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Virtualization Servers
A powerful physical computer does not have to perform only one job. Virtualization allows a single server to host multiple independent virtual computers, each with its own operating system, applications, storage, memory, and assigned resources.
PCS builds virtualization servers for businesses and professionals who need several computing environments but do not necessarily need a separate physical computer for every workload. Properly designed, virtualization can consolidate hardware while providing flexibility that is difficult to achieve with a collection of independent computers.
A virtualization server can support:
• Multiple Windows or Linux virtual machines
• Specialized business applications
• Development and testing environments
• Legacy software that needs its own operating environment
• Engineering and professional workloads
• Dedicated services separated from everyday computers
• Centralized computing resources
• GPU-accelerated virtual machines where appropriate
• Backup, recovery, and migration of complete virtual systems
Separate the Workloads, Share the Hardware
Each virtual machine operates as an independent computer even though several may share the same physical server. A problem, configuration change, or application requirement in one virtual machine does not necessarily need to affect another.
Resources can also be allocated according to the workload. One virtual machine may require substantial processor and memory resources while another needs relatively little. Storage, networking, CPU cores, memory, and other resources can be planned around the requirements of each environment.
This makes the design of the underlying server especially important. Virtualization does not eliminate hardware requirements—it concentrates them.
The Server Has to Be Designed for the Virtual Machines
Processor core count, memory capacity, storage performance, network bandwidth, expansion capability, cooling, and power all become part of virtualization planning.
Storage deserves particular attention because several virtual machines may be reading and writing simultaneously. Memory must accommodate the active workloads without unnecessarily constraining them, and the processor needs sufficient resources to support multiple operating environments at the same time.
Where specialized workloads require dedicated graphics acceleration, virtualization can also allow compatible GPUs to be assigned directly to individual virtual machines. That can make virtualization practical for certain CAD, engineering, visualization, and compute workloads that traditionally required separate physical workstations.
Virtual Machines Change Recovery
One of virtualization’s most useful characteristics is that an entire computer environment can exist as a manageable virtual system rather than being permanently tied to one installation of Windows on one physical drive.
Virtual machines can be backed up, restored, duplicated, migrated, or preserved as complete environments. That can simplify recovery and make it practical to protect important configurations before significant changes are made.
Virtualization also creates opportunities for testing. A copy or snapshot of an environment can provide a place to evaluate changes without immediately altering the production system.
Build the Platform Around the Purpose
Virtualization is not automatically the right solution simply because a server is powerful enough to run it. PCS starts with the workloads: what needs to run, how much performance each environment requires, which resources need to be isolated or shared, and how the systems need to be protected.
From there, the physical server and virtualization platform can be designed as one integrated system.
PCS builds custom virtualization servers for businesses and professionals throughout Roseville, Rocklin, Lincoln, Granite Bay, and surrounding communities. The value of virtualization isn’t simply putting several computers inside one box. It is creating a flexible computing platform where resources, workloads, backup, recovery, and future expansion can be managed deliberately.