IT Handbook: Planning a Server Refresh

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Planning a Server Refresh q SERVER HARDWARE ROADMAPS q SERVER CONSOLIDATION q CAPACITY PLANNING q BENCHMARKING AND TESTING www.searchdatacenter.com

description

Server buyers should consider the implications of vendor roadmaps and consolidation and look to capacity planning and objective tools when updating data center hardware

Transcript of IT Handbook: Planning a Server Refresh

Page 1: IT Handbook: Planning a Server Refresh

Planning a Server Refresh

q SERVER HARDWAREROADMAPS

q SERVER CONSOLIDATION

q CAPACITY PLANNING

q BENCHMARKINGAND TESTING

www.searchdatacenter.com

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SERVER HARDWAREROADMAPS

SERVER CONSOLIDATION

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Server Hardware Roadmaps

choosing a new server is hardly a random process.Wise IT administrators

take great care to evaluate prospective features, functionality, form factor and

facilities needs, and thenmatch these capabilities against the company’s com-

puting requirements.

But administrators and technology officers don’t stop there. In many cases,

server vendors must also explain their long-term product plans—the roadmap

—that their server hardware will follow for years to come. A server roadmap is

sometimes just as important as a vendor’s maintenance agreement, so let’s con-

sider the implications of server hardware roadmaps when planning a server

refresh.

IMPORTANCE OF THE SERVER ROADMAP

A server roadmap is the vendor’s attempt to predict the evolutionary path that

a server model or family will follow into the future. A roadmapwill often con-

sider technical specifications such as anticipated processor, memory, storage,

network and form factor support. As just one hypothetical example, upcoming

enterprise-class servers may support up to four AMD Interlagos 16-core

processors andmanaging 512 GB or RAM ormore. That translates to 64 proces-

sor cores on a single box, which can be quite attractive for highly consolidated

virtual servers.

Similarly, an organization might need to ensure that future form factors (such

as 1U or 2U) will fit existing physical rack structures, or they maymove to a

blade form factor for maximum processing in minimum space. There are also

storage considerations. For example, solid-state disk drive (SSDD) technology

has made inroads into blade and other small-form-factor servers, allowing local

caching and other performance improvements that might not have been possi-

ble with blades on a traditional storage area network (SAN).

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Although server virtualization can reduce total server count in a data center,

the use of more powerful systems (e.g., far more processors andmemory) does

not always carry a corresponding reduction in power and cooling demands. In

fact, the adoption of highly concentrated form factors such as blade servers can

profoundly affect cooling schemes. So server roadmaps are an important part

of facilities planning because organizations must ensure that adequate facilities

are in place before new servers are deployed.

“Wewanted to move to a blade-type system, but the [high-utilization] load

that we press onto our servers would basically melt the box,” said Chris Steffen,

principal technical architect at Kroll Factual Data in Loveland, Colo. He notes

that some new blade servers are specifically designed to accommodate heavy

utilization—a key example of roadmap planning.

But while the “specs” are important, experienced administrators dig even

deeper to consider factors such as warranties, maintenance, service-level agree-

ments (SLAs) and the continuing changes in virtualization support. Experts

note that the synergies between server manufacturers and virtualization

providers can be far more interesting and eye-opening than the server’s hard-

ware specifications.

OTHER FACTORS IN SERVER SELECTION

Organizations also face the challenge of choosing heterogeneous or homoge-

neous server platforms in a data center. Both approaches present pros and cons

for IT administrators. Perhaps the major argument for heterogeneous data cen-

ters is the reduced risk of vendor lock-in. “Wewere pretty big on trying to stan-

dardize on one vendor and on one model line,” said Ian Parker, a seniorWeb

services administrator at Thomson Reuters in AnnArbor, Mich. “But I’ve had

a lot of problems with OS and firmware and BIOS interactions.” Organizations

like Thomson Reuters now prefer a more heterogeneous approach: matching

the server to the computing needs with less regard for hardware models or

family lines.

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For other organizations, choosing a homogeneous server environment makes

strategic sense because it reduces documentation and eases the availability of

parts. It also makes financial sense because competitive vendors will typically

negotiate deep discounts for organizations that are savvy enough to commit to

the product line. “All things being equal, if I get to have a little bit more money

by having a complete Dell solution … then I’m going to take the money and

run,” Steffen said.

