Several people I have talked too think that virtualizing their environment with VMware is just too expensive. They are looking at the whole pie and not taking individual pieces.
Step #1 - Consolidation
How many physical servers do you have in a server room (or closet as the case may be)?
For most mid-size companies this could be 10-15 or more servers. In our case it was close to 30 servers and growing when I started our virtualization project.
So how to start? This seems to be one of the thorniest issues around. Do you go "all-in" or start slow with some small scale proof-of-concept P2V (physical-to-virtual) conversions? Truth is, go with what you are comfortable with. If you have zero virtualization experience, I suggest starting with a workstation product for a few weeks to get used to working in a virtualized environment.
If you are more comfortable in virtualization then find an older server and install on of the free hypervisors - my preference is VMware ESXi free edition. It is exactly the same as the super expensive vSphere Enterprise Plus edition but just does not contain all the management tools and features. A great way to start down the path.
Also, don't be fooled by the hype - Consolidation ratios published by VMware are TRUE!!
I have achieved 12 to 15 server consolidation ratio. That is, on a single dual processor server I am running, in production, 12-15 virtualized servers. The largest constraint on consolidate I have found is - RAM. Not disk I/O, not network performance, not CPU but physical RAM in the server.
We have virtualized SQL Server 2005, Exchange 2007, Red-Hat Linux, Hyperion, GE iFix WebSpace and many other production, "Tier 1" applications.
Next post - Step 2 - Physical Servers and why you don't need to purchase the newest, greatest fire-breathing monster of a server for virtualization. Chances are you either have one today you can use or you can get one rather inexpensively.
So, get out there and go for it!
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