Creating a Foundation for Todays Enterprise-wide Virtual ...

Creating a Foundation for Today’s Enterprise-wide Virtual Infrastructure Technology Concepts and Business Considerations

Abstract

This white paper discusses how virtualization helps organizations around the globe turn their IT infrastructures into true competitive assets. We take a look at the challenges facing today’s organizations as they seek to implement the foundations of a virtualized infrastructure and present some best practices for these implementations. Topics covered in this paper include:

• A brief overview of the role virtualization plays in today’s IT environments and how virtualization helps to transform IT into a strategic asset

• Considerations when planning a virtualized data center proof of concept

• Guidelines for planning and implementing the foundation for a private cloud, the virtualized infrastructure

Finally, where appropriate, this paper briefly outlines the EMC products that support and enhance virtualization initiatives.

December 2009

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Part Number h6662

Creating a Foundation for Today’s Enterprise-wide Virtual Infrastructure Technology Concepts and Business Considerations 2

Table of Contents Executive summary ............................................................................................4 Introduction.........................................................................................................4

Audience ...................................................................................................................................... 5 Planning for a virtual infrastructure ..................................................................5

Choosing a starting point ............................................................................................................. 5 Moving beyond the virtualization proof of concept....................................................................... 6 Choosing the right hardware........................................................................................................ 7

Storage..................................................................................................................................... 7 Servers ..................................................................................................................................... 8 Networking components........................................................................................................... 9

Choosing the right virtualization platform................................................................................... 10 Performance........................................................................................................................... 10 Reliability ................................................................................................................................ 10 Feature set ............................................................................................................................. 10

Securing the virtual infrastructure .............................................................................................. 11 Training IT on virtualization........................................................................................................ 12

Conclusion ........................................................................................................13 References ........................................................................................................13


Executive summary Virtualization technologies are creating a major paradigm shift in computing today. Historically, IT organizations used a model where applications and services were tightly associated with a physical infrastructure. The physical infrastructure consisted of servers, storage, networks, network cables, switches, routers, and firewalls. All of these components were distinct devices on the network, and specialized teams were dedicated to managing these assets.

Using virtualization technologies to abstract the physical infrastructure from applications and services has changed the approach to data center design and operation. Virtualization technologies make it possible to significantly streamline the process of provisioning computing and network resources on a wide range of server and storage hardware.

Figure 1. Virtualization offers a level of abstraction from the physical environment

Over the past few years, virtualization software vendors have significantly improved their hypervisors, which are thin layers of software that mediate interactions between virtual machines and physical hardware. However, even more important is that virtualization software vendors have also made major improvements to management tools, making it possible to automate features such as high availability, dynamic resource allocation, advanced power management, automated storage allocation, and disaster recovery.

These technological advances enable a more efficient and agile data center model with key business benefits that provide strategic and tactical business advantages. These benefits include the following:

• Lower capital and operational expenditures • Increased IT agility in servicing customer requests • Enhanced business continuity • Streamlined solution development and deployment • Increased security and control • Rapid return on investment • Stronger foundation for future innovations • Ease of management and increased usability • Environmental responsibility This white paper provides a foundational framework for planning a data center based on virtualized servers. However, deploying virtual servers is just part of the journey toward moving to a “private cloud.” A private cloud is the end state of a fully virtualized data center. In this capacity, the data center is fully virtualized, and enables a number of key advantages and capabilities, such as increased agility, simplified portability, and enhanced workload mobility both within and between data centers.

Introduction This white paper shows how virtualization helps organizations around the globe turn their IT infrastructures into true competitive assets. We take a look at the challenges facing today’s organizations as they seek to implement the foundations of a virtualized infrastructure and present some best practices for these implementations. Topics covered in this paper include:


• A brief overview of the role virtualization plays in today’s IT environments and how virtualization

helps to transform IT into a strategic asset • Considerations when planning a virtualized data center proof of concept • Guidelines for planning and implementing the foundation for a private cloud, the virtualized

infrastructure Finally, where appropriate, this paper briefly outlines the EMC products that support and enhance virtualization initiatives.

