Techiebytes

Recently I had the honor of speaking at and attending The Ohio Society of CPAs Cincinnati Accounting show. While I was at the show I had the opportunity to sit in on several great sessions including Virtual Machines presented by K2 Enterprises‘ Executive Vice President Randolph P. Johnston.

As a Techie I understand the benefits of virtualization, but I’ve struggled on finding ways to present the topic to the non-technical crowd. While an hour long format might not be the best scenario for communicating such a complex and beneficial presentation, Mr. Johnston did an excellent job.

In its basic format, virtualization is using one physical computer to run multiple Operating System instances. Server virtualization has become common practice allowing system architects and engineers the flexibility to utilize server hardware more efficiently. The ability to run multiple instances of a server Operating System on a single physical server reduces hardware costs, power consumption and physical space. Additional benefits are realized though ease of back-up, better disaster recovery options, simplified administration and increased utilization of hardware investments. With all the benefits it’s no question why technical folks embraced virtual servers, but what about desktops?

Virtual Machines have similar benefits to virtual servers, and can be utilized in several  types of scenarios. Uses for virtual machines include running legacy applications, testing new software, isolating user environments, or training. Because Virtual Machines are not tied to any specific hardware and are contained within a single file they can be:

• Stored as a template, quickly replicated, and reused for multiple needs
• Backed-up as a single file and restored quickly
• Copied and replicated on multiple machines
• Moved between machined without additional configuration

Best of all machine virtualization software packs a punch while maintaining a reasonable price tag. Some options for machine virtualization include:

• Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 – Free – Windows
• VMWare Workstation – $189.00 – Windows
• VirtualBox –Free – Linux
• Parallels –$79.99 – MAC

One consideration before jumping on the virtual machine bandwagon is your hardware. As Mr. Johnston pointed out during his presentation, virtual machines are software machines within hardware machines. In order to run virtual machines your hardware must be robust enough to support the host operating system, the virtual machine software, and the guest operating system. For example if your machine runs Windows Vista as the host (Normal) operating system, and you want to run Windows XP as your Guest (Virtual) operating system you will need a minimum of 1.5GB of RAM. Keep in mind these are minimum requirements, 3GB is a more realistic configuration. You can get more information about virtual machine hardware requirements at Microsoft’s Virtual PC site. Even with the hardware considerations it’s easy to see where a RAM upgrade is less expensive than buying multiple machines.

Considering the decreasing cost of computer hardware, the benefits of virtualization should be a consideration. Server and workstation virtualization are just the tip of the iceberg. While I haven’t discussed them; Application Virtualization, Virtual Appliances, and Storage Virtualization bring their own benefits. Regardless of your environment, it’s a good bet that virtualization can help fulfill one or more of your current or future technology needs.

For more detailed information regarding Virtualization Technology, check out these links:

• http://www.microsoft.com/windows/downloads/virtualpc/sysreq.mspx
• http://www.vmware.com/virtualization/
• http://www.networkworld.com/topics/virtualization.html
• http://www.sun.com/storage/virtualization/
• http://www.citrix.com/english/ps2/products/product.asp?contentID=163057

Filed under: Technology Tagged: | Machine Virtualization, Parallels, Server Virtualization, VirtualBox, VMWare Workstation, Windows Virtual PC 2007