VMware solution

Introduction to main uses and new VMware function

VMware is used as follows:

Server consolidation

Different business applications and operating systems can be consolidated onto the latest servers with virtualization technology, which maximizes use of those resources and reduces administrative costs.

VMware adoption for development and test environments

Manpower costs for consolidation of test servers and implementation of development environments can be reduced dramatically with VMware virtualization, template and snapshot technology.

Migration of old systems to the new hardware

Old systems can be migrated gradually using temporary extensions of old OS versions on the new hardware. This enables continued system operation on the latest hardware with no change to usability.

New VMware function

Improved business continuity

A cold-standby system can be created without building an expensive clustered system. Virtual system’s restart on another server following system failure minimizes system downtime.

Fujitsu’s approach to server consolidation

As businesses expand, servers used by the different divisions and functions increase.
After a particular server is introduced, its functions are frequently extended and improved. Therefore, the necessary performance, memory, storage and so on become insufficient in several years.

In addition, there is increasing customer confusions over the administration and operation of the increasing number of servers.

There are two proposals below to resolve the above issues.

• Blade servers can be consolidated physically.
• VMware is used for servers where resources are underutilized.

Fujitsu minimizes server sprawl by enabling server consolidation both physically and virtually with VMware operating in the same chassis.

Benefits

• Systems can be highly consolidated by unifying different OS such as Window and Linux on the same hardware.
• Resources such as processor and memory in physical servers can be utilized effectively.
• Server space, power consumption and hardware maintenance costs are reduced. Also server operational and administration manpower is reduced.

Fujitsu’s approach to system development and testing

The most important phase in system development and testing is implementation. This phase includes lengthy approval processes, placing orders for procurement, OS installation in multiple test environments and necessary installation of application software.

It can take a lot of manpower to implement a new system especially when verifying three hierarchical systems involving various Web servers. By utilizing the VMware template function, repeated implementation times can be significantly reduced.

Moreover, when testing OS service packs, if problems occur, the effect can be minimized by use of the snapshot function.

Benefits

• System development can be started anytime using a virtualized test environment
• A versatile test environment can be implemented easily.
• Time spent re-implementing test environments can be reduced by reusing environments saved as templates.
• Testing quality increases and subsequent developments can be accelerated using the savings made by reduced administration and other costs.

Fujitsu’s approach to migration of older systems to new hardware

In the unstable situation of an urgent or difficult migration, for example, an NT server whose hardware maintenance period is expired, customers can use VMware to migrate the NT server to new hardware enabling the older system to continue and utilize the latest hardware.

VMware removes the necessity to use the NT device drivers (which are not available in the latest servers). VMware controls the hardware instead of NT.

Benefits

• Systems can migrate to new hardware, allowing continued usage on the latest hardware with no change in usability.
• The old system can be migrated gradually by temporary extension of the old OS on the new hardware.
• Even where the latest hardware does not provide legacy drivers, system can be prolonged by virtualization.

Fujitsu’s approach to improved business continuity

It is difficult to prepare the similarly configured standby servers for each application because of budget and space limitations. With the High Availability (HA) function of VMware, business continuity is guaranteed. With HA, when a system fails, the virtual system can restart on another ESX server following automatic shutdown, resulting in minimized system downtime.