As data centers begin to virtualize processors and memory to increase server utilization, are IT managers setting themselves up for a massive I/O bottleneck crisis?

In this TechTarget Interview, Sharad Mehrotra, the CEO and co-founder of Fabric7 Systems Inc., said such a scenario is possible given that many virtual deployments today are generally grids or clusters in the Web-tier of the data center.

The benefits of consolidating servers in the near term are obvious, Mehrotra said, given the proliferation of low-end hardware in the marketplace. However, he added that the industry should be laying the groundwork to address a looming traffic jam of data from overlooked I/O capacity of data center servers.

In this interview, SearchOpenSource.com scored an exclusive first look at what Mehrotra would offer during his session on virtualization and I/O at LinuxWorld. Joining Mehrotra for the interview was Fabric7 co-founder and server architect Thomas Lovett. After explaining why I/O has been overlooked, Mehrotra and Lovett offered their ideas on how IT managers can best prepare their data centers to meet the challenges of I/O in a virtual environment.

Read the interview, here.