In most organizations such as IT companies and businesses in the service, and management sectors, there will always be a multitude of underutilized desktop computers. Unfortunately, while these computing devices’ storage and system performance have been optimized, they are only performing at a fraction of their capacities. This is a common premise across any industry, making it financially unsound to continue purchasing new desktop computers during company-wide changes like employee expansions and hardware refresh cycles. Instead, most institutions have put into place various technologies to keep the system performance optimal, while focusing on reducing costs.

One such technology being leveraged on by IT support teams is desktop virtualization. It essentially consolidates the capabilities and resources of multiple desktop computers into a centralized server. Here, access to the data infrastructure, set of applications and system resources are distributed to remote devices like workstations, notebook PCs, smartphones and thin client terminals. With this kind of set up, companies from enterprises to small and medium-sized businesses can gain a strong competitive edge with regard to data security, disaster recovery, and service availability.

Given its many benefits, there are many industry-specific scenarios where virtualization will prove to be a critical solution. Many of these can be vital for the IT services staff on many aspects of the business – from the entire production floor to the data center. Here are some of them.

Beefing Up Security for Publicly Accessed Data

Network security and data protection are obvious risks most businesses must deal with on a daily basis. The risks are obviously raised for companies with many contractual employees, those working under a mobile office, and those who give their clients access to their databases of information from other locations. And then you also have to deal with potential laptop theft within your own workplace.

Since virtualization simply puts the data infrastructure on the server itself, having your IT services department deploy a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) provides a thick layer of security to prevent sensitive data and mission critical processes from being compromised. For this, you will also need to lay down strict policies like secure login credentials into the system, and a data theft contingency plan.

Cost Reduction

The need to slash costs is one of the primary reasons why many companies have chosen to leverage desktop virtualization. Other than the virtualization solutions required to consolidate the drives and provide a link to the front-end devices, there won’t be much need to purchase additional hardware and software components. This benefit, of course, becomes apparent as a company nears its scheduled hardware refresh cycle, and especially during employee expansions periods. Because of this, your IT support team will also see a significant drop in your company’s monthly energy consumption.

Improvement of Desktop Management and Maintenance

Having a desktop virtualization plan can also help improve desktop management in the workplace. Since it fuses multiple virtual machines in one server, it simplifies desktop installations and deployments while improving real-time technical support response times. This means that software installations and upgrades, and virus protection can be done efficiently in one location, reducing the need for your company’s IT support group to conduct periodic maintenance checks, upgrades, and repairs on individual machines which can take weeks or even months to accomplish.

Through desktop virtualization, all IT support can be managed from a single, central location. Software, virus protection and other critical updates can be deployed once, rather than manually updating each desktop or notebook remotely over weeks or months. SMBs can save on software licensing fees while ensuring all employees are working with the most up-to-date applications.

Establishing a virtual desktop infrastructure delivers enticing value propositions for businesses. It enhances productivity, security and data infrastructure management practices while cutting costs and improving infrastructure stability. To learn more about how you can take advantage of desktop virtualization for your company and for other IT consulting needs, visit All Covered or contact the All Covered IT experts at 866-446-1133.

In the current shaky yet slowly recovering economic climate, companies are forced to pinch their pennies and make strategic compromises with regard to the technologies and other factors being utilized within the workplace. This is something organizations, from small and medium-sized businesses to major IT companies, have to contend with. And these days, nothing embodies a logical implementation with multiple benefits and a cost-effective overhead quite like virtualization.

True enough, being able to optimize hardware capabilities at significantly low costs are indeed very attractive factors that make virtualization one of the hottest avenues to take on.

With all these, it’s not hard to see why more and more companies are virtualizing the workplace. So if your IT services team has decided to leverage on its technologies, all you need now is to choose which solution out there to procure.

Conduct a Virtualization Assessment

Virtualization will bring about a lot of changes for any organization, from a technical standpoint. Conduct a detailed assessment of your data infrastructure, along with the specific operating systems and tasks served by every hardware component in every department. This will give you an overview of the varied specifications within the workplace, and you can decide which ones can be virtualized for performance and optimization for further productivity. For instance, desktop virtualization may just be the ideal solution for an upcoming large-scale employee expansion, letting you establish new user information and storage into the infrastructure without the need to purchase new computers.

