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TECHNOLOGY*BRIEF*
TRANSFORMIN
G"THE"DATACENTER"WIT
H"VMWARE’S"
SOFTWARE
/
DEFINED&DATA&CENTER&
VCLOUD'SUITE
*
An#analysis#of#costs#and#capabilities#in#the#software
/
defined&datacenter
*
JUNE*2014*
The!Software,Defined!Data!Center!(SDDC)!is!an!emergent!vision!of!IT!technologies! that!are!migrating!from!traditional!hardware,based!systems!to!equally!performant! software!solutions!and!that!stand!to!come!together!in!more!integrated,!agile,!and! highly! orchestrated! ways.! In! reality,! SDDC! has! been! taking! shape! for! quite! some! time,!but!we’re!finally!to!the!point!where!such!technologies!can!reach!across!many! domains!and!are!powerful! enough!to!handle!the!largest!data!centers.!As!VMware! and!other!innovators!have!been!steadily!demonstrating,!technology!has!advanced!far!enough!to!make! nearly!any!domain!of!the!infrastructure!–!compute,!networking,!security,!and!even!storage!–!entirely! serviceable!with!a!layer!of!software!that!runs!on! commodity!hardware.!In!turn,!SDDC!pioneers!are! promising! new! found! capabilities! in! the! enterprise! that! will! deliver! tremendous! benefits! in! data! center! efficiency,! IT! agility,! the! control/management/consistency! of! IT! services,! and! in! customer! choice.! All! of! these! benefits! stand!to!transform!the!cost!of!IT!services,!as!well! as!the!capabilities!of!the!business.!
Today,! VMware! offers! what! is! perhaps! the! broadest! portfolio! (and! vision)! of! the! Software,Defined! Data! Center.! Their! vCloud! Suite! contains! a! broad! collection! of! products! that! promise! to! virtualize! almost!every!area!of!the!enterprise!data!center,!while!making!those!virtualized!instances!much!better! managed.!Within!the!VMware!product!portfolio,!these!SDDC!tools!include:! • vSphere*and*vCenter* • vCenter*Operations* Manager* • vCenter*Automation*Center* • vCloud*Orchestrator* • VSAN* • VMware*Data*Protector* • vCloud*Networking*and* Security* • NSX* • Site*Recovery*Manager* • VMware*HA/FT*
In! early! 2014,! Taneja! Group! turned! our! focus! toward! a! comprehensive! drill,down! into! SDDC! capabilities,!focused!on!VMware’s!vCloud!Suite!products.!We!cast!an!exceptionally!broad!net,!looking! toward! both! customer! data! points! from! a! large! scale! survey,! and! conducting! our! own! hands,on! Technology!Validation!testing!of!VMware!SDDC!technologies!to!assess!what!the!potential!impact!of! SDDC! is! in! dimensions! like! administrator! time! and! effort,! consolidation! ratios,! or! speed! of! execution! around! routine! IT! processes.! We! found! some! astounding! data! points,! but! they! may! require! we! point! out! a! caveat! before! discussing! results.! Specifically,! as! we! assessed! these! technologies,! we! were! doing! so! with! two! distinctly! different! perspectives.! Our! customer! research! across! 459!
Efficiency
Agility
Control
Choice
Figure'1:'VMware'claims'SDDC'technologies'deliver'key' benefits'in'four'areas.''Increase(in(VMs(
managed(per(
administrator(among(
VMware(customers(
!25%$
!
Technology*Brief*
respondents! was! necessarily! historical! –! we! talked! to! customers! about! what! they!have* realized* to* date,!when!many!of!these!SDDC!technologies!are!relatively!new!to!the!market,!and!customers!have! either!not!deployed!these!technologies!or!have!used!relatively!dated!predecessors.!In!contrast,!our! hands,on!Technology!Validation!work!focused!on!the!latest!technologies,!and!contrasted!many!of!our! results!against!IT!tasks!and!processes!typical!of!a!traditional!data!center!architecture!only!running! basic! VMware! vSphere.! Because! of! this! historical! versus! future! perspective,! our! Technology! Validation! results! often! called! out! distinctly! more! aggressive! advantages! than! what! we! found! in! surveying! VMware! customers.! But! together,! the! results! paint! a! tremendously! attractive! picture! of! what!VMware!SDDC!technologies!have!done!and!will!do!for!VMware!customers.!!