Audience This white paper is intended for customers, especially application and business owners, to discuss how to virtualize an information infrastructure to lay the foundation for a private cloud. After reading this paper, you should have a clear understanding of the benefits that a virtualized infrastructure and private cloud offer to the business.

Planning for a virtual infrastructure Virtualization abstracts the hardware from the software so that software runs on any virtualized server without concern over the actual physical hardware. However, there are significant differences in how IT organizations conceptualize, design, architect, deploy, and manage a virtual infrastructure. Principles that apply to physical data centers do not always provide the same results in a virtual environment.

IT organizations must consider several important factors before they begin a private cloud initiative and the move to a virtual infrastructure. These include:

• Choosing a starting point • Moving beyond the virtualization proof of

concept • Choosing the right hardware • Choosing the right virtualization platform • Securing the virtual infrastructure • Training IT staff on virtualization IT organizations will realize improved utilization and faster realization of the benefits of virtualization by planning in these key areas. Avoiding common virtualization pitfalls will reduce migration costs and enable the reduced total cost of ownership (TCO) and high return on investment (ROI) that virtualization promises.

Figure 2. Foundational layers for a private cloud

Choosing a starting point The first step toward a virtual infrastructure is the proof of concept (POC). A POC lets IT organizations get accustomed to virtualization and the unique considerations in planning, deploying, and managing a virtual environment. A successful POC builds confidence and motivates the IT group to move to the next step in their virtualized data center blueprint and builds key skills around operational differences of managing a virtual environment.

The goals of a successful POC include:

• Validating server virtualization technologies • Discovering internal operational requirements • Assessing internal business unit acceptance


• Understanding how to define and measure return on investment The IT organization should focus on applications and services with relatively low resource demands and a relatively simple deployment model during the POC. The following workloads are good targets for a POC deployment:

• File servers • Tier 2 web servers • Tier 2 application servers • Infrastructure servers Each of these workloads has deployment and management models that have their own built-in resiliency so they are easily deployed concurrently in both a physical and virtual infrastructure. If a virtual instance of any of these workloads fails, there are redundant physical resources online to provide continuity of service. IT organizations with more resources will consider choosing a production workload and leveraging more advanced virtualization features, such as high availability and disaster recovery (discussed in the “Reliability” section).

During a POC, the IT organization should arrange server workloads that produce the best levels of server consolidation by placing virtual machines that do not contend for the same resources on the same physical server. Keep in mind that while this approach might apply to a POC deployment, advanced virtualization technology removes server-bound barriers by automatically moving virtual machines to other members of a virtual server cluster. This type of automated resource management is one of the key elements that define a dynamic private cloud.

Virtualization software vendors have tools that data center architects can use to find the best combination of services to place on a virtual server cluster. For example, the VMware Capacity PlannerTM is an IT capacity planning tool that collects comprehensive resource utilization data in heterogeneous IT environments and compares it to industry-standard reference data to provide analysis and decision-support modeling. Other virtualization vendors have similar tools.

Moving beyond the virtualization proof of concept IT groups are impressed by the benefits and the ease of deployment and management experienced during POC deployments and are motivated to move to the next phase. In a rush of enthusiasm, the team might move quickly to virtualize key line-of-business applications without considering potential bottlenecks or unexpected dependencies. This is the time to start planning for the unique demands, requirements, and capabilities of a virtualized infrastructure.

IT organizations need to use the right tools for the job. The tools used for physical deployments might not necessarily be the best for planning, deploying, and managing private clouds. IT organizations need management tools that are aware of the virtual infrastructure. These tools need to be able to monitor and manage not only the virtual servers that host the virtual machines, but also the virtual machines that are running on the virtual server cluster. Enterprise management consoles designed to manage physical servers may not be enough when managing virtual server clusters.