Weigh Your Options

Using your assessment as your guide, you can start scouring the market for the right solution provider for your virtualization needs. And there are a lot in the market today, with the likes of VMWare, Citrix and Microsoft at the forefront. Find out as much as you can about the unified technologies, features and capabilities each one offers. Naturally, you and your IT support staff should look for a virtualization pack that will address all your SMB needs at the onset, or at least can be customized to do so. Review each option based on the following attributes:

• Scalability. The best solutions out there should not require additional hardware components right out of the box, but are fully capable of accommodating expansions in the future. With this in mind, inspect the supported operating systems, number of input and output ports, and storage bays.

• Implementation. Installations at server level can be quick; but implementing the virtualization suite to a large user base can sometimes take time; even more so when rolling out server virtualization for conglomerates with datacenters and server farms. Find the solution that’s easy to roll out and offers seamless integration with the existing data infrastructure.

• Customization. While every virtualization solution offers a fine lineup of features, there will also be limitations—from operating system constraints to hardware compatibility issues. Find out if the service providers or vendors have anything to remedy these restrictions or if there are any configuration settings that can be adjusted to suite your needs.

• Simplified Operations. As with the nature of virtualization, it’s important to find the solution that will optimize the existing hardware and software resources while simplifying the general data environment and its day-to-day operations. As such, it should require very little training for both the intended end-users and the IT services team handling the back-end.

• After Sales Support. Aside from the acquisition and stability within your infrastructure, also take into consideration the maintenance, software updates, repair, and replacements parts. Finding a solution that offers a stable virtualization infrastructure would indeed be beneficial in the long run.

With the benefits it can bring to a company’s data infrastructure, virtualization can be instrumental in ramping up your business’ competitive edge. Dial 866-446-1133 to contact the IT experts at All Covered to learn more about how you can also leverage on this set of unified technologies to get a leg up on the competition. Click here to learn more about getting a virtualization assessment.

Small businesses today share some of the many to IT challenges as larger businesses. Small Medium Businesses’ (SMB’s) are trying to accommodate increasing demand for new IT capabilities, placing greater emphasis on cost savings and the security and protection of critical business systems and data.

Perspectives have changed. Shrinking IT staffs (and budgets), trying to adapt a do-more-with-less attitude; events like these can make a company realize that it can be extremely difficult to maintain daily business operations. This is why SMBs are now trying to invest in fresh strategic projects that can yield longer-term efficiencies to boost business growth.

For SMBs with more substantial computing needs, such as small firms in law, financial services and other data-heavy sectors that may regularly need significant IT requirements, virtualization may offer some relief and pay off big dividends.

Analysts predict the adoption rate of virtualization among small to medium-sized businesses will double in the next two years, making virtualization technology a mainstream mandate.

What Virtualization Can Do For SMBs

The concept is simple, the benefits great. In a nutshell, virtualization technology simplifies IT. With virtualization, small to medium-sized companies can more effectively utilize the complete capacity of their storage and network computing resources. This enables companies’ to control costs and respond faster.

The management of hardware is completely changed from hardware to that of software in virtualization. So instead of keeping important programs on separate servers in order to isolate them from each other if something troublesome happens, virtualization software allows businesses to run many applications on the same server with a relatively high degree of safety.

In a virtual infrastructure, users are able to see resources as if they were entirely dedicated to them. This also enables administrators to efficiently manage and optimize resources according to the needs of specific applications.

This virtual infrastructure approach to IT management enables the allocation of resources quickly to applications of the highest priority, as well as to the business areas that require them the most.