While!in!places!we!focused!on!improved!IT!capabilities!and!even!utilization!gains,!when!it!comes!to! quantifying!SDDC!impacts,!the!most!significant!impacts!promise!to!be!found!in!the!operational!costs! of!IT,!and!the!most!noticeable!of!these!will!revolve!around!the!drastically!altered!day,in!and!day,out! tasks! of! the! administrator.! We! focused! on! these! concrete! metrics! available! from! quantifying! the! impact! on! the! practitioner,! and! as! we! did! so,! we! repeatedly! arrived! at! an!OPEX*impact! factor.! This! OPEX! impact! factor! considers! the! time! and! effort! required! for! a! task! by! administrative! employees! both!with!and!without!the!use!of!SDDC!components.!For!example,!reducing!the!time!that!it!takes!an! administrator!to!do!a!task!from!60!minutes!to!20!minutes!is!an!OPEX!impact!of!3X.!But!practitioners! should!realize!that!there!are!other!improvements!with!substantial!cost!and!value!impacts.!Examples! include! areas! such! as! improved! VM! density! and! reduction! in! overall! software! licensing,! or! the! value! generated! from! deploying! applications! faster,! especially! when! those! applications! allow! the! business! to! more! rapidly!recognize!revenue.!!
Using!assessed!OPEX!impacts!from!customer! surveys! as! well! as! our! hands,on! work! and! modeling,! we’ve! characterized! the! most! significant! areas! of! improvement! in! this! report.!!But!we’ve!recognized!one!consistent! theme! throughout.! ! SDDC! stands! to! transform! the! daily! life! of! administrative! staff! and! thereby! the! capabilities!of!the!business.!!At!the!end!of!our!analysis,!we!constructed!a!model!represented!in!Figure! 2.! ! This! model! suggests! that! SDDC!
stands! to! take! tasks! that! consume! 40%! of! an! administrator’s! time! annually,!and!reduce!those!tasks!to! less!than!1%!of!their!time.!!That!in! turn!unlocks!greater!infrastructure! scalability! and! delivery! of! value, additive! IT! –! the! very! things! that! SDDC! is! intended! to! do.! In! the! remainder! of! this! report,! we’ve! organized! the! OPEX! and! CAPEX! observations! from! our! research! under! VMware’s! organizational! banners! of! Efficiency,! Agility,! Control,! and! Choice.! ! Each! section! contains!notable!observations!from! both! customer! and! hands,on! research,! and! fundamentally! support! the! time! and! effort! conclusions! reached! in! Figure! 2.!
Figure'2:'Findings'from'a'handsAon'Technology'Validation'compared'a' select'set'of'SDDC'and'nonASDDC'tasks,'and'then'modeled'those'tasks' against'a'frequency'of'events'(deployment,'change,'scale,'etc.)'to'yield'a' picture'of'annualized'time'and'effort'savings.''
!
We# concluded# that# SDDC# technologies# stand# to# free# up# a# considerable# amount# of# administrator# time#
annually,# driving# down# existing# customer#
operational# costs# by# 56%,# with# the# promise# to# reduce#those#costs#even#further#in#the#future.#This#is# how# the# most# advanced# virtualization# customers# manage# to# radically# increase# the# numbers# of# VMs# managed# per# administrator# [yielding# 2X# or# 3X# improvements#versus#a#typical#industry#expectation# of#100#VMs#per#administrator].#
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OPTIMIZING'TCO'WITH'THE'WELLAMANAGED'INFRASTRUCTURE'
!
