Article Contributed by Robbie Wright, Senior Product Marketing Manager, CommVault
Before we know it, it will be time to head to San Francisco
for VMworld to chat about all things virtualization. From
the hybrid cloud to implementing a mobile data strategy, many topics and best
practices will be discussed at the show.
However, many attendees will head west without first
evaluating their current virtualization strategies - reducing the chances of
walking away with many important takeaways. One roadblock that might be getting
in the way? A virtualization strategy that is stuck in neutral. How do you know
if you're company is at risk? Here are three signs to be on the lookout for:
Lack of clearly
defined VM lifecycle policies
When the virtualization frenzy first began, it was easy to
deploy virtual machines quickly to consolidate physical servers and virtualize
applications, but this led to a new computing dilemma - sprawl. Virtual machine
(VM) sprawl is a problem that is oftentimes ignored until someone takes a close
look at the infrastructure and realizes host resources such as processing,
memory and storage are being underutilized or wasted. Serious questions about
the VM lifecycle arise - Why was this VM created? Is it still needed? Can it be
deleted? Should it be archived? When should VM expiration or archiving take
place? Will the world stop turning?!
From the start, implementing clear policies on VM
provisioning, management and retirement can help an effective lifecycle
management strategy succeed. Further, policies can help enable an end user (a
developer, application owner or business manager) to have the power to create
and retire these VMs themselves. In addition, modern data management
technologies such as VM auto-detection, P2V conversion and VM archiving can
automatically facilitate these policies without a lot of manual steps, freeing
up both resources and time for admins and end users alike. With great power,
comes great responsibility, and with great policies, comes the ability to take
a virtualization strategy out of neutral, especially for those admins that may
be a bit hesitant about retiring anything.
Misaligned protection
processes for applications
Once an organization commits to a virtualization strategy,
the goal is typically to aggressively virtualize applications to meet the
business needs, and many are well on their way of achieving that. However, the
chosen data protection platform must be prepared to handle the scale,
integration, recovery and requirements to be successful, and most importantly -
be flexible.
Traditional backup methods may work in some scenarios, but every
business has its own needs for meeting RTO and RPO. Ensuring the right backup
method aligns with the application's needs can help propel a virtualization
strategy to meet even the strictest service level agreements.
Cloud-based disaster recovery as an afterthought
IT departments are turning to the cloud for another tier of
infrastructure whether it be an archive or a mirror image of their production
data center for business continuity. But many companies still don't have the
budgets for disaster recovery, except for money set aside for most mission critical
applications. By leveraging the perfect combination of hybrid and public
clouds, businesses can not only enhance data availability for critical apps,
but also implement DR in more efficient and cost effective ways.
The public cloud is evolving into the DR platform of choice
- so it's wise to plan ahead for any situation by implementing modern data
management technologies. But more on that topic to come later!
Overall, these three strategies can help take any
virtualization plan out of neutral to improve business operations and pay off
on the promise of cloud computing. A holistic data protection approach can
ensure the most secure and efficient way to manage VMs, deliver on SLAs and
cost-effectively leverage the public cloud for disaster recovery. Staying ahead
of the game will only help in the long run, and ensuring a virtualization
strategy aligns with a business' overall strategy will increase the chances of
success. Are there other factors in your
infrastructure that can contribute to a successful virtualization strategy?
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About the Author
Robbie Wright is
Senior Product Marketing Manager for CommVault. In this role, Robbie focuses on
Server Virtualization and Cloud solutions and is a veteran in the storage,
virtualization, and cloud market for more than 10 years. With former roles at
both Dell and Rackspace, he has extensive experience with VMware, Hyper-V, and
OpenStack, and is a frequent contributor to many types of social media. Robbie
holds an MBA from The Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.