Virtualization will be the most important IT infrastructure trend through 2012, according to Gartner, Inc., dramatically changing how organizations plan for, buy, deploy and manage IT. Ultimately, virtualization can help organizations optimize their IT assets by presenting them in a way that maximizes their value to end-users and applications — rather than by device, configuration or location.

"Virtualization is hardly a new concept; storage has already been virtualized — albeit primarily within the scope of individual vendor architectures — and networking is also virtualized," said Philip Dawson, vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner. "However, as both server and PC virtualization become more pervasive, traditional IT infrastructure orthodoxy is being challenged and is changing the way business works with IT."

According to Gartner, the leading edge of this change is server virtualization, which promises to unlock much of the underutilized capacity of existing server architectures. Gartner analysts predict that more than 4 million virtual machines will be installed on x86 servers by 2009.

While the return on investment (ROI) is compelling, virtualization can be implemented badly in terms of costs, management strategy, approach, architecture and software. Many of these problems can be avoided if organizations make the proper assessments before they virtualize their machines.

FusionStorm offers these tips to help organizations maximize the success of their server virtualization initiatives.

Start Small, Think Big. From a cultural point of view, starting small is the right way to go. There is often initial resistance by stakeholders, which can be softened through training and a phased approach. The first phase should focus on server consolidation, cost savings and increased hardware use. The second phase is more strategically important, more complex to implement and provides far more value. In this phase, the focus shifts to delivering new services or improving the quality and speed of services.

Understand Software Licensing. Virtualization has been such a rapid market trend that many software vendors are evolving their pricing, licensing and support policies for virtualized environments. Operating system (OS) and application software licensing policies vary greatly – for example, Microsoft now permits 4:1 sharing of server licenses running on virtual machines, while SAP licenses per virtual CPU. As a result, organizations should seek to understand vendors’ policies in as much detail as possible.

Virtualize the Right Applications. Not every application is a good choice for virtualization. In particular, network monitoring tools, hardware-dependent applications, applications that need security “dongles” and backup servers that need direct access to hardware devices are poor candidates.

Don’t Skimp on Hardware. Because a single hardware failure can bring down multiple applications, server hardware reliability becomes more important than ever. Mission-critical applications should be clustered across servers.

Invest in Virtualization Management Tools. Contrary to popular belief, managing the OS and applications running on a virtual machine is not easier than on physical servers. Application-level monitoring is essential. Luckily, many new management tools are becoming available to help reduce the complexity of virtual server environments and ease the IT workload.

Watch for I/O Bottlenecks. As the number of applications per server increases, I/O contention becomes a real problem, particularly for applications with high I/O needs. Fatter pipes can help — in fact, virtualization may well be the “killer app” that spurs more widespread adoption of 10GB Ethernet. In addition, emerging I/O virtualization standards can help virtual applications take full advantage of available bandwidth.

Don’t Neglect Security. Rapid adoption of server virtualization is forcing companies to think about the security implications of that strategy. The hypervisor is a prime source of virtualization risk because it is responsible for managing all input and output from the server. Furthermore, the flattening of data center network topologies and the creation of server pool monocultures can result in significant sources of enterprise risk.

Beware of “VM Sprawl.” Adding virtual machines is easy, and organizations can quickly become overwhelmed. It’s important to establish policies around virtual machine deployment early on, and utilize new tools such as VMware Lifecycle Manager and Staging Manager to help maintain control.