Roy Schestowitz wrote:
> Linux: We've come a long way
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
> | Despite these efforts, I clearly remember the tough slog Novell had in
> | trying to convince IT staffs that Linux was ready for data center
> | primetime. Edge of network servers? Sure. But data center? No way.
> |
> | And today Red Hat and others are actively certifying the rising hordes
> | of data center Linux specialists. We've come a long, long way in a very
> | short time. Though perhaps not this long.
> `----
>
>
http://blogs.cnet.com/8301-13505_1-9803594-16.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=TheOpenRoad
>
VMWare is one of those things that has been around for a long time, we have
all probably had a play with it at various stages of it's development. I
wasn't particularly impressed, but that was many years ago and I didn't
really see a need for VMWare for the companies I support at that time.
But fairly quietly in the background VMWare have been building up a lot of
momentum. When I heard that Reuters were sitting on VMWare, which to me is
the biggest advertisement that VMWare could ever have, then I started
looking to where else it has sneaked into.
Abacus
AG Edwards
AIG Technologies
AXA Technologies
many more,
many of whom are very big names. All can be seen on the VMWare web site.
That is understandable, because virtualization allows you to reduce servers
and so reduce costs. So big companies with the a lot of individual servers
have the most to gain.
But not only gains in cheaper in that less servers are needed, and cheaper
electric bills, but it also reduces the companies Carbon Footprint, not
just a little bit, but by a massive ammount.
As companies realise the necessity and rewards from reducing their Carbon
Footprint, they are going to realise that their IT department is the key to
a very large percentage. Particularly in the UK and soon in the EU, where
it will be a legal requirement to reduce your Carbon Footprint, expected as
a law in the UK by 1st quarter of next year.
But even if you might have snubbed the 'Green' issues, you can't ignore the
money side. Green in the sense we are talking about here puts money in the
company safe.
Take the example of BT. BT have found that they can reduce their Carbon
Footprint by 80% without damaging services in the slightest. But at the
same time there is an immediate profit gain simply because of the reduction
in costs. Are we talking of pennies? A few hundred pounds maybe? No, we are
talking in the region of hundreds of thousands of pounds.
So VMWare have a place, they have momentun with big name companies. But if I
was VMWare's marketing manager all I would do is put out adverts saying
that Reuters sits on VMWare. Because if it is stable enough that it can
host VMs that can not be lost even for a few seconds, then there is no
server anywhere that can not be hosted on VMWare.
|
|
