Chapter 5.2, Virtualization{0}
The article that I used is titled “Dell Virtual Lab Solution Allows Students to Access Labs Anytime, Anywhere and from Any Device” from www.virtualization.net website stating that Dell has created a way to have virtual labs. This form of virtualization does not target businesses but rather students in higher education. This form of virtualization is great for students who are taking a large work load and have to find a way to fit lab hours into their schedule. Virtual labs make it so that students can use their own personal computers, and have “round-the-clock virtual access to lab IT resources and specialty applications”. Through virtual labs there is not only a benefit to the students but also to the university as a whole. This technology will lower costs and increase energy savings and lower the burned on IT maintenance.
This article relates to the book in the sense that the book highlights several issues that are highlighted by the move to virtualization “such as hardware being underutilized, data centers running out of space, energy cost increasing, and system administration costs mounting.” With the virtual labs the data center space being use will be the individuals on their own PC’s, also the school will be saving money on energy because students will be able to work from home. In creating a virtualized lab there is also less of a burden on the IT department. Virtualization can cut 4% of energy used by servers and can also drive up storage rates from 25% to 60% or more.
What I liked about this article is the direction that virtualization is taking, in not only focusing on large companies but also schools. This new virtual lab can help save a lot of time and frustration in being able to do school work from anywhere with the same resources as being on site. The fact that virtualization saves energy is a big positive plus for everyone not just the organization saving money but also the environment as a whole.
References:
Dell (2010). Dell Virtual Lab Solution Allows Students to Access Labs Anytime, Anywhere and from Any Device. Retrieved September 27,2010. From: http://www.virtualization.net/699-dell-virtual-lab-solution-allows-students-remote-access/
Lechner, Rich (2010). Using virtualization to boost efficiency. Retrieved September 27,2010. From: http://www.networkworld.com/news/tech/2007/092007-tech-update.html
Phillips, Amy. (2011). Information systems. McGraw-Hill/Irwin Companies, Inc.