This whitepaper discusses the many challenges of a total virtualized solution in light of the integration of virtualized servers and virtualized storage. It reviews the complementary technologies of the VMware and IBM XIV® Storage System environments, while highlighting IBM XIV features that address the different issues. Real-world use cases provided at the end of the document illustrate IBM XIV server-storage virtualization success and benefits. After reading this paper, you will have a clear understanding of the different factors involved in achieving an effective virtual environment and how to address them using the IBM XIV Storage System.
Today’s virtualization technology is transforming business. Whether the virtualization goal is to consolidate servers, centralize services, implement disaster recovery, set up remote or thin client desktops, or create clouds for optimized resource use or new revenue streams, companies are increasingly virtualizing their environments.
Organizations often deploy server virtualization in the hope of gaining economies of scale in consolidating underutilized resources to a new platform. It’s important to remember that storage is the chief component underlying an enterprise IT system; therefore, equally crucial to a server virtualization scenario. Many who have implemented server virtualization but neglected to take storage into account find themselves facing common challenges of uneven resource sharing, and of performance and reliability degradation.
So what is the right storage for achieving a complete, complementary virtualized infrastructure? What storage system features will make the most of a virtualized server environment?
The IBM XIV® Storage System, with its next-generation grid architecture, automated load balancing, and exceptional ease of management, provides best-in-class virtual enterprise storage for virtual servers. IBM XIV reduces the overall footprint of the storage architecture as VMware reduces the server infrastructure. IBM XIV end-to-end support for VMware solutions, including vSphere and vCenter, provides hotspot-free server-storage performance, optimal resource use, and an on-demand storage infrastructure that enables the simplified growth key to meeting enterprise virtualization goals. Together, IBM XIV and VMware provide the best consolidation, performance, resilience, and usability for virtual infrastructures.
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