Table of Contents1.Introduction22.How It Works33.Types of
Hypervisor44.Challenges responsible for Growth of
Virtualization55.Classification of Virtualization66.Industry
Players87.Managerial Implications98.Virtualization Software
Offerings129.References13
Table of Figures
Figure 1: Traditional System versus Virtualized system3Figure 2:
A Virtual Machine4Figure 3: Virtual Infrastructure4Figure 4: Issues
with IT environment6Figure 5: Types of Virtualization7Figure 6:
Desktop Virtualization8Figure 7: Gartner Magic Quadrant9Figure 8:
Condensed Image of Processor Manager10Figure 9: Virtualization
Software License issue12Figure 10: Virtualization software
offerings13
1. IntroductionVirtualization is one of the sultriest themes for
business administrators and also IT supervisors with profits like
expanded productivity, expanded resource optimization, all the more
computing power and so forth. It is an innovation arrangement that
addresses various business drivers, essentially cost savings, which
influence pretty much all commercial ventures. However, what
precisely is the technology all about?
Virtualization is innovation for supporting execution of PC
system code, from applications to entire OS in a software present
environment. As a result such a type of Virtual Machine (VM)
environment digests accessible framework assets (memory, storage,
CPU core(s), I/O, and so forth.) and presents them in a consistent
manner, such that "guest" software can't recognize VM-built
execution from running with respect to bare physical hardware. It
is a structure/approach of asset allotment between various
execution situations by utilizing methods like time/resource
sharing, simulation/emulation and so forth.
A virtual machine (VM) provides a software environment that
allows software to run on bare metal. Such an environment is known
as a hypervisor. It is isolated and very efficient replica of real
OS. The hypervisor has functionality that looks like hardware to
the guest operating system. It allows multiple operating system
instances to run concurrently on a single computer; it is a means
of separating hardware from a single operating system. CPU,
processors, storage and memory are shared and it also has provision
for desktop migration.
Figure 1: Traditional System versus Virtualized system
Figure 2: A Virtual Machine
2. How It WorksVirtualization platform transform or virtualize
the hardware resources of an x86-based computerincluding the CPUs,
network controllers, PCI slots, hard disks to create a fully
functional virtual machine as shown in figure 1 that can run its
own operating system and applications just like a real computer.
Each virtual machine (Figure 2) contains a complete system,
eliminating potential conflicts. A layer of software directly is
placed between the computer hardware and OS of the host. Various
resources of the server are dynamically allocated. Thus multiple OS
can successfully run on a physical hardware. The hypervisor has
provision for making sure that the compatibility between the device
drivers with the software is maintained. Thus fully functional
multiple OS sharing underlying single physical resource is possible
using virtualization.
Virtualization also helps the IT company share physical
resources across entire infrastructure. This property ascertains
maximum efficiency. There is also a provision for application
sharing thus reducing the licensing cost hence facilitating greater
flexibility in the organization and results in lower capital and
operational costs.
Figure 3: Virtual Infrastructure
A virtual infrastructure as shown in Figure 3 consists of the
following components:i. Bare-metal hypervisors to enable full
virtualization of each x86 computer. ii. Virtual infrastructure
services such as resource management and consolidated backup to
optimize available resources among virtual machines
3. Types of HypervisorType 1Bare-MetalType 2Hosted
Type 2 hypervisors don't perform as well as the type 1
hypervisors and that's because that operating system layer is in
between the virtualization layer and the physical hardware so
there's greater overhead in using type-2 hypervisors which really
means you cant get as many virtual machines on the same piece of
hardware and another way of saying that is that the consolidation
ratio with type 2 hypervisors is much lower than the consolidation
ratio with type 1 hypervisors so in other words you can't get as
many virtual machines on the same piece of hardware if you use a
type 2 hypervisor as you can with type 1 hypervisor.So Type 1s are
to be used in the data center. That's where you have a dedicated
physical server. You load these virtualization products or these
hypervisors on that server and then you consolidate as many
physical servers as virtual machines onto those virtual hosts using
the type 1 hypervisor that's because you're going to get the best
performance with those type 1 hypervisors.On the other hand, Type 2
hypervisors are still very useful because if you just want to run a
couple of virtual machines lets say on your laptop or your desktop
PC the type 2 hypervisor is the way to go. You could run in
exchange for a machine or a web server or a Linux experts machine
inside Windows using these type 2 hypervisors so there's tremendous
benefits in the type 2 hypervisor. But it's meant for a desktop or
a laptop system that already has an operating system, you already
have applications may be your email your web browsing, your
Microsoft Office applications. They can all be loaded along with
the type 2 hypervisor that's going to give you access to run more
virtual machines.
