Virtualisation
Virtualisation allows for the sharing of IT resources, such as servers and storage. In a virtualisation environment, the functional elements of processing, storage and connectivity which normally sit on separate physical devices are pooled into a smaller number of devices.
For example some servers may only utilise 25% of a physical device at any one time and if there are three such devices these three could be pooled onto a single device. Generally the processing and storage is spread across a number of devices, to ensure redundancy and limit failover and downtime.
The pooling of physical devices to create a platform for multiple processes to operate is generally termed as a Virtual Environment or Cloud network
The benefits are:
- Flexibility
- Better hardware utilisation
- Reducing hardware spend
- Lower service outages
- Reducing physical and carbon footprints
- Reduction in resources to manage IT
- Automated maintenance
- Running multiple operating systems on a single device
- Easier cloning of devices for testing and disaster recovery
Server Virtualisation
Server virtualization separates the application from the physical server enabling the consolidation of data and applications onto a single server.
Most businesses adopt virtualization for its potential cost benefits, since the technology can provide a rapid ROI (return on investment) through lower management costs and enhanced asset utilization. Virtual machines can be used to consolidate the workloads of several under-utilized servers, resulting in fewer real-world machines. Associated financial benefits include savings on hardware, management, maintenance and environmental costs.
A centralised virtual desktop solution can make significant reductions in operating costs, improve user productivity, and enable easy access to desktops on any device from anywhere. Users can access their virtual desktops and applications across any network and device. By implementing a desktop virtualisation solution you can reduce desktop management costs by up to 40% by centralising virtual desktops in the datacenter and simplifying the traditional desktop lifecycle.
Cerulean's has experience with Microsoft Hyper-V, VMWare and Citrix technologies to help clients implement virtualisation in their environment.
In addition many clients are now opting for our managed hosting services where we provide the infrastructure to allow them to run their processes, without the worry and costs of in-house systems. Our environment allows for the use of software only services such as Hosted Exchange, Hosted CRM, and Hosted SharePoint, as well as providing customer specific hosted desktops and hosted servers.
