I posed myself this question on the train recently, “Why shouldn’t you virtualise?”, a somewhat controversial question coming from me as I’m completely on the flip side of that question. However, a few thoughts provoked this query.

Why not?

• If your physical world is a headache (other than hardware failures) then take a step back.
• Virtual Machines don’t manage themselves, other than host resource control.
• Operating System management doesn’t miraculously happen.
• In the wrong hands (literally) the mouse right-click can be the enemy for uncontrolled rapid cloning and deployments of virtual machines adding to the sprawl.

Virtualisation core elements:

1. Knowledge
Desktop virtualisation is widely used but data centre editions are different.

2. Comprehension:
It’s not about why a Type 1 hypervisor is core for the enterprise data centre but how to genuinely configure it to meet service level demands.

3. Appreciation:
The core components of a VI align to physical infrastructure
Physical infrastructure is core to provision
VM deployment should be controlled and audited – the same as physical

Immaturity of a VI can lead to:

• The managment & administration delegation simply being ‘All Admins’.
• Virtual machines mirroring the physical world – prior to the consolidation exercise of course.
• Ad-hoc virtual machine provision without thought for impact.

Answer? Service provision maturity is not solved by virtualisation technology, it’s a mind set.