A second issue to consider is scope. Once the ROI and TCO benefits due to reduced power and resource consumption and streamlined management are actually experienced, IT may want to virtualize everything. The goal is that IT organizations will have more time, more fiscal resources, and more financial flexibility to carry out other tasks that drive business success. Consider planning for what will be required one, two, or three years into the future. Storage array, memory, processor, and networking should all be overprovisioned to avoid the expensive prospect of rip-and-replace, or even worse, the need to forklift the data center.


Choosing the right hardware • Your storage frameworks should support

multiple protocols simultaneously such as iSCSI, Fibre Channel, and NFS.

• The storage should have high levels of integration with VMware or other virtualization technologies

• Look for backup and recovery systems that are optimized for virtualization.

• Consider replication technologies that integrate with the virtualization platform.

• Tiering can be critical to virtualization – automated tiering yields greater benefits.

An effective virtual infrastructure requires the right hardware. The best hardware for a physical deployment might not be best for a virtualized deployment. Balance short-term expenditures against the potential for long-term expansion.

Successful virtualization projects take into account critical hardware decisions in the following areas:

• Storage • Servers • Networking components Making the right choices provides the hardware foundation on which an effective virtualized data center is built.

Storage Many POC implementations or virtualization in lab environments use direct-attached storage for hosting virtual machines. While this is reasonable in a test configuration, direct-attached storage does not enable the key scenarios that make server virtualization an attractive option. To take advantage of features such as distributed resource scheduling, live migration of virtual machines from one virtual server to another, high availability, and fault tolerance, shared storage is required.

Reliability and redundancy Another important storage consideration relates to reliability. What level of service does an organization require? Data protection and realtime failover are critical to most industries. Storage hardware that performs background block-level replication across all storage tiers can bring the private cloud well past the “five 9s” required by today’s service level agreements (SLAs).

IT organizations should deploy replication at the level of the storage array. The array should be able to take snapshots of the current data. Snapshot information can then be replicated in a number of ways to improve reliability and data protection. For example, EMC® Replication Manager manages EMC snapshot technologies through a centralized management console. Replication Manager coordinates the entire data replication process—from discovery and configuration to the management of multiple application consistent disk-based replicas.

Figure 3. Workloads vary greatly by application, so it is critical that the right storage infrastructure is chosen for the right workload

Performance Storage performance is vital in a private cloud. Performance needs to be addressed at all storage tiers. High-performance disks such as Fibre Channel, Serial Attached SCSI, or even solid-state Flash storage should be considered for high I/O, disk-bound applications such as databases. Lower-tier storage can benefit from the generous, low-cost space that is available in slower SATA drives.

Virtual infrastructures also benefit from advances in storage automation. For example, the new EMC Fully Automated Storage Tiering (FAST) technology will automate the movement of data across multiple storage tiers, including Flash storage, based upon business policies, predictive models, and realtime access patterns.


Storage arrays employing FAST technology leverage Flash performance together with the cost-effective capacities of SATA hard drives for improved ROI and lower TCO. This new technology is now available on EMC Symmetrix V-MaxTM and EMC CLARiiON® systems.

IT organizations must identify and implement rock-solid backup and archiving when it assesses storage performance. Backup strategies change in a virtual environment because multiple services, applications, and servers that were once situated on standalone physical machines connected to the network using multiple network interface cards are now consolidated onto fewer host members of a virtual server cluster. Backup performance can be severely degraded due to consolidation. Consider thin provisioning and data deduplication technologies, such as EMC Avamar® and Data Domain, which can be employed at the host or array level to improve backup performance.

Expandability IT organizations need to plan for storage growth. Perhaps the initial plans require 10 TB of storage. What will the requirements be in two years, three years, or five years? Various studies indicate that the average storage growth in a virtualized data center deployment is around 20 percent to 50 percent per year. In addition, you also need to plan for managing the expanded volume of data by leveraging data deduplication technologies and strategies.

