Microsoft Windows Server 2008, server virtualization using Hyper-V technology has been an integral part of the operating system. Hyper-V makes it easier than ever to take advantage of the cost savings of virtualization through Windows Server 2008.
Benefits
- Consolidates multiple, under-utilized physical servers on a single host, running Virtual Machines
- Reduces workforce/space/kilowatt by leveraging virtualization for server consolidation and agility
- Helps save money because less managing, less space and less kilowatt hours are needed
Server Virtualization
Hardware Virtualization uses software to create a Virtual Machine (VM) that emulates a physical computer. This creates a separate OS environment that is logically isolated from the host server. By providing multiple VMs at once, this approach allows several operating systems to run simultaneously on a single physical machine.
Rather than paying for many under-utilized server machines, each dedicated to a specific workload, server virtualization allows those workloads to be consolidated onto a smaller number of more fully-used machines.
Benefits
- Consolidates multiple, under-utilized physical servers on a single host, running Virtual Machines
- Reduces workforce/space/kilowatt by leveraging virtualization for server consolidation and agility
- Helps save money because less managing, less space and less kilowatt hours are needed
Business Continuity Solutions
Implementing a reliable, rapid-recovery strategy can be time-consuming and expensive, requiring redundant server, storage and network infrastructure often in separate locations. Because of this, many companies simply don't have comprehensive business continuity plans to protect their critical infrastructure and applications.
With virtualization business continuity solutions, you can add high availability and disaster recovery options to your business. Plus if you already deploy business continuity for some applications, you can use virtualization to extend protection to additional applications.
With virtualization business continuity solutions, you can add high availability and disaster recovery options to your business. Plus if you already deploy business continuity for some applications, you can use virtualization to extend protection to additional applications.
Windows Server provides support for a wide range of industry-leading, shared-storage solutions to deliver Quick and Live Migration along with partner cross-site data management and data replication technologies. In summary, Microsoft virtualization business continuity solutions provide these key benefits:
- Leverage savings from consolidation to deliver better business continuity
- Deploy and maintain the same number or fewer physical servers while enabling geographic diversification
- Combine Microsoft and partner capabilities for high-performance and affordable solutions
IT Consolidation Solutions
Resource utilization. It's an increasingly important topic, and if your business is constrained by poor server and storage utilization, it's likely you're over-investing in hardware and wasting space and power, not to mention propagating operational inefficiencies. These in turn increase costs and lead to negative environmental impacts.
Microsoft is uniquely positioned to help consolidate your datacenter, thus reducing your costs and improving agility. We combine excellent value in server virtualization--based on Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V--with the physical and virtual management capabilities of System Center Virtual Machine Manager. Microsoft works with a wide range of storage infrastructure partners to deliver breakthrough datacenter cost savings through the combination of server and storage consolidation. In short, our solutions are designed to help you:
- Minimize capital expenditures
- Reduce Operating Costs
- Improve Service Levels
Desktop Solutions
Employees increasingly want access to applications and data from anywhere or from any device. While this adds to workforce productivity, it can create complexity and higher pressures on cost control for IT departments. Additionally, as hardware theft rises, securing laptop and desktop PCs requires significant resources. How can your IT department meet these challenges with better efficiency?
Companies are increasingly turning to virtualization as the answer to their desktop challenges. Desktop virtualization involves decoupling the different computing layers and storing some or all of them in a data center. Through virtualization, employees can access their applications and data very safely over a network, minimizing the risk of data loss. On the IT side, virtualization accelerates deployment of new capabilities without needing to acquire new hardware and configure components. It also helps reduce application testing requirements and compatibility issues and simplifies disaster recovery and compliance.
Each business is different and requires its own balance between user flexibility and centralized control across various organizations and even across various user groups within organizations. The Windows Optimized Desktop Scenarios give your business the ability to choose what works best for your needs.
Remote/Branch Office Solutions
Bank branches, retail chains, regional offices--these are remote sites for larger enterprises, and as such, have limited to no IT staff and depend on a central corporate location for most IT support. These central locations face various challenges: reducing hardware and maintenance costs, quickly provisioning new servers, guaranteeing data protection, and providing business continuity with maximum uptime.
