While server virtualization seems to get the bulk of virtualization mindshare, there are several other approaches that are worthy of consideration. Examples including presentation, application, storage, and network virtualization. In fact, you can effectively combine these different approaches to find the best performing and most cost-effective solutions to common IT problems.
That’s the topic of my SearchServerVirtualization.com article, Combining virtualization approaches for a data center’s ‘secret sauce’. From the introduction to the article:
Being an IT professional is similar to being a good cook. Even if you have great ingredients, success is realized only when you combine these ingredients in the ideal way. The same holds true for virtualization — many technologies can work well together. The art is in determining which applications and services will benefit from one another.
The good news is that virtualization doesn’t come in just one flavor — administrators have numerous options from which to choose. You can combine different virtualization approaches to address some of the more difficult data center management tasks.
As long as you can handle some cooking-related puns, I hope the information provides to be useful.