Storage communication protocols Choosing the right storage protocol is an important consideration. Should the private cloud use iSCSI, Fibre Channel, or NFS? This decision might be based on the current shared storage solution. Even if the IT organization has standardized on a storage protocol, it might want to consider expanding its options by deploying a new storage framework that supports all three protocols by using a unified storage platform such as EMC’s Celerra®.

Decisions are often made based on an organization’s current investments in storage technology. While “sunk costs” need to be considered, IT also must consider the evolving storage technology landscape. For example, future directions in unified communications promoted by Cisco Systems, Inc. may lead to consolidation around IP and Ethernet, making technologies such as 10 Gigabit iSCSI and Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) the preferred solutions. Information and data center infrastructure providers such as EMC that provide support for multiple storage protocols expand the future options available to the virtualized data center.

Servers Server virtualization allows for high levels of resource utilization through server consolidation, but it still requires investments in server hardware to host the solution. Two areas where you need to pay particular attention include reliability and performance.

Reliability • Consider how many servers to acquire to ensure uptime and reliability.

• The number of servers used to host virtual machines determines what features might be available to IT.

• The level of virtualization overhead varies. • IT should purchase server hardware that

can alleviate potential performance bottlenecks.

Consider how many servers to acquire to ensure uptime and reliability. The number of servers used to host virtual machines determines what features might be available, such as live migration, fault tolerance, and high availability. A minimum of two servers in a virtual server cluster are required for failover. Servers need to be equipped with enough network adapters to support traffic generated by multiple physical servers that have been consolidated onto a single virtual cluster.

Consolidate the number of network interface cards (NICs) on the virtual cluster members by using high-bandwidth 10 Gb/s network adapters. Some virtualization solutions, such as those available from VMware, enable virtual interfaces that can fail over physical NICs. This provides benefits similar to NIC teaming. Similarly, consider how many host bus adapters (HBAs) are required. At least two HBAs should be included in each cluster member to provide high availability. Also consider adding HBAs to support high-performance multipathing solutions, such as EMC PowerPath®, when fast I/O for multiple concurrent application workloads is required. Converged adapters are also important.


Performance Virtualization typically introduces 2 percent to 5 percent CPU overhead compared to a physical solution. Consider purchasing server hardware that can alleviate potential performance bottlenecks.

Be aware that average overhead figures might not tell the entire story. Overhead and performance impact can be application-specific, with some workloads actually performing better in a virtual environment, such as certain Microsoft Exchange deployment scenarios. The virtual infrastructure is also highly dependent on the performance of the underlying storage platform where the virtual machines are stored. To maximize performance, it is equally important to select storage platforms that are optimized for virtualized environments.

Server processors should include instructions that provide hardware assistance for virtualization. Both Intel and AMD have chip-based virtualization support in the forms of Intel Virtualization Technology (Intel VT) and AMD-V. Hardware support for virtualization removes some of the overhead that is involved with binary translation in handling virtual machine requests to the physical hardware. In addition to hardware virtualization enhancements, newer processors include advanced technologies that enable higher performance per processor, thereby allowing higher levels of consolidation that significantly impact return on investment. These faster processors, coupled with greater levels of scalability for guest operating systems, open the door for virtualizing a larger percentage of Tier 1 servers that require high performance.

Some virtualization solutions can leverage Wake on LAN (WOL) to perform advanced power management. For example, VMware Distributed Power Management (DPM) can detect when overall activity within a virtual server cluster supports shutting down a cluster member to save power. VMware vCenter has the capability to migrate a VM to an active server before shutting down the physical server. WOL technology can then be used to turn on the cluster member again when needed.

Networking components Servers that run as virtual machines need to communicate with each other within the cluster and with other clients and servers on the corporate network. When planning a supporting network infrastructure, key areas of consideration include performance and redundancy and feature set.

Performance and redundancy • Consider the physical network

infrastructure and how it supports the virtualized data center, keeping in mind that failures can happen at all levels of the network infrastructure.

• Choose virtualization solutions that integrate new networking capabilities.