Copyright*©*2014*The*Taneja*Group,*Inc.*All*Rights*Reserved.* 3*of*11*
Efficiency
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'
! ! !A! never,ending! quest! to! improve! efficiency! in! terms! of! data! center! processing! power! and! consequently! utilization,! as! well! as! the! efficiency! of! invested! human! effort,! is! a! key! driver! of! constantly!evolving!data!center!technologies.!No!less!is!this!the!case!with!VMware’s!vCloud!Suite!and! their!vision!of!the!Software,Defined!Data!Center.!In!assessing!efficiency,!we!focused!first!on!efficiency! gains!that!would!be!realized!under!the!banner!of!operational!expenses,!and!revolving!around!human! effort.!!
As! we! conducted! survey! and! interview,based! research! across! a! respondent! population! of! 459! practitioners,!we!identified!two!human!effort!trends!with!the!most!significant!impact.!First,!VMware! vCloud! Suite! data! centers! demonstrated! 46%! easier! planning,! management,! and! support! of! the! virtual! infrastructure.! Second,! VMware! vCloud! Suite!
data!centers,!across!both!physical!and!virtual!systems,! realized! faster! speed! of! provisioning! that! they! represented!as!66%!faster!than!their!non,SDDC!peers.! Altogether,! by! speeding! routine,! recurring! tasks! like! infrastructure! and! workload! provisioning,! and! reducing! the! on,going! human! effort! associated! with! planning,! managing,! and! supporting! the! virtual! infrastructure,!we!found!that!vCloud!Suite!can!reduce! these! OPEX! costs! associated! with! provisioning! and! on,going!management!by!56%.!
In! our! hands,on! Technology! Validation,! we! further! validated! this! conclusion! by! sampling! a! broad! assortment! of! tasks! where! we! observed! remarkable! differences! between! fundamental! human! efficiency! tasks! (see! Table! 1).! Specifically,! we! focused! on! deployment! tasks! and! quantified! the! time! and! effort! required! using! VMware’s! vCloud! Suite! SDDC! tools!
!
56%
Automated) provisioning) lets) vCloud) Suite) customers)
provision)new)VMs)and)new)physical)infrastructure)66%)
faster,) by) crea?ng) an) easily) scaled,) highly) elas?c) infrastructure,) in) which) resources) (VMs) and) physical) infrastructure)) can) be) easily) deployed) in) building) block) fashion.)
)
vCloud)Suite)management)tools)reduce)the)weekly)?me) and) effort) customers) spend) on) planning,) managing) and)
suppor?ng)the)virtual)infrastructure)by)46%.)
)
Planning' Managing' Suppor.ng' vCloud'Suite'Reduces'Opera3onal''''Management'Times'By'46%'Provisioning)))))))))
66%&Faster&
Virtual( Infrastructure( Physical( Infrastructure(vCloud'Suite'Accelerates'''''''''''''''''''''''Infrastructure'Provisioning'By'66%'
Management)Effort)))))))))
46%&less&
Automated) provisioning) lets) vCloud) Suite) customers)
provision)new)VMs)and)new)physical)infrastructure)66%)
faster,) by) crea?ng) an) easily) scaled,) highly) elas?c) infrastructure,) in) which) resources) (VMs) and) physical) infrastructure)) can) be) easily) deployed) in) building) block) fashion.)
)
vCloud)Suite)management)tools)reduce)the)weekly)?me) and) effort) customers) spend) on) planning,) managing) and)
suppor?ng)the)virtual)infrastructure)by)46%.)
)
Planning' Managing' Suppor.ng' vCloud'Suite'Reduces'Opera3onal''''Management'Times'By'46%'Provisioning)))))))))
66%&Faster&
Virtual( Infrastructure( Physical( Infrastructure(vCloud'Suite'Accelerates'''''''''''''''''''''''Infrastructure'Provisioning'By'66%'
Management)Effort)))))))))
46%&less&
Table'1:'Our'handsAon'taskAlevel'evaluation'of' VMware'vCloud'Suite'SDDC'technologies' identified'large'time'and'effort'differences.''
Efficiency(in(Building(the(Software5Defined(Data(Center!
Infrastructure(Domain(
/(Deployment(Task( Time!&!Effort!!(h:mm:ss)! Advantage!!SDDC!
