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Effective Server Management in Heterogeneous Networks

Effective Server Management in Heterogeneous Networks . Christine Ewing Senior Server Segment Manager. Agenda. Blade Management Overview Infrastructure Complexity Inhibitors to Improved Manageability Management Objectives for IT Agility Recommendations. Blade Management Overview.

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Effective Server Management in Heterogeneous Networks

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  1. Effective Server Management in Heterogeneous Networks Christine EwingSenior Server Segment Manager

  2. Agenda • Blade Management Overview • Infrastructure Complexity • Inhibitors to Improved Manageability • Management Objectives for IT Agility • Recommendations © Altiris Inc.

  3. Blade Management Overview Blade servers will be an important building block in redesigning future data centers to be both modular and flexible in their to respond to changing business conditions and be more cost efficient. - Forrester

  4. Strengths Time to Deploy Simple Failover Faster Time to Repair Rapid Provisioning and Re-Provisioning Cable Reduction Challenges Lack of Standards Need for Competitive Pricing I/O Constraints Power and Cooling Concerns Management Software Blade Management Overview © Altiris Inc.

  5. Blades have distinct advantages and they also present some unique challenges • Blades primarily address physical layer management issues • Management concerns beyond the physical layer are constant across blades, racks and towers Blade Management Overview © Altiris Inc.

  6. Infrastructure Complexity It's easy to cry "bug" when the truth is that you've got a complex system and sometimes it takes a while to get all the components to co-exist peacefully. - D. Vargas

  7. Shipments In Millions Shipments In Thousands 8 1,400 7 1,200 6 5 1,000 4 800 3 600 2 400 1 200 0 0 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2009 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 All servers Blade servers Blades Fit in a Larger Server Ecosystem • Blade shipments are continually increasing, however companies still utilize traditional pedestal or rack mount servers beyond the edge Source: Gartner Research © Altiris Inc.

  8. One Vendor is Never Enough • Multi-Vendor Hardware Buying Strategies • As blade adoption increases, price competition and investment protection may change your buying strategies • Do you have a single vendor across all server form factors today? • Choosing the Right Operating Systems • Windows and Linux • Edge vs. Commercial Applications/Database © Altiris Inc.

  9. Virtualization Further Increases Density Using hardware or firmware to partition a single system, capable of running a single instance of an operating system, into multiple smaller systems, each capable of running its own copy of an operating system. Using software to partition the file system to allow applications to be deployed and run without altering the file system configuration of the host operating system Using software to partition a single system, capable of running a single instance of an operating system, into multiple smaller systems, each capable of running its own copy of an operating system. © Altiris Inc.

  10. Business Concerns • Geographic distribution • Accommodating management across multiple datacenters • Mergers & Acquisitions • Blending disparate vendors, management tools and processes © Altiris Inc.

  11. Inhibitors to Improved Manageability With respect to blade servers and management, the challenge of employing even more granular and distributed infrastructure leads directly to an increased demand for efficient management. - IDC Research

  12. Hardware Considerations • Lack of Uniform Standards • Chassis • IBM/Intel alliance for standardized chassis • Power statistics for the chassis • Network • Increasing options: chassis switch, new alliances (Cisco, Infiniband) • Storage • Increasing options: SAN, Diskless blades, Storage blades © Altiris Inc.

  13. Administrative Resources • Resource Constraints • Administrative headcount vs. Infrastructure growth • Increasing density challenges existing headcount • Training for proprietary management tools • Retaining institutional memory • Additional Costs • Scripting elements • Database integration © Altiris Inc.

  14. Duplicate Management Tools • Silo of tools for each hardware vendor • Duplicate management functions across traditional management ISVs © Altiris Inc.

  15. Management Objectives for IT Agility IDC research indicates that approximately 60-70% of server life-cycle costs are associated with administration of server management tasks (e.g. server deployment, maintenance, tuning, platform migration, upgrades and reconfiguration).

  16. Standardization Key Issues • Developing and enforcing consistent configurations • Ensure that tasks occur consistently across managed systems • Balancing server hardware types, configurations and software in the environment • Fast recovery from an unexpected configuration errors • Improving hardware procurement standards 20% Hardware or OS Errors 80% Operator Errors or Application Problems Objectives • Standard processes are defined and implemented • Server configurations are reliable and consistent • Standardize equipment purchases across multiple departments/teams © Altiris Inc.

  17. Compliance Key Issues • Ensuring servers maintain acceptable compliance levels • Verifying change management occurs within industry regulations • Auditing servers to track configuration drift • Tracking in real-time what hardware and software assets are in the environment IT organization’s ability to achieve high availability is often compromised with the speed with which IT can make necessary changes to stabilize system configurations. – Gartner Research Objectives • Detect and resolve configuration change problems • Proactively manage software updates to minimize security risks • Ability to aggregate data across the environment in real-time • Easily accessible, configurable, and customizable reporting © Altiris Inc.

  18. Controlled Automation Key Issues • Enabling optimal server to administrator ratios • Ability to grow the infrastructure with existing headcount • Eliminating administrator time spent on routine tasks To continue to cut costs in IT organizations, the business must invest in automation for highly manual tasks. – Meta Group Objectives • Administrator time is reduced from hours to minutes, freeing up resources • Automation provides 100% build consistency • Quickly deploy, repurpose, recover servers © Altiris Inc.

  19. Optimization Key Issues • Eliminating underutilized servers in your environment • Identifying usage thresholds/patterns • Improving mean time to repair • Recovering from an unexpected configuration errors • Automating corrective actions based on events • Tracking non-compliant events Organizations with more than 200 servers will waste between $500,000 and $720,000 annually supporting underutilized application/server combinations (0.8 probability). – Gartner Research Objectives • Optimize resources to ensure availability • Detect and resolve bottlenecks before they affect business functions • Resolve problems without visiting the server • Rapid regression from system disruptions © Altiris Inc.

  20. Integration Key Issues • Eliminating parallel management teams for Windows/Linux/UNIX • Consolidate management across different physical/virtual types (rack-mount, blades, virtual machines, etc.) • Reducing the time and money required to set-up, configure, and train • Effective integration of remaining tools Organizations must treat management tools like other applications and apply portfolio management expertise. They must consider strategies to cut the cost of management tools through selective consolidation and cautious planning. – Meta Group Objectives • Consolidate on a common platform with native integration between tools • Purchase and maintain fewer management infrastructures • Improve manageability and simplify training across heterogeneous groups © Altiris Inc.

  21. Recommendations • Implement a well defined management strategy • Evaluate organization alignment, processes and tools • Select a tool set that • Provides heterogeneous hardware and software management • Integrates management teams or geographies • Adopts an open architecture supporting industry standards • Allows organizations to “ease into” automation and configuration control • Create a well defined strategy for your free time © Altiris Inc.

  22. About Altiris Altiris, Inc. is a pioneer of IT lifecycle management software that allows IT organizations to easily manage desktops, notebooks, thin clients, handhelds, industry-standard servers, and heterogeneous software including Windows, Linux and UNIX. Altiris automates and simplifies IT projects throughout the life of an asset to reduce the cost and complexity of management. Altiris client and mobile, server, and asset management solutions natively integrate via a common Web-based console and repository. For more information, visit www.altiris.com. © Altiris Inc.

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