Many first attempts at virtualisation fail because of a lack of planning and experience rather than the software itself, believes Herman van Heerden, MD of Starship Systems, a local virtualisation technologies company.
“Selecting the right tool is a vital part of the virtualisation migration process and is intrinsic to a project's success. However, you can choose the best product and still fail dismally with virtualisation if you don't plan well,” says Van Heerden.
He notes there is no one-size-fits-all virtualisation solution and that each company must use an implementation methodology that suits their needs or environment.
“Choose the most appropriate solution and follow best practice in line with what you want to achieve, whether it's high availability and disaster recovery or consolidation. Expansion and capacity allocation should always be key factors,” advises Van Heerden.
He adds that virtualisation tools almost never work as advertised, so companies should always plan for contingencies. “If the software isn't compatible or the backend is not configured as required, the solution won't work as it should.”
Companies are better also off consulting a virtualisation expert rather than a vendor, Van Heerden says.
He advises companies to start off small, with the bigger picture in mind, when they first start virtualising their infrastructure.
“Go for the least critical servers first, specifically those which won't create a huge problem if they fail or those which use minimal CPU such as a development or test server. Once you have the lower-end servers running in a virtual environment, you can plan roll-out to your higher-end servers,” he says.
Van Heerden stresses that it is vital for companies to document every step in their virtualisation process to easily set everything back if problems arise. “Documenting what you do now is part of planning for the future,” he adds.
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