The Future of Virtualization: Emerging trends and the evolving vendor landscape

Table of Contents

Executive summary

• Behind the hype of virtualization
• Emerging trends in server and storage virtualization
• Emerging trends in client / desktop virtualization
• Emerging trends in application virtualization
• Emerging trends in network virtualization
• Future roadmap for virtualization
• Pitfalls to virtualization
• Vendor landscape

Chapter 1 - Introduction

• What is this report about?
• Who is this report for?

Chapter 2 - Behind the hype of virtualization

• Summary

• Introduction
• Defining virtualization

• Why virtualization is more than a buzzword
• The financial benefits
• Strategic role for virtualization

• Developments in the virtualization market
• Storage virtualization
• Server virtualization
• Client/desktop virtualization
• Application virtualization
• Network virtualization
• Virtualization management

• Market outlook
• Commoditization enters the virtualization market

• Market challenges
• Vendor actions

Chapter 3 - Emerging trends in server and storage virtualization

• Summary
• Introduction

• Server virtualization
• The business case
• How it works
  • Hypervisors
  • Hosted virtualization

• Emerging trends in server virtualization
• The time is ripe to move from testing to virtualization
• Managing virtualized server environments
• High-performance server virtualization
• Expect more partnerships between emulation and blade centers
• Microsoft makes its entrance
  • The future for Linux vendors

• Storage virtualization
• The business case

• Emerging trends in storage virtualization
• A maturing market
• New business drivers
• Demand grows for file-based virtualization
• Server virtualization and iSCSI work hand in hand
• Server and storage virtualization increasingly viewed as complementary technologies

Chapter 4 - Emerging trends in client/desktop virtualization

• Summary

• The business case
• Market development
  • As many as 16 million desktops could be virtualized by 2011
  • The limitations of thin clients
• HVD
  • Limitations of HVD
  • Virtualizing the desktop and application delivery has different
  • challenges to server and storage virtualization

• Emerging trends in client/desktop virtualization
• VDI now a common accepted term for centralized server-based desktop virtualization
• Combining the benefits of server and desktop virtualization
• The emergence of the Bring Your Own Computer model
• Developments in storage and image optimization could increase take-up of VDI
• Desktop as a service: an alternative to in-house VDI?
• CIOs should investigate the new generation of desktop virtualization software tools
• There will be no one set desktop PC model in the future

• The limitations of VDI
• VDI isn' t necessarily suited to large-scale deployments
• VDI is well suited to mid-market companies

Chapter 5 - Emerging trends in application virtualization

• Summary
• The business case

• Application virtualization
• Market development
  • The benefits of application virtualization

• Application virtualization in action: case studies
• Flexible application delivery at Fontys University
• Increasing processing capacity for complex applications at BNP Paribas

• Emerging trends in application virtualization
• Application virtualization is moving into the mainstream
• Interest in application virtualization amongst vendors heats up
• Combining desktop and application virtualization
• Application virtualization inside presentation virtualization

• The limitations of application virtualization

Chapter 6 - Emerging trends in network virtualization

• Summary

• The business case
• Virtual private networking (VPN)
• Virtual LAN technologies
• Network virtualization
• Market development

• Network virtualization in action: case studies
• Creating a virtual network infrastructure at Zurich Airport

• Emerging trends in network virtualization
• Network and I/O virtualization still a nascent area of development
• More network virtualization vendors ‘standardize' their offering
• The network of the future: an integrated platform

Chapter 7 - Future roadmap for virtualization

• Summary
• Introduction
• Back-up and disaster recovery
• Automating virtualization management
• The SMB opportunity

• Cloud computing
• Cloud computing and virtualization
• Opening the market to shared services

Chapter 8 - Pitfalls to virtualization

• Summary
• Introduction
• The pitfalls

• Server sprawl
• Tackling server sprawl

• Potential conflicts from resource sharing
• Software provisioning
• Non-standardization of protocols, formats, and programming interfaces
• Software licensing and auditing
• Users test the virtualization waters

• Security
• Virtual security
• Securing the virtual network
• Securing virtual network appliances
• New risks introduced by virtualization
• Security steps for virtualized server environments
  • Use a bare metal hypervisor for live system deployment
  • Securing each virtual machine
  • Configuration and change control
  • Virtual machine templates
  • Access control
  • Secure idle virtual machines
  • Secure virtualized clients
  • Configuration and audit management
  • Protecting stored VM images
  • Securing mobile devices

Chapter 9 - The competitive vendor landscape

• Summary
• Introduction
• Server virtualization vendors
• Storage virtualization vendors
• Desktop virtualization vendors
• Application virtualization vendors
• Network virtualization vendors

• Vendor strategies
• Major players
  • VMware
  • Microsoft
  • Citrix
  • Citrix and Microsoft
• System management players
  • Sun Microsystems
  • BMC
  • CA
  • HP
  • IBM
  • Cisco Systems
• Other vendors
  • Red Hat
  • Oracle
  • Symantec

Index

List of Figures

• Figure 2.1: Virtualization promises to increase resource utilization
• Figure 2.2: Virtualization adoption
• Figure 3.3: Hypervisors enable server virtualization
• Figure 4.4: How users access a virtual desktop
• Figure 5.5: How application virtualization works
• Figure 6.6: Virtual networking - VMware ESX Server
• Figure 7.7: Virtualization offers low cost disaster recovery
• Figure 7.8: A conceptual model of cloud computing
• Figure 8.9: Physical server sprawl presents a challenge to businesses
• Figure 8.10: Securing each virtual machine - VMsafe
• Figure 9.11: VMware' s virtual infrastructure
• Figure 9.12: VMware squares up to Microsoft
• Figure 9.13: CA survey of large enterprises - virtual server management needs are not being met
• Figure 9.14: System management players summary

List of Tables

• Table 2.1: A summary of the benefits of virtualization
• Table 4.2: The potential savings
• Table 5.3: Application problems plague organizations