By Dave Twilley

Virtualisation is a word I'm sure everyone has heard bouncing around for some years now, so what does it actually mean in real world terms? How can it help us deliver better solutions? What does it mean to our clients? This is the focus for my blog as all too often technology is developed first and then effective ways of making use of it are found afterwards. Whereas in the case of Virtualisation, as you'll see, this technology has been developed to address real world problems which exist right now and have done for some time. The end result is that Virtualisation has taken off in a big way in a relatively short period of time. This blog aims to give you an overview of the technology without going into too much technical detail, after all, most of our clients are concerned about what it actual means to them rather than how it works, as that's what we're paid to do!

Concept - The concept is very simple, in the past we have used one server, running one system, whether it be Windows, Linux or something else, typically the relationship between the physical hardware and the software running on it has been a one to one relationship. As technology has improved, with faster processors and cheaper storage, it has become inefficient for servers to run just one system, it would be like having a garage capable of parking 5 cars but only being "allowed" to put one car in it. Before Virtualisation, this was exactly the case, companies were having to buy 10 servers to run 10 systems, regardless of how much each one was actually being utilised as there was simply so no way around this but with Virtualisation, we are able to chop one physical server into 10 pieces and run all 10 on one physical server, (note that how many will fit on one server depends only on how powerful the one server is), clearly the possibilities here are immense, one garage no long means one car, now the question is, how many cars would you like to put in your garage.

So, what does this mean in real world terms?

Lower Hardware Costs - Clearly one powerful server would cost less than 10 mid-range servers, so the upfront cost of any technology refreshes or new setups would be significantly lower by using Virtualisation. Often this is a major concern for businesses as the cost of hardware can easily spiral out of control, hardware needs to be replaced when it is no longer fit for purpose, Virtualisation helps reduce the cost of such projects which typically occur every 3-4 years as existing hardware comes to the end of its life.

Lower Power Consumption - Using one server instead of 10 reduces the power overhead significantly, there are 10 times less power supplies to worry about, 10 times less fans (sometimes noise is an issue so this may be of some benefit to some businesses who don't have dedicated sound proofed server rooms), 10 times less heat produced by processors and disks. With many businesses having initiatives to save energy, as fair amount can be saved in this area as these servers are typically running 24x7, 365 days a year, so any reduction in power consumption will soon add up.

Less Physical Space Required - Typically a large business will have a dedicated server room, however for smaller businesses space is at a premium, so handing over an entire room to just house the equipment is inefficient, therefore Virtualisation can reduce the floor space required by your IT equipment in some cases. Some businesses also choose to locate their servers offsite in a dedicated data centre facility, in this case, the charge for hosting these servers is directly related to the space which they take up and the power which they consume.

Consolidation - We've all heard it before when you have a perfectly good server which has served you well for many years, and you want to use a new product in your environment, such as a document management system, an email archiving product or a CRM package, you approach your IT company and the first thing your told is, "it isn't "compatible" with your existing server, or wont "play nicely" with an existing product, you need to buy a new one to put it on", or "the company who provide it won’t support it if it’s on the same server as another vendors product", by using Virtualisation you don't need to buy a new server, so long as you have spare resources on your existing virtualised server, you can simply sandbox off an area and install the new system directly in without having to find the money to buy a new server, this is a major benefit, often the cost of a new system such as CRM seems as simple as just buying the product, but when you add up the over head of the additional servers it can cost you more in hardware than it does to actually buy the CRM package in the first place, with Virtualisation this problem disappears.

Lower Migration Costs - As the Installations Manager this one is particularly important to me, historically, if a client wants to replace a server, we would have to prepare a new server for them, setup migration of the data, speak to 3rd parties (who may themselves wish to pass on a cost to our clients for assisting or carrying out migration work on their own products), arrange downtime and so on. Whilst we have this down to a fine art due to our experience in this arena, we can now take it one step further. With Virtualisation we have the ability to take a "copy" of an existing physical server and "virtualise" it whilst its still running and consequently still operational to the business, (with the aid of 3rd part products like DoubleTake), then in a period of dramatically reduced downtime, simply switch the operation of the physical server to the virtual one, remove the physical server and everything will continue as it was before, with the exception that the server is now "virtualised". The overhead for such tasks is dramatically reduced, the downtime is shortened, therefore the impact on the business is lower, and very little 3rd party work needs carrying out as essentially nothing has changed. Essentially this is the equivalent of the Tommy Cooper table cloth trick (with the exception that it’s executed with clockwork precision nothing falls over!).

Hopefully this blog has removed some of the mystery behind Virtualisation technology and you can now see how such technology can benefit your business in real world terms rather than just being a technology someone has just told you that you should have because, "its new", "its better", "its shiny".

Apple has been in the news a lot recently, for both good and bad reasons. Good for the new product releases, and bad for some of the feedback that its received and bounced around in the media (and we all know how the media loves bad feedback!). In the past month we have seen the introduction of the new iPhone 4 and the revolutionary iPad, two of the most eagerly anticipated product launches in the past few years – in fact since the last apple launch of the iPhone 3GS! That is a very key point... what major business hardware product release other than an Apple product has had the same impact in the last 10 years? My only guess would be in the home games console industry (XBOX, PlayStation and Wii). All of which has had its product faults – Controllers smashing TV’s, Red Rings of Doom, and the Yellow Light of Death.

Apple, so proud in the 90’s that their product was far superior to PC’s and the MS operating system, have become victims of their own success – following in the footsteps of their counter parts (Microsoft and IBM). It seems that as your product demand grows larger, the oversights and product failures become more apparent. The iPad that can’t support Flash and the inability to use in direct sunlight – this causes massive issues due to the fact that those of us who want an e-reader/mobile games unit whilst on the sun lounger are going to have to go back to the printed book. Further to this the iPhone 4 seems to have issues with people losing signal while holding the phone! Whilst I do not want to turn this blog into a blast of negativity, this seems to be some of the biggest product flaws since MS Vista, ME, OS2 Warp and in some cases the original iPhone.

