Virtual server technologies used in preproduction environments promise cost, time and labor savings, yet the same tools left unchecked can result in complex configurations, wasted resources and management nightmares for IT staff.

Virtualization removes the physical server constraints of test environments and enables sharing of resources among IT staff to make test work easier, but its use needs to be carefully controlled, industry analysts and IT professionals say.

"One of the pitfalls of using virtualization in test environments is the proliferation of images, especially when testing multiple configurations across different operating systems," says Carey Schwaber, a senior analyst at Forrester Research. "There has to be a real effort around controlling this environment with policies to prevent the environment from growing too much or becoming unused resources."

Avoiding test-server sprawl

Tim Antonowicz, systems engineer at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, says virtualization helps his team test software without requiring the build of a new operating system or cluttering a developer's workstation with another piece of software. He has 55 test stage, or sandbox, virtual machines (VM) running.

"Sandboxes are basic VMs where we test and evaluate various software offerings without expectation. If we want to try out something new, run a beta version or just play with a new idea, we roll out a sandbox VM," Antonowicz says.

Click to see: A list of virtualization players that offer tools to help enterprise companies prevent their virtual labs from becoming a test bed for chaos and unnecessary complexity.

Using virtualization in such a way — as a tactical tool for testing — is common. But most IT organizations haven't standardized their use of virtualization for testing across the enterprise. Different IT groups wind up operating their own pockets of virtual servers that aren’t always properly managed or decommissioned. Industry watchers argue the benefits of using virtualization in test labs have yet to be fully realized because of these inconsistencies.

"It is important to have consistency when testing, and IT needs a comprehensive management approach to ensure proper coordination between physical machines and virtual resources," says Melinda Ballou, a principal analyst at IDC.

To help IT managers gain control of their testing resources, virtual test lab management vendors have been coming out with new tools.