ReadWriteWeb Solution Series

Resources from VMware and Partners

• IBM Tivoli Manager: Overcoming the Challenges of Backing Up and Restoring Virtual Macines
  

  A problem sometimes occurs in the enterprise when it is time to backup and restore data from a cluster of virtual machines.

  Here's what happens. Everything comes to a grinding halt.

  In this white paper, learn how IBM Tivioli Storage Manager for Virtual Environments provides an effective solution to this challenge. The paper explore how to off load backup workloads from a VMware ESX or ESXi-based server to a centralized vStorage backup server.

• VMware vSphere 5.0 and the Intel Xeon Processor e7 Family
  

  The value of data center virtualization continues to grow. VMware vSphere™ 5.0 running on the Intel® Xeon® processor E7 family delivers world-record virtualization performance,1 while providing break- through scalability and high-availability for mission-critical enterprise computing on four-socket, eight-socket, and larger servers

• NetApp: Private Clouds: Storage Architectures Are Key To Maximizing Efficiencies
  

  Today, enterprises across the world are crafting cloud strategies and starting to invest in private clouds to take advantage of the economic benefits that cloud models offer. In fact, Forrester found that 29% of enterprises consider building a private cloud a high or critical priority.1 The more interesting finding, however, is that although enterprises greatly desire the economic benefits from a cloud model, those who have implemented a private cloud are not taking full advantage of those benefits. Why? Well, we discovered that it's primarily due to two reasons: 1) lack of understanding about what a true cloud model consists of, and 2) underestimation of the critical components that make up a true private cloud (i.e., storage).

  In fall 2010, NetApp commissioned Forrester Consulting to scientifically qualify the notion that companies lack clear understanding about clouds and hence underestimate the key components that are required to achieve maximum benefit from a cloud strategy. This paper reflects the results from a study of 150 US enterprise IT decision-makers who were surveyed about their private cloud interests and implementations.

• NetApp: Bring Virtualization To Mission-Critical Microsoft Applications
  

  As customers move toward their goal of 100% virtualized data centers, they increasingly look for ways to bring the benefits of VMware virtualization to their mission-critical Microsoft applications. Customers planning a new deployment, performing an upgrade, or planning to 100% virtualize their data centers have an ideal opportunity to transition to a VMware vSphere virtual infrastructure built on NetApp unified storage.

• Symantec: Ensuring Security for Virtual Server Infrastructure
  

  The trend toward virtualization of IT infrastructure has been primarily focused on enterprise servers, especially in data centers where the resulting efficiencies represent significant cost savings for IT organizations. Because virtualization adds layers of technology, it also necessitates changes in security management. Virtualization introduces a new level of complexity for information security teams, which are responsible for hardening virtual systems while also supporting increased density and dynamic provisioning.

• Symantec VirtualStore: A NAS Software Solution for VMware Environments
  

  Virtualization is transforming the world's data centers, driving adoption of Network-Attached Storage (NAS) to simplify management of VMware® virtual environments. But controller bottlenecks in bundled NAS appliances throttle performance even at modest storage volumes, and adding controllers to overcome them quickly becomes very expensive.

• Symantec: Virtualizing Business-Critical Applications with Confidence
  

  Within any business, there are a number of applications that are critical to its success. As a result, these applications and the systems they run on require a higher level of availability. One of the most common methods used to increase the availability of a business-critical application in a physical environment is to deploy a traditional high-availability clustering solution such as Veritas Cluster Server (VCS) or Microsoft Cluster Services (MSCS). These solutions protect against an unplanned failure of a component by providing the ability to restart an application or set of applications on additional servers in the cluster. While typically associated with protection against unplanned server failures, these solutions can also be utilized to decrease the effects of a planned outage by shifting applications to redundant servers, allowing for maintenance of the original server.

• Trend Micro: Virtualization is the Onramp to the Cloud
  

  Virtualization is an on ramp to the cloud. But the road to the on ramp is one that organizations are still learning to traverse.

  The modern IT organization will get there. The investments in virtualization are being made and they are not expected to slow down.

  This white paper from Trend MIcro explores the role of information security that organizations need to think about when adopting virtualization and making that journey to the cloud.

• Now is the Time to Act with Cisco Desktop Virtualization with VMware View
  

  Workers are dispersed. They use multiple devices. Operating costs are spiking as security becomes a heightened concern. Now comes Windows 7 and a new upgrade requirement. It is time to solve the desktop crisis.

• Dell: Saving Your Servers from Disaster Using VMware Virtualization
  

  In this article, we'll take a look at some of the key features of virtualization -- specifically VMware virtualization solutions -- that help defend your datacenter against disaster. Virtualization offers hardware independence -- a huge time saver in recovering from a disaster. In addition to this core capability, virtualization provides several other ways to protect your business from server downtime.

• EMC IT's "On-Ramp" to The Journey to the Private Cloud
  

  This white paper shows how EMC IT migrated its Oracle 11i CRM E-Business Suite database servers from a Sun E25K/Solaris infrastructure to Cisco's Unified Computing System (UCS) platform. In addition it highlights the methodology developed by IT while migrating the database from RISC/SPARC to the target UCS (Intel and Linux) platform.

• NetApp: 50,000-Seat VMware View Deployment
  

  Desktop virtualization is a hot topic throughout the virtualization industry. Organizations view desktop virtualization as a way to control costs and use limited resources to manage large-scale desktop infrastructures while increasing security and deployment efficiency. NetApp, VMware, Cisco, Fujitsu, and Wyse joined forces to create an architectural design for a 50,000-seat VMware® View™ architecture. This project demonstrates the most reliable methods for deploying a scalable and easily expandable environment from 5,000 to 50,000 seats in an efficient manner.

• How the Miami-Dade School District Became a Virtualization Pioneer
  

  The Miami-Dade School District is a virtualization pioneer by any standard. But that was not the organization's goal when it first adopted virtualization technology five years ago.

  The organization was simply just running out of room in its data centers and were seeking a way to consolidate.

  In this white paper, learn how Miami-Dade, one of the United States largest school districts, uses virtualizition to run business critical applications. It's a story about how one leading education institution now relies on virtualization for running much of its enterprise. That includes creating paychecks, producing grade books and teaching its students.

• Building a Business Case for Virtualization with Intel Technology
  

  What do you need to do to build a case for virtualization? It can be a cultural shift for a company to adopt virtualization. It requires different skill sets and an approach that turns a data center into a network that optimizes an infrastructure according to the principles of a shared infrastructure.