Virtualization with VMware

Virtualization software provides a layer between the physical hardware and two or more operating systems on a computer. This layer includes a monitor known as a hypervisor.

The hypervisor dynamically assigns the resources and hardware capacity of the computer to multiple virtual machines, each with its own operating system.

More recently, several factors have led to a renewed interest in virtualization. These include:

low infrastructure utilization
increased costs of physical infrastructure
increased costs of management and maintenance and
the need for greater disaster protection

Instead of running virtual machines on just one physical machine, you can use virtualization software to link many physical computers, each hosting multiple virtual machines. This collection of servers is known as a cloud.

These are some of the advantages of using virtualization:

It eliminates the need to assign servers or storage space and enables coordinated management of applications
It makes it unnecessary to assign permanent, fixed bandwidth for use by particular applications, and
It optimizes the use of hardware resources, which are shared among virtual machines based on the priorities assigned to processes

Another advantage of using virtualization software in a cloud configuration is better disaster protection. If one server in a cloud fails, resources from other servers will remain available to all applications.

This prevents the potentially long periods of downtime that can occur when a traditional server running just one application fails.

Unlike mainframes, x86 computers weren't designed to support full virtualization. In 1999, however, VMware introduced virtualization software that resolved many of the challenges that prevented the virtualization of x86 computers. Today, VMware is still recognized as a leader in virtualization technology.

Evaluating Virtualization

A virtual machine is a software construct that emulates all the characteristics of a physical computer. Despite sharing hardware resources like RAM, CPU capacity, and storage space, each virtual machine is isolated from any other virtual machines on the same system.

A virtual machine has its own virtual hardware profile and operating system. The operating system has no way to know that it's not running on a separate physical machine - so it runs applications as if it were.

Virtual machines have four main characteristics:

Compatibility
Isolation
Encapsulation
Hardware independence

There are three basic components that make up a virtual infrastructure:

The bare-metal hypervisor
Virtual infrastructure services
Automation solutions

There are six main questions you should ask to determine whether virtualization will benefit your organization:

Are there clear financial benefits?
Do applications lend themselves to virtualization?
Are co-workers willing to learn new skills?
Is flexibility important to the organization?

VMware Products

VMware Desktop

VMware desktop products can be grouped into three main categories:

consumer
technical, and
enterprise

Each of six VMware desktop products has a specific purpose and set of features:

VMware Fusion - enables users to run other operating systems and their applications and devices on any Intel-based Macintosh computer.

VMware Player - a free application that can be installed on Windows or Linux PCs. It enables users to run virtual machines that have been created on VMware Workstation, Fusion, Server, or ESX, as well as Microsoft Virtual Server and Microsoft Virtual PC virtual machines.

VMware Workstation - a desktop virtualization product that enables users to create and configure virtual machines in order to run multiple operating systems. It provides fully configurable virtual machines and advanced testing and development features.

VMware View - enables IT departments to deliver virtual desktop environments to a range of devices from a central datacenter, while still providing end users with a single, customized view of their applications and data.

VMware ThinApp - provides completely agentless virtualization of applications. It simplifies the packing and deployment of applications by ensuring they can be run directly from their packed states, independently, and without interaction with the client OS. It enables administrators to upgrade operating systems and application streaming without upgrading or replacing legacy applications.

VMware ACE - enables organizations to harness the power and flexibility of virtual machines while managing and securing distributed PCs from a single point. It provides centralized policy-based management through Virtual Rights Management.

VMware Server - ideal for organization new to virtualization. It enables the consolidation of servers that aren't running highly resource-intensive applications, and makes it easy to set up and deploy new virtual servers.

Improves flexibility by enabling rapid deployment and migration of virtual machines
Enables multiple operating systems and applications to run independently on the same physical server
Enables consolidation of multiple servers with low resource requirements on a single physical server.
Supports ready-to-run, pre-packaged virtual applications

VMware ESXi - a bare-metal hypervisor that installs directly onto hardware, rather than relying on an existing operating system. It enables you to virtualize any IT environment from a corporate datacenter to a branch office, and supports the virtualization of resource-intensive applications.

It works with standards-based monitoring protocols and enables integration with third-party software solutions.
Is independent of an operating system.
Provides advanced memory management and supports the virtualization of resource-intensive applications.
Can have up to 256 virtual CPUs on each host server.

VMware Infrastructure Management Products

VMware vCenter Update Manager - Facilitates dynamic non-disruptive patching of virtual machines.

VMware vCenter Orchestrator - Coordinates and automates tasks and facilities integration of thir-party tools, service desks, or asset management systems.

VMware vCenter Server - Provides a scalable and extensible platform that facilitates proactive data center management, enabling you to control virtual machines and resource user.

VMware Lifecycle Manager - Reduces life cycle management tasks, enabling you to automate and optimize virtual machine management and ensure compliance with company policies.

VMware vCenter AppSpeed - Enables you to view and model application performance to reduce downtime and troubleshooting.

VMware vCenter Stage Manager - Supports and accelerates application production, testing, configuration, and release, and enables you to manage pre-production resources.

VMware vCenter Lab Manager - Gives users on-demand policy-based access to virtual environments for development and testing purposes.

Recovery Products

VMware vCenter Server Heartbeat - Ensures access to critical VMware components and protects against application and operator errors, hardware failure, and external events.

VMware vCenter-Site Recovery Manager - Reduces unplanned downtime by enabling you to build, test, and manage disaster recovery plans, and to integrate them into infrastructure management.

VMware Data Recovery - Provides comprehensive data protection through disk-based back and recovery of all virtual machines, eliminating data duplication and improving continuity.