Database Reference
In-Depth Information
pressure from senior management for your organization to adopt virtualization as the
platform of choice.
Notice I used the word “platform.” Virtualization is a more robust platform on which
your business can operate, providing a number of advantages over a traditional physical
infrastructure.
Another advantage of virtualization is shrinking the data center footprint, and as a
consequence the carbon footprint (that is, “going green”). VMware customers have seen
as much as an 80% decrease in energy costs through virtualization.
The Database Administrator (DBA) and Saving Money
Whenever I am in a room of DBAs, I ask, “How many of you are evaluated on or have a
bonus tied to saving the company money?” Only one person has ever answered yes to
this question. Surprisingly, this ability to save money is not a motivator for DBAs to
want to start down the path of virtualizing their databases.
I think it ironic that the DBA is not in sync with the rest of the corporation, who are
constantly reminded to find ways to save money. Yet, as you can see in
Figure 2.1
, once
a company starts down the path of a virtualized infrastructure, it tends to increasingly
virtualize over time. So if not to save money, why does a DBA increase the rate of
virtualization once started?
Figure 2.1
Percentage of workload instances that are virtualized.
The short answer to this question is that the quality of life for the DBA improves when
the databases are virtualized. What's more, the quality of service improves for the
stakeholders who rely on these databases to do their jobs. As you read further in this
book, you will learn about capabilities, such as vMotion, that enable you to move a
