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| Vol. 4, No. 5 : july 16, 2003 |
CIOview eUpdate
Application Server Consolidation:
Getting It Right In Your Organization
It's my party and. . .
At the end of almost every child's birthday party Goodie Bags are handed out. Each child then controls his own candy destiny. The downside of the Goodie Bag approach is the increased cost of all that individually wrapped candy, as well as the labor expended by some adult to make up the bags. Add to this children's tendency to eat only the candies they like best, and the result is that the amount of the candy bag actually utilized is quite low.
Certainly a more economical approach to providing sweets would be a large bowl all of the children could select from as they leave. However, such an approach would require that all the children did not rush to get their candy at the same time. There would have to be rules about how many pieces each child could take. There even should be a rule about how many of each candy type can be taken to ensure a good selection is still there for the last child.
Companies generally have adhered to the Goodie Bag strategy for their application server consolidation. Traditionally there is one server for each application. This approach eliminates resource contention between applications, the same way goodie bags eliminate all the kids running to the candy bowl at the same time. The result is that most companies have hordes of Intel servers running at very low average utilization rates, poor availability and high IT staffing costs.
The good news is that companies dramatically can reduce the number of deployed servers by implementing an application consolidation effort that will allow different applications to run on the same physical server. However, after a server consolidation all of these functions will be competing for the same processor, memory and disk resources. To avoid contention for the same resources, application consolidation requires you to use system management software and/or partitioning.
CIOview is excited to announce TCOnow! for Industry Application Consolidation, a new member of its TCOnow! family of products designed exclusively to address these issues.
The basic concept of application consolidation is straightforward and economically compelling in many cases. However to arrive at the optimal server configuration requires extensive analysis to measure the impact of:
- Clustering Partitioning Storage Area Network (SAN)
- And finally, Just how big a box is required
Because each workload stresses the architecture of a server in a different way, it is difficult to estimate what the average utilization on a particular server should be. The decision to cluster servers involves trading off the extra hardware costs against the savings that are likely from less downtime.
Partitioning involves a complex set of variables since some manufacturers' servers allow only physical partitioning while others offer partitioning by logic. There are pros and cons associated with each approach, and then you have to determine the ideal number of partitions.
The decision to implement a SAN requires a multipart comparison. On one hand there is the cost of a SAN. On the other, there are downtime and possible IT staff savings, in conjunction with server savings that may be obtained since fewer servers may be required as compared to directly attached storage.
Moving to a larger server generally will improve downtime, reduce IT staffing requirements and so forth, but how big should you go? There are trade-offs between spending more on a larger box, and savings that may accrue from costs such as facilities and software.
TCOnow! allows you to compare, quickly and accurately, the economics of server consolidation and answer the questions posed above: How big a box? Can I partition? Is a SAN right for my application?
Depending on your workload profile and the various specifications you outlined, your benefits associated with a server consolidation strategy may include the ability to:
- Handle higher transaction loads on one server, leading to fewer servers Increase partitions on one server Merge test and development functions on to a production server Lower Windows Server costs through partitioning Increase transactions per processor, thus reducing CPU license costs Install fewer servers Require less physical space (racks, rent) Have fewer server management staff Have fewer storage management staff Reduce unscheduled outages due to superior hardware
- Lower the number of scheduled outages
Consolidating application servers is not a difficult concept to grasp. The economics are straightforward and in most cases compelling. TCO analysis will introduce discipline to the server purchase process and, if not eliminate, at least subdue the political wars and the accompanying techno-rhetoric. The financial stakes associated with server consolidation are much too high to be politicized.
CIOview White Paper:
How To Craft An Effective ROI Analysis
An effective ROI analysis is less about the ROI and more about the analysis. Figuring out what to include in the analysis, ensuring that you dont miss any substantial costs or benefits, and understanding the dependencies are core to a meaningful ROI analysis. Here's a primer on just how to do the analysis in your ROI analysis. Read it now.
TCO Webinar: Industry Application Consolidation
Join us for a complementary Web seminar:
Preparing the Business Case for Your Application Server Consolidation Strategy
Tuesday, July 29, 2003 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time
This Web seminar will explain how quickly CIOview's unique, easy-to-use software can get you to a detailed TCO report customized to your IT initiative. Space is limited, so contact CIOview today to reserve your place for this informative demonstration.
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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. |
