming real and with this sprawl comes a new set of challenges – managing the infrastructure that connects the sprawling VMs.
This is where Egenera PAN Manager comes in. We are the clear leaders in the Virtualization 2.0+ market and have been solving infrastructure complexity through virtualization for 7+ years. We call this Data Center Virtualization and it’s an important component in reducing data center complexity - for both virtual and physical assets. As the virtualization market matures and moves towards 2.0 and beyond, solutions like PAN will be increasingly important to the data center, as server virtualization alone can’t solve the complexity issues. In some cases, it may add to them.