Virtualization equips SMBs with solutions that allow them to:

• Optimize the use of their existing IT assets and resources cost effectively
• Protect all data, systems and applications that run the business
• Indeed, virtualization is something that should be strongly considered by SMBs. Consider these benefits:
• Cut costs. Through consolidating servers and minimizing hardware spending, virtualization delivers improved utilization of servers, resulting in fewer resources to manage, power, store and buy.
• Greater staff productivity. Virtualization solutions are easy to deploy, use, and manage. They free IT professionals from menial tasks, enabling them to take on more strategic roles in the business.
• Strengthened security. Virtualization security is simply amazing. With an automated patch management of server hosts and virtual machines, plus an integrated firewall that maintains security policies, your business enjoys increased security, not to forget decreased operational costs.
• Improved application quality and deployment. With virtualization, your business can test more applications by optimizing pre-production staging environments. This results in less downtime for all the applications that run and drive your business.
• Improved business continuity. With complete data protection, continuous application availability and automated disaster recovery, application virtualization helps your business by protecting critical data. It will keep your business running well, with zero-downtime hardware maintenance eliminating the need for intensive scheduling.
• Increased business responsiveness. A virtual infrastructure allows your IT professionals to quickly connect and manage resources to meet ever-changing needs, thus your business enjoys improved efficiency, flexibility, and responsiveness. With virtualization, there is faster provisioning of new applications in minutes, (instead of weeks) and accelerated change request response times to just minutes!

Learn more about virtualization today. All Covered can equip your business with virtualization technology and turn it into your most competitive business advantage. For more help with virtualization call us at 866-446-1133.

Over the past month or so, All Covered has posted multiple articles regarding virtualization.  A few articles focused on the big picture—discussing virtualization in general.  Other articles concentrated on the three different types of virtualization: server, desktop and application.  Several other articles focused on virtualization architecture—drafting your virtualization plans.   This article, last in the current series, will focus on some final key points to keep in mind as you adopt the right virtualization solutions for your business.

Things to Consider

• Assess your business’s virtualization needs. As with any technology, it’s important to know what your business needs and identify how the proposed solution, in this case virtualization, will benefit your business.
• Choose the best virtualization solution. Just because you can virtualize everything from the servers to workstations to applications doesn’t mean that you should.  Be careful to select the virtualization solutions that meet your business’s unique IT needs.
• Define user needs.  Understand how people use the computers, servers and other IT devices in your business.  This will help you make a list of required features you’re your virtualization solution should have.
• Identify users that will need to use the virtualization solution. Choosing the best virtualization solution should take into account which users will use virtualization solutions.  Will everyone in your small business need these solutions?  Does anyone work remotely?  Will they be accessing the solutions by smartphone?  As described in previous articles, different user needs require different virtualization solutions.
• Define system security needs. IT network security can be impacted by a chosen virtualization solution.  Depending on which virtual solutions you choose, your firewall and perimeter security may need to be modified.
• Plan your backups.  Virtualized systems may need to be backed-up differently than non-virtualized system.  The total amount of backed-up data may increase or decrease, depending upon your chosen virtualization solution.
• Determine your uptime needs. If your business requires that your virtualized system must have high availability as part of its solution, make sure that your software and hardware will support it.
• Create a realistic budget. Choosing the best virtualization solutions for your business may be costly.  Keep in mind that you might have to purchase hardware and other applications to support the virtualization process.  Also, keep in mind that you should not “go cheap.”  The best virtualization solutions might cost more, but you are guaranteed to get a trustworthy product that will meet your business’s needs.

Follow-up

Regardless of which virtualization solution you choose for your small business, keep in mind the above key points before you commit time or money.  Whether you only need some advice or a complete virtualization plan and installation, please contact the virtualization experts at All Covered at 866-446-1133.

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Application virtualization allows any application to run on any operating system in any location.  Virtualizing applications drastically reduces compatibility issues and makes it easy to go mobile. The flexibility of application virtualization makes it an ideal IT tool for businesses when it used as part of a comprehensive IT plan.

This article focuses on application virtualization architecture, which will help you define your business’s desktop virtualization needs and draft a plan to incorporate it into your IT plan.

Application Virtualization Architecture

As part of your application virtualization plan, you need to decide which type of end-user platform will best suit your business needs. Each platform has distinct advantages that should be considered.  Key points to consider are as follows:

• Smartphones- Virtual applications can be configured to “offline” mode where the applications are stored on a smartphone’s hard drive, or they can be set up to “stream” from the phone’s internet connection when the application is needed.
• Remote machines- Virtualized applications are accessible through direct streaming from the internet, connection through a secure VPN or in offline mode.  Using virtualized applications in offline mode is great for situations such as travel where you need access to an application but don’t have internet access.
• Local network systems- Application virtualization works best for local systems and gives a superior multimedia experience that can’t be rivaled by smartphones and offsite computers.

