Virtual v’s Physical Appliances – 4 Compelling Reasons for Change
Redundancy and Backup - part IV
Backing up a virtual image is relatively straightforward in comparison to backing up a live system disk. Being able to represent the entire system as a virtual image has many advantages, particularly in terms of nightly backups or in the event of a restore from archive. Should a given system fail, which is not at all unusual, the images which were backed up can be immediately redeployed on another virtual machine with little or no down-time. Another virtual server can be quickly instantiated with the saved image. By using virtual appliances, the availability of the system can be maintained without the need for expensive, redundant appliances or systems. Once the server has been repaired or replaced, the virtual machines can again be migrated off the temporary server with the minimum of fuss or down-time. Take for example the case where the branch office is in Hawaii and the head office is in San Francisco. If the server in Hawaii breaks down, the administrator in head office can relocate the virtual appliance images to another server, possibly even in another location such as the LA office. He or she can also arrange for a local supplier to provide a new server to the Hawaii office or to repair the existing server. Once the server is once again available, the virtual appliance image can be migrated back to the Hawaiian office again with no down-time and no expensive travel time.