( SDDC! SDDC!Non; Compute( 0:00:25! 0:17:00! 41X( Network( ! ! ( ; General( Config( 0:02:15( 0:04:52( 4X( ; Site/cluster( spanning( 0:08:49( 0:47:00( 5X( ; Firewall( 0:02:50( 0:23:00( 8X( ; VPN( 0:03:24( 0:26:00( 8X( ; Load( balancing( 0:04:52! 0:17:00! 8X( Storage( 0:15:36! 6:00:00! 3X( Data(Protection( 0:17:00! 1:05:00! 23X( Disaster(Recovery(Prot.( 0:14:50! 2:00:00! 4X( High(Availability( 0:01:28! 1:23:00! 8X( !
Reduction(in(
Operational(Costs(
!'
'
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OPTIMIZING'TCO'WITH'THE'WELLAMANAGED'INFRASTRUCTURE'
! Technology*Brief*Efficiency
versus! standard! technologies! in! more! traditional! virtualized! but! non,SDDC! environments! (e.g.! VMware!vSphere!only).!When!averaged!together,!we!found!that!VMware!SDDC!technologies!reduced! the!time!and!effort!required!for!the!typical!deployment!task!by!an!average!of!12X.!For!further!details! behind! this! testing,! see! the! Appendix! to! this! document.! SDDC! respondents! in! our! survey! of! 459! virtualization! practitioners! identified! a! 25%! increase! in! the! number! of! VMs! managed! by! an! administrator.! But! as! noted! in! the! introduction! to! this! document! (in! Figure! 2)! modeling! a! 100VM! environment!that!assumed!one!administrator!per!100!VMs,!the!time!and!effort!improvements!around! deployment!suggest!as!much!as!a!33X!reduction!in!administrator!time!and!effort!for!these!tasks;!an! improvement!that!could!free!up!more!than!165!hours!of!administrator!time!a!year.!
But!the!efficiency!story!with!SDDC! technologies! is! not! purely! about! time! and! effort! savings.! In! our! survey! efforts! and! our! hands,on! Technology! Validation,! we! found! remarkable! consistency! in! improved! infrastructure! utilization! via! VMware! vCloud! Suite! SDDC! technologies.! Specifically,!as!indicated!in!Figure! 3,! practitioners! using! SDDC! technologies! attested! to! an! average! utilization! increase! of! 2.7X!over!non,SDDC!practitioners.! Meanwhile,! our! Technology! Validation! exercises! and! consequent!modeling!of!a!100!VM! environment! suggested! that! most! single! SDDC! technologies! could! yield! a! 1.5X,1.7X! typical! improvement!in!utilization!(Table! 2).! When! these! technologies! are!
combined,!some!have!a!multiplicative!effect,!suggesting!that!more!advanced!Software,Defined!Data! Centers!could!easily!realize!a!2.7X!improvement.
**
At! the! end! of! the! day,! these! results! were! inevitably! responsible! for! one! other! survey! observation:! Of! 459! respondents,! VMware! SDDC! customers! indicated! a! typical! reduction! of! 70%! in! infrastructure! capital! costs! when! combining! the! savings! across! the!
multiple!network,!storage,!
compute,! and!
management! layers! of!
VMware’s! SDDC! technologies.! ! ! ! Figure'3:'Survey'respondents'(459'respondents)'indicated'an'average'2.7X' utilization'improvement'with'VMware'SoftwareADefined'Data'Center' technologies.' ! SOURCE:(TANEJA(GROUP( ! More%Efficient%Infrastructure%Utilization%in%the% Software%Defined%Data%Center! Infrastructure%Domain% SDDC! Improvement!in! Utilization! Compute% ! 3 Hypervisor%Tools%(e.g.% SIOC,%DRS,%etc.)% 1.5X! 3 Management%–%better% utilization%choices% 1.7X! Network% 1.6X! Storage% 4.2X! Disaster%Recovery%Protection% 1.7X! Fault%tolerance% 1.1X! !
70%$
Infrastructure+
CAPEX+
reduc2on+
Table'2:'Our'handsAon'testing'and'consequent'modeling' led'us'to'identify'the'above'utilization'improvements'as' possible'with'VMware'SDDC'technology.''
ACCELERATING'THE'FLEXIBLE'VIRTUALIZED'INFRASTRUCTURE'
!