Possible Limitations

As you draft your application virtualization plan, consider the possible limitations that might affect your specific technology needs.  Potential limitations include the following:

• Poor multimedia experience- Most virtualized applications are unable to deliver a rich multimedia experience to smartphones.  Some virtualized multimedia programs will run better than others will—talk to your IT consultant about your specific software needs.
• Poor peripheral device support- While virtual applications do often work better with peripherals than virtualized serves and workstations there are still limitations that might impact your business.  Applications that require a USB security key may not work.  Virtual applications don’t always work well with high-end video cards.  If you run a virtualized application on a virtualized workstation, the peripheral devices will experience the limitations of the virtualized application.
• Security compatibility issues- Unlike most applications, security apps such as antivirus, antimalware or software firewalls can’t be virtualized.  Keep in mind that virtualized applications don’t interact with an operating system; security applications need to interact with the operating system to do their job.

Talk to the Experts

To learn more about the specific ways that application virtualization can benefit your business and to get help drafting a customized plan that will best meet your business’s needs, please contact the virtualization experts at All Covered at 866-446-1133.

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Desktop virtualization is a great technology solution that can save your business time and money.  Chances are that you’ve already spent time creating a server virtualization plan, or have already started the conversion process; now is the time to get your workstation virtualization plan drafted.  This article focuses on desktop virtualization architecture, which will help you define your businesses desktop virtualization needs.

Desktop Virtualization Architecture

As part of your desktop virtualization plan, you need to decide which type of end-user platform will best suit your business needs. Each platform has distinct advantages that should be considered.  Key points to consider are as follows:

• Standard Workstation- Using workstations that you already own is an affordable desktop virtualization solution that allows multiple operating systems to run on one machine without requiring the upfront investment cost associated with purchasing a host server.  Running virtualized desktops locally, is the quickest and most affordable way to take quickly take advantage of virtualization.  VM Player and Microsoft Virtual PC are the great options for running virtual desktops on desktop computers
• Thin Client Application- Using a thin client application allows you to access a virtually administered desktop on existing hardware.  This means that you don’t have to spend money to replace current desktop computers with other hardware.  It also means that you can access a virtualized desktop from a smart phone.  Keep in mind that the only virtualization solution that currently supports multimedia applications is XenDesktop.
• Thin Client- The thin client is an affordable hardware device designed to replace the desktop.  This streamlined desktop unit has a monitor, processor, RAM and a network card that enable it to run a virtual desktop from a host server. Many thin clients can support local printers and USB devices.  Consider this virtualization solution when your desktop computers have exceeded their life expectancies.

Possible limitations

As you draft your desktop virtualization plan, consider the possible limitations that may or may not impact your specific technology needs.  Potential limitations include the following:

Poorly supported multimedia applications- Most virtualized workstations do not successfully support multimedia applications—especially applications with high-quality graphics.

• Flash animation found in many web sites will be degraded.
• Web-based training may not be as effective since audio and video features are not well supported.
• AutoCAD and Adobe Photoshop may not work properly.

Poorly supported peripherals- Peripheral devices such as USB drives may not work well with virtual workstations.

• Microsoft and VMware solutions cannot take advantage of high-quality monitors
• Many local printers will not work with virtualized workstations—research your solutions and ensure compatibility with currently owned hardware.
• USB storage devices are not compatible with all types of virtualized workstations.  While thin clients and workstations work well, thin client applications do not.
• Smart phones, blackberries, iPhones and Palm handheld devices may not work with all virtualized workstations.

Talk to the experts

When you draft your desktop virtualization plan, consider business needs, your current hardware investments and choose the solution that will best meet those needs.  Please contact All Covered at 866-446-1133 to learn more about the best virtualization solutions for your business.

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Virtualization involves more than just converting multiple servers onto a more robust platform.  Once you’ve made the decision to virtualize your IT environment, don’t pull out you credit card until you’ve taken the time to properly plan your virtualization architecture.  Creating a well-crafted virtualization plan will ensure that your business maximizes every dollar spent and realizes the best that virtualization technology has to offer.  This article focuses on server virtualization architecture—assessing business needs and planning implementation—which many IT experts consider the foundational level of any virtualization plan.