From an MSP (Managed Service Provider) point of view, one of the biggest flaws is that some of their clients that have bought into the product launch but have not had it supported. This is because the iPad and the iPhone 4 haven’t been added to the Service Catalogue, and most support staff hadn’t even seen one before some users had called their Service Desk!

One of the challenges for any MSP or IT department that has users or clients with a nature to buy the latest and greatest, is to stay ahead of the game before the user gets a disappointing and resounding “your product is not supported” conversation over the phone. One of the key offerings of software (like Windows 7), is that you can have access to Beta versions to test, but still until full Research and Development is carried out and the product is placed on the Service Catalogue, ANY product new or old is just ‘Not Supported’. To combat that, communication is key. Companies like Apple and Microsoft rely very heavily on their suppliers and partners to communicate to their client base the strategy of implementing their products. A trick that so many companies miss.

The Internet Group are one of the few companies who are carrying out intensive research and development project on the iPad to ensure they are providing their clients with the best possible support with this new technology before it is allowed to go on the supported products list.

However, trying to stay away from a product bashing, I have the pleasure of owning the iPad and the iPhone 4, and to be honest, aside the flaws, both are amazing pieces of technology and the benefits of these far outweigh the flaws. The iPad is an amazing piece of kit, it has taken the laptop technology to a next level, and the applications are cheap enough that you find yourself surfing the App store almost daily. It is one step closer to the ‘Star Trek Tech’ that we all wished we had when were younger, and maybe that is Apple’s appeal. They’ve tapped into our childish dreams and created the “cool” gadgets that we always wanted? I hate to admit it, but I believe they have.

Like it or not, Email is here to stay and if you're anything like our executives here at The Internet Group, you will receive anything from 50-250 emails per day. Furthermore if you use your inbox as your ‘to-do list’ then you probably shudder every time your inbox beeps to alert of a new email.

So what to do? Well firstly there are some really quick wins to aid you in creating emails and also speed up reading them. Abbreviations are not only the domain of text messages and work really well when sending emails. Below are some examples of commonly used terms that can be turned into acronyms.

It’s probably wise to teach your staff these simple terms as sending them is only effective if the recipient understands them!

Another good piece of advice is do not make email subject lines cryptic e.g. when you send an email, don’t use unfinished subject lines such as ‘we must...’. We recommend that you put the exact matter in the subject line i.e. ‘we must discuss Dave’s work experience ASAP’. This allows the recipient to speed read their email and assess if the email needs actioning straight away.

Another recommended technology would be an archiving solution such as Quest Archive Manager. This solution will catch all emails that go in and out of your network, even if they are deleted. While it’s busy capturing all your emailed information it will also index all of your email content, including attachments! This will allow you to quickly and easily search through your emails with a much greater efficiency and speed than you would be able to within outlook.

Another tip we recommend is to question yourself when creating an email is as to whether the recipients actually need to be recipients i.e. do they all need to know? Quite often people use emails to ensure everyone is informed of a matter but the reality is that not all recipients actually need informing. This practice will ensure that the emails you receive are sent to you because they actually need your intervention and not just sent to you because ‘we know you like to know everything that is going on’.

The lesson learnt is that Email is definitely your friend and can ensure your business thrives through efficiency. However, abuse it and it will take over your life and you will always be a slave to your inbox.

Talk to us about our mail archiving solutions today by calling 0800 007 5797.

Read about our World class Service Desk within this month's Support World Magazine.

Find out why we think a banana represents our service culture... "Full of energy, gets the job done and does it well..."

Click on the image below to read the full article.

A couple of months ago Twitter suffered from a huge distributed denial of service attack which was responsible for taking down their hugely popular web service for three and a quarter hours. This was a huge story and was reported across the web and even in the mainstream printed press. This certainly wasn’t the first DDOS attack and won’t be the last, but what can we do to avoid these types of attacks on our websites.

http://status.twitter.com/post/157191978/ongoing-denial-of-service-attack

• Avoid Vulnerable Software & Applications – certain situations or set ups increase your risk of being attacked, the chances you may already be aware of these flaws but haven’t prioritised them and dedicated the resource to resolving them. Remember if you’ve been able to spot a potential security problem someone whose life is dedicated to finding these opportunities is likely to know them too.

• No Monitoring Or Data Analysis Being Carried Out – one of the easiest ways to detect a DDOS is by looking at the usage of your server, you should set up alerts which inform you of any abnormalities as soon as possible and set the threshold on the low side, it’s better to get the alert for a false alarm early than setting the bar to higher and losing a few hours early warning, which may give you options to mitigate or defend against the attack.

• Lack of Official Upgrade or Audit Process – if you’re a company growing at a huge rate, like Twitter, there’s always a danger you have grown to the point where you could attract the attention of high profile hackers but you still have the processes and infrastructure of a smaller organisation. You need a clear audit and upgrade process that avoids ambiguity over what is done by whom.

• Get a Poacher to Become a Game Keeper – if you’ve got the stage where you’re regularly having to fend of hacker attacks of all shapes and sizes, then maybe it’s time to find a poacher who can become your game keeper. A former hacker, especially someone who has experience in the types of attack you’re most susceptible to, can be the best form of defence.

• Make it Someone is Specific Responsibility – it’s a problem in every company where responsibilities are clearly determined, make sure that isn’t the problem in your company. If you’re website goes down as you weren’t sure who’s turn it was to check for updates is pretty lame!