Virtualization vs physical server management is not particularly more complex and the benefits are well worth the effort.  Following are three simple ways to manage your virtual server environment.

Hyper-V from Microsoft and vSphere from VMWare are the two main virtualization platforms available.  Both are great products, but which is the best fit for virtualizing small businesses?  Below is a chart that attempts to capture the relevant characteristics for small businesses as they consider what to adopt.

Let's take an quick overview all about virtualization - the different types, benefits and how to get there today in your small business.  We have already written quite a few blog posts about it, but this one brings them all together.

4 core vs 6 core processors are not typically something that small business owners think about.  That said, as mentioned in Small Business Virtualization Example - How To Do It All On 1 Server, the way that server virtualization works is by using a more powerful processor and more memory to take on the jobs of several less powerful processors in distinct physical servers.  These beefier  servers also cost more.  This increased initial outlay, however, means that your small business will spend less in operating costs as discussed in Will Virtualization Cost More Than A Standard Network Installation?

Here is a small business virtualization example in which we consolidate multiple servers down to one:

This is a great question that small business owners and IT leaders often pose. In fact, virtualization cost is substantially less, both initially and over time. In one recent example, Turbotek consolidated four servers into one through virtualization. Had the customer refreshed their servers with individual machines for Microsoft SQL Server and their three existing terminal servers, it would have cost them over $50K. With virtualization, it cost them roughly $29K. In addition, they are saving nearly $500 per month on power, cooling and space.  Finally, there are other benefits reviewed in Virtualization And Small Business Benefits - Dollars And Sense that include substantially faster recovery time, potential tax incentives and increased agility, flexibility and efficiency while reducing risk.

Not only is going green good for the environment, but it can have a lot of great financial and other benefits for your small business.

There are many things to consider when virtualizing - storage requirements, number of users and disaster recovery to name a few.  One thing that should be at the top of the list is security. Small businesses are embracing server, storage and other forms of virtualization as a means of reducing costs, improving efficiency and becoming more agile.  The last post provides a framework for quantifying these benefits.  What about the security of virtualization? Does introducing this new technology make small business IT infrastructure more vulnerable?

We have reviewed virtualization and small business benefits at a high level in Small Business IT Virtualization - A Path To Savings, Storage Virtualization Benefits for Small Business IT and Best Practices in Technology for Small Business in Uncertain Times.  Let's go down a level of abstraction and talk dollars and sense, so to speak.