Enterprise-class virtualization software, such as VMware vSphere, can use features such as VMware Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS) to automatically move virtual machines to different members of the virtual cluster, making it unlikely that the virtual server administrator will know where a particular virtual machine is situated at any single point in time. Virtualization architects will need to design dedicated network paths to facilitate communication between virtual machines contained within the same cluster and isolate this segment from other network activity.

Also consider the physical network infrastructure and how it supports the virtualized data center. Server consolidation not only consolidates the processor and memory requirements onto a single host machine or cluster, but also requires that the network be able to handle the aggregate throughput generated by all the virtual machines. Make sure that adequate throughput for the consolidated solution is supported by the network and switching infrastructure. Organizations should also plan for a redundant supporting network infrastructure. Multiple adapters can be virtually teamed. Redundancy needs to be considered not only at the port level, but also at the level of the PCI interface, as is the case when using dual-head adapters.

Feature set Virtualization software has always supported network connectivity between virtual machines located on the same virtual server by using simple virtual switch technology. These virtual switches allow for broadcast segmentation and isolation similar to physical Layer 2 switches.

As virtual infrastructures continue to advance and move toward replicating the characteristics and behavior of physical infrastructures, a new focus on virtual networking has emerged. Networking divisions in IT organizations have been resistant to embrace virtualization because they lose the visibility into network


activity that they have on the physical network. To bring network specialists into the fold, it is important to consider virtualization solutions that integrate new networking capabilities into the virtual networking fabric. For example, VMware has partnered with Cisco to enable a completely virtualized Layer 3 managed switch that runs completely within the VMware environment.

Choosing the right virtualization platform Three key areas should be considered when organizations choose a virtualization platform:

• Performance • Reliability • Feature set Choosing the right virtualization platform from the beginning is important because it helps to avoid painful and time-consuming attempts at large-scale migrations from one platform to another after organizations discover that the initial choice did not meet enterprise requirements.

Performance All virtualization software solutions have unique performance characteristics, which are related to the overhead introduced by the virtualization software. In addition, different virtualization solutions handle peak load conditions in different ways; some solutions use innovative techniques such as memory overcommit to keep the entire data center running with reasonable performance even when stressed.

Another performance consideration is related to how the virtualization software handles guest operating systems. Virtual data center architects need to determine what operating systems need to be virtualized. They then need to find a virtualization solution that supports those operating systems. Virtualization vendors that support paravirtualization for the desired operating systems can deliver improved performance.

Reliability The virtualization platform needs to be reliable. Reliability is absolutely critical, since a dozen or more virtual machines are dependent on the hypervisor and management infrastructure controlling access to the hardware. Unlike the physical world where unreliable hardware might affect a single server at a time, an unreliable virtualization platform can take down a major portion of the data center. For example, clustering on shared storage is an ideal means of providing reliability on a virtualized platform. Your solution should support this and similar features.

• All virtualization software solutions have unique performance characteristics related to virtualization overhead.

• Reliability is critical, since a dozen or more virtual machines are dependent on the hypervisor controlling access to the hardware.

• Consider the experiences of comparable enterprises, maturity of the solution, market demographics, and the vendor's support infrastructure.

• Focus on not only the ability to put together a disaster recovery plan but also a way to confirm that the plan works.

• Management tools for the virtualized data center should enable visibility into multiple levels of the virtual deployment.

• Management tools should also let members of various teams within the IT organization access the components for which they are responsible.

• Choose a virtualization platform that integrates smoothly with the vendor solutions that are already in place.

Feature set Each virtualization software vendor will offer a number of features. The most effective way to evaluate a feature set is to first determine the organization’s requirements. After listing requirements, this list can be compared to each vendor’s features. This helps to narrow the focus to what is needed, rather than getting lost in a comparison of “who has more features.”

When evaluating features, consider the following:

• Business continuity options • Management tools • Vendor ecosystem


Business continuity options One of the major advantages conferred by the virtualized data center is the ability to more easily design and deploy business continuity plans. Unlike hardware-bound infrastructures, virtual infrastructures are independent of the hardware that runs the virtual machines. This enables many more options for automated approaches to business continuity, while at the same time reduces the overall cost of the solution because fewer physical servers are required.