Other emerging technologies such as unified computing systems (UCS) have

little impact on server selection at this point. Experts express interest in the

semi-homogeneous premise but point out that the relatively small number of

players and the current cost-benefit proposition of the technology simply have

not generated much interest for large data center deployments. It is more likely

that UCSwill expand its role in small andmedium-sized deployments, where

the simplicity of a single-vendor model of servers, network and storage systems

makes more sense with smaller IT staffs and budgets.

Systemmanagement considerations should also be factored into a server

roadmap. “You definitely want to be able to manage stuff once it’s in the door,”

Steffen said. He added that it’s an important issue but not an all-or-nothing

decision because today’s management tools have evolved to the point where

they can usually provide adequate support for a broad cross-section of major

server families. Administrators should ensure that prospective server lines can

integrate with existing management tools either natively or through plug-ins,

PowerShell scripts and so on. The goal is to provide the deepest level of control

possible for future servers without having to adopt different or vendor-specific

tools.

STICKING WITH THE PRODUCT LINE

In order for an organization to commit to a server model or family, it’s critical

for a vendor to show a level of commitment to the product and the roadmap it

presents. This puts the vendor’s service and support high on the list of priori-

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ties for many businesses. Even though server virtualization allows server

workloads to be migrated or restarted quickly, most administrators still want

the hardware up and running.

A strong SLAwith favorable terms and pricing can go a long way toward

establishing andmaintaining customer loyalty. “You still need to have those

agreements in place, and they need to be competitive,” Steffen said. “Waiting

two weeks for them to turn around a new box is not going to cut it.”

Perhaps the most detrimental event for an organization is discovering that

a vendor has unexpectedly changed or

dropped a server roadmap, and a thought-

ful administrator will plan for that contin-

gency. Experts like Parker note that regular

communication from the vendor is impor-

tant. “One of the reasons I deal with major

vendors is because you’re going to commu-

nicate,” he said. “If I didn’t care about that,

I’d go buy white boxes from anyone else.”

But the rapid advance of technology will

inevitably throw speed bumps along the server roadmap. The product that you

expect to buy in three or five years may likely be replaced with an evenmore

capable and powerful product, which may be difficult—or even impossible—to

budget for adequately. So regular communication and updates from a vendor

can help organizations adjust to changes in the roadmap and plan for product

transitions in a more proactive way. �

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A thoughtful admin-istrator will plan forthe unexpected, suchas a sudden changein the vendor’s serverroadmap.

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Server Consolidation

server virtualization and consolidation has become an integral part of an

organization’s technology refresh cycle. Administrators must purchase servers

that can support multiple workloads, provide extra computing resources to

handle workloads failed over from other servers, maintain reliable operation

over the long term and still fit adequately within the data center’s facilities,

including power, cooling and space constraints. Meeting this combination of

capabilities while staying within a reasonable budget can be a challenge for

busy IT administrators, but achieving a server consolidation strategy is a vital

part of server refresh planning.

THE QUICK-AND-DIRTY OF SERVER CONSOLIDATION

The concept andmotivation behind server consolidation are straightforward.

A traditional server runs one operating system and application, but only 5% to

10% of a server’s computing resources (CPU, memory and I/O) are actually

used. This means that 90% to 95% of a server’s computing potential—and the

capital used to buy it—is routinely wasted. By implementing a virtualization

platform, applications are converted into virtual machines (VMs), and the

physical server can simultaneously host multiple VMs as separate and distinct

instances.

The additional workloads use more of the server’s computing resources,

making muchmore efficient use of the box. Virtualization can easily allow 60%

utilization of the server, though some organizations may push a system to 90%

utilization. Because one physical server can runmultiple workloads, a data cen-

ter can reduce its total number of servers, which theoretically translates into

lower capital expenditures, reduced space requirements and lower operating

costs for power and cooling.

