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Senior Editor Denise Dubie guides you through the latest developments in management tools and services.
Rolling out virtual servers and desktops is easier than provisioning physical machines, but the more flexible and dynamic resources still require IT managers to make the most out of all the resources in the environment.
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Ken Fanta, the IT manager for the University of Wisconsin Department of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation in Madison, realized after deploying about 30 virtual servers and 140 virtual desktops that it was easier to grow virtual machines but close to impossible to shrink them. The premise of growing capacity upon demand works if you can then reclaim that capacity and put the resources to work where needed.
"I was looking for a product to help me take the virtual machines I had created and get them back down to the original size I had wanted," Fanta says. "I prefer maintaining about 10% of free space in the virtual machine, but when I realized I didn't need as much free space, I wanted to reclaim it. If each image has 4 to 5 gigabytes of free space, multiplied by a certain number of machines, that adds up pretty quickly."
That's why last fall Fanta decided to try out the beta version of vOptimizer Pro from Vizioncore. According to the vendor, the product inspects the virtual machine's file system and resizes the partition, while also streamlining the guest operating system. The vendor also says vOptimizer Pro helps administrators quickly provision virtual machines, "right-size storage environments, accelerate disaster recovery and lower maintenance cost overhead.
For instance, administrators like Fanta can specify the amount of storage space needed for various types of virtual machines and reclaim resources when virtual machine specifications stray from the original plan.
"We can run the program on a scheduled basis to prevent images from getting larger than they were intended to be," Fanta says. "vOptimizer Pro helped me get more out of what I already have and it has paid off in storage savings alone already."
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Denise Dubie is senior editor with Network World.
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Diagnosing why an application is slow is hard, at times taking days or weeks to isolate and resolve. This paper explains the challenges involved using current management tools, provides a 'wish list' for application management and analysis, and explains the need for an application system-wide approach that monitors entire applications, not components.
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Improving Application Performance Troubleshooting
Diagnosing why an application is slow is hard, at times taking days or weeks to isolate and resolve. This paper explains the challenges involved using current management tools, provides a 'wish list' for application management and analysis, and explains the need for an application system-wide approach that monitors entire applications, not components.
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Virtual Vigilance: Managing Application Performance in Virtual Environments
This paper highlights the impact of virtualization on application performance. "Managing Application Performance in Virtual Environments" states: "Best-in-Class organizations are predominately taking actions around improving visibility across both physical and virtual systems, assessing the business impact of application performance and understanding interdependencies of applications in virtualized environments."
Download Whitepaper
Application Service Requests: The Missing Link for Pragmatic ITSM
Forrester Research analyst Glenn O'Donnell and BlueStripe co-founder Vic Nyman discuss a breakthrough approach to application problem management. Learn the new approach for ITSM problem management, which provides: Rapid isolation of application slow-downs to specific components for quick problem resolution, 24/7 monitoring for proactive notification of potential issues before end users are impacted and much more.
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Comments (3)
Virtual RealityBy Anonymous on March 4, 2009, 8:31 amFor all the infrastructure savings offered by virtualization, there are, like with all these innovations, trade-offs. The price of administration and complexity...
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No ESXiBy Anonymous on March 4, 2009, 3:15 pmUnfortunately, this product relies on the Service Console, thus no ESXi support. Third-party tools must support an embedded environment, otherwise, I will not make...
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Virtual Reality pt2By Anonymous on March 4, 2009, 3:29 pmI would have to disagree with you. The innovation is not a trade off. If it was not for virtualization I would not have been able to accomplish what I did in such...
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