If you hang around IT circles a lot, you must have heard the words virtualization and virtual machines thrown around in conversations. You’ve probably even heard that these things can save costs and capacity for organizations, and help them grow.

Perhaps you’re already wondering how your business can enjoy these benefits.

This article explains what virtualization is, and takes you through some of the concepts involved with it. It also shows how your company can gain on multiple fronts from adopting virtualization technology.

What is Virtualization?

Virtualization is the process of creating virtual versions of operating systems, servers, and networks.

To understand this, let’s remind ourselves what a ‘virtual’ thing is. That word refers to a non-real representation of something real. For instance, there’s Virtual Reality (VR) which is supposed to mirror reality in some way but isn’t real.

So in virtualization, we create virtual copies of operating systems, servers, networks, and other resources. Instead of these items existing within single sets of hardware, we could have multiple virtual resources existing on a single set of hardware.

For instance, you could have two operating systems— Microsoft Windows and a Linux –running on the same computer. Or you could have several applications on just one server.

But how is this possible?

How Virtualization Works

Today, we operate our computers with very fast CPUs and servers. Typically, we would host a single operating system on one computer, or one application on a server. This often leaves these resources with plenty of unused capacity.

With virtualization, you can make the most of that capacity by running several virtual systems on each of them.

Virtualization happens when a virtualization layer is created to separate the hardware component of a system from the user. This separation allows for the creation of several ‘virtual machines’, or virtual computers each with its operating system and applications. These virtual machines and OS exist on a single physical machine or computer.

Types of Virtualization

There are various types of virtualization, involving different kinds of resources.

• OS Virtualization: The creation of one or more virtual operating systems or machines.
• Server virtualization: This divides a single server into multiple virtual servers.
• Application virtualization: Here you can run applications that aren’t installed on your computer as though they were. This is possible because you separate them from the hardware on which they are supposed to be running.
• Network virtualization: In this situation, you reproduce whole network infrastructure— hardware and software –as a software entity, a virtual network.
• Storage virtualization: Here, you group multiple network storage devices into one large storage unit. You can do this by separating the storage-management software from the supporting hardware component and uniting them virtually.

The Benefits of Virtualization for Your Business

Here’s how virtualization can help your business.

1. Reduced Costs

With virtualization, you can handle workloads on a single system that would have taken you two or three such systems to get done. Each system can take multiple operating systems, which means you can deal with different tasks on each OS.

If you don’t have to acquire new infrastructure for every new hire or branch that you open, you’ll save a lot of costs. That’s what virtualization helps you achieve. You only use a fraction of your usual expenses, because you’re making the most of existing resources.

2. Manageability

You will need fewer people and tools to manage your resources. That’s because there’s a lot more you can track and take care of from fewer devices.

3. Less Energy Use

One problem with running single operating systems and applications on computers and servers is that it consumes a lot of energy. If you had several virtual machines on a single system (with each one running an OS) you would only need to power a single physical system instead of many.

This means your energy bills will be smaller. But it also contributes to environmental sustainability.

4. Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity

Virtualization plays a big role in Disaster Recovery.

When there’s a network outage, you risk losing important files. Even if you have them backed up in hardware on site it may take days to retrieve.

With Disaster Recovery, you can have virtual versions of your operating systems, servers, and networks come on within minutes of an outage. This saves your files and allows you to carry on with work in a very short while.  Ultimately, it reduces or eliminates downtimes, allowing you to deliver uninterrupted service to your customers.

Some IT service companies like Layer3 provide Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) to their clients. It’s an important part of the business continuity strategy for many of these organizations.

5. Smaller Data Centers

As your resource optimization improves, you’ll find that you don’t need a lot of physical space to host your resources. If you’re able to partition hardware and use virtual servers, you’ll only need a fraction of the data center space you would require if you were going on without deliberate virtualization.

6. Increased Productivity

Your team will get more work done when they can use multiple resources. They can turn to the ones that work best for each situation, and call on a wider range of applications whenever they need to get things done.

With increased productivity, there’s the prospect of higher revenues. And because you’re also spending less on fewer physical resources, your margins will likely be higher, and your profits could expand (other things held constant).

Where Can You Get the Best Virtualization Service?

Many firms offer virtualization services. They do so directly, or through partner companies that are closer to client businesses. If you’re in Nigeria and you would like to save costs and grow your business with virtualization, you can do this with Layer3.

Layer3 has partnered with VMWare, the world’s leading provider of virtualization services, to deliver the world-class virtual capabilities your business needs. From digital workspaces to virtual cloud networks, our range of solutions will enable you to maximize your resources, and reap more from your IT investments.

Would you like to find out how virtualization can help you improve your business processes? We can help you. Get in touch with us HERE, and we’ll take things up from there.Layer