Copyright*©*2014*The*Taneja*Group,*Inc.*All*Rights*Reserved.* 5*of*11*
Agility
We!define!agility!as!the!speed!and!degree!to!which!IT!systems!can!be!changed.! As! we! reviewed! the! impact! of! VMware’s! Software,Defined! Data! Center! technologies! upon! customer! agility,! we! identified! consistent! benefits! and! radically! improved! capabilities,! although! we! also! identified! significantly! different! degrees! of! capability! in! the! lab! versus! what! customers! report! in! the! real! world.! From! this,! we! have! two! observations.! First,! the! reality! is,! many! businesses!infrequently!scale!computing,!in!terms!of!scaling!a!single!application! system;! although! for! customers! who! do! regularly! scale! such! services,! the! numbers! illustrate! that! vCloud! Automation! Center! and! vCenter! Orchestrator! paired!with!data!from!solutions!like!vCenter!Operations!Manager!and!VMware! Log!Insight!can!radically!reduce!the!time!and!effort!(and!cost)!associated!with! adapting! systems.! Second,! many! customers! are! still! adapting! business! processes!to!meet!their!significantly!altered!SDDC!IT!capabilities.!!
As!we!evaluated!SDDC!technologies!in!the!lab,!we!focused!on!the!likely!alteration!in!“cycle!times”!or! the! entire! time! a! multi,disciplinary! process! takes!
to!execute!in!the!traditional!IT!infrastructure.!The! reality! once! again! is! that! many! customers! who! have! deployed! SDDC! technologies! may! as! of! now! have!only!partially!realized!these!benefits,!as!they! undertake!longer!term!initiatives!to!change!the!IT! people! processes! that! have! long! supported! their! traditional!IT!infrastructures.!
Based! on! our! Technology! Validation! work,! we! initially! assessed! a! potential! 76X! improvement! in! cycle! times! when! looking! at! only! deployment! tasks.!As!we!expanded!our!assessment!to!also!look! at! routine! change! and! troubleshooting! activities,! we!identified!an!average!improvement!of!25X.!But! then! as! we! weighted! this! model! to! reflect! the! annual! frequency! of! events! that! practitioners! encounter!across!a!set!of!100!production!VMs,!we!
identified!a!realistic!level!of!improvement!at!15X.! Meanwhile,! survey! respondents! answering! a! question!about!a!single!dimension!–!provisioning! –! reflected! 3X! faster! execution! when! using! VMware’s! SDDC! technologies.! What! is! the! real! answer?! ! Our! conclusion! is! that! not! all! organizations! leverage! the! full! capabilities! of! vCloud! Suite! to! fully! accelerate! IT! processes! and! IT! agility,! and! many! organizations! still! remain! constrained! by! traditional! IT! cross,discipline! coordination!and!approval!processes.!But!agility!is! a!key!factor!in!today’s!IT!pursuits,!and!we!expect! IT! agility! will! rapidly! improve! beyond! the! 3X! measure! as! SDDC! technology! reaches! broader! adoption! and! begins! to! change! fundamental! business!processes.! !
