Cloud Computing and Virtualization
News
- PRIMERGY® RX300 S5 now the fastest Rack System for VMware
- Resource Coordinator VE system management tool wins top design award for User Interface
- ServerView Resource Coordinator VE 2.1 data sheet (PDF 1.12 MB)
Cloud Computing
Fujitsu views cloud computing as a technique for accessing computing resources without having to possess any real knowledge about the underlying mechanics. Most market analysts divide the space into two parts, private clouds (use within an enterprise) and public clouds (utilizing external third party compute services). In reality, public clouds have existed for awhile, whether as a simple Software as a Service (e.g. salesforce.com) or Infrastructure as a Service (e.g. Amazon).
Fujitsu addresses cloud markets in two ways: as a technology provider to public cloud providers, and as a solution provider to private cloud deployments.
With private clouds, the goal for the data center is to make the right amount and the right kind of resources available at the moment such resources are needed, but with an additional ability to quickly reconfigure when the demand profile changes. Examples of enabling technologies are the ability to move applications back and forth between virtual to native operation (depending on load and utilization), or consolidating workloads so that unused CPU's can be powered down, or having the option to utilize external third party compute resources when needed. Virtualization plays a key role in private cloud designs as it permits the best efficient usage of servers both in terms of utilization as well as providing multiplatform support.
Key for successful deployment of private clouds within the data center are hardware high reliability, quick deployment of new hardware resources on demand, and a single tool to control large number of possibly heterogeneous systems.
More Information on ServerView and RCVE
Virtualization
Virtualization disconnects software from a specific piece of dedicated hardware. Physical resources such as servers and storage devices appear as single logical resources, and virtualization software determines which and how many of these physical devices to employ. This can result in increased utilization of computing assets, lowered power and cooling costs, easier lifecycle management, and less complex backup/disaster recovery.
Although many associate the word "virtualization" with just server virtualization, there are in fact many opportunities within the software stack to beneficially introduce virtualization concepts. Fujitsu currently offers solutions to address three such areas: server virtualization, storage virtualization, and application/desktop virtualization.
Server Virtualization
Most server virtualization software is based on the concept of a hypervisors creating and controlling Virtual Machines (VM's). A Virtual Machine is an individual bundle that contains both an application and its associated OS. Hypervisor software, loaded on the server bare metal, provides the ability to load one or more Virtual Machines onto the server, manage I/O calls, and perform other functions. Both Windows and Linux based Virtual Machines can co-exist on the same physical server.
It is worth noting that while loading multiple virtual servers onto fewer physical servers can produce an outstanding return on investment, it is not a panacea. Server virtualization can introduce increased network traffic congesting around a single destination point, creating response time delays. For some lightweight or infrequently used applications, the effect is minimal, but for others, such as transaction based data base applications or outward facing web sites, virtualization must be used advisedly.
Our ServerView technology provides key capabilities for virtualization deployment. It permits insight into the physical characteristics of servers for optimal control and management. The newest ServerView component, Resource Coordinator, goes even further, allowing system administrators to use a single uniform view into virtualized and native loads, storage, and network switches across a large number of rack servers and blade chassis. Further, SVRC facilitates failover and/or CPU additions in less than 7 minutes and helps minimize hardware costs by requiring only one spare blade per chassis. SVRC also improves service levels by providing fully unattended failover of either native or virtualized deployments, including the automatic remapping of SAN and LAN connections.
Desktop Virtualization
Desktop virtualization permits server based applications to appear and act as if the applications were actually running on the desktop. Doing so typically permits the use of "thin" terminals instead of "fat" PC’s. While this might represent some cost savings, most desktop virtualization projects are driven more by security or access control concerns than hardware savings.
Fujitsu provides solutions to this market by our full support of VMware desktop virtualization solutions. We can also provide service offerings to help clients identify and deploy the right applications which could benefit from desktop virtualization.
Fujitsu Supported Server Virtualization Technologies
Fujitsu sells and supports a wide range of industry standard virtualization solutions.
List of Virtualization Solution Partners
Storage Virtualization
While SAN and NAS designs already embrace the concepts of storage virtualization, server virtualization has required even more abstraction in accessing and storing of both application data files and VM's. Response speed has also critical in virtualization requirements involving load leveling and server image restoration. The Fujitsu ETERNUS® VS900 Storage System works extremely well in these demanding virtualized sever environments.
More Information on Storage Virtualization
Application and Database Virtualization
For many companies, transactional applications such as Oracle® databases or SAP® software are mission-critical to the enterprise. Sharing these on a virtualized server with other applications, and contending with potential I/O bottlenecks, can present major problems. In other words, trying to run Oracle or SAP on server vitualization technologies like VMware can actually hurt performance and potentially affect system up time. For these situations, Fujitsu offers Dynamic Infrastructures for Oracle® and FlexFrame® for SAP® which leverages unique application and database virtualization techniques to increase service quality and reduce cost.
FlexFrame for SAP is a pre-integrated and highly efficient IT-infrastructure that dynamically assigns servers to SAP applications on demand. It exploits the latest business critical computing technology and SAP Adaptive Computing to deliver major cost savings of up to 60 percent.
More Information on FlexFrame for SAP
My Very First VMWare Promotion
My Very First VMware® is a complete solution for Small and Medium Size businesses to easily realize the benefits of virtualization. Including two PRIMERGY® rack systems, an ETERNUS storage system, and VMware Essentials Plus, the solution provides not only server consolidation but also server high availability and failover all in a single rack. Plus you can add a third processor anytime without the need for additional virtualization software.
