Introduction to Integrity Virtual Machines

Why use HP Integrity Virtual Machines?
Most data centers have server hardware that is under-utilized. These same data centers almost never
have enough servers to satisfy their customers. These seemingly contradictory situations have led
administrators to the obvious conclusion for years – “I should be able to make better use of the
resources I already have.” There are several virtualization products available today, but HP Integrity
Virtual Machines provides a uniquely pragmatic and effective consolidation solution.
The value of Integrity VM is realized in reducing the total cost of ownership for a server environment.
This reduction in cost is attributable to practical consolidation, increased overall system utilization and
scalability, increased flexibility in configurations, faster server provisioning, higher quality and
productivity, and improved system availability with higher capacity.
Practical consolidation on enterprise-class servers
Before discussing in detail how HP Integrity Virtual Machines achieves these reductions in cost, you
should understand the pros and cons of consolidation in the data center. Approaches to server
consolidation are varied and can be achieved at many levels:
• Application
• Middleware
• Operating System
• Hardware
Consolidation at any of these levels implies some form of consolidation at lower levels. An example
of consolidating at the middleware level is reducing the number of Oracle database instances. It is
difficult to combine these instances unless they reside on the same OS instance. That is, the Oracle
instances are no longer running on separate OS instances nor do they reside on separate physical
servers. Therefore, hardware and OS consolidation has already taken place either explicitly or
implicitly.
With consolidation, as with almost any endeavor, 20 percent of the effort gives 80 percent of the
benefit. In comparison to other consolidation approaches, consolidating at the hardware level is
analogous to 20 percent of the effort. Hardware consolidation with Integrity Virtual Machines
enables you to realize most of the consolidation benefit.
Consolidating at other levels requires additional effort for diminishing returns. Application
consolidation can be time-consuming and expensive. For example, moving all users to a single mail
application, can take months, depending on the organization. It can also have a high level of impact
on productivity and morale if not done with much careful planning and support. Similarly,
consolidating middleware instances requires a high level of expertise in the middleware, an
understanding of how it is being used by the various business applications, and what performance
impacts may result from the consolidation. Consolidation of OS instances is frequently blocked by
mutually exclusive OS or middleware version requirements (or both). Within a single OS instance,
software may be incompatible. In fact, some Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) only provide
support on dedicated servers.
Hardware consolidation, that is, multiple “virtual” servers on a single physical server, avoids many of
the pitfalls of consolidation at higher levels. HP Integrity Virtual Machines provides a superior
hardware consolidation solution, enabling multiple virtual machines with unique OS and application
combinations to share the same physical server.
HP offers this consolidation solution on its entire line of Integrity servers presenting a unique
combination of a practical consolidation solution with high-performance, enterprise-class hardware.