Virtualisation, it’s not a cloud

In the world of IT we often come across confusion, especially when you are from a “business” perspective. Often this confusion is brought about by IT professionals and blogging, mixing what is technology with a business concept / way in which to implement IT technology. I see this time and time again when people are talking about cloud computing, with the technology being mixed up with or as the business concept that is cloud computing.

Virtualisation is the big thing that always gets associated with the cloud or as the same thing. This is a prime example of a technology being confused with a business solution / concept / way of implementing IT.

The lines of difference…

It can get confusing and downright cloudy when talking about technology and concepts of how to implement technology. However, these are very different things, and if we can make a clear distinction between the two, it is far easier to talk to the business about the benefits of a “concept” or a technology.

The key in making clear distinctions between technology and implementation is down to IT professionals. At the end of the day, business does not need to know the nitty gritty, rather they need to know the business benefits that a solution will bring them.

Virtualisation – a technology

I hate saying something is a “technology” but it does make things easier to explain. Virtualisation is a technology that allows “IT” to get more out of hardware resources. How it does this, really isn’t of great concern to a business, only the fact that it does it (why have IT professionals in your business if you want to understand all the IT yourself?). Basically though, Virtualisation allows your hardware to become more than just one server. (Please I am being very basic in my explanation I know). So, lets take a single server (physical hardware) and allow it to become 3 for example. So in your company you used to have 3 servers all running different solutions on them etc. But now, with Virtualisation you have 3 servers all running on one physical box (doesn’t matter if one server run Windows, another UNIX etc). I am not going into any more detail than that, as that’s all that is required in this type of post…

Cloud Computing – A way of working

Cloud computing is not a technology; rather it is a way in which we can use technology to decrease IT overheads (cost wise in theory).  Cloud computing is essentially letting someone else (outsourcing) provide you with the hardware and infrastructure required to run aspects of your IT. You then connect to that IT over the internet. Simple explanation I know, but I like to keep things simple. Cloud Computing is therefore a business model that companies can adopt…

So why does Virtualisation get confused with or as Cloud Computing? Well I am sure it is because Virtualisation is used by cloud providers in order for them to maximise their own IT infrastructure. Bloggers often confuse things by talking about Virtualisation in great length in their posts about the benefits of using the cloud. There is also one other reason why Virtualisation gets confused with the cloud, and that’s due to “perspective”…

Perspective of your IT

We love to use diagrams to illustrate how something works, and IT infrastructure is no different. As a business person, you could get a little confused between Virtualisation and the Cloud because of diagrams and some less than helpful statements by us in IT.

If you choose to use Virtualisation in house, you may well see the odd diagrams popping up that represent a cluster of servers (on your own system) as a “cloud” especially if you are using virtualisation. This shouldn’t be the case, often the “cloud” is reserved for the internet (hence the cloud computing term), however I have seen such diagrams as it is hard to represent a “virtualised” server environment. In addition, people often see Virtualisation as a way of implementing an internal “cloud” computing environment, or Virtualisation as an internal cloud solution. This isn’t right, and IT should correct this rather than encouraging this thinking. I have seen many blog posts even on “Private Clouds..” but there is no such thing as a private cloud. Remember the cloud is the “internet”…Why is it overlooked or encouraged? Well the “cloud” has a lot of buzz about it at the moment, simple as that. Its far easier to get people talking about an internal cloud or getting people to a blog titled “Private cloud” compared to “Virtualisation of your network…”

Virtualisation – not just for the cloud

So hopefully, from a business point of view, we understand the difference between “cloud” and “virtualisation”. If so, you can see why virtualisation isn’t something only used by the cloud, rather it is a technology that many businesses can take advantage of to help maximise IT hardware use. It therefore comes with a host of benefits for an organisation, some of which include:

1. Reducing administration cost
2. Reducing hardware cost
3. Reducing electricity bills

I am a strong believer that we will see virtualisation use grow within businesses, no matter what their thoughts are on “cloud computing”. I also believe that Virtualisation will help many cloud computing providers – however, do I see us all switching over to cloud based solutions…..NO….But that’s a different post.