Virtualization provides tremendous benefits that are designed to mitigate these challenges. Recent Microsoft surveys* found that close to three-quarters of U.S. retailers and a majority of tier-one banks are turning to virtualization.
If you work in a central corporate location, there are several ways to address virtualization for remote/branch offices. You can centralize services where servers and desktops are virtualized at the datacenter and applications are served to the remote offices over WAN. You can use hybrid services approach where services are centralized with local copies or caching mechanisms available at the remote office, complemented with use of WAN Optimization technologies. You can virtualize servers and desktops locally at the remote offices and manage them centrally from the datacenter.
Microsoft has a range of products designed for remote/branch offices. Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V lets you consolidate multiple server roles as separate virtual machines running on a single physical machine, to improve server utilization. Windows Server 2008 capabilities, such as clustering and quick migration, provide a cost-effective business continuity solution. System Center management products enable rapid provisioning and centralized management of virtual machines, plus improved availability at remote offices with data protection and targeted backup and recovery. Microsoft Desktop Virtualization solutions enable remote office users to access desktop applications from shared client devices while data is stored centrally and highly securely. Microsoft partners provide WAN Optimization solutions that help remote offices optimize WAN bandwidth.
With solutions from Microsoft and its partners, remote/branch offices can enjoy these benefits:
- Reduced costs
- Improved provisioning time
- Improved availability at remote sites
Small and Medium Business Solutions
If you’re a small or medium-sized business (SMB), your business is challenged to keep IT expenses low while providing a high quality of service to your customers. If you’re a small business (around five servers and less than 25 desktops or laptops), chances are you don’t have a full-time IT staff to handle systems management tasks such as patches and upgrades, disaster recovery, and business continuity. If you’re a medium-sized business (5-30 servers and 25 – 250 desktops or laptops), then you probably have 1-4 IT staff who are “generalists” and perform a broad range of tasks on any given day.
That’s where virtualization comes in. Small and medium business virtualization products can help you provide a higher level of IT service while at the same time lowering costs—all with your current level of IT staffing.
Microsoft offers a range of products to help you virtualize and manage your IT infrastructure, whether you’re a medium-sized business with a small on-site IT staff, or a small business working with a partner to help manage your IT. Hyper-V provides a virtual platform on which you can consolidate multiple server roles as separate VMs running on a single physical machine. You can download Hyper-V server for free to access server virtualization capabilities, or if you already have Windows Server 2008 or plan to upgrade, you will have Hyper-V already built-in. Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager Workgroup Edition combined with System Center Essentials 2007 enables increased physical server utilization, rapid provisioning, and centralized management of physical and virtual machines. Microsoft System Center Essentials 2007 provides comprehensive systems management capabilities such as monitoring and alerting, software distribution, update management, and software and hardware inventory management. Microsoft partners provide complementary business continuity solutions, such as replication for virtual machines without using SAN, which reduces downtime and improves availability. Windows Small Business Server 2008 and Windows Essentials Business Server 2008 include Windows Server 2008 Standard technologies which support virtualization with Hyper-V and improve your business functions.
In summary, virtualization offers many key benefits to small and medium businesses to help you:
- Reduce IT costs
- Improve availability
- Improve service quality
Technology Solutions
An end-to-end strategy for virtualization and supporting platforms can profoundly impact nearly every aspect of IT infrastructure, security, and management.
Fortunately, virtualization offers much more than simple server consolidation and cost savings. Regardless of the size or nature of the enterprise, Microsoft Virtualization Technology Solutions provide components to address end to end scenarios like Datacenter Consolidation, Business Continuity and Virtualized Desktop Infrastructure solutions ultimately realizing lower TCO, improved business continuity and enhanced security.
Microsoft Virtualization Technology solutions deliver the building blocks IT pros need to implement the groundbreaking new service-level benefits of virtualization. Microsoft works with partners to deliver key integrated solutions for:
- Security Solutions
- Management Solutions
- Storage Solutions
- Networking Solutions
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