With all the hype about virtualization, it seems like it is great for any situation.  It allows you to easily manage your network, quickly expand your resources within minutes, and allows for high availability to keep your systems up and running. When a new machine is built, not only can you save time and money, but it can offer a level of up time and manageability that only a virtual system can provide.

So, if you are wondering what virtualization is, Read What is a Virtual Server and Virtualization Options.

Virtualization is not right for every situation. Virtualization is great for most, so it is a good idea to think about the resources you need, to help determine if it should be virtualized. You should NOT Virutalize when:

You have applications that require high Input/Output operations per second (IOPS or I/O). Systems that heavily utilize the resources on a server or are constantly reading/writing/processing are not good candidates for Virtualization. Most systems utilize only 20% of their resources allocated to them. You can review your usage on the server to give you an idea of your utilization. The Underutilized servers are the best candidates for virtualization.

You want to repurpose your physical environment to a virtual environment. When building a virtual environment, you should always start with a fresh environment, build the virtual environment and develop a migration plan. Trying to make your physical machines work as a virtual environment is asking for trouble. You may be able to repurpose some of the hardware, but you will need to buy new hardware and you may have to restructure the entire infrastructure.

You have servers with special boards/devices, etc attached to them. If you have a server that has a unique fax/modem board/video capture cards, etc. they will not virtualize. They will need to stay stand alone machines.

You think it will solve all your problems and be your pixie dust. Remember, a Virtualized Environment, still resides on physical hardware. It just uses another layer of software/hardware to provide you with additional features. There is an added a layer of complexity when setting it up, managing it, and securing it. While it may be easier to make changes and more automation can be built in, it still requires expertise to build and maintain the systems. If your virtual environment is set up or managed poorly, it will only lead to disaster on a larger scale.

So, whether you want to virtualize your network or move to a virtualized Data Center, be sure to do your research, set your goals, and plan your migration. Virtualize based on resources you need, not just because you can.