4. Challenges responsible for Growth of VirtualizationOn
average, applications use a modest percentage of computing
resources available to it on the host machine. The table below
gives resource consumption for a set of common applications
Table 1: Resource Utilization with some common set of
Applications
Thus there are a variety of challenges in the IT environment
today that give rise to the virtualization technology.
Figure 4: Issues with IT environment
A. Low Infrastructure UtilizationTypical x86 server deployments
achieve an average utilization of only 10% to 15% of total
capacity. Organizations do this to avoid any risk arising out of
simultaneous running of contradicting apps on single system.
However, this leads to wastage of lots of computing power and thus
leads to requirement of more servers.
B. Increasing Physical Infrastructure CostsThe operational
expenditure to support growing physical infrastructure have
steadily increased. This has given impetus to the concept of BYOD
i.e. Bring your own device. To enable business continuity on all
such devices is only adding up to the already increasing costs.
C. Increasing IT management CostsMore infrastructure means more
support staff to carry on manual tasks associated with server
maintenance. Hiring costs and salaries also add up to the bill. D.
Insufficient Failover and Disaster ProtectionBusiness critical
applications cant afford to be down. Each downtime costs company
thousands of dollars in revenue and probable loss of clients. These
downtimes are increasing with the rise in security attacks and
terrorism.
E. High Maintenance End-User DesktopsOverseeing and securing
enterprise desktops present various difficulties. Controlling a
distributed desktop environment and authorizing administration,
access and security approaches without impeding clients' capacity
to work viably is mind boggling and lavish.
5. Classification of VirtualizationFigure 5: Types of
VirtualizationVirtualizationServer VirtualizationApplication
VirtualizationResource VirtualizationDesktop Virtualization
A. Server VirtualizationIt is the most common type of
virtualization. In this type, we create virtual servers over a
single physical host server using hypervisor software to optimize
computing power of the physical server and reduce wastage.
B. Desktop VirtualizationThe remote manipulation of a computer
desktop is called desktop virtualization. For example, here you can
see three racks of servers. On top of these servers, you load
VMware vSphere as a hypervisor. Then on one of the server, you load
VMware View Manager. This acts as a connection broker where all
kind of devices connect. End users connect to their virtual
machines using the view manager.
Figure 6: Desktop VirtualizationDrivers for desktop
virtualization
Source: Entperprise and SMB Hardware Survey, North America and
Europe, Forrester Research
C. Resource VirtualizationThe virtualization of system resources
is known as resource virtualization. Storage Virtualization:
pooling of multiple physical storage resources into a single
storage resource that is centrally managed. Storage virtualization
is commonly used in file systems, storage area networks (SANs),
switches and virtual tape systems. Users can implement storage
virtualization with software, hybrid hardware or software
appliances. Network Virtualization: process of combining hardware
and software network resources and network functionality into a
single, software-based administrative entity, a virtual
network.
D. Application VirtualizationThe hosting of individual
application on alien hardware/software is called application
virtualization. For example, a program like Microsoft Word executes
on a server located in the data center, but the graphical output is
displayed on a remote client device. The end-user is able to
interact with it via keyboard and mouse. Types include: Portable
application Cross-platform virtualization Emulation or
Simulation
6. Industry Players Gartner magic quadrant is a tool for
understanding the relative position of various market players in an
industry. Companies are measured on two broad capabilities i.e
ability to execute and completeness of vision and accordingly they
are classified under four categories namely:
Figure 7: Gartner Magic QuadrantFrom the magic quadrant it is
quite clear that Challengers: These players have ability to execute
but lack on completeness of vision parameter. Oracle with its
application driven virtualization falls into challengers category.
Oracle products have high degree of reliability, high
availability/disaster recovery feature and support to
openstack.
