Virtualization Technology and Business Today

Virtualization is increasingly becoming fundamental in the business world today.

Virtualization simply means to create a virtual version of a resource; for example a virtual storage device, a virtual server or a virtual operating system. So instead of having big hard drives on every computer in an office, content is put on a server, this is then accessed remotely by connected computers. 

A server in this context is a centrally placed super computer that provides service to other computers. It could be a file server (stores files), print sever (manages printers on other computers) or a network server (manages network traffic).

There are different types of virtualization;

Server virtualization – Several servers’ are merged into one physical server.

A server basically serves one function; for example internet server, mail or file server. This uses only a fraction of the servers’ full potential hence being underutilized. With Virtualization, the different servers are merged into one physical server; the physical server is split into several virtual environments. This saves on space and costs that would have been spent on physical servers.

Banks like the Equity Bank in Kenya are able to serve their clients from any branch since information is stored in central virtual servers that can be accessed remotely.

Client or desktop virtualization

Hyper-visor technology has made it possible to create virtual desktops. This technology provides a platform that helps in organizing and managing virtual machines. Desktop virtualization creates virtual desktop computers that are accessed by clients over a network. Each virtual desktop does not require its own hardware, software or operating system.

Storage virtualization

Storage Virtualization is what is commonly known as cloud computing. This is the combining of storage from numerous network storage devices into one device managed from a central site. This type of virtualization helps in backups, archival and data recovery easy and fast.
  
Pros of virtualization include;

Cost savings

This is one of the major pros since workloads are combined into fewer physical servers. Fewer physical servers  save on the amount of electricity that would have been used by the other servers . 

 Flexibility
 Virtualization significantly develops an organization's business flexibility. Companies that adopt grouping, splitting, workload organization and other virtualization procedures to design sets of servers into reusable resources are better suited to respond to the changing pressures their organization face. This technology revolutionizes how IT managers think about computing resources. Management of individual boxes becomes less of a challenge and there is a shift to what services a technology can provide.