The requirements for server consolidation are surprisingly light; you’ll need

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a hypervisor, servers, applications and storage. Examples of virtualization

platforms (or hypervisors) includeMicrosoft’s Hyper-V, VMware’s vCenter or

Citrix Systems’ XenServer. Organizations just getting started with server virtu-

alization can generally acquire a free version of each hypervisor for proof-of-

principle deployments. Physical servers must also be capable of running a

hypervisor, though virtually anymodern server within the current refresh

cycle should have no trouble.

Today, almost all professionally developed application software can run

properly as a VM, and organizations regularly virtualize Microsoft Exchange,

SQL and other high-end applications. Still, there is no guarantee that every

application will perform properly in your infrastructure, so it pays to test each

application in a lab environment before rolling the VM out into production.

Finally, each VM is basically a file that can be stored, updated, copied and

moved, so you should have a SAN in place to service each virtualized server.

SAN snapshots are a well-establishedmeans of backing up VMs.

PLANNING FOR SERVER CONSOLIDATION

Today’s hypervisors are quite refined and well-supported on a vast array of

server hardware, so there is no need to select a server specifically to run a virtu-

alization platform. But there are some collateral issues that will affect your data

center planning. Of course, the most important consideration is the choice of

new servers. New servers are rarely basic commodity boxes. They can be, but

it’s more likely that new servers will be large and powerful boxes with substan-

tial computing resources available. This allows the new server to host a large

number of VMswhile having the maximum impact on facilities needs.

Planning should also consider how older servers will be reallocated within

the organization. “If you have a good long-term plan, figure out how to use

those [older servers] somewhere else,” Steffen said. “Maybe that’s in disaster

recovery. Maybe that’s in a dev and [quality assurance] environment. Maybe it’s

something as simple as setting up a lab for some pet project.” In some cases,

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older servers may be removed and sold off to the secondary market.

It’s also important to consider how virtualization affects other tasks within

the data center, such as data protection and backup. For example, VMs can eas-

ily be protected with snapshots saved to a SAN and then replicated to off-site

storage for disaster recovery. Other organizations may choose to stick with es-

tablished backup tools, but be sure those

hardware and software tools will run as

expected. Steffen recounts early prob-

lems introducing Hyper-V because the

older servers used for backups were not

64-bit machines. This required additional

servers to support the more demanding

software environment.

And there are other server consolida-

tion pitfalls that administrators must be

sensitive to. First, server consolidation should consider failover planning. If a

server hosting 10 VMs fails, all the VMs on that server will also become un-

available until the server is repaired. This means administrators must provide

a means to restart failed VMs on other servers with available computing re-

sources.

Virtualization also relies on SAN storage, so organizations will need to con-

sider the storage requirements and costs associated with their virtual servers.

“The more that you virtualize, the more that you’re looking at enterprise-grade

storage and the costs that are associated with that,” said Parker. “We find our-

selves spending more on storage—sometimes kind of aghast at the money we’re

spending.”

Another pitfall of server virtualization is VM sprawl, or the uncontrolled cre-

ation and deployment of newVMs. This happens because VMs can be created

in mere minutes, and organizations rarely implement the business policies and

procedures needed to control newVMs and their lifecycles. If left uncontrolled,

VM sprawl can easily overwhelm storage and available computing resources,

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VMs can be createdin mere minutes, andorganizations rarelyimplement the businesspolicies needed tocontrol sprawl.

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and this translates into much higher storage costs, management overhead and

license expenses.

MAKING SERVER CONSOLIDATION WORK

In general, server virtualization is deployed in small, measured increments.

Administrators will often start by virtualizing simple or noncritical workloads,

gaining valuable experience with the technology without putting the business

at risk. For example, test, development and QAworkloads are typical targets

for early consolidation work. Once an organization has experience with the

technology, it can systematically virtual-

ize increasingly demanding workloads

with more variable or unpredictable

computing requirements. These might

include workloads such asWeb servers,

terminal servers, SQL and Exchange.

“You need to have flexibility to adapt

your virtualization to workloads,”

Parker said, citing migration tools such

as vMotion or XenMotion.

Ultimately, a virtualized server re-

quires constant resource and performance monitoring to ensure that the sys-

tem is operating within acceptable parameters or to identify bottlenecks that

need correction. But managing workloads and balancing resources can be a dif-

ficult process for administrators. Computing resources are finite, and it’s not al-

ways possible to allocate all of the resources that each workloadmight want.

