CIOview eUpdate
Bigger is Better. . .or Is It?
The financial implications of Web Server Consolidation

One of the unique delights of the go-go days of the Internet was that small companies could look big. The other side of the coin was that big companies, in many cases, were made to look slow. An Internet presence was the goal for all companies, and IT was given whatever resources required to get a result in short order. The question for many companies was "If we build it, will they come?", but how many will come?

The great enigma of Web traffic volume led many companies to over-configure their initial hardware. For others, the problem was keeping up with insatiable growth without controls in place to track servers. Regardless of whether your company was a victim of over-configuration or of adding too many servers in an effort to catch up to a growth curve that is now flat, the end result is the same -- lots of Web servers, many running at very low rates of utilization.

Determining the financial impact of having fewer Web servers has a reputation of being a black art. Part of the reason for this magical status is that there are a tremendous number of different variables to be taken into account when determining the optimal system configuration. For example:

• What servers have to be unique because they contain information that needs to be on a separate resource?
• Will you cluster your servers?
• Will you deploy a Storage Area Network (SAN)?
• How do you determine what the average server utilization rate will be?
• How do you configure your system to account for daily and seasonal peaks?

	Web Server Consolidation: Technical Considerations Addressed in TCOnow! The complexity of the pages the Web servers must deal with The amount of security required Whether or not the pages are dynamic and/or cached Number of site visits per day Number of pages served per site visit Level of RAID desired Hours of Operations Effect of a server failure Decisions whether or not to deploy a cluster Decision whether or not to implement a SAN Sizing for current or future need

New Tool to Analyze Web Server Consolidation Available

CIOview is pleased to announce a new member of its TCOnow! product family -- TCOnow! for Web Server Consolidation -- explicitly designed to address these issues:.

This software tool allows an organization to understand the cost factors and dependencies of their existing Web servers, and assess what approach they can take to have the most cost effective Web server configuration going forward.

Summing It Up

Historically, there are many reasons why companies ended up where they are with their Web servers. The good news is now there are ways to quickly review the various Web server alternatives and see how each approach affect the economics of Web server consolidation. There are probably very few companies that will not benefit from Web consolidation. As a result, Web server consolidation, when executed properly, represents a quick financial win.

Free Interactive Tool on the Web

CIOview has an online PreView that allows you to sample its new Web Server Consolidation TCO tool. You can try it now, just click here. Remember, PreView is just 5% of what you get with the full Web Server Consolidation analysis tool.

	Join us for a complementary Web seminar: Bigger is Better...Or is It?: Financial Implications of Web Server Consolidation Tuesday, January 7, 2003 10:00 a.m. EST; 7:00 a.m. PT To register send your name, company, phone and e-mail to info@cioview.com. Space is limited.

			4TCOnow! for Web Server Consolidation 4TCOnow! for Web Application Development 4ROInow! for WebSphere Portals 4ROInow! for WebSphere Commerce 4TCOnow! for Industry Application Consolidation	more info?

All contents are Copyright © 2005 CIOview Corp. All rights reserved. Patents pending. CIOview® and ROInow!® are registered trademarks, and TCOnow!™, SecurityNOW!™, Simplifying IT Purchasing™, Business Value Library™, CompareITnow™, Real-Time TCO, and Real-Time ROI™ are trademarks of CIOview Corp. Disclaimer: This information is provided to you as a tool "as is" with the understanding that there are no representations or warranties of any kind either express or implied. CIOview disclaims all warranties including, but not limited to, implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. More information.