In a recently blog entry we talked about how virtualization can be used to increase efficiency and reduce e-waste to help your company become more green. For many people outside of Southern California, ‘Green IT’ isn’t an action item on their to-do list just yet. So, if ‘Green IT’ hasn’t hit your to-do list yet, how does this virtualization stuff benefit you? After all, you don’t have hundreds of employees and your needs are not complicated – email, accounting and file sharing for example.

An Internet website defines “virtualization” as: A method of partitioning one physical server computer into multiple “virtual” servers, giving each the appearance and capabilities of running on its own dedicated machine.  Each virtual server functions as a full-fledged server and can be independently rebooted.

You and your Network Support Company are Looking for a New Management System

Suppose you start looking at a new line-of business application to manage your business. You have been on plenty of sales calls and attended a few web-based presentations. You are sure productivity and increase your customer service levels. Everything is moving along nicely until…..you find out that the software company requires that their application run on a dedicated server that is not providing email services (Exchange) or providing user authentication services (Active Directory). Now what?

You do have some choices in this situation. Just a few things you might consider are:

1. Move email services to a hosted exchange solution so it will no longer be running on your in-house server. Although, this will not solve the Active Directory issue.
2. Determine if the new application is available as a hosted solution, which may have the added benefit of lower upfront costs in exchange for higher on-going monthly costs.
3. Purchase a new server to add to the network. Install the new application on this server.
4. Purchase a new server with sufficient capacity to run multiple servers in a virtual environment. Migrate your existing server to the new virtual server. Install the new application onto the virtual server as well.

Definitely the Time to Call in your Managed Services Provider

Because her team works with your network day in and day out, they will be familiar with your systems; how they are working now, what capacity they have and what technical hurdles there are. They will be able to talk to the application provider to determine which of the above solutions will work and which will not.

Your managed services provider should work with you to explain each option so that you can make the best decision for your company. If you feel that their ultimate goal is to sell you a new server regardless of whether you have discussed all of the options first, then you need to find a different managed services provider. [We recommend taking a look at our list of reputable regional managed services providers.]

Having intimate knowledge of your network, knowing your business and having a model based on long-term relationships – not short-term sales – are the biggest benefits of choosing managed services over a break fix model. When you enter into a contract with a managed services provider, they become part of your team and should be working with you to achieve the best use of technology for your particular situation.

Expect to hear ‘Server Virtualization’ more often when Discussing your Small Business Network

But since we began by talking about virtualization, let’s get back to that….

Let’s assume that you just aren’t comfortable moving your email or your application to a hosted solution – option #1 and #2. Perhaps you just aren’t able to get a really reliable, fast internet connection in your area and you are concerned that the applications will run too slowly. Maybe you just don’t want to have your data stored anywhere other than your location. That’s fine.

Let’s also assume that you really don’t want to purchase a whole new server on which to install just this one application – option #3. Servers that are single purpose like this, often, are only using about 30% of their capacity. What a waste of money and power.

Virtualization – option #4 – is your answer if you want to keep data local, provide the new application an isolated environment AND speed up your existing system at the same time. In addition to these benefits, you get easier migration to new hardware in the future, disaster recovery built in and the ability to test major upgrades with instant roll-back capabilities. All of these reasons help explain why vitualization is becoming more common for small business networks.

What is Involved with Implementing Virtualization in your Small Business Computer Network?

So, you decided that it might make sense to purchase a new server and use virtualization to partition off a piece of it for your new line of business application.

What Does it Cost to do Server Virtualization?

All current servers on the market support virtualization. You really don’t need to spend much more money (if any at all) to get a decent virtualization platform. If you have a server that was purchased anytime after mid-2009, you may be in luck and already have what you need. The software necessary to run virtual servers used to be pricey, but many software vendors are offering a free version that is plenty powerful for small business networks. Even better, the return on your investment really pays off when your current server is ready for an upgrade in the future. Instead of purchasing a new server, it can be migrated into the virtual platform that you just purchased. Instant benefits with near zero cost.

How much pain is involved? What’s the downside?

As long as you are using a managed services provider who has a handful of (or more) virtualization implementation references, there should be no more pain than with any major implementation. Done properly, you will not notice the difference.

What Should I be Asking my Managed Services Provider?

• Who have you done an installation like this for, and may I speak with them?
• Have you spoken with the application vendor to make sure that we will be fully supported if we virtualize our environment?
• How will we backup our system? I understand that some tape drives do not function properly in a virtual environment.
• Once we virtualize this first server, what is the plan to get our other servers virtualized? Will it require downtime?
• What can I do to ensure that we are as ‘green’ as possible in respect to this server?

This article was contributed by KI Technology Group. They are a managed services provider in East Lansing that specializes in virtualization for small businesses with 10 to 150 employees.