Government Computer News
The server that wasn't
Agencies are exploring OS virtualization to get more out of their systems
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[It] is simply a matter of virtualizing the file server and then copying it ... . You don’t have to worry about buying a file server and setting it up.”
—Dennis Clem, Pentagon CIO
—Dennis Clem, Pentagon CIO
In this report
Virtually unlimited possibilities
“Space for data storage and file servers is a real issue across all of the Pentagon,” Clem said. “The question is where do we put all that IT?”
Any technology that could help with the task gets Clem’s attention. Virtualization, the ability to consolidate IT by running multiple virtual file servers on a single server, drew his particular interest.
Typically, Pentagon users dedicate an entire server to one application. If they bring in another application, it usually requires another server. As a result, few servers run at maximum capacity because many applications use only a portion of a server’s resources. Virtualization enables one complete operating system, plus associated applications, to run within another. By running multiple instances of a server OS, the system is better utilized. And that’s not all.
“It solves the space problem, and it reduces the cost of buying replacement hardware,” Clem said.
Why virtualize?
Virtualization gets a lot of ink in the trade press. And in fact, managed hosting providers or centers of excellence would be right to go ga-ga over the technology because they can do more with less. But virtualization presents even greater potential benefits, server consolidation being the most prevalent.
With the Office of Management and Budget insisting agencies consolidate operations wherever possible, virtualization offers an easy way of grouping together operations. As hard as an agency might try to standardize on one platform, applications written for alternate OSes inevitably crop up.
Virtualization eliminates the need to build separate machines for those apps—and that appeals to IT managers like Clem.
When he signed on at OSD, Clem was tasked with consolidating 14 different IT infrastructures from 17 organizations into a single enterprisewide system. One group had 127 servers, only five of which hosted more than one application.
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