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Data Centers: Virtualization Tackles DR
Midmarket CIOs say they've felt pressure for years to improve disaster recovery (DR) while keeping costs low. But duplication of hardware is expensive when you live by the one-application-per-server rule. Managing and maintaining a second site is a hassle. Third-party providers make disaster recovery easier but can cost a fortune.
Last year, virtualization was all about shedding pounds -- OK tons, of hardware. You saved money and reduced power consumption. Now virtualization can help in other areas, too.
Our prediction: Coupled with upgraded IP networks and affordable iSCSI storage area networks (SANs) and disk-to-disk backups, server virtualization might be the real DR deal for you in 2008.
"This is a change in people's recognition of the scope of what virtualization can do," says Carl Claunch, an analyst at Stamford, Conn.-based Gartner.
Take for example Mike Carvalho, CTO of Radiator Express Warehouse Inc., an automotive parts distributor in Benicia, Calif., with a growing cadre of franchisees. He took the money he saved by virtualizing his data center and invested in three more servers from VMware Inc. and a suite of management products to develop what he calls the company's first legitimate DR site. "I was able to duplicate everything I needed in two racks," Carvalho says.
CIO George White of the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General is going virtual by degrees. He switched out 150 outdated servers with 50 blade servers from Dell Inc. and software from VMware. He also put in a dual SAN at his primary site in Harrisburg and at a remote site upstate. A fully virtualized DR operation awaits next year's budget allocation.
But don't let the technological coup go to your head, Browning cautions. "You need to circle back and look at disaster recovery from a strategic point of view. Disaster recovery still requires people, processes and a plan, not just a technical Band-Aid."
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