How to Prepare for Virtualization

Companies want to do more work while utilizing fewer resources. This is very helpful for small and mid-sized companies. Most small businesses have access to a very small budget. Thus, they can’t invest money in buying new IT resources. Most companies have access to limited IT personnel and office space. If you have a small and medium-sized company, then virtualization is perfect for you.

Virtualization is one of the best methods to save money. It will help you in creating your products in a virtual environment. You can move your operations from an in-house server to virtualized servers. It will help you in optimizing your resources. Thus, you can easily scale up your resources. In this article, we are going to share some tips that will help you in preparing for virtualization.

1. Check your current environment

You can use some tools for automatically scanning your environment. However, these tools will not tell you about the whole storage. These tools are good for auditing your work. But, you should check your environment more closely. You should check some things while assessing your environment.

It is important to have a list of all the IT assets. You must also have a complete server and network inventory. It is important to understand the role of every server in your infrastructure. Some servers will be offline in your server room. These servers are only wasting space. You might already be using virtualization software. Thus, you must first assess your environment.

Some companies might think that this much information is not important. However, it will help you in determining the equipment that you can use. You can determine the equipment that you need to migrate. Some equipment will be old. Thus, you must replace them. You should collect all this data.

It is important to ensure that this process is smooth. First, you should take a 100% backup of your servers. This will ensure that you can restore your servers. You can record everything in an excel file. It is important to document every server you have. You should have a list of servers. It is important to mention the hardware specs and software specs on this list. You can also ask someone to audit your complete work. Network scanning tools can also help you in auditing your work.

2. Create a plan for virtualization

It is also important to create a solid plan for virtualization. You should have a written plan for virtualization. After evaluating your IT environment, you can pre-plan the whole project.

You should determine the virtualization platform that you are going to use. Also, you should determine the systems that you are going to optimize. There are many amazing virtualization hypervisor platforms available in the market. The most famous brands are Oracle, Microsoft, Citrix, and VMware. These tools will help you in running your virtualization platform.

You should also determine your server’s needs. Some servers are perfect for virtualization optimization. These servers will already contain built-in virtualization tools. Thus, these servers are perfect for virtualization.

You should also determine the reason for virtualizing. Some companies are looking for high availability and resiliency. Virtualization will help you in optimizing your server’s performance. You might need to purchase some new servers. If you already know the reason for virtualizing, then you can find the best equipment for your business.

It is also important to create a project timeline. This will help your team in completing their work on time. You should update this timeline if some issues arise. If there are any vacations, then you should include them in this timeline. You should also plan for some common problems. This will help you in quickly tackling some common problems. Some potential problems that you can face are server crashes and downtime.

3. Address Issues Regarding Virtualization

If you have already created a solid plan, then it is time to address some other issues. You should have proper information about the virtualization process. This will help you in defending your proposal. The most common issue is that companies think that this process is very difficult. Your business leaders might want to stick with their old existing systems. Thus, you should explain to them the benefits of virtualization.

Most virtualization platforms are offering free trials to their users. These platforms will help you in testing your systems. Thus, you can learn everything about these platforms. You can also do courses for learning about virtualization technology. It is important to do proper research. This will help you in increasing the efficiency of your systems.

4. Roll out Virtualization

It is important to minimize downtime during the virtualization process. You should stick with your virtualization plan. If you face some issues, then you should modify your plan. It is important to start small. You can scale up your resources with time. First, you should find the servers that are most stable. These servers won’t cause any downtime. Thus, it is easy to execute your plan on these servers. If downtime occurs, then you should have a fallback plan. You should immediately try to resolve the issues.

If you are purchasing a new server, then you should directly execute your plan. It is easy to roll out virtualization in these servers. Thus, you can test your plan without affecting your workflow. These servers are not connected with your existing technologies. Thus, you can execute your plan without affecting your existing infrastructure. This will help you in avoiding future issues. The virtualization technology will ultimately help you in increasing the efficiency of your business operations.

Conclusion

Virtualization technology is becoming more important with time. Companies can use this technology for scaling up their infrastructure. If you have a small or medium-sized business, then virtualization is a boon for you. You can use it for completing more work. The best method to reduce IT expenses is by moving local servers to virtualized servers. This will help you in freeing up your office space. Also, it will reduce the costs of cooling. These tips will help you in preparing for virtualization. It is important to create a detailed plan. If you need more information regarding virtualization, then you should contact Bleuwire.

Contact us today to learn about Bleuwire™  services and solutions in how we can help your business.