Virtualization has changed the business world for the definite better in a number of key ways, but perhaps nowhere more so than in the area of backup and restoration.  IT support specialists used to claim that backing up data was a snap, while restoring it when needed could be a major headache.  Virtualization, however, has vastly changed that scenario, almost turning it on its head.  Once VMs (virtual machines) have been successfully backed up, it can be quite fast and simple to restore data as needed.

In any environment leveraging virtualization, an important consideration must be the system's ability to provide thorough and comprehensive backups.  One powerful means for restoring virtual machines is an image-backup arrangement instead of the file-based system that is a common option for non-virtualized computer systems. 

The major technological advance known as virtualization has delivered tremendous advantages to the SMBs that have adopted it, but like most forward leaps in computing, these advantages bring with them some new challenges to surmount. When it comes to virtualization, some of the largest challenges concern electrical power consumption and VM management.

The world's leading platform for virtualization is VMware.

Many SMBs have found the switch to desktop virtualization highly beneficial, but this does not mean that the technology is appropriate in every business circumstance.  Each SMB must evaluate how well this type of end-user computing will meet its own particular needs.  Such an evaluation should include several key considerations.

According to Jesse Lipson, Vice President and Data Sharing General Manager for virtualization leader Citrix, the company's main plan for the smartphone and tablet market is to leverage its web interface, CloudGateway 2, to provide applications to mobile devices, including full support for native HTML 5, iOS and Android apps.  Lipson acknowledges, however, that many companies are not yet ready for the MAM (mobile application management) paradigm.  Instead, small and medium-sized businesses are just beginning to dip their toes into mobile workflow by adopting MDM (mobile device management) systems.

Hyper-V version 3.0 is the virtualization platform that will ship along with the newest version of Windows Server, expected to become available to small and medium-sized business customers later this year.  Windows Server 2012 will change the requirements the platform has regarding the need for shared storage.  Previous versions of Hyper-V did not officially require shared storage, but some of its most useful features were only available when such storage was available. 

When the internet was new, early adopters had very little idea of just how far ranging its applications would become.  What seemed at first to be an information repository, sort of a virtual encyclopedia-on-demand, quickly morphed into far more, offering functions as diverse as streaming video, online shopping carts, and real-time stock tickers.  Virtualization is a similar technology in this sense: it can actually be used to accomplish diverse objectives, all of which prove to be of huge benefit to small and medium-sized businesses.

Businesses that are considering a move to virtualization will want to pay close attention to recent developments at VMware, the world's leading platform for virtualized work environments.  VMware has recently announced that vSphere 5 will be based on a new model for software licensing.  Instead of organizing licensing around the number of CPU cores with memory, the new model envisions licensing as an entitlement of virtual RAM (random access memory) for each CPU in the system.  This new model requires businesses to closely consider the allocation they are licensing, since without such considerations, it is possible that the business would not have enough licensing available to be able to launch a new VM when needed.

Virtualization is a powerful technology that allows businesses a simple and streamlined way to view all of the resources controlled by the hypervisor.  These include not just memory and networked resources but also the CPU itself.  In addition, a virtual application can be manipulated in highly efficient ways without any need for a physical copy of the application to be involved.  In this way, applications can be rapidly reconfigured and redeployed as needed to speed workflow and serve the needs of the employees processing that workflow.  A final advantage of virtualization is the way in which it allows for both servers and desktops to be consolidated and available on demand.