Administrators need to step back and consider who owns each VM andwhat

SLAs are in place as well as other factors before shifting resources between

workloads. �

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With experience,organizations canvirtualize increasinglydemanding workloadswith more variableor unpredictable com-puting requirements.

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Capacity Planning

servers are rarely static entities—you don’t just set them and forget them.

Whether the server runs a single operating system and application or shares its

computing resources with a dozen VMs, every administrator has to recognize

that workload demands can fluctuate and grow over time. If the server runs

short of computing resources, the performance and stability of its workloads

can be profoundly affected.

The art of capacity planning allows administrators to ensure that adequate

resources are available in the short term, and it helps them to track changing

workload demands over the long term. Although there is no single process or

protocol for capacity planning, it’s a vital task that every IT professional should

be concerned with.

THE QUICK-AND-DIRTY OF CAPACITY PLANNING

When it comes to servers, capacity planning is the practice of ensuring that the

system provides an adequate amount of computing resources to operate the

workloads that reside there. Computing resources include processor cores or

cycles, memory and I/O for storage and network data traffic. An administrator

relies onmonitoring tools such asMicrosoft’s Assessment and Planning Toolkit

to determine the resources used by each workload and then compares those

total needs to the total resources available on the physical server. Ideally, the

server can provide more than enough resources to service its workloads.

Unfortunately, capacity planning can be a bit more complicated than that. In

a traditional data center where a server operates a single operating system and

application, computing capacity is usually not an issue because servers are

rarely taxed to more than 15% of their total capacity.

For virtualized servers, however, capacity can become a critical issue because

a physical server may host numerous VMs—each using a normal complement

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of processor, memory and I/O resources. It’s not uncommon to see a virtualized

server use anywhere from 60% to 90% of its total resource capacity.

But that’s only the tip of the iceberg. Resource needs are rarely static, and a

workload’s needs can fluctuate over time. For example, an accounting applica-

tion may require enormous amounts of processing power to handle accounting

tasks at the end of every month, or a terminal services application may need

more I/O as a company adds users over time. The real challenge of capacity

planning is to watch resource use and see how it trends over time. This allows

an organization to schedule server upgrades, adjust the resources allocated to

VMs, migrate VMs to rebalance workloads across multiple virtualized servers

or take other pre-emptive actions to avoid resource shortages.

And that’s really the underlying point of capacity planning. Resource short-

ages can impair application performance or stability. “The graceful failure

mode is that things just get slower,” said Bob Plankers, technology consultant

and blogger for The Lone Sysadmin. “Sometimes that slowness translates into

time-outs occurring—maybe a database query might time out and then your

appmight crash or experience other unintended consequences.” Capacity plan-

ning uses the data obtained from tools over time, combined with knowledge of

changing business needs, to maintain application performance and availability.

IMPLICATIONS OF CAPACITY PLANNING

Certainly, capacity planning is far more difficult on today’s highly consolidated

servers than it was on traditional nonvirtualized platforms. An administrator

must provide enough computing resources for every workload, enough head-

room—or resources held in reserve—to accommodate increases in resource

demands and still ensure adequate capacity to support workloads temporarily

migrated from other servers. At the same time, the stakes are higher because

resource shortages can potentially affect every VM on the server. “I’ve got 15

physical machines running all of the workloads that used to be on 350 physical

machines,” Plankers said.

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Part of this challenge is handled through the use of software monitoring/

planning tools. Microsoft’s Assessment and Planning Toolkit is one popular

option, though virtualization users may opt for tools that are native to the spe-

cific platform they use, such as VMware’s vCenter CapacityIQ. The important

issue here is that tools used on a virtual server should specifically be “virtual-

ization-aware.” Nonvirtualized servers can often rely on operating system-level

tools likeWindows’ PerformanceMonitor. These tools typically provide an in-

stant view of the computing resources being used and—depending on the tool—

may be able to track and chart resource use over time. Based on that data, an

administrator can choose to allocate more available resources to a VM.

