What future for server virtualization?
Server virtualization
Server virtualization is one of those simple but impactful technologies.
What would happen if, instead of running an OS instance and one application per server, it was possible to add a software layer, known as a hypervisor, and run multiple instances of operating system and associated workloads on a single physical server?
The whole concept of server virtualization is based on this principle. The idea dates back to the 1960s and IBM mainframes. But it was VMware that extended it in the early 2000s by delivering virtualization software for x86 servers. Since then, other vendors (Citix, Microsoft or Red Hat) have been developing their own server virtualization platforms and the industry as a whole has created advanced management tools to facilitate the deployment, migration and management of servers. virtual machine (VM) workloads.
Prior to server virtualization, data center environments posed several challenges to businesses:
- proliferation of servers
- underutilized computing power
- energy bills up sharply
- manual processes and general inefficiency and rigidity.
Server virtualization has transformed all of this, hence its massive adoption. In fact, it’s hard to find a business today that does not already run most of its workloads in a VM environment. But we know that no technology is immune to being dethroned by the next big innovation. And server virtualization will not escape this inevitability.
Server virtualization involves taking a physical device and cutting it down so that multiple operating systems and applications take advantage of the underlying computing power. Now, developers are cutting applications into smaller microservices that run in lightweight containers.
