Virtualization Project Outline

Whether you need to sell your idea to obtain funding, support, or just try it out, you can start out with free virtualization products to get yourself going with essentially zero cost. VMware and Microsoft both provide free products to help you get started. I recommend VMware Server due to its large market share and user community support quality.

I suggest the following high-level steps to run your project:

1. Implement Systems Management practices
2. Build a core virtual infrastructure
3. Create virtualized copies of representative production systems
4. Evaluate performance, utilization, and needs/purpose of each system
5. Migrate from physical to virtual and continue monitoring performance
6. Repeat with more systems

Check back for future blogs that will go into greater detail and explain each of these steps and show how you can successfully move from a physical infrastructure to a mixed one.