Server virtualization architecture

As you draft your server virtualization plan you should consider the following:

• Multiple host servers- If your business has only one host server and that fails, your business just lost access to every server—virtual and physical.  Your business should have at least two or more host servers so the virtual servers can be moved from one server to the other if needed.  If uptime is essential to your business, consider the high-availability options found in Hyper-V, VSphere and Essentials for XenServer. These solutions will automatically move virtual servers from one host to another in the event of a physical server failure.
• Processor capacity- Make sure that your physical servers have the processor capacity needed to run SQL servers and mail servers during peak business hours—a system slowdown can cost your business money.  In high-utilization environments, consider solutions such as VSphere or Essentials for XenServer that can automatically move the virtual server to another host with spare processor capacity.
• Storage capacity- Instead of spending money on high capacity hard drives for your host servers, All Covered recommends investing in a SAN or NAS device that is connected through a high-speed fibre channel.  This will maximize your investments in storage hardware and provide your company flexibility around hosting and storing virtual systems.  Essentials for XenServer is recommended for easy configuration of storage devices, and many SAN devices are pre-configured for use with Hyper-V
• High-speed connectivity Host servers need hi-speed connectivity to the network to ensure that computer users have a “real-time” virtualization experience—slow connectivity creates problems when users can’t quickly access the servers.  Host servers should have multiple gigabit connectors that are attached to a gigabit switch on the network.  In addition, host servers should be connected to NAS and SAN devices through a fibre channel to ensure that high-speed connectivity.
• Peripheral devices- Unfortunately, virtualized servers are not compatible with USB devices such as drives, peripherals and fax modems.  In addition, devices with external SCSI connectors may not work well with virtualized servers.  This means that some of your current hardware such as tape libraries may not work with your virtualization solution.  Do your research before spending any money—make sure that you are choosing the right solution for your business.
• Rapid recovery- While server virtualization makes it possible to backup entire virtual servers for rapid recovery, keep in mind that you will need to have available storage space at that is at least one and a half times the size of the server you are backing up—while expensive, rapid recovery from previously made backups may make it worth the cost.

Get help from the experts

Drafting a server virtualization plan is easy when you work with experienced professionals.  To speak with the virtualization experts, please contact All Covered at 866-446-1133.

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In 1995, Citrix introduced the world to virtualization with NT 3.5 WinFrame, an application virtualization solution.  Later, they offered NT 4.0 Terminal Server, a desktop virtualization solution.  As the founders of virtualization technology, Citrix is the company that many businesses recognize and trust for their virtualization solutions.

Server Virtualization

XenServer is Citrix’s no-cost server virtualization solution that gives small and medium sized businesses an affordable and effective way to adopt an enterprise-class technology.  Unlike other server virtualization solutions, XenServer provides premium grade features for free.  Benefits include the following:

• XenServer supports an unlimited number of servers, virtual machines and physical memory.
• XenServer includes a conversion function will allow you to convert a virtual server into a physical server and physical server into a virtual server as needed.  (Other server virtualization solutions will charge you for this feature.)
• Shared SAN and NAS storage between server hosts maximize available storage on the network.
• All virtualized servers can be accessed and maintained from a single location.
• In the event of server failure, affected virtual machines are automatically restarted on other production servers.
• A library of pre-configured virtual machine templates make it easy to rapidly create a test or production environment.
• Centralized patch management makes it easy to keep virtual servers updated.
• Easy migration of virtual systems to from one host server to another makes it simple to maintain host servers.
• XenServer is open-source and takes advantage of the intellectual contributions of thousands of users, hundreds of companies and partners.
• XenServer is compatible with most server hardware that is currently available.

Desktop Virtualization

XenDesktop is Citrix’s desktop virtualization solution.  As an on-demand service, XenDesktop will deliver a Windows desktop to any user, anywhere.  Features include the following:

• XenDesktop users can access their desktop and corporate applications from any PC, Mac, thin client or smart phone.
• XenDesktop gives users a computing experience that rivals a local PC, even when using Multimedia, 3D graphics or VoIP-integrated applications.
• Each desktop is customizable to meet the performance and security needs of individual users.
• XenDesktop will work with your existing hypervisor, storage and Microsoft infrastructures—you don’t have to spend more money buying compatible programs.