When evaluating business continuity options, consider not only the ability to put together a disaster recovery plan but also a way to confirm that the plan works. Traditionally, disaster recovery plans were created by a single person or group at a particular point in time. That plan was codified into a “runbook.” The problem was that key personnel might leave or that application architectures might change, which leads to the runbook no longer being useful or accurate. The virtualization solution needs to simplify disaster recovery plans, enable automated testing to confirm that the plans are still valid, and do this automatically without adding significant IT overhead. VMware’s vCenter Site Recovery Manager (SRM) can deliver this kind of disaster recovery automation. For example, by virtualizing with VMware, you can install SRM and greatly reduce your RTO over that of physical environments.

Management tools You need the right management tools to run an efficient virtual infrastructure. An ideal set of management tools will enable visibility into multiple levels of the virtual deployment. This includes exposing information and configuration options at the virtual server, virtual server cluster, virtual machine, storage, and application levels, so that all aspects of the deployment are visible to the administrator. For example, EMC has made available management plug-ins that work with the VMware vCenter console, such as Navisphere® and Ionix™.

Management tools should also let members of various teams within the organization access the components for which they are responsible. For example, members of the networking team should be able to access the virtual networking settings without being able to view or configure disaster recovery or power management features. The same might be true for storage administrators. Delegation of administration provides the insight and control each team requires while enforcing least-privilege access.

The vendor ecosystem Virtualization platforms need to integrate and co-exist with existing software, hardware, operating system, and middleware offerings that are provided by a large number of vendors and service providers. One of the greatest challenges in selecting the right virtualization platform is to make a decision that is consistent with the current computing infrastructure. If the virtualization platform does not integrate smoothly with the vendor solutions that are already in place, the IT organization will need to find physical options for those applications or services. This ends up detracting from the overall value that data center virtualization can provide.

Securing the virtual infrastructure Security is just as important in virtualized data centers as it is in the physical counterpart. There is often an assumption that security is less of a concern because virtual machines are isolated from the host operating system. This is not true, and virtual infrastructure architects need to be aware that security continues to be a top-line issue and that there are security considerations specific for virtual environments.

Security is a top-line issue, and there are security considerations that are specific for virtual environments.

The IT organization needs to consider the following key issues when it designs security policies for a virtualized data center:

• IT organizations need to be able to secure their specific areas within the virtualized data center. Security should not be put into a silo and pushed onto the virtual cluster administrator. Application, service, and network teams need to apply their security expertise to the virtualized components of their areas.


• Security zoning and segmentation apply to both physical and virtual environments. Resources should

be grouped based on their security context. Collections of services that are isolated from one another on physical segments should be isolated from one another by placing them in different virtual clusters.

• Use dedicated network adapters for management. Two network adapters should be provisioned for fault tolerance. This reduces the risk of exposing the entire virtual infrastructure to an attacker. Consider using advanced security models, such as host-based firewalls or IP Security (IPsec), to limit access to the management network interface.

• Many virtual infrastructures contain virtual machines that stay offline for days or weeks. The longer virtual machines stay offline, the more time they have to reach a state of noncompliance. The virtualization platform should provide tools that allow both online and offline servicing of virtual machines so that the entire virtual infrastructure remains within compliance guidelines.

As in the physical computing world, virtual infrastructure security is a process. There is no “secure it once and call it good” process in either the physical data center or private cloud.

Training IT on virtualization Virtualization changes the way many things are done in the data center, and IT groups need to be trained in how to plan, design, deploy, and manage the virtual infrastructure. The POC phase will introduce IT groups to some of the core concepts of virtualization and expose them to some of the potential technological advantages that virtualization can deliver. But the POC phase is just the beginning. When choosing a virtualization platform, the IT group might want to consider what expertise is already in house. Some virtualization solutions are more popular than others, and this leads to a greater number of administrators who can quickly learn the extended concepts that are required for a production-level virtualized data center.

