UST OVER HALF of all workloads in a data center
are now virtualized, and about 78% of all workloads will
eventually be virtualized, according to Nemertes Research.
But that’s just the beginning of the story. Still to come are
virtualized storage and even virtualized networks.
VMware delivered its first virtualization products for x86
servers in 2001, setting off what has become one of today’s biggest
tech trends. But the benefits of virtualization, particularly its ability to
allow users to rapidly provision new workloads, are pushing demand
for storage to new highs. To keep up, companies are virtualizing their
storage facilities along with their servers.
At the same time, vendors are now bringing virtualization technology to network infrastructure, enabling companies to consolidate
functions such as firewalls and switching onto virtual servers and to
program networks just as they do software.
While many of these efforts are just getting off the ground, particularly on the networking side, storage and network virtualization are
certainly areas to watch in 2012.
J
Saving With Virtual Storage
The University of Kansas Physicians Inc., a multispecialty healthcare practice in Kansas with 1,500 to 2,000 employees, has benefited
from both storage and server virtualization. After upgrading storage
systems twice in three years, IT director Jeffrey Orndoff virtualized
UKP’s storage and server environment in 2011, hoping to give depart-