Leaders: They have perfect strategy and roadmap of their product
offering, they also have clear formulation high growth technologies
such as cloud (private/hybrid/public). VMware and Microsoft are
clear market leaders, scoring very highly on parameters such as
viability, pricing, customer experience and operation. VMware in
2013 introduced vSphere 5.5, virtual SAN, storage VMotion, Server
Caching etc. with increased focus on end user computing. Microsoft
with its enhance version of Hyper-V has grown by manifolds in
virtualization space. Microsoft has a very advantageous position as
it can be released as a package with Windows server 2012.
Visionaries: These players typically have differentiated
approach or technological prowess but lack in execution front. In
virtualization industry, none of the company falls into this
category.
Niche Players: These players have focused on very specific
product niches and have not capitalized on their entire market yet.
Parallels, Citrix, Red Hat and Huawei fall under this category. Red
Hat is used in Linux cluster and open stack implementations,
Parallels is used in high-density deployments, Citrix with Xen
server and Huawei are used in desktop virtualization.7. Managerial
ImplicationsThis research was done in the college laboratory
consisting of 20 computers. The computers were having only one OS
installed in them earlier. Using virtualization techniques, 3-4 OS
were installed on each of them. A study was made on the condensed
picture of processor performance of each computer and then the
average picture was made from the data available which is shown in
the Figure 3 below.Figure 8: Condensed Image of Processor
ManagerAfter VMwareBefore VMware
As it is visible here, that the performance of processor manager
increases and thus the machines become more efficient. This clearly
proves that virtualization results in better performance and
efficiency.Likewise, heres a data which shows the cost impact of
virtualization on one of VMwares clients.
Thus, broadly we have following benefits of virtualization:a.
Cost Efficiency: Lower hardware spending due to accelerated server
consolidation and increased server utilization rates.
b. Scalability/Agility: Lesser dependence on hardware and quick
response to changing customer demand enables enterprise to be more
agile and scale up the business.
c. Business Continuity: Easier software migration leading to
better disaster recovery mechanisms, thus keeping business online
24X7
d. High Availability: Like above point, better disaster recovery
mechanisms provide lesser downtime and hence high availability to
serve customers
e. Security: Centralized and consolidated control gives access
to version updates/patches from the centralized system only, thus
keeping all systems up to date and less prone to security
threats.However, there are a number of risks that companies have to
mitigate while they try to achieve above benefits by using
virtualization. For example, as per a report Key Trends in Software
Pricing & Licensing Survey 2013-14, 85% of organizations were
found to be out of compliance with their software license
agreements due to use of the software in virtualized environments.
Below infographic gives a concise picture of the problem. Figure 9:
Virtualization Software License issue
There is also an increasing risk of security that is associated
with virtualization much like cloud computing. There is a loss of
network visibility inside the virtualization systems. Classical
network tools can't regulate the traffic between guests. This makes
it difficult for network security teams to comprehensively monitor
for malicious or inappropriate traffic flows. To improve security
in virtualized environments, following recommendations should be
implemented by organizations: Up-to-date hypervisors to mitigate
security threats. Even bare metal hypervisors require physical
security.
Maintain security for each component, from hypervisor and host
OS to guest OS, storage and applications.
Restrict and protect administrator access to the virtualization
solution
Carefully plan security for a virtualization solution before
installing, configuring and deploying it
8. Virtualization Software Offerings
Figure 10: Virtualization software offerings
9. Referencesi. VMware. Capacity
Planner.http://www.vmware.com/products/capacity-planner/ii.
http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/partners/academic/vmware-academic-isca126-soundararajan-wp.pdfiii.
2013-14 Key Trends in Software Pricing & Licensing Survey:
http://resources.flexerasoftware.com/iv.
http://fcw.com/microsites/2011/data-center-optimization/agencies-address-security-concerns.aspxv.
F. Hao, T.V. Lakshman "Enhancing Dynamic Cloud-based Services Using
Network Virtualizationvi. Dr. Rao Mikkilineni & Vijay Sarathy,
Cloud Computing and Lessons from the Past, Kawa Objects, Inc.vii.
Virtualization: From the Desktop to the Enterprise, Chris Wolf,
Erick M. Halter.viii. http://www.virtualizationadmin.comix.
http://www.virtualization.orgx. Norbert Skubch, Roland Klausnitzer
(2012). Trends in Virtualization and their Implications