Virtualization in cloud computing examples

The cloud is more than just your Google Drive or your online applications. It’s a powerful tool you can use to supercharge your servers—and here’s why.

Back in the old days, when you wanted to run a server for your company, you had to purchase a machine. One machine ran one service. You might run one as your email server, one as your application server, and one as your file server… one server could only run one thing.

With the advent of virtualization in cloud computing, that’s no longer true.

Untethering software from hardware

Virtualization in cloud computing lets you create IT solutions using things traditionally bound to hardware.

In layperson’s terms, your physical and virtual servers no longer have to be the same.

Previously, you’d run one virtual server (say, email) on one physical server. Now you can run your email, files, and apps on one server. Because of virtualization, multiple “virtual machines” can be stored on the same physical server.

This makes business much more efficient. Now, instead of buying a new machine every time, you can use the same device for multiple purposes.

In addition, you’re no longer tethered to having a server of your own. With cloud computing and the advances in networking in the last couple of decades, you can buy space on a server farm and use that to run your servers. Maintenance is less troublesome too. It’s a lot easier than it used to be.

This is useful for several things, not just performing different server roles. You can also use it to add redundancy to other servers, creating virtual machines that can take some of the load in case of a catastrophic failure.

Disadvantages of virtualization

Virtualization is great, but it does have its disadvantages.

With all your eggs in one basket, a failure can take more than one virtual server offline at once. This has much more significant consequences for your business.

Make sure that even with virtualization, you have good backup policies and redundancies in place. Need a hand figuring out your virtual server environment? We can help. Reach out to TeamLogic IT and let us walk you through your next IT project.