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So much has been written about consolidation that IT managers can be forgiven for thinking of it as old hat. Most IT shops either periodically consolidate servers as part of an ongoing process or else undertake occasional projects to reduce the number of servers in the datacenter.
But the fact is consolidation is cool again, and now is a good time to get serious about your strategy. With the crushing costs of energy, combined with data center construction running at $1000 per square foot1 or more, it's no wonder that IT groups are seeking ways to gain new efficiencies and streamline operations. At the same time, business groups are keeping up the pressure for more and more performance and availability.
Multi-core Processors Turn Down the Heat
Recent developments in technology make now the best time ever to move to fewer, more capable servers. The advent of multi-core processors, energy-efficient servers and virtualization technology is driving this opportunity by enabling affordable high-performance in devices with smaller footprints that consume less power and emit less heat.
Newly introduced servers with multi-core processors are an excellent consolidation platform, delivering three to five times the performance of systems that were offered just 12 to 18 months ago.2 Dual-socket, quad-core processors represent the sweet spot for the vast majority of applications, delivering the best price-performance value in rack-mounted or blade servers.
In a recent VMware test, three of Dell's dual socket quad-core servers delivered up to 44 percent better performance, 57 percent more performance-per-watt and 95% better price/performance than two HP servers with 4-socket dual-core processors. One Intel Xeon 5300 quad-core server was 66 percent faster than eight 733 MHz Pentium III servers and 34% faster than Intel 5148 dual-core servers in Intel IT testing.3
With an average server utilization of less than 10 percent4 across all industries, it pays to consolidate. When done correctly, consolidation results in not only fewer servers, but also reduced space occupied in the data center (more room to scale out); lower energy consumption; simplified and reduced management workloads and lower overall TCO.
Energy-efficient Servers Deliver Performance
Recent energy efficiency improvements of servers help make consolidation pay off quickly. It's now possible to gain performance improvement and workload capacity while cutting energy consumption.
Energy Smart servers dramatically reduce energy consumption over previous generation servers and deliver up to three times the performance-per-watt. Today's most advanced servers sport energy-saving features like high efficiency power supplies that reduce power at lower workloads, temperature-controlled variable speed fans and low voltage processors with tools that enable power reductions at the chip level when workloads allow.
In a recent study of performance, power use and performance per watt, the Dell PowerEdge Energy Smart servers increased performance by 80% over previous generation servers while cutting power consumption by 40 %, resulting in a 200% increase in performance per watt.5
Virtualizing for Efficiency
Virtualization is a powerful technology that should be a part of any enterprise's consolidation plan. Because numerous virtual machines (applications and their operating environments) can reside on a single physical server, virtualization effectively turbocharges asset utilization.
Virtualization also delivers flexibility to IT groups, enabling them to quickly deploy new applications without having to buy new hardware. By shuttling virtual machines easily among physical servers, maintenance becomes a cinch, downtime is all but eliminated, and greater availability is achieved.
Don't Forget to Consolidate Storage
If you view your enterprise's critical data as a strategic resource, then consolidating storage makes sense. It can be awkward and cumbersome to manage data when it's spread among various servers. By consolidating storage onto a Storage Area Network (SAN) or Network Attached Storage (NAS), data can be made available to those who need it, when they need it. When storage is centralized, management is simplified, and the time required for data backup and archiving is greatly reduced.
Many small and medium businesses use NAS appliances for their low cost and ability to attach directly to their IP network, though these systems can become complex to manage as storage needs expand and the number of appliances grows. SANs provide the ability to scale without limits, but do require more sophisticated network skills to manage.
One fairly recent innovation that's made it much more affordable to connect to a SAN is the iSCSI gateway, which uses standard IP networking equipment and protocols instead of expensive and complex Fibre Channel technology. Many enterprises are embracing iSCSI as a cost-effective way to access shared storage systems, which appear as local hard drives.
Consolidating Makes Sense
There are many reasons to consolidate, from the cost savings that result from managing and maintaining fewer servers to the higher availability gained from running a more streamlined data center. There are also fewer software licenses to buy, lower electric bills, reduced cooling demands and greater opportunities to employ common management tools for simpler administration and better security.
But perhaps the best reason to consolidate is strategic. A lean data center that utilizes assets efficiently is better able to respond with agility to the demands of business, roll out new services more quickly and better enable the enterprise to adapt to changing market conditions. The good news is that now is the best time ever to consolidate.
Moving to a Scale Out Infrastructure with Dell
Dell is committed to helping enterprises optimize and streamline their IT infrastructure to support their business initiatives. To achieve this goal, Dell offers a range of products and services designed to help businesses reduce hardware sprawl and administrative overhead.
Dell's PowerEdge Servers are a cost-effective platform for consolidation, delivering excellent serviceability, manageability and high performance. Dell's OpenManage system management tool helps enterprises manage and logically consolidate their environment using common processes and standard system management procedures.
Dell has partnered with leading companies, such as Microsoft, VMware, and XenSource to drive the evolution of virtualization standards and develop innovative virtualization solutions.
To support your initiatives, Dell offers an array of Consolidation and Virtualization workshops designed to help you start streamlining your IT infrastructure.
1. IDC Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker Telebriefing, May 2007. Server Market Trends and Analysis, Matt Eastwood, Program Vice President, Enterprise Platforms Research
2. IDC, April 2007. Quad-Core Processors Bring Higher Performance and Lower Cost to Mainstream Computing. Matt Eastwood and Kenneth Cayton
3. Intel IT tests, Sept. 2006. Server Consolidation Using Quad-Core Processors
4. IDC Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker Telebriefing, May 2007. Server Market Trends and Analysis, Matt Eastwood, Program Vice President, Enterprise Platforms Research
5. Performance and Energy Advantages of Dell Energy Smart Servers and Liebert Cooling Systems. June 2007. http://www.dell.com/downloads/global/services/liebert_white_paper.pdf
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