Application Virtualization

XenApp is Citrix’s application virtualization solution that allows users to directly access Windows applications from through a desktop computer or web browser.  Benefits include the following:

• Windows applications can be accessed on devices that have non-Windows based operating systems—more than thirty operating systems are currently supported.
• This solution requires that only one virtualized copy of an application such as Office 2010 be installed and maintained, while allowing any number of users to access and use it as if it was locally installed.
• Applications can be streamed directly from the host server for users working on the corporate network or remotely.  Permissions can even be set up to allow users to download and access apps while offline.
• Virtualized applications function as if they are locally installed.
• Application delivery and access is customizable for each user and their preferred device, network and typical access location.

Virtualization Management

Essentials for XenServer is an add-on enhancement that complements XenServer by providing additional features and integrated management capabilities for server, desktop and application virtualization.

• One-click access to native storage makes device management simple.
• Automated high-availability protection will move virtualized machines from a failed host server to another physical server.
• Automated management of lab infrastructures decreases the complexity, time and cost of managing non-production environments.
• Automated workload balancing will move virtual servers to hosts with more available resources based on pre-configured policies.

Learn more

To learn more about Citrix’s suite of virtualization solutions, please contact the virtualization experts at All Covered 866-446-1133.

When it comes to choosing virtualization solutions for your business, you need to choose a company that you can trust.  Out of all the respected virtualization solutions available, VMware has been commercially available for the longest time—that means that they are able to offer your business battle-tested solutions that work, even under fire.

As with Microsoft and Citrix virtualization solutions, VMware offers solutions for servers, desktops and applications as well as a virtualization management solution.

Server Virtualization

VMware Server is a free application that allows multiple operating systems to run concurrently on a single Windows platform host server.  Key features include the following:

• Pre-constructed virtual machines are ready for immediate use.
• Virtual server construction is quick and easy.
• Virtualized legacy operating systems such as Windows NT can run on newer hardware.
• Support for multiple servers is limited only by the available RAM and processor power of the host server.

VMware ESXi is a premier server virtualization solution that runs on a “bare metal” server platform.  When a bare metal server is used as the host server, it doesn’t require an operating system.  ESXi offers the following benefits:

• Reduced upfront cost to get the host server outfitted—not needing to purchase an operating system saves money.
• Dynamic resource allocation allows the host server to assign memory and processor power to virtual machines as needed—this decreases the total RAM and processor power that the host machine must have.  Once again, costs are cut because the virtual machines will share the same cache of RAM and processor power.
• Integrated compatibility feature enables an ESXi host server to work with external storage arrays such as a NAS or a SAN to support a larger number of virtual servers.

Desktop Virtualization

VMware Player is terrific, free product that is designed for users to safely test and evaluate operating systems and applications without impacting the IT environment.  While the program has limited professional support, VMware provides a tremendous amount of documentation and information on their website.

VMware Fusion is designed to run virtualized operating systems on a Macintosh workstation

• While this program is not free, it offers the same features of VMware player, for Macintosh operating systems.
• Even though this solution is primarily marketed as a way to run Windows operating systems on dependable Mac hardware, it can also support Linux, Unix, Solaris and Novell.

VMware Workstation is a solution that is guaranteed to support more operating systems than any other desktop virtualization solution.  This solution will allow users to virtually host any operating system that their desktop computer can support.  Key features of this solution include the following:

• Virtualized operating systems feel like the “real deal.”  Accessing and using a virtualized operating system is as easy as opening any other application installed on your desktop.
• Virtual workstations are completely independent, and operate like separate workstations.

VMware ACE (Assured Computing Environment) creates and centrally manages virtual machines and any desired applications that can be installed on any hard drive and transported anywhere.

• ACEs can be installed on desktops, laptops, portable hard drives and USB storage devices.
• ACEs are great for normal business operations.  They can also be set up with expiration dates which will allow your business to share proprietary data with partners, contractors and temporary employees, but will guarantee that they don’t have permanent access to your intellectual property.

