The market for server virtualization is growing rapidly, according to Gartner, Inc. Even though only 16 percent of workloads are running on virtual machines at present, Gartner (News - Alert) expects this figure to rise to around 50 percent of x86 architecture server workloads by the end of 2012. At present, the fastest growing market for virtual machines is the small business sector.

Presenting its outlook for the server virtualization market during Gartner Symposium/ITxpo, Gartner said server virtualization technology enables multiple operating system (OS) instances to be deployed, operated and managed concurrently on a single physical server.

In a release, Tom Bittman, vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner, said large enterprises were quick to leverage virtual machines to reduce server sprawl and power costs and to conserve data center space. However, it is expected that by year-end 2010, enterprises with 100-999 employees will have a higher penetration of virtual machines deployed than the Global 500. This is mainly because increased competition by server vendors has enabled smaller firms to take up virtualization.

 

Gartner advocates a “start small, think big” approach to virtualized server deployments that begins with a specific project but builds towards a wider strategic plan that includes management and process changes. Bittman noted that starting small will reduce risk and also provide for a learning curve while building the foundations for sustainable reductions in total cost of ownership (TCO) and improvements in service quality. On the other hand, “thinking big” helps to proactively plan ahead for the major process and management changes associated with virtualization.

 

On the topic of the evolution of server virtualization in the future, Bittman noted that it was important to understand that virtualization is not cloud computing, but it enables and forces the same changes required to effectively leverage cloud computing. Hence, virtualization leads inexorably to cloud computing. Also, virtualization will force users to let go of the physical implementations of their services, and deal with their provider in terms of service levels and results.