15X
Improvement(in(
time(to(execute(–(
from(the(lab(
! Agility'in'the'Software1Defined'Data'Center' Tasks/Processes' Total&Cycle&Time&&(h:mm:ss)& Advantage&& Frequency&Annual&
(100VMs)&
SDDC& NonBSDDC&
Deployment' 0:30:17& 5:58:00& 12X& 16&
Scale' & & & & B Physical'Compute' 0:11:38& 2:11:38& 11X& 7& B Virtual'Compute' 0:00:28& 1:39:29& 213X& 4& B Storage' 0:01:26& 1:30:00& 63X& 7& B Network' 0:02:28& 0:48:00& 19X& 3& B Data'Protection' 0:17:00& 4:00:00& 14X& 1&
Adaptation/Change' & & & & B Compute' 0:05:23& 1:10:00& 13X& 32& B Storage' 0:03:37& 0:51:15& 14X& 16& B Network' 0:03:29& 1:49:00& 31X& 32& B Data'Protection' 0:17:00& 4:00:00& 14X& 1&
Troubleshooting/Remediation' 0:07:11& 1:57:37& 16X& 40&
! Table'3:'VMware'SDDC'technology'testing'and' consequent'modeling'of'activities'based'on'occurences' of'events'in'the'real'world'identified'a'15X'improvement.' Figure'4:'Survey'respondents'indicated'that,'through' the'use'of'VMware’s'SDDC'technologies,'they'realized' on'average'a'1.7X'improvement'in'agility'around' deployment'and'provisioning.' '
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CONTROL'–'THE'FOUNDATION'OF'THE'DATA'CENTER'
! Technology*Brief*Control
One! of! the! popular! claims! around! Software,Defined! Data! Center! technologies! is! an! improvement! in! control,! but! unless! the! practitioner! lives! in! a! world! of! financial! instrumentation,!IT!control!is!often!a!nebulous!concept!that! is!challenging!to!define!and!even!more!difficult!to!quantify! the!impact!of,!or!articulate!a!value!for.!Taneja!Group!defines! IT!control!as!two!faceted:!control!is!focused!on!maintaining! a! steady,! optimized! operating! state! as! well! as! reducing! an! organization’s! exposure! to! risks.! As! we! set! out! to! quantify! VMware! vCloud! Suite! and! the! Software! Defined! Data! Center’s!impact!on!control!with!both!end!user!research!and! hands,on! evaluation,! we! separately! peered! into! the! capabilities! around! each! of! these! two! facets.! For! the! first,! we! quantified! how! SDDC! technologies! can! alter! the! operational!costs!of!an!organization!trying!to!maintain!well, optimized! infrastructure! (note,! earlier! in! this! report! we! quantified! the! impact! of! SDDC! technologies! on! improving! efficiency! by! optimizing! infrastructure! utilization).! Second,! we! assessed! the! capabilities! of! SDDC! technologies! in! reducing!risk!by!enhancing!visibility!and!alerting.!In!this!second!dimension,!we!also!assessed!what! the!operational!cost!impact!is!for!organizations!that!use!SDDC!technologies!to!attain!a!superior!level! of!visibility!with!less!time!and!effort,!but!we’ll!note!there!is!a!less!quantifiable!aspect!here!that!should! not!be!overlooked!–!the!value!of!risk!reduction!to!the!business.!! To!assess!each!of!the!multiple!facets!of! control,!we!first!looked!at!the!time!and! effort! difference! of! maintaining! a! well, optimized! infrastructure! with! SDDC! technologies! like! vCenter! Operations! Manager,! vCloud! Automation! Center,! and! vCenter! Orchestrator.! Each! provides! an! avenue! for! improving! visibility! and/or! taking! action! to! proactively! maintain! an! optimized! and! well,running! infrastructure.! We! compared!these!capabilities!to!the!level! of! time! and! effort! that! would! be! required! to! maintain! a! “high”! level! of! optimization! in! a! traditional! infrastructure! by! executing! periodic! reviews!and!analysis,!assuming!that!such!reviews!were!executed!on!a!weekly!basis!in!the!traditional! vSphere!only!infrastructure.!Our!lab,measured!and!modeled!savings!were!astounding!(see!Table!4),! and!we!did!not!factor!in!the!time!and!effort!actually!required!to!correct!the!condition.!The!reality!is! that!these!activities!take!up!significant!administrator!time,!and!in!the!real!world!they!unfortunately! are!not!executed!frequently!enough!to!maintain!an!efficient!infrastructure!without!the!use!of!SDDC! technologies! like! these! from! VMware.! To! that! point,! while! it! is! not! quantified! here,! in! non,SDDC! environments!there!is!undoubtedly!routine!slippage!in!control!that!comes!at!the!cost!of!less!effective! infrastructure! utilization! and! an! increase! in! capital! infrastructure! costs! to! handle! this! inefficient! utilization.!
Maintaining'an'Optimized'Infrastructure!
Tasks/Processes' Time!&!Effort!(h:mm:ss)! Advantage!