IT groups need to be trained in how to plan, design, deploy, and manage the virtual infrastructure.

One way to quickly onboard an IT organization is to bring in experienced consultants who have extensive experience with all aspects of a virtualized data center deployment. These consultants can help plan, architect, deploy, and assist with initial management while also delivering valuable knowledge transfer to the corporate IT staff who will run the solution going forward. In addition, experienced consultants can help the IT organization move closer to a private cloud environment, where all aspects of the IT environment are virtualized. EMC offers a number of consulting options that can support IT in all phases of a virtualized data center deployment.


Conclusion Virtualization technologies have created a major paradigm shift in computing. These evolving technologies make it possible to easily provision computing resources on a wide range of server and storage hardware. These technological advances enable a more efficient and agile data center model. However, IT organizations must consider several important factors before they begin a virtual infrastructure project. Major areas of consideration include choosing a starting point, moving beyond the virtualization POC, choosing the right hardware and virtualization platform, securing the virtual infrastructure, and training IT staff on virtualization. In this paper we discussed each of these key areas and provided examples of issues in functionality and products that can be used to optimize the private cloud.

References EMC For more information on EMC, visit the following pages at EMC.com:

• EMC Backup, Recovery, and Archiving solutions page http://www.emc.com/solutions/business-need/backup-recovery-archiving/index.htm

• EMC Storage solutions page

http://www.emc.com/products/category/storage.htm • EMC Virtualization solutions page

http://www.emc.com/products/category/virtualization.htm • EMC Celerra Family page

http://www.emc.com/products/family/celerra-family.htm • EMC Replication Manager page

http://www.emc.com/products/detail/software/replication-manager.htm • “Current Capabilities and Future Directions for Fully Automated Storage Tiering” video

http://www.emc.com/collateral/demos/microsites/mediaplayer-video/intro-fast.htm • EMC Symmetrix V-Max page

http://www.emc.com/products/detail/hardware/symmetrix-v-max.htm • EMC Avamar page

http://www.emc.com/products/detail/software/avamar.htm • “EMC to Acquire Data Domain” press release

http://www.emc.com/about/news/press/2009/20090708-02.htm

VMware For more information on VMware, visit the following pages at VMware.com: • VMware Server & Datacenter Virtualization Products page

http://www.vmware.com/products/datacenter-virtualization.html


http://www.emc.com/solutions/business-need/backup-recovery-archiving/index.htm

http://www.emc.com/products/category/storage.htm

http://www.emc.com/products/category/virtualization.htm

http://www.emc.com/products/family/celerra-family.htm

http://www.emc.com/products/detail/software/replication-manager.htm

http://www.emc.com/collateral/demos/microsites/mediaplayer-video/intro-fast.htm

http://www.emc.com/products/detail/hardware/symmetrix-v-max.htm

http://www.emc.com/products/detail/software/avamar.htm

http://www.emc.com/about/news/press/2009/20090708-02.htm

http://www.vmware.com/products/datacenter-virtualization.html

• “Using a Private Cloud to Improve Exchange Performance”

http://blogs.vmware.com/performance/2009/07/using-a-private-cloud-to-improve-exchange-performance.html

• VMware Distributed Power Management: Concepts and Usage

http://www.vmware.com/resources/techresources/1080 • VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager page

http://www.vmware.com/products/srm/ • “Memory Overcommitment in the Real World”

http://blogs.vmware.com/virtualreality/2008/03/memory-overcomm.html Cisco For more information on Cisco, visit the following pages at Cisco.com: • Cisco Unified Communications page

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/netsol/ns151/networking_solutions_unified_communications_home.html • Cisco Nexus 1000V Series Switches page

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps9902/




http://www.vmware.com/resources/techresources/1080

http://www.vmware.com/products/srm/

http://blogs.vmware.com/virtualreality/2008/03/memory-overcomm.html

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/netsol/ns151/networking_solutions_unified_communications_home.html

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps9902/

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