Technology: Virtual Opportunity Knocks

The next six months should usher in several activities that will thrust virtualization into the forefront—most notably Intel and Advanced Micro Devices delivering virtualization acceleration technology in their forthcoming processors. Though many systems builders said they are waiting for the right time to jump into the market, Intel is already saying, “The time is now.”

The Santa Clara, Calif.-based chip maker plans to talk about virtualization at its partner training events this quarter, on the heels of the first release of its dual-core Xeon processors. Intel, like AMD, has suggested that its virtualization acceleration capabilities with be available in early 2006.

Steve Dallman, senior director of channels at Intel, said the company is looking at how it can best train its systems builders to take advantage of the technology. “These new platforms open up huge new opportunities for [systems builders] to increase their business,” he said.

Components supplier Wintec Industries also plans to use the fourth quarter to offer some level of training to its partners, said Richard Stafford, senior marketing manager at the Fremont, Calif.-based company. “It&s still relatively new, and we will be looking to Intel to help drive understanding of what virtualization means in the market,” Stafford said. The company also plans to offer reference design platforms in the future, he added.

Over the next two years, vendors, systems builders and their VAR partners agree that several distinct opportunities will open up. The first is increased activity in server consolidation. The advent of multicore processors and virtualization means that one server could be partitioned to run several different operating systems simultaneously. Servers running legacy applications, even with older operating systems, can be loaded onto one multiprocessor server. The move saves customers money on systems management and eliminates the need for costly and time consuming ports of old applications to new operating platforms.

AMD, in particular, believes there is an opportunity for systems builders and their VARs to build an expertise in “sizing” servers for efficient virtualization. A Web server and an e-mail server on the same four-way system, for example, may require a different combination of resources and capabilities than combining two database servers, AMD executives said. Another area many systems builders are eyeing carefully is virtualization on the desktop.

Custom-systems solution providers can exploit a variety of scenarios to increase their sales. At the most basic levels, virtual segments can be set up on PCs to protect against viruses. One segment can have the corporate software and interface with the network, but another could be insulated from the corporate load and offer a place for workers to store personal files and apps. Since it&s separate from the corporate environment it ensures any problems wouldn&t corrupt other machines on the network.

Scott Holcomb, CEO of Holcomb Enterprises, Mission Viejo, Calif., favors another option: Setting up virtual environments for each user that can be downloaded from the server when the user logs in. These setups are particularly effective for verticals such as education and health care, where several different users may work on one system. “We can have various levels of supervisors to administrators to low-level guests operating on the same machine without risk that one operation from one level to other ever gets transferred,” he said.

Holcomb, who backs Novell&s ZENworks for virtualization, said such services also mean they are configured with heftier, higher-margin systems. He said typical servers for virtualization need powerful CPUs, more RAM, bigger hard drives and high-end graphics cards to perform effectively.

From building more-powerful systems to configuring servers for virtualization to managing a virtualized environment, the technology promises big paybacks for systems builders and VARs.

Though not all customers may be ready to take advantage of it, vendors are advising that custom-systems builders get educated now so that they can capitalize on the opportunities later.