' SDDC! Non;SDDC! Non;SDDC!100!VMs! ! Maintaining'an'Optimized'Infrastructure' ! ! ! Identify!waste!(CPU,!RAM,!storage)! 0:00:16! 0:02:121! 3:40:0! Optimize!Density! 0:00:05! 0:00:18! 0:30:41! Identify!Idle!VMs! 0:00:11! 0:02:261! 4:03:20! Evaluate!Excess!Host!Capacity! 0:00:44! 0:01:162! 2:06:40! Task!Level!Totals! 0:01:16! 0:06:12! ! Weekly'Execution'*'100'VMs'C' Annualized' 1:05:52' ' 446:38:12' 407X' 1.!Non;SDDC!tasks!are!per;VM.! 2.!Non;SDDC!tasks!are!per!physical!host.! Table'4:'Our'handsAon'assessment'of'the'time'and'effort'savings' that'SDDC'technologies'deliver'by'helping'maintain'(control)'an' efficient'data'center.'
1.2x Better
Control
2/3
rdsthe
Effort
Survey' (459' respondents):" vCloud" Suite" tools" yield" 1.2x" be4er" opera8onal" visibility" and" compliance" with" standardized" configura8ons" with" 1/3rd" less" annual" 8me" and"
effort" versus" tradi8onal" infrastructures." " This" improves" opera8onal" integrity," disaster" preparedness," and" rou8ne" management."
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CONTROL'–'THE'FOUNDATION'OF'THE'DATA'CENTER'
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Copyright*©*2014*The*Taneja*Group,*Inc.*All*Rights*Reserved.* 7*of*11*
Control
We! next! carried! out! a! hands,on! examination! of! the! impact! of! enhanced! end,to,end! visibility! during!routine!deployment!or!change!activities!in! the! data! center! –! provided! by! tools! like! vCenter! Infrastructure!Navigator!and!vCenter!Operations! Manager.!These!tools!provide!instant!data!center! visibility! and! intelligence,! even! to! the! point! of! discovering! relationships! between! multi,tiered! application! components.! Such! insight! has! a! fundamental! impact! in! routine! IT! activities! that! are! carried! out! constantly! over! the! course! of! a! year.! When! we! modeled! the! time! and! effort! savings! from! these! capabilities! against! the! same! frequency! of! events! in! the! hypothetical! 100! VM! environment! that! we! identified! in! Table! 3,! our! data!indicated!a!5X!improvement!(see!Table!5).!!
But!it!shouldn’t!be!overlooked!that!this!visibility!improvement!also!has!implications!beyond!routine! activities.!Most!specifically,!it!stands!to!have!significant!impact!in!troubleshooting!and!remediation,! and!in!avoiding!incidents!and!outages!in!the!first!place.!To!this!point,!we!conducted!additional!testing! and! modeled! the! impact! in! a! 100! VM! environment,! with! a! basic! set! of! assumptions! (results! and! assumptions!indicated!in!Table!6).!By!this!modeled!assessment,!VMware!SDDC!technologies!stand!to! have! a! significant! impact! on! troubleshooting! effort,! but! they! also! may! help! avoid! or! eliminate! the! downtime! or! service,degradation! consequences! of! those!events.!!
