St. Louis RCGA Adopts a “Green”
Server Infrastructure
One of the biggest challenges for growing businesses is ensuring that their server networks and storage capabilities are keeping pace with their data-management needs. The traditional solution to this problem has been to add new hardware, which increases the requirements for office space, energy and human resources.
That was the dilemma faced by the St. Louis Regional Chamber and Growth Association. The RCGA had multiple servers which were at or near their expected
end-of-life and had limited and non-scalable data capacity.
“In June 2008, RCGA asked Plaza Information Technologies (Plaza IT) to review their server infrastructure and provide
recommendations for improving network
reliability and efficiency. We recommended a migration to a virtual server environment — one physical server with partitions that appear and function as multiple, separate servers,” explains Michael Smith, Plaza IT’s executive director.
One physical server, multiple and separate functions
Virtualization allows multiple server operating systems to be installed on one physical server. The benefits are portability, a “green” footprint, hardware independence, increased hardware utilization and excellent disaster recovery capability. Operating systems residing in this environment are typically referred to as “guests” or “virtual machines” (VMs).
Portability–Each VM is comprised of a file or files that can be easily copied or moved to a different virtual server system, or stored on backup media for later use. Each file is essentially a snapshot image of the server’s system or data partition.
Green footprint–Less server
hardware equals lower power consumption and reduced cooling requirements.
Hardware independence–A VM can easily be moved from one server to another (for example, from a Dell to a Compaq) as long as
both servers have similar versions of the virtual software.
Increased hardware efficiency–Conventional servers are typically underutilized. This is evident when running performance statistics over time. Hardware in a virtual environment is shared between all virtual machines, which increases utilization and lowers the total cost of ownership (TCO).
Disaster recovery–Most virtual server environments incorporate snapshot technology developed for enterprise storage arrays. This allows administrators to create scheduled image copies of VMs to supplement daily tape backup. Snapshot images can also be used to test software upgrades without affecting a production server.
“By choosing virtualization the RCGA saved 25 to 30 hours of implementation time rebuilding their server infrastructure. The time savings came from the ability to create new servers from a preconfigured VM template. In addition, the new virtual environment has reduced server energy consumption from 15,000 BTU/hr to 2,600 BTU/hr,”
Smith says.
The full article can be found at: http://www.plazait.com/articles/rcga-goes-green.pdf
Advantages for any business
Smith recommends that every business, large and small, consider the benefits of moving to a virtual server infrastructure. “In this economy and competitive environment, businesses can’t afford to maintain outdated or undersized data networks,” he says. “Like the RCGA, many of our customers are seeing that virtual server technology accommodates growth without making major investments in new hardware and causing an increase in energy consumption.”
