Bay Business Edge, Inc. provides full support for server virtualization, and server consolidation using VMware Technology (VSphere, ESX, Server) or Microsoft Hyper-V. Server Virtualization is becoming one of the most widely used technologies in small to medium business environments. One of the biggest reasons for the rapid growth in Virtualization is that it allows a business owner to move multiple physical servers to a single server without any negative effects. Having multiple servers on a single physical server makes it affordable to move your server offsite to a Datacenter (Colocation) which in the past was only available to very large companies due the high costs of rack space when multiple large servers had to be used. Administration and server management costs are reduced and made easier via a single console that is used to control all virtual servers.
If you prefer to have your server offsite, we have a Datacenter (Colocation) in Tampa with multiple redundant host servers that are able to handle your virtualization needs. This eliminates the need to have an in house computer IT Department or tech onsite to support your servers. We have 24/7 support with a server technician just a few steps away from your server. If you have any trouble you simply call us and the problem is handled without the need for a network engineer or technician to visit your office. We also have service plans that cover full server support and administration.
We have many happy clients that have virtualized their servers and moved them offsite for cost reduction and security. Bay Business Edge, Inc. can provide business references to any business that is interested in virtualizing their servers or moving them to our colocation facility.
Windows 2008 Server Hyper-V
Windows 2008 has built-in virtualization software that is similar to VMware server. Hyper-V allows you to run multiple operating systems and manage them from one console, similar to VMWare. This technology allows you to use a single Windows 2008 server and have multiple virtual guests allowing you to save on hardware costs (physical servers). You have the option of installing and using Hyper-V that is included with Windows 2008 as part of the base operating system. This allows you to create multiple virtual guests within the operating system. This is a new technology and is included with Windows 2008 Server, we offer full support for Hyper-V, VMWare and Server Virtualization. To use the Hyper-V technology you must agree to the license agreement.
Microsoft Hyper-V Virtualization now supports VMware ESX server. When using the Microsoft VM manager 2008 it now supports virtual guests from ESX server. In the past Microsoft didn't include Hyper-V support for any non-Microsoft products. Since VMWare ESX server has hit the market, Microsoft has decided to include support for VMWare ESX server with their system centerVirutal Machine Manager 2008. This makes managing a multi-VMWare Hyper-V environment easy to manage from a single console and consolidate any ESX servers to the Microsoft Hyper-V 2008 Virtual Server.
Recent Server Virtualization / Consolidation Project
Multiple Server Consolidation to Single Using VMWare
We were hired recently by a large surgery center to move / migrate their entire domain to a virtual environment so they could host their server offsite at our colocation facility in Tampa. They decided to move everything offsite to the colocation to reduce IT costs and increase security of their network. They decided to use VMWare's ESX server. ESX server is built on VMware technology and is one of the most robust virtualization software's available that is fully comparable with Windows 2008 Hypervisor technology.
To start, we did a complete analysis on the clients hard drive space needs, future growth, CPU utilization, and licensing. It was decided that Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Datacenter was going to be used. The new server was installed in our Tampa Colocation (Data Center) facility in Downtown Tampa. Next, we cloned each physical server to VMWare images and imported each image to the new server at the colocation. We then setup DFS replication between the two sites and ensured that the customers data remained up-to-date at all times. The next step was to produce a test run by turning off all the physical servers onsite and then running off the virtual servers at the colocation. All tests passed and another Tampa area customer was virtualized successfully by Bay Business Edge, Inc.
Recent VMWare Server Virtualization Project
Server Upgrade Using VMWare ESX and Hot Cloning
A Tampa Bay area insurance company hired us to perform a virtualization project to upgrade old servers to new Dell Poweredge servers. Our main tasks were to clone and virtualize 3 physical servers onto 2 VMware ESX servers with VMWare Infrastructure Hot Clone. The customer was using 3 old dell servers and wanted to upgrade the domain controller from Microsoft Windows Server 2003 SBS to Windows Server 2008 SBS.
We started by first ordering the hardware. We used two Dell Poweredge Enterprise servers and loaded VMWare's ESX virtualization software. The main component of ESX is free but certain add-ons like hot cloning do have a cost associated with it. We purchased the VMware 3 node, 6 CPU socket with hot cloning. One of the new Dell servers was setup and we used P2V to clone each physical server to a virtual host. Once this was complete all three physical servers were virtualized onto the Dell Poweredge. We then setup the other ESX server that was setup with a VMware backbone. This is kind of a gray area because most people don't know this is possible. If you call Dell directly or any other vendor they will try to sell you high end storage and tell you that if you want to hot clone VMWare ESX virtual guests you must have a storage array that sits between the two servers.
This customer also wanted a staging area setup for his development team, so our engineers set it up so the client could have a production environment and a staging environment. In between the two virtual environments we setup a server on a separate subnet and separate network card on each physical VMware ESX host. This box was called the console box and provided a separate VMware ESX backbone link between the two physical VMware ESX physical hosts. The end result gave you a staging and development area to test software off the live network. Any time they wanted a fresh clone of the production virtual servers all they needed to do is right-click the virtual guest on the VMware ESX server and clone it to the other VMware ESX guest. This customer was extremely happy with the end result and they signed up for our Network Support Service Plan which allows them to maintain their entire network without the need for a full time IT employee.
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Toll Free | 888-333-9340 |
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Tampa Bay | 813-749-9472 |
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St. Petersburg | 727-498-5772 |
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Clearwater | 727-865-5117 |
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Support | 813-749-9472 |
