Virtual server sprawl can kill cost savings

At Gartner's annual datacenter conference last week, a Boeing computing infrastructure architect delivered a sobering confirmation of what we have already known or at least suspected for some time. Working off a hypothetical model from his experience with Boeing's virtualization efforts, Washington-based Jeff Thompson warned that virtual server sprawl can eliminate the cost savings coveted by IT shops when they embark on server virtualization initiatives.

The reason: The ease in which virtual servers can be spun up results in users asking for large numbers of new virtual machines to be created. Thompson concluded, "If you don't have demand management and good governance in place you're actually going to cost your company money. Virtual server sprawl can wipe out any savings."

Thompson pegged the magical mark in his hypothetical cost model at 50 percent. That is, the virtualization project would become unprofitable when the demand for new virtualized machines grows by 50 percent beyond the initial number of servers. I think the truth is a lot more complex than that, with a lot hinging on the available storage capacities and physical hardware, and also actual computing requirements. Still, this is a simple and easy-to-remember metric to use.

Before you get too worried though, Thompson did offer assurance that with sprawl under control, virtualization is typically worth it from an ROI perspective. If you are helping your organization virtualize, you might be interested to know that a recent survey has found virtual server backups prone to failure.

For more on this story:
- check out this article at PCMag Blogs

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