To Grasp the Cloud—Fundamental Concepts - Deploying and Managing a Cloud Infrastructure - page 43

Xen Project has also started support for the ARM virtualization extensions, which
means that Xen-based hypervisors can also enable Type 1 hypervisors for mobile devices.
Hypervisors for Enterprise
In contrast to the hypervisor use cases for consumer-facing verticals, as in the case for mobile
devices, the enterprise hypervisor is all about hardware and software consolidation. Medium
and large enterprises would like to treat all their infrastructure as one large pool from which
they can slice and dice “instances” of resources as and when required. Hypervisors virtual-
ize the underlying compute processors, and hypervisor suites offer complete virtualization of
small, medium, and large data centers, which includes virtualizing compute, networking, and
storage devices across the data center. This consolidation creates what is called a software-
defined data center , which comprises software-defined networking (SDN), software-defined
storage (SDS), and Type 1 or Type 2 hypervisors.
This concept of consolidating enterprise IT with hypervisors as the primary enabling tech-
nology is not new. It has been borrowed from the world of consumer IT. Consider a multi-
function printer; it has been a tremendous success because three high-frequency requirements
(printer, photocopier, and fax) are consolidated into a single piece of hardware. Similarly,
with smartphones, GSM phones and personal computers have been consolidated into a single
mobile device. The success of smartphones can be gauged by the fact that their sales have
now outpaced those of PCs.
At the core of the enterprise hypervisor use case is the ultimate software-defined data cen-
ter (SDDC). In an SDDC, every single resource, including compute, storage, and networking,
are not only defined in the software or virtualized but also consolidated into a single large
resource pool where physical locations are also completely abstracted. The SDDC is powered
by the software-defined infrastructure (SDI), which is further powered by the hypervisor,
SDN, and SDS.
Workstation vs. Infrastructure
Another major division we can draw within the virtualization space in general and the hyper-
visor space in particular includes the most common use cases for hypervisor technology:
virtualizing workstations and virtualizing infrastructure.
Workstation as a Service
This is where the roots of hypervisor technology lies—virtualizing enterprise IT workstations.
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
Even though VDI solutions have been around for over a decade now, real momentum was
built around 2010 with the release of Windows 7, which is still the most popular OS for
small, medium, and large enterprises. Before VDI, the most common and preferred OS
deployment model was installation on every single workstation within an enterprise. Imagine
large enterprises with tens of thousands of workstations. Deploying, configuring, and man-
aging such large number of workstations required a mammoth IT department. Upgrading