Top 5 Pitfalls of Virtualization

According to Sue Ellen Schaming of Xangati, I’ve listed the top 5 pitfalls that you might encounter regarding virtualization:

Pitfall 1. Assuming application resources will optimize themselves.
Self-Optimization: Yes, virtualization can increase up to 70% by putting many applications on a single VMS server but realize that it also requires a continuous review of what resources are really being used and what impact is realized by it. In this way, you will not have to be concerned about unused applications taking up resources or applications looping endlessly.

Pitfall 2. Turning a blind eye to the interaction between virtual and physical realms.
Managing Physical and Virtual Interaction:  It’s there and now it’s gone! Trying to keep the physical and virtual environments managed can be a daunting if not impossible task at times. Xangati suggests that Virtualization can create a visibility of both domains to quickly isolate preditable or on-going problems.

Pitfall 3. Creating a visibility blind spot with vSwitches.
 Xangati expounds on the need for vSwitches that include NetFlow which can help you see those blind spots  transversing your applications. Additionally, beware that some vSwitches do not support NetFlow. Cisco has a version that supports NetFlow called Nexus 1000V.

Pitfall 4. Losing track of virtual IP storage.
Moving your storage for maintenance or disaster reasons can result in massive data integrity issues among other problems. Clearly, there is a extreme need for visibility tools to assist in this area.

Pitfall 5. Ignoring the end-user experience.
No matter how cost-efficient the VM deployment is, there is incredible significance when your end-users can efficiently user the applications.  Partnering with them to isolate production problems can be a very useful tool to quickly resolve issues while measuring the performance of your resources.

Check out the full article on Xangati’s web site.