CA Data Center Automation Blog

The industry has seen an upward trend in server virtualization for the distributed environments.  Although virtualization is not new, (it’s been in the mainframe world for the more than a decade) it has gained substantial momentum primarily as a means to support data center management and operational efforts.  A recent research study sponsored by CA shows that the top three drivers behind virtualization are server consolidation, easier hardware provisioning and software deployment, and lower total cost of ownership.  Speaking with customers at a recent IT Executive’s Club meeting in Chicago, where the theme was virtualization, many of the larger shops were using virtualized server environments to reduce both power consumption and physical space (server consolidation) within the data center.  I see this as a common theme across data center environments, also contributing to a “green IT” initiative as a positive side effect (see my previous BLOG, “Data Center Automation and Green IT - Part 1”).

Virtualization promises many advantages in data center manageability including operational efficiency, but it also brings along an additional element of complexity.  This, in fact, is where automation plays a key role in keeping virtualization management in-check with the rest of the data center management strategy. Today, virtualization is a key driver for many data center automation strategies especially as data center managers are faced with better ways to manage virtual assets in the same context as physical asset. For those who already have a virtualization strategy in place, now may be a good time to consider extending the benefits of data center automation, reaping all of the cost benefits and efficiencies that automation has proven to provide. My other DCA Blogs go on to discuss many points of entry into an automation strategy as well as other considerations when deciding to undergo automation.