It! is! often! unrecognized! in! the! practitioner’s! eyes! that! activities! associated! with! control! make! up! a! large! portion!of!annual!time!and!effort!(almost!520!hours!in! our!model).!As!indicated!in!Figure!2!in!the!introduction! to!this!report,!such!control!constitutes!as!much!as!25%! of! the! annual! time! and! effort! for! an! administrator! managing! 100! production! VMs.! Consequently,! the! control!capabilities!of!the!Software,Defined!Data!Center! stand!to!have!significant!impact!on!the!operational!costs! of! IT! and! may! be! the! most! effective! technologies! in! returning! practitioner! hours! to! the! business! for! investment!in!more!strategic!value,added!IT!initiatives.! ! ! Table'5:'SDDCAenabled'control'also'returns'benefits'each' time'a'deployment'or'change'task'is'executed'by' enhancing'visibility.' Intelligent(Infrastructure(Management(–(Deploy/Change(with(Visibility! Tasks/Processes( Time!&!Effort! (h:mm:ss)! Advantage! ( SDDC! Non;SDDC! Well@managed(deployment/change( ! ! ! Deploy/Change!with!available! resource!awareness! 0:00:39! 0:01:38 2! 3X( Deploy/Change!with!future! capacity/performance!visibility! 0:00:11! 0:02:29 1! 14X( Task!Level!Totals! 0:00:50! 0:04:07! 5X( Modeled(for(Number(of(Events( Annually((from(Agility(table)(and( against(100VMs( 2:54:10! 14:20:25! 5X( 1.!Non;SDDC!tasks!are!per;VM.! 2.!Assumes!use!of!Distributed!Resource!Scheduler!in!non;SDDC!task!for!automated,!intelligent! workload!placement.! A#radical#reduction#in#activities#that#make#up#25%#of# the# administrator’s# annual# time# and# effort# is# undeniably# noticeable,# and# correlates# with# the# recognition# across# our# survey# population# of# improved#control#with#reduced#effort.# Table'6:'Modeling'the'impact'of'SDDC'visibility' improvements'(based'on'handsAon'testing)' suggests'a'dramatic'impact'on'an'annual'basis,' along'with'the'potential'avoidance'of' outages/serviceAdegradations.' Multi&tier)App)Visibility)for)Remediation)and)Avoidance! Assumptions) Number!of!application!discovery!efforts!annually!for! planning/development/change/compliance!(for!100!VMs)! 30! Number!of!discovery!efforts!for!troubleshooting/remediation!(for! 100!VMs)! 36! Average!issue!resolution/remediation!time!after!discovery! 60!minutes! Tasks/Processes) Time!&!Effort!! (h:mm:ss)! Advantage!! ) SDDC! NonHSDDC! Discover!App!/!Business!Process! 0:00:08! 0:03:18! Discover!Network!Relationships! Included! 0:03:33! Discover!App!Component!Relationships! Included! 0:07:10! Discover!Storage!Relationships! Included! 0:15:00! Total)Task)Time) 0:00:08) 0:29:01) 218X) Annualized)Time)and)Effort)(incl.) resolution)) 0:08:48! 67:55:06! 463X) Potential!Resolution!Time!and!Effort! Savings!from!Issue!Avoidance! 36:00:00! ! ) !
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CONTROL'–'THE'FOUNDATION'OF'THE'DATA'CENTER'
! Technology*Brief*Control
! ! ! THE'VALUE'OF'RISK'REDUCTION'To* assess* the* impact* of* SDDC* technologies* on* risk* reduction,* we* focused* on* one* particular* risk* avoidance* technology* –* VMware’s*Site*Recovery* Manager*–* and*we*asked* survey*respondents* to*characterize*their*nonZ SDDC*and*SDDC*environments*in*terms*of*business*continuity*practices.*Clear*differences*emerged*around*how* well*the*environment*maintains*a*steady*state,*and*consequently*remains*consistently*operable*without*issue.** * Table'7:'Practitioner'perceptions'of'DR'characteristics'and'practices'that'were'significantly'altered'with'the' introduction'of'VMware’s'Site'Recovery'Manager.'' These*capabilities*have*a*substantial*impact*on*risk*reduction*by*not*only*improving*business*continuity,*but*also* substantially*reducing*the*risk*of*error*conditions*or*incidents.*Unfortunately,*in*the*technology*industry,*there* are*few*formal*processes*for*assigning*a*value*to*risk*reduction.*In*financial*terms,*an*IT*practitioner*could*easily* assign*a*value*based*on*upZtime*expectations*and*the*resultant*probability*of*outage.*Meanwhile,*various*metrics* exist*for*the*cost*of*downtime,*and*our*end*user*discussions*typically*value*that*cost*in*a*range*of*$70,000*to* $150,000*per*hour*for*smaller*enterprises*Z*depending*on*industry*and*vertical*Z*and*these*numbers*may*scale* upward*substantially*in*larger*or*more*electronicZrevenueZdriven*businesses.*Using*financial*models,*the*industry* could* arrive* at* more* methodical* assessments* of* these* risks,* based