Environmental issues pose problems of specific interest to Server professionals By Bob Gill published: Tuesday, July 01 2008
Is all growth good? How much
growth is too much growth? As the demand
for more processors and processing power translates to server sprawl and an
ever-expanding data center footprint, Server professionals must contend with
the subsequent environmental problems of data center cooling and increased heat
output, decreased physical space, and limited access to power. In most cases, the Server team can't move the
data center to a bigger space, sink more money into maintaining even more massive
air conditioners, run multiple extension cords from other buildings, or have an
intern run a pedal generator - they've got to make the most of the space and
budget available. In today's "green"
world, there is an ecological (and economic) imperative to create more
efficient data centers; many Server professionals have turned to server
virtualization in order to address the key difficulties presented by environmentals.
Data center environmentals have become a literal and
figurative "hot" topic in TheInfoPro's Server Study, in which we conduct
in-depth interviews to ask IT professionals about their current technology implementations,
plans, and motivators. For the most recent
Server Study, the two most popular pain points among Server professionals within
Fortune 1000 organizations were the related problems of environmentals (heat,
cooling, space, power) and server sprawl / unchecked growth. In fact, these concerns have been named as major
challenges in the data center since we began the research several years ago,
and have only been mentioned more and more prominently with each wave of the
study.
Pain points
To address these challenges, many Server professionals and
teams have set their sights on adopting virtualization. This makes sense, since virtualization
technology represents a three-tiered attack on the threat of
environmentals. Firstly, since running
virtual machines helps capitalize on the processing power of boxes already on
hand, it reduces the need for more discrete, physical machines while satisfying
the demand for more and better processing. This translates to a reduced footprint and
better allocation of space, not to mention cost containment and improved
utilization. Secondly, since the existing
machines have more room to breathe, climate control in the data center is
easier and more efficient. And finally, having
fewer machines simply tends to lead toward reduced energy consumption.
Thus, it should be no surprise that, when asked about what's
driving the growth of virtualization in the enterprise, the top driver was
physical server consolidation for space savings (mentioned by 45% of
respondents), followed by physical server consolidation for cost reduction. The two go hand in hand as representations of
improved data center efficiency, both in terms of footprint and budget, and
here, an important connection is implied - that the enhancement of efficiency
by improved environmental conditions is directly related to cost reduction,
whether by making space or energy consumption more cost-effective to maintain,
or by the plain fact that fewer machines are required to do the work essential
to the enterprise.
Drivers of virtualization growth
For the long term, 67% of respondents said they believe server
virtualization will be critical to their business objectives, while another 28%
believe it is very valuable. Moreover,
while only one respondent replied that virtualization doesn't apply to them,
there were no respondents who said they were skeptical of virtualization's
benefits. These perceptions of
virtualization's capability and value are important indicators, especially
given the amount of weight placed on making data centers more environmentally
friendly and efficient.
Long-term virtualization plans
In economics, effects on the environment are frequently regarded
as externalities-incidentals that affect others, and therefore aren't calculated
into pricing or the transactional decisions.
But in a time when energy costs are continually increasing and inefficient
resource consumption is detrimental not just to the ecosystem, but also to the
resources available in the data center and in the budget, what has been
considered an external concern now factors squarely into the decision
calculus. Witness Server pros'
descriptions of the types of return on investment they expect from their
virtualization initiatives, where lower capital expenditures based on improved
environmentals and lower overall costs based on increased efficiency top the
list. For these Server teams, a
technology like virtualization offers a valuable, sustainable solution to help
alleviate costs - both to the environment and to the bottom line.
Virtualization's ROI
Thus, it should be no surprise that, when asked about their
top Server priorities through 2007, the top responses among Server
professionals were consolidation (mentioned by 48% of respondents) and
virtualization (cited by 47%), as the two go hand in hand as representations of
improved data center efficiency. The
drive of Server professionals to push for virtualization Server priorities.
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TheInfoPro
Bob Gill, Managing Director of
Server Research
As Managing Director for
TheInfoPro’s Server Sector, Bob leverages his over 25 years of experience in
Information Technology as the industry source on server virtualization, blade
servers, and operating systems - including Windows and Linux. Bob joined
TheInfoPro in 2004 the Chief Research Officer, where he assisted in defining
and formalizing TIP’s research process in addition to establishing the position
and role of Managing Director. Prior to joining TheInfoPro, Bob spent 15 years
in senior management and analyst positions with Gartner Group. As an
analyst, his areas of expertise involved networking, operating systems, media
management and rights technology, and security. His major accomplishments included
the launch of a business unit that synthesized findings from
statistically-driven quantitative market research, as well as technology and
vertical market expertise. Bob's previous experience includes technical,
development, sales, and management positions at AT&T, Western Electric, and
Bell Labs. He also ran his own IT implementation consultancy, and was VP
of Business Development for an IT VAR. Bob has a Bachelor’s degree in
Business Administration from Notre Dame, and a Masters of Science in MIS from
Stevens Institute of Technology.
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