It crept up on our industry in the last few years and is booming more than ever in 2010. Without a doubt -the latest trend in the IT world is virtualization. We knew it was bound to happen in this fast paced digital race so we at Atum have been preparing. Here’s a quick trend industry report for April 2010 …

IN: VIRTUALIZATION  

OUT: INFINITE RACKS OF SMALL SERVERS

What is virtualization?

Despite what science fiction movies told us, virtualization does not refer to living your life through a computerized infinitely young clone (think: Surrogates). Instead it is something much more exciting….

Virtualization refers to the ability to run multiple virtual machines on a single piece of hardware – all independent from its neighbours.

In a virtual environment, servers are known as Virtual Private Servers (VPS) and contain the same features (CPU, network interfaces, storage, operating systems) and functionality as a more costly dedicated server all for a fraction of cost. A VPS includes many benefits such as cost saving, better resource utilization, more reliability, greater flexibility, and increased efficiency. You get more out of your existing resources, reducing datacentre costs, improving your server to admin ratio, increasing hardware availability, and improving security.

How does VPS work?

Let’s try to provide you with a better visual scenario.

Imagine you had two friends.

One – let’s call him Joe – lives in a small student house. Although Joe has his own room, he shares his kitchen and bathroom with other people on same floor. Joe’s neighbours are constantly having parties (especially on weeknights) and he hears everything through the thin walls. He is involved in all their problems and his neighbours often have questionable guests making Joe feel his security is at risk.

Your other friend – Anna – lives in a luxurious house in a safe quiet neighbourhood. The only common area she comes close to sharing with her neighbours is the entrance to her street. She isn’t bothered by her neighbours, even when they have parties, because she can’t hear them through her thick secure walls. She is isolated from all their problems and feels safe in her home.

Now which one would you rather be? Exactly.

Shared and dedicated servers are the same. On a shared server, the operating system and resources are shared, slowing down the server performance or worse requiring it to be shut down while the problem gets fixed.

In contrast, dedicated VPS allows you to do whatever you want with your space. Your neighbours problems are not your concern. It gives you the features and functionality of a physical dedicated without the cost of building and maintaining one. You have complete control of your virtual environment.

 Is there a catch?

Does this all seem too good to be true? Well this is one of the few times where something is exactly what it’s made out to be. Only recommendation – make sure to hire experts in virtualization as your VPS provider to handle all your work! Level of expertise plays an integral part in achieving the best for your company. :)

A friendly suggestion – Atum IT. See for yourself what Atum’s VPS hosting plans can do for you!

Our opinion?

We couldn’t agree more with the recent increase in this trend…. and same goes for our happy Atum clients. ;)