VMware View lets you control all virtualized desktops and applications from a single desktop.  Key features include:

• Quick installation and access of new applications to virtualized desktops through cloning techniques.
• Easy access to virtualized desktops for offsite users.
• Compatible with thin clients and mobile devices.

Application Virtualization

VMware ThinApp is a virtualization suite that creates portable software that is always available and does not require a continuous connection to a host server for support.  Features include the following:

• Applications, settings and preferences are packaged into a single executable file.
• Applications can be accessed on most computers including public computers and smart phone.
• Virtualized programs do not need device drivers.

Virtualization Management

VMware vSphere is designed to manage the entire VMware environment .Utilizing vSphere as part of your virtualization solution will deliver higher availability and reliability to all virtualized components through administrative tools and advanced features.

• Centralized patch management will keep all virtualized servers and workstations automatically updated.
• Virtualization solution performance monitoring will notify you if there are any possible problems
• Easy migration makes it quick and painless to transfer machines and applications from a physical to a virtual environment.
• Physical host servers that run ESXi will transfer services from one virtual machine to another in case of system failure.

Learn more

To discover more about how VMware’s virtualization solutions can help your company, please call the virtualization IT consulting experts at All Covered at 866-446-1133.

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Now that you’ve learned about what virtualization can do for your company, you’ve decided to learn more about the companies that offer virtualization solutions.  The three most highly recommended companies are Microsoft, VMware, and Citrix.  This article will focus on Microsoft’s solutions.

Microsoft offers virtualization solutions for server, desktop, and applications.  To make virtualization even easier, Microsoft also offers virtualization management solution.

Server Virtualization

Hyper-V is Microsoft’s server virtualization solution that runs on Windows 2008 server technology.  Hyper-V offers the following benefits:

• Save server room space by consolidating multiple, under-used physical servers to virtual machines on a single host server.
• Save money on your electricity bill by using only one physical server.
• Save time and money on server administration.
• Image a server while it is still operating.
• Manage utilities that integrate with other Microsoft tools.
• Manage Linux virtual servers.

Desktop Virtualization

Depending upon your business’s needs, Microsoft offers three desktop virtualization solutions.

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) creates and manages virtual machines that are stored and run from a central server.  Applications, data, and processes are removed from physical workstations and relocated on a server.  This allows users to access their desktops on any capable device such as a home computer, laptop, thin client or smart phone.  The benefits of VDI include the following:

• Improved flexibility for users—employees can work anywhere, on any compatible computer or device, and access the same desktop used at work.
• Integrated management of physical, virtual, and session-based desktops makes support easier.

Virtual PC is a workstation based virtualization tool that is installed on a physical machine.  Virtual PC will let you create multiple virtual machines with different operating systems on one physical workstation or laptop that is running a Windows operating system.  Two key features of Virtual PC are as follows:

• Access multiple operating systems such as Windows XP, Linux and Mac from one workstation.
• When not running, the virtual machines are stored as a single file, which can be copied or shared for training, on-demand projects and increased productivity.

Remote Desktop Services (RDS) is a free application that, in conjunction with Windows Server 2008, makes it possible to run a Windows desktop or application in one location but access it from another.  This is a useful virtualization strategy to use when one user needs to access a specific desktop or application from multiple workstations but your company doesn’t want to pay for volume licensing on the program.  Additional perks include the following:

• Data remains stored on the hosting desktop, keeping it more secure than it would be on a remote desktop or laptop.
• Remote worker efficiency is increased because the user will have access to an identical desktop that they use in their work environment.

Application Virtualization

Application Virtualization (App-V) converts applications into virtual services to provide conflict-free applications that can run on any operating system.  Benefits include the following:

• Stream applications on-demand across your business network or over the internet to desktops, terminal servers and laptops.
• Reduce impact to users and systems when applications need to be updated and replaced.
• When configured properly, users can access the virtualized applications even when they are offline.

Virtualization Management

Virtual Machine Manager helps businesses manage their physical and virtual IT infrastructure, allowing administrators to support servers, workstations and applications from one console.  Key features make it easy to do the following:

• Create and manage virtual systems and applications from a central location.
• Convert physical servers into virtual hosts as needed.

Learn more

To discover more about how the virtualization technologies from Microsoft can help your company, please call the IT consultants at All Covered at 866-446-1133.

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