A significant virtualization use case has been server virtualization, wherein a software hypervisor emulates the underlying hardware. This typically includes the I/O operations, memory and network traffic. Instead of interacting with actual hardware, the operating system interacts with the virtual hardware. In fact, according to a 2016 Gartner report, the market for server virtualization was expected to reach $5.6 billion that year, an increase of 5.7% from 2015, and many organizations have server virtualization rates that exceed 75%.
Most deployments operate using only a fraction of their capacity and resources. Using virtualization software, such as a VM (virtual machine), software can be used to simulate hardware, thereby creating a virtual system. Many such virtualized components can be run on a single server which helps to reduce operating costs, improve efficiency, and provide economies of scale.
Virtualization improves workload mobility because the virtualized environment can be easily moved from server to server. Furthermore, virtualization simplifies the provisioning of applications and resources because there is no waiting period to acquire, set up and deploy the hardware—it is all done virtually using software.
Another increasingly used type of virtualization is provided by Docker. Docker containerizes an application, not an entire hardware environment. Both VMs and Docker provide virtualization, but in different ways. Whereas a VM uses a hypervisor to emulate an environment, Docker containers are executed by a Docker engine. Gartner has predicted that, by 2020, more than 50% of global organizations will be running containerized applications in production, up from less than 20% in 2017.
The Bottom Line
These are 10 important technologies that should be at the top of your list when modernizing your IT infrastructure. Of course, there are many more that are required to fully establish a coherent IT infrastructure, but focusing on these components can help as you look to optimize your IT capabilities.