Successful server consolidation: it is all in the preparation

Successful server consolidation: it's all in the preparation
Another consolidation objective might be to move towards one platform for all of your IT
needs. This would reduce compatibility issues and also make for a much less complex
infrastructure.
Strategic
If your servers all are running one application with utilization numbers hovering around
10%, the primary objective of a server consolidation initiative would be to help improve
resource utilization. A successful consolidation initiative would allow you to allocate
resources more efficiently and easily introduce new hardware and software into your IT
environment.
A combination of financial, operational, and strategic objectives will allow you to focus
your server consolidation on the key areas of impact for your entire organization. The
right combination of hardware, software, and services can help you achieve improved
service levels while ensuring the efficiency, scalability, flexibility, and security at the
infrastructure core. Your IT environment will be positioned better to optimize today’s
business assets for tomorrow’s needs.
Consolidation
considerations
A successful server consolidation initiative entails much more than just retiring old servers
and using newer, bigger, more powerful servers to handle compute needs. In order to
drive quantifiable business results such as lower costs, improved service levels, and
enhanced business flexibility, it is imperative to consider three key aspects of a successful
server consolidation initiative: performing the analysis that determines whether your IT
environment is a candidate for server consolidation, streamlining the infrastructure, and
maximizing resources.
Performing an
analysis for server
consolidation
candidacy
One of the most important aspects of server consolidation takes place long before
implementing a solution. It is impossible to implement a cost-effective, appropriate
solution without performing an in-depth analysis of your current IT environment. The
current server architecture should be accounted for. Inventory should be taken of all the
server hardware, including storage, if applicable. Operating systems should be
accounted for, because it is not uncommon to have different operating systems running
various applications in an IT environment. Other factors to consider include the number
of engineers needed to maintain the network, how many users it supports, and future
manpower considerations.
For a complete and thorough analysis, it is recommended that an outside company, or
companies, be responsible. Along with the benefit of having someone who is not
“married” to your IT environment analyze it, the team responsible also brings their
experiences with other consolidation efforts and the knowledge of best practices that
might benefit your IT environment.
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