Virtualization

At Brazen, we have developed an acute interest in virtualization technology, and we can help you design a comprehensive virtualized infrastructure. However, it is important to understand that virtualization isn't a product, or set of products. It is a strategy, and one that demands detailed planning and a detailed, phased implementation roadmap. That said has the capability to provide great returns to the you and your organization.

While you may view virtualization as a new technology, it is in fact a concept that has been around for over 30 years. Mainframe computers have long been divided up into logical partitions to run multiple applications and better utilize system resources. The virtualization of these resources a far better return on investment can be achieved.

As the processing power in x86 based Windows and Linux servers has continued to increase at a dramatic rate, more and more of these systems are vastly under-utilized. Compounding this problem is the fact that many applications do not run well while sharing server resources with other applications. Additionally, many organizations find themselves buying additional servers because they've run out of storage capacity, even though the processing capacity of the server is under-utilized.

Virtualization technology is capable of addressing all of these issues. In fact, organizations who have implemented virtualization have found that it has been capable of fixing a host of common IT problems:

• Low Infrastructure Utilization. Typical x86 server deployments achieve an average utilization of only 10% to 15% of total capacity, according to International Data Corporation (IDC), a market research firm. Organizations typically run one application per server to avoid the risk of vulnerabilities in one application affecting the availability of another application on the same server.
• Increasing Physical Infrastructure Costs. The operational costs to support growing physical infrastructure have steadily increased. Most computing infrastructure must remain operational at all times, resulting in power consumption, cooling and facilities costs that do not vary with utilization levels.
• Increasing IT Management Costs. As computing environments become more complex, the level of specialized education and experience required for infrastructure management personnel and the associated costs of such personnel have increased. Organizations spend disproportionate time and resources on manual tasks associated with server maintenance, and thus require more personnel to complete these tasks.
• Insufficient Failover and Disaster Protection. Organizations are increasingly affected by the downtime of critical server applications and inaccessibility of critical end user desktops. The threat of security attacks, natural disasters, health pandemics and terrorism has elevated the importance of business continuity planning for both desktops and servers.
• High Maintenance end-user desktops. Managing and securing enterprise desktops present numerous challenges. Controlling a distributed desktop environment and enforcing management, access and security policies without impairing users' ability to work effectively is complex and expensive. Numerous patches and upgrades must be continually applied to desktop environments to eliminate security vulnerabilities.

A virtualized infrastructure is an efficient and cost-effective way to manage your Technology Infrastructure. Brazen's virtualized server and storage solutions increase the utilization of your current assets, make your system administrators more efficient, simplify data management and reduce overall IT costs. Brazen partners with industry leaders such as VM Ware, Network Appliance, Equallogic and Sun Microsystems to deliver a solution that is both complete and compelling.