ABSTRACT
Th is chapter provides soup-to-nuts server virtualization usage scenarios, which build upon the ideas presented in the previous chapter. Practical use cases are presented to show how server virtualization solves problems more easily than traditional approaches. Th ese pain points or problems facing organizations cross over into their IT departments. By utilizing virtualization, these departments can learn to solve these problems in a more effi cient manner, saving on both time and cost, and allowing their departments to succeed in areas that would previously cause them productivity problems without answers. Th ese departments are made up of the following groups:
ƒ Software Development and QA/Testing ƒ Technical Support and Help Desk ƒ Software Training and E-Learning Systems
Let’s face it; software manufacturing is not getting any easier. On the contrary, it is becoming more and more diffi cult to get a quality software product to market. As the number of operating system choices (along with their hot fi xes, patches, and service packs) continue to increase, the development and testing eff ort to ensure the application performs as expected on each platform becomes exhausting. In addition, today’s applications may also need to support multiple browser versions, various databases, and have strong interoperability with other applications. Th e problems compound as software manufacturers are faced with obstacles such as a decreasing budget, the demand for a shorter product life
cycle, and the need to deliver the products to market quickly. Unfortunately in today’s world of software, it is sometimes more important to be the fi rst to market rather than the best. However, time to market and quality of product do not have to be mutually exclusive. In fact, by accepting virtualization as a tool, it can help address the department budget problem, accelerate the development cycle, and improve product quality and productivity.
