So how do we close the chasm? How to we increase our utilization and get more out of our hardware?

Install more software on 1 server? Instead of running just application A, we’ll install and run Application A, B, & C. However, in most environments, application A installs a protocol that breaks Application B. To make matters worse, Application C requires a version of Java that isn’t compatible with Application A & B. To resolve this, each application requires a seperate server. There is hope however…

Virtualizaion is one approach to filling this chasm. Server virtualization for example allows us to achieve upwards of 80% utilization, and provide a seperate server for each application. Higher utilization also means we are getting more work out of our hardware thereby reducing the amount that we need to purchase.

It also allows us to purchase fewer physical servers thereby saving us not only hardware costs, but also support costs, kWh costs, and reduced BTU’s per hour.