What is a Virtual Data Center [10 Benefits Using VMware]

A decade ago, information technology (IT) was often a thorn in the side of business owners and operators. Now, the changing face of business means IT is a competitive differentiator regardless of market or sector. The age of on-premise servers is passing away as more growing businesses rely on the benefits of data center virtualization. 

Organizations that survived with old desktops and a server in the closet running Windows Exchange and QuickBooks are now fully mobile, always connected, and cloud native. It isn’t enough anymore to have a technology footprint that simply works for the business. 

Business success and future growth are reliant on a strong technological foundation. Part of this digital revolution was made possible through virtualization. 

Virtualization is when software turns a single physical server into many virtualized or software-based servers. Virtualization makes it possible for businesses to run multiple applications in multiple environments on the same physical server. 

For example, in the past, if you had four applications, each needing four gigs of memory and 16 gigs of disk space, you would need four different servers with these specifications. 

Now, a single server with 16 gigs of memory and 64 gigs of disk space can be divided up or virtualized to accommodate all four applications, each in its own environment.

Virtual data centers are an excellent option for businesses that want to save money and increase their efficiency. A virtual data center is a centralized data center that spans the globe and is used to host applications or provide hosting for customers whose demand exceeds the capabilities of a single location.

In a virtualized data center, entire fleets of physical servers or cloud resources can be virtualized to give businesses better technology with scores of new benefits. 

While there are some instances where having a physical server or data center makes sense, a growing number of use cases slot in nicely to a virtual data center. 

Here are five advantages of data center virtualization for your business.

Virtualization technology exists to maximize the resources available in a physical machine. 

Much like a single server utilizing virtualization to operate four (or more) virtual machines, a virtual data center delivers the same resource efficiency. As a result, a virtual data center delivers the resources you require (and a little room to grow) without the burden of paying for unused hardware, connectivity, or electricity. 

The return on investment advantage for using data center virtualization is significantly greater than owning and managing your own racks of servers.

Resource allocation in virtual servers is made more efficient through virtualization, reducing the cost of managing and maintaining those servers. 

Removing the cost burden of physical space, security, power, connectivity, and server and network administrators adds to the cost savings. 

In many cases, virtual data centers are provided as Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), meaning that everything below the operating system is handled by someone else entirely. This means your team can focus on core competencies instead of managing a data center.

Another advantage of data center virtualization is management from a single pane of glass application. 

This means that provisioning new servers, making and restoring backups, handling inventory counts, and device discoverability are all simplified and streamlined. 

For example, your IT team can provide software updates or provision new instances with a few clicks instead of starting with a physical machine and working from there.

Virtualized servers provide security and faster reprovisioning not always available with a physical data center. 

For example, when using physical hardware, an interruption or catastrophic events like a flood or broken power supply can take hours or days to fix. However, with a virtualized data center, an image of the affected machine can be reprovisioned on a new virtual machine with a few mouse clicks. 

Additionally, because servers are virtualized, your team is unlikely to be responsible for the literal locks, gates, and fences that are at the start of good security in a physical data center. 

With IT security being in every organization’s best interest regardless of the market, the peace of mind that comes with a virtual data center is another benefit worth considering.

Data center virtualization gives companies of all sizes perhaps the most precious advantage in business: the ability to move quickly, also known as IT agility. This agility and flexibility is the difference between being stuck in place and moving forward for many enterprises. 

Here are a few examples showing the benefits of agility and flexibility by using data center virtualization:

• Capital expenditures on servers that will soon be obsolete are shifted to OpEx and regularly updated technology. 
• A new location can come online in a matter of minutes with a virtual data center compared to the lengthy process of standing up a new data center. 
• Unused resources and servers can be redacted in moments, no reprovisioning or recycling required. 

A virtual data center is an asset, not a drag on operations and the balance sheet.

Technology is shifting for everyone. From individual users to global enterprises, new possibilities are reshaping how the world works. Virtualization delivers benefits that are proven over time and relevant to almost every business in the world.

VMware is one of the most popular virtualization software solutions on the market, and it has many features to offer. VMware was launched on March 27th, 2000, and capitalized on the trend towards server consolidation. 

VMware technology saved customers/companies from contracting with multiple vendors, each for different departments. They saw an opportunity in giving people some portions of their respective environments and instead gave themaccess to all of it. 

VMware also allows companies to consolidate servers using VMware vSphere, reduce hardware costs by up to 40%, and save space by consolidating multiple servers into a single server with VMware virtualization.

VMware virtual data centers are an excellent way for businesses to save money and maximize their efficiency. There are a number of features that can help your business in various ways, including creating scalable VMware virtual data centers that will work with any size organization. 

Whether you’re just starting out or already have a VMware-based solution in place, VMware has something for the needs of every type of company. 

Our team of the Most Helpful Humans in Hosting® is ready and waiting to partner with you on developing an efficient IT strategy that leverages these VMware capabilities, so you can enjoy the cost savings now while preparing yourself for the future. Contact us today to learn more.