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Virtualization: Friend or Foe

Explore the benefits and challenges of server virtualization in this informative presentation by Neal Puff, the Chief Information Officer of Yuma County, AZ. Learn how virtualization can save money, improve disaster recovery, and simplify administration, while also considering licensing, skillsets, initial setup costs, backups, internal resistance, and server maintenance. Discover strategies to overcome these challenges and harness the power of virtualization for your organization.

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Virtualization: Friend or Foe

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  1. Virtualization: Friend or Foe Neal Puff Chief Information Officer Yuma County, AZ September 30, 2009

  2. My Background • 20+ years private industry IT leadership • County government CIO since 2005 • Operations and network design • Author of the book Security for People and Computers • 2008 Computerworld Premier 100 IT Leader • CISSP, PMP, CPM, MBA, etc.‏ (Enough with the acronyms)

  3. Yuma County, AZ • Located in extreme SW Arizona • Population: Approximately 200,000 (~ 300,000 in winter)‏ • Largest city: Yuma, AZ (~ 100,000) • Main industries: Agriculture, military, manufacturing, retirement, recreation • Weird Fact: Parts of Yuma County lie both North and South of parts of California and Mexico

  4. Yuma CountyAward Winning IT

  5. Yuma County's Infrastructure • Little legacy equipment • 100 Meg Ethernet LANs with multiplexed multi-gigabit fiber backbone WAN • 60 terabyte SAN split geographically • 40% physical servers (old) • 60% virtualized servers running on blade hardware with virtual server images stored on SAN • VOIP network covering major locations • Virtualized ERP and databases

  6. It's All Good, Right? • Save money • Save time • Improved disaster recovery • Easier administration • Simplifies equipment swaps • More effective testing and “promote to production” process • “Greener”

  7. The Dark Side • Licensing • New Skillsets • Initial Cost / Setup • Backups • Internal Resistance • Server Birth Control

  8. Licensing • Is a server licensed based on the number of real or virtual CPUs/cores? • Can the virtual machine & software be moved from physical server to another? • Will manufacturers support the install? • Does a backup of a virtual machine require separate licenses?

  9. New Skillsets • New software to manage virtual servers • New install methods • New mindset

  10. Initial Cost / Setup • Likely new hardware to buy. (Blades, SAN) • Every virtual machine requires its own Operating System license. • Each physical server will require a license for the virtualization software. • Training. • Time required to do new installs or “Physical to Virtual” conversions.

  11. Backups • Virtual machines present new challenges with backups • May require new software to take full advantage of virtual disaster recovery benefits • Tendency to consume more disk space with snapshots of virtual machines

  12. Internal Resistance • Many “traditional” server people do not trust virtual servers. • Performance concerns. • Fear of the unknown. • Lack of knowledge/training.

  13. Server Birth Control • It is deceptively simple to create a new virtual server. • Virtual servers typically require “virtually” the same maintenance as physical servers. • Virtual servers are “free”

  14. We Shall Overcome(part 1) • Licensing is a continuing challenge, but most vendors have come to embrace virtualization. • Be mindful of the stresses the new technology will put on your staff, train and be patient. • Do NOT “sell” virtualization based on cost savings.

  15. We Shall Overcome(part 2) • Plan your backup strategy in advance. • Start small with sure fire wins to win support from internal and external staff. • Manage new virtual server deployments with the same controls as physical servers.

  16. Summary(Virtualization is Your FRIEND) • Server virtualization has its share of challenges, but the payoff for getting it right is amazing. • Yuma County has experienced every problem discussed in this presentation at least once, but the benefits of virtualization have vastly outweighed the challenges.

  17. Something Free! • Free copy of my award winning book: Security for People and Computers • E-mail me and I'll send you a PDF of the entire book

  18. Questions? • Neal Puff • Chief Information Officer • Yuma County, AZ • neal.puff@co.yuma.az.us

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