When additional computing resources cannot be allocated to a needy VM, an

administrator can opt to migrate the VM to another server with more available

resources. This process of workload balancing is often used to optimize the

number of VMs assigned to any one server by grouping VMswith dissimilar

needs. For example, if you group CPU-intensive VMs on the same server, you

will likely run short of CPU capacity after mounting just a few VMs. But by

watching resource needs andmixing VMswith complementary needs, it can be

possible to fit more VMs on the same physical server and enhance server con-

solidation even further.

MAKING CAPACITY PLANNING WORK

The biggest problemwith capacity planning is the data itself. Experts note that

sound capacity planning requires data gathered and organized over a long pe-

riod in order to be analyzed and evaluated—and it’s simply not a priority for

many shops. “This sort of day-to-day information gathering and analysis … is

tough to do,” said Parker. “Howmany people are truly base-lining stuff over the

course of years or product cycles to give you ameaningful perspective to do ca-

pacity planning?”

And once capacity planning data is available, the decisions to act on that data

are fraught with financial and political pitfalls that can further complicate the

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capacity planning process for many administrators, especially in larger organi-

zations where numerous business groups vie for resources. For example,

adding resources to the company’s main database server or customer relation-

ship management servers may be top priorities, but the organization’s file and

print servers or license key servers may

have to wait. It’s important to prioritize

capacity plans and responses based on

business needs and goals. Don’t just al-

locate more resources to any VM or

server that needs it.

Fortunately, not every server is cre-

ated equal. One way to make capacity

planning more efficient is to focus the

tracking and analysis efforts to business-critical servers and then check re-

source use for other servers periodically or as needed. This emphasis also

makes it easier to get the attention and cooperation of other departments or

groups that have an interest in the proper operation of those servers.

Ultimately, capacity planning is an imperfect art, and your capacity planning

process is only as good as the end result. So it’s important to periodically re-

evaluate the effectiveness and success of capacity planning efforts. The more

often servers “break,” the more often capacity planning should be performed.

For example, a stable and static environment with limited growth can probably

make due with capacity reviews every four to six months. But if you routinely

encounter unexpected resource shortages, it’s probably a good idea to adjust the

capacity planning process with more frequent data gathering, more time spent

on analysis and so on. There is no single formula that works for every organiza-

tion, so match the process to your own business needs. �

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Capacity planning isan imperfect art, andyour capacity planningprocess is only as goodas the end result.

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Benchmarking and Testing

technical specifications are the foundation of any server evaluation.

After all, server hardware must provide enough computing resources to sup-

port the intended workloads—virtual or not. But planning and evaluation can’t

stop with the spec sheet or vendor’s presentation. New hardware investments,

and even well-established systems, demand an objective baseline to ensure ade-

quate performance under real load conditions. Benchmark tools provide this

objectivity. They allow administrators to gauge performance at all points during

a system’s lifecycle andmake critical tactical decisions about how that hard-

ware is deployed.

THE BASICS OF BENCHMARKS

When it comes to defining the behavior of a server, an administrator can use

benchmark or testing tools. In general terms, benchmark results establish a

baseline of performance and utilization. For example, a benchmarkmay tell you

howmany IOPS or CPU cycles are applied to a given workload. “I usually do

that sort of thing when we’re trying to roll out a new application,” said Parker.

Once benchmark data is available, an administrator can alleviate bottlenecks or

tune performance to enhance the workload’s operation.

After an application is evaluated, tuned and considered to be operating nor-

mally, an administrator can use benchmark data as a basis for warnings and

alerts of performance problems. If an unexpected spike in user activity drives

upmemory usage beyond an anticipated threshold, for example, an administra-

tor can receive an alert for action. This can reduce any performance degrada-

tion, forestall user complaints and even prevent the workload from crashing.

By comparison, testing is often regarded as ongoing observation of the

server’s resources or performance over time. By identifying variations in

benchmark or testing results, an IT professional can potentially correlate

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behavioral differences to those variations and then take action to change or cor-

rect them. Periodic testing is also a core part of capacity planning. Similarly, an

administrator may need to evaluate and correct any behavioral differences in

servers or workloads to meet SLA obligations.

