Server virtualisation could halve IT costs and slash carbon footprint, company claims
Peta Hodge
12th June 2009
Up to half of all UK businesses could reduce their IT operating costs by 50 per cent and cut the carbon footprint of their IT function by a massive 90 to 96 per cent, it has been claimed.
The findings are based on an internal analysis of customers by SCC, which specialises in assessing organisations’ existing networks and advising customers where new technologies will deliver cost savings elsewhere, for example in terms of power.
The company, which has an annual turnover in excess of €3 billion (£2.5 billion), boasts thousands of companies amongst its client base – ranging from blue chip organisations to ‘server estates’ of around a hundred people.
New analysis of its customer base led SCC to conclude that thousands of UK companies, across a range of sizes and sectors, are failing to implement a range of server virtualisation strategies that could slash their technology and power bills.
Generally a company runs one application per physical server, but server virtualisation allows a business to make full use of its server’s processing power by running more than one server operating system per physical server.
By consolidating their servers in this way, using new technologies – such as the HPG6 server, incorporating the Intel Nehalen processor – SCC claims businesses can improve server productivity by 80 per cent, free up 89 per cent of floor space and slash their carbon footprint by massively reducing the electricity needed for power and cooling.
“By fully understanding where under utilisation of the existing server estate may lie, IT directors can consolidate the oldest resource, which may be power and space hungry,” said Rhys Sharp, chief technology officer at SCC.
“We would then move [...] to a virtualised world, where under-utilised technology is maximised to its full potential. Consequently, we can decrease the management overhead of supporting a vast number of physical resources,” he added.
Importantly in the current economic climate, companies opting for this type of server consolidation can expect to enjoy a healthy return on investment within eight months – it has even been done in three months, a spokesperson for SCC claimed.
SCC says in some of the best practice examples among its customer base, companies have seen the savings from server consolidation pay for the fixed costs of the infrastructure, as well as the technology delivering it, in as little as five years.
So, if server consolidation is such a good idea, why aren't more companies doing it? SCC's spokesperson suggested it's a question of education – of IT directors understanding the savings to be made. Hopefully more will do it now, in light of SCC's findings, he added.
