Pervasive Virtualization in an IT context

The goal of this stage is to systematically increase the percentage of the infrastructure that is virtualized, thereby increasing the number of applications per server or desktops per server to gain the greatest efficiencies. IT organizations progress along a learning curve as they try to improve their agility – rolling out new applications faster and offering new services that provide the benefits of the virtual infrastructure, like virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI). These organizations can increase the likelihood of success by leveraging pretested and proven processes to accelerate their results and mitigate risk.

Those organizations who suffer from virtual machine stall are often those that neglect to adapt or rethink their organizational practices to take advantage of the virtualized environment. To achieve pervasive virtualization, the virtualized data center must be designed to facilitate and not fight change. Consequently, IT organizations must put an emphasis on implementing solutions that provide ease of management and tight security.

To achieve the greatest value from virtualization, including but not limited to efficiency, mobility, and simplified deployments, it is important to understand the multiple aspects of virtualization and how the infrastructure can enhance that functionality.

In a virtualized environment, the network no longer stops at the cable that plugs into the back of a server. With virtualization, it now extends into the server as a software version of a network switch, a firewall, a load-balancer or several other network functions. In order to continue to provide the expected levels of network services, such as high-availability, dynamic QoS, security, and application acceleration, the network services need to become virtualized and virtual-machine-aware.

Increasing virtual machine efficiency becomes an essential ingredient of overall data center efficiency. For many applications, such as virtual desktop and other IT infrastructure applications, a high density of virtual machines per server will create a greater return on investment. Some physical servers are not designed to increase virtual machine density because the lack of memory creates a block to adding new applications.