It’s important to understand that testing results are often interdependent,

andmaking adjustments to one resource may expose a bottleneck with another

resource. “I eased this storage I/O bottleneck, but now I have a bottleneck in

memory or CPU because now it’s not standing around waiting for storage I/O

all the time,” Parker said, noting that changes to the application’s resource use

must be documented and new alerts set to reflect any new resource settings.

MAKING THE MOST OF BENCHMARKS

Just choosing the right tool can be a challenge itself—there are countless bench-

mark tools available. Citrix EdgeSight for Load Testing, Iometer for storage per-

formance and IOzone for Linux environments are just a few of the many

potential candidates for consideration. Other benchmarks specialize in specific

tasks, such as a UDP simulator to benchmark UDP network traffic, whileWeb

servers may rely on tools designed to simulate HTTP, AJP, JDBC and different

load types. Regardless of your specific needs, experts urge care in selecting the

right benchmark tool for the job.

One of the biggest issues is the influence of vendor-specific benchmarks, and

experts warn to verify the objectivity of benchmark tools before making a deci-

sion. “Occasionally people have suggested that maybe the information about

performance in places might be slightly biased in favor of what the vendor

would like it to be,” Parker said. “For example, it says there isn’t a problem here,

yet when I’m on these virtual servers it does seem like things are a little slower

than they should be.”

When server virtualization is deployed in the data center, be sure to select a

benchmark or monitoring tool that is virtualization-aware. This means the tool

is designed to “see” the server’s virtualization layer and understand the way

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that computing resources are allocated and tracked across VMs. A tool that is

not virtualization-aware may produce skewed or inaccurate results that might

lead to problems with server resources later on.

Also consider the way that benchmarks andmonitoring tools are installed

and used. Ideally, a tool is relatively lightweight—requiring few computing

resources to accomplish its tasks—and produces results that are reasonably

accurate when compared to the results of

other similar tools. It avoids tools that rely

on agents or any deep connection to your

infrastructure. Tools that violate these

basic principles should be approached

cautiously by IT administrators.

When configuring benchmark and

monitoring tools, pay attention to the res-

olution of any collected data. For example,

if you’re looking for peak resource usage

over the course of weeks andmonths—such as end-of-month accounting sys-

tem demands—gathering data every fewmilliseconds is probably not useful.

Conversely, trying to spot an unexpected resource peak that is causing alarms

each night a batch job runs would demand far more frequent data points to

analyze.

And finally, gathering benchmark and performance data is useless unless

youmake the time to sit and actually analyze the data—that’s a glaring over-

sight in so many hectic IT departments. “Gathering that data is one of the few

things that really lets me domy job well,” Plankers said. �

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Gathering bench-mark and perform-ance data is uselessunless you make thetime to analyze thedata.

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Stephen J. Bigelow, a seniortechnology editor in theData Center and Virtualiza-tion Media Group at Tech-Target, has more than 20years of technical writing ex-perience in the PC/technol-ogy industry. He holds abachelor of science in electri-cal engineering, along withCompTIA A+, Network+,Security+ and Server+ certi-fications, and has writtenhundreds of articles andmore than 15 feature bookson computer troubleshoot-ing, including Bigelow’s PCHardware Desk Referenceand Bigelow’s PCHard-ware Annoyances.

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Cathleen GagneEditorial Director

[email protected]

Jeannette BeltranAssociate Managing [email protected]

Marty MooreAssociate Managing [email protected]

Linda KouryDirector of Online [email protected]

Marc LaPlantePublisher

[email protected]

TechTarget275 Grove Street, Newton, MA 02466

www.techtarget.com

© 2011 TechTarget Inc. No part of this publica-tion may be transmitted or reproduced in anyform or by any means without written permis-sion from the publisher. For permissions orreprint information, contact Renee Cormier,Director of Product Management, Data CenterMedia, TechTarget ([email protected]).

ABOUT THEAUTHOR

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About Dell, Inc. and Intel:Dell and Intel are strategic partners in delivering innovative hardware solutions to solve yourmost challenging IT problems. Together we are delivering virtualization optimized solutions tomaximize the benefits of any virtualization project.