December 23, 2008 (Computerworld) Server virtualization, using software products like VMware, has been adopted by different organizations to varying degrees, with some successes and some not-so-successful outcomes. In 2009, the virtualization trend promises to continue apace.
As a technology, virtualization is 36 years old. It first appeared in the form of the VM/370 operating system for IBM mainframes in 1972. VM/370 allowed a mainframe to be logically partitioned into a number of virtual machines, each effectively isolated from the others. The technology was reborn for other platforms in 1999, with the first version of VMware for desktop PCs. In 2001, VMware released the first server versions of its product, supporting Windows and Linux, and virtualization started to make a gradual return to the data center. Microsoft jumped into the fray with its Hyper-V software earlier this year.
However, there still exists uncertainty in the minds of some data center managers and data center planners about the benefits, limitations and drawbacks of server virtualization. Take this 12-question quiz to see how your understanding of virtualization compares with that of the experts -- and gain some food for thought as you contemplate whether and where to use virtualization.
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This quiz was authored by Malcolm Hamer. He's a director with Acumen Solutions, a business and technology consulting firm with offices across the U.S. and Europe. Hamer can be reached at mhamer@acumensolutions.com.