IT 2.0 :  Next Generation IT infrastructures

Virtualization is a disruptive technology and we all know that. With this post I want to share with you some scenarios about how server (and storage) virtualization can drastically change the landscape for "small IT shops" (aka SMB's) in the context of...

Lately, there have been many discussions on the Internet and on various forums regarding the implementation of HA clustering technologies (namely and primarily Microsoft Cluster Server) within virtual machine environments (namely and primarily VMware...

In the last few months I have been struggling to understand what is so different, in terms of mass adoption, between virtualizing server workloads and virtualizing desktop workloads (also known as "VDI" or "Virtual Desktop Infrastructure"). I have been...

VMware, at VMworld 2007, announced that next year they will provide an out-of-the-box solution/product for Disaster/Recovery scenarios. It is called Site Recovery Manager (SRM for short) and it is supposed to orchestrate and facilitate system administrators...

Hardware virtualization these days is a hot topic and we all know that. There are many customers looking into it for the first time and one of the problems they are facing right now is how they are going to size their new virtual infrastructure. Lately...

Last week I came across a hardware configuration requested ad-hoc by a customer to support their VMware VI3 setup. The hardware, an IBM System x 3950 M2 4-way (I know it's not yet generally available at the date), was configured with as many as 5 quad-port...

"I need to setup a VI3 solution. Which CPU should I choose from a performance perspective? Intel or AMD?". I have heard this ad nauseam. If I was to get one single cent for every thread discussion I have seen on the net regarding the matter... I would...

A few days ago Microsoft released Release Candidate 0 for Windows Server 2008. Apparently, in a last minute rush before the final RC0 build was "cooked", they wanted to give the industry a taste of how Windows Server Virtualization (aka Viridian) will...

Last week, at VMworld 2007 in San Francisco, VMware announced ESX 3i. There have been lots of speculations within the virtualization community about what ESX 3i would have looked like. And now it's here. So what (really) is this thing and what does it...

It's interesting that up until a year ago many people were showing their AMD tattoos claiming that Opteron was king of the hill and Intel was going nuts. Nowadays all these people seem to wear very nice shirts that hide these tattoos as there seems to...

For those interested the Session ID is WV27 and the title is "Virtual Appliances and the New Data Center - Changing the Rules" The bad news is that there is going to be a partner on stage (IBM). The good news is that I won't be trying to sell you anything...

A few days ago I was with a Business Partner at an event where one of the customers presented their own consolidation projects. This was not a shocking presentation for me as I have seen many customers moving from a physical environment to a virtual environment...

It is my feeling that there has been a bit of confusion lately around how hypervisors are being positioned by the various vendors. I am specifically referring to the three major technologies that seem to be the most relevant strategically going forward:...

I recently bumped into a new idea that is "Employee Owned PC". Brian Madden made a very good article on the concept here: I like the idea. I have been working on this SBC (Server Based Computing) thing for so long and recently I have been looking into...

"Now that Microsoft is coming out with their own enterprise virtualization software who's going to buy VMware products any more?". How many times have I heard that? Let me first be very clear before you ever start reading this post: I have a Microsoft...

In this article I'd like to touch briefly on the different level of virtualization technologies that I see being discussed lately. I am not going to talk about specific products but I'd rather keep this at an higher level referencing product implementations...

There have been quite a lot of discussions lately on the VMware forums about topics related to exposing physical hardware layouts to virtual environments. Specifically I am referring to things like: RDM's, NPIV's and Passthrough of I/O. There might...

It's amazing how many customers have embraced VMware and virtualization in general (that is: VMware) just for the purpose of "out-of-the-box" High Availability and Disaster Recovery features. I remember I have met customers for example that...

I have lately been involved with "Client Consolidation" solutions which is a new (well it's not that new) trend aimed at re-architecting the way companies/organizations think about their standard desktop deployments. It encompasses different philosophies...