Quoting from TMCnet:
59% Are Using Server Virtualization While Only 16% Are Using Storage Virtualization
TheInfoPro (TIP), www.TheInfoPro.net, has released Wave 1 of its Server Study. According to in-depth interviews with leading-edge Server professionals conducted by TheInfoPro (TIP), the top priority among Fortune 1000 companies is to cut Server costs while creating operational efficiencies. Server Virtualization was cited as the means to accomplish this, with Server Virtualization Software receiving the highest scores on TIP’s patent-pending Technology Heat Index.
TIP’s Technology Heat Index factors in the current and planned usage of over 30 different Server hardware and software technologies, including Server Virtualization, Blade Servers, Infiniband, Grid Computing, Embedded Storage Switches, and Load Balancing Software, prioritizing them based on the immediacy of planned implementation and near-term spending.
“59% of Server pros report “slicing” servers into smaller virtual servers while another 30% have the technique ‘in plan’,” notes Bob Gill, TIP’s Chief Research Officer. Server pros cite the obvious hardware savings in server consolidation as an initial motivator but quickly experience the flexibility and reduction in operational expense by being able to dynamically provision server instances on different physical server boxes. Server “slicing” products such as VMware from EMC and Microsoft’s Virtual Server 2005 are among the most exciting products in the study, with the Virtualization Software category leading in TIP’s Technology Heat Index(TM).” While EMC’s VMware is cited as the leading vendor in users’ plans, users report that Microsoft is moving aggressively with its own Virtual Server 2005 product. Server pros report that VMware is a more mature and stable product, but Microsoft’s pricing, presence in most accounts, and its deep pool of development resources makes it an inevitable contender.
TIP has been studying the Open Systems Storage market for over three years and has not found nearly as much enthusiasm for Storage Virtualization. In the Wave 5 F1000 Storage Management Study released in Spring 2005, only 16% report Storage Virtualization in use while 41% do not have it in plan. Many reasons are cited for the tepid adoption rates and avoidance, including interoperability issues as many shops have multiple vendors, and hype about solutions that are not production ready.
TIP research has tracked the major shift that the Fortune 1000 has made to Tiered Storage over the past 18 months and with that move a large challenge has developed that virtualization has the potential to help with. “Number one on the storage pro’s wish list is to seamlessly move data between tiers. It is a real pain point now that tiers are in place and all data does not need to be treated equally,” notes TIP’s CEO and Founder Ken Male. “The bulk of the companies interviewed that have Storage Virtualization in the near and long term plan cite Data Migration/Mobility as the functionality they want to get out of it,” concludes Male.
The TIP Server and Storage Studies capture participating company’s technology roadmaps, vendor performance ratings and spending plans along with detailed narrative commentary for context. Over 125 technology providers are discussed including IBM, HP, Dell, Sun, AMD, Intel, Egenera, Brocade, McDATA, QLogic, Cisco, Broadcom, Microsoft, EMC/VMWare, Red Hat, Novell SUSE, Opsware, RLX, Network Appliance, Emulex, 3Com, Citrix, VERITAS, Foundry, Acopia, NeoPath, NuView, HDS, Rainfinity, CommVault, CA, Softek, FalconStor and BMC.
“Wave 1 of the TIP Server Study complements and supplements our industry standard offerings in the Storage, Networking, and Information Security markets where a new wave of a study is issued every six months via in-depth interviews with domain experts at Fortune 1000, Mid-market and European companies,” comments TIP CEO Ken Male. “In many cases, Server pros are beginning to look at servers as digital instances of a specific configuration of OS, Application, and Data, to be run anywhere as opposed to a physical ‘box’,” adds Gill. “This makes the synergies between Servers and Storage that much more important.”
Over 800 IT decision makers are members of the proprietary TIPNetwork, including Citigroup, BellSouth, Honeywell, P&G, and Visa. To learn more about TIP’s independent, objective research process visit www.theinfopro.net
Additional information about the Server Study can be viewed in a multi-media presentation located at: www.brainshark.com/theinfopro/ServerWave1_Web
A sample from the Storage Management Study is located at: www.brainshark.com/theinfopro/Stor_W5_MGT