Virtual v’s Physical Appliances – 4 Compelling Reasons for Change
Redundancy and Backup - part III
It is also far easier to manage duplicated server applications using virtual servers. If the organization has five or six server applications such as an email security gateway, web content filter gateway, CRM application and so on, replicating these applications can require five or six additional appliances. Using virtual servers, it is possible to replicate all of the server applications with as few as two physical systems.
Redundancy can also be a core requirement when an organization is geographically dispersed. Each branch office will require its own email security server, domain server and so on. Generally, distributing the applications to each of the remote offices will require a different appliance for each application. Virtualization is almost essential in this case as it allows each branch office to deploy a single hardware system with multiple virtual appliances instead of multiple physical appliances. The head office administrator can thus spread the virtual appliance suite based on each appliance and based on demand rather than on geography. New servers can be deployed and load-balanced with virtual machines at each outpost based purely on real time requirements.
