SMB Virtualization
SMBs consistently look for ways to make their business more cost efficient and streamlined, and one of the ways is virtualization. Virtualization comes in two basic flavors: Desktop virtualization and server virtualization. Both should be considered.
Desktop virtualization allows users to leverage any number of client computers and have their environment, including data and applications, follow them from client to client. This provides a benefit for those who support a mobile workforce, have aggressive growth plans, and need to enhance security.
Desktop virtualization for SMBs offers many advantages:
- Energy-efficient thin clients consume up to 50 percent less power
- Hardware and software costs are typically reduced by about half
- Desktop virtualization requires less IT support and administrative labor
Server virtualization brings many advantages to SMBs as well. Much like desktop virtualization, server virtualization allows for the sharing of many physical servers, such as application servers, allocating virtual machines to requesting clients. Each virtual machine is just that: a virtual server that can share processor, memory, and storage of several physical machines.
The advantages of server virtualization are much like the advantages of desktop virtualization, including energy-efficiency. You typically work with fewer physical servers, so you’re able to do more with less. Also, hardware and software costs are reduced. All of this means server virtualization requires fewer support dollars to support the same number of server functions.
The value of virtualization is very clear for SMBs, and the chances are that you’ll actually lose money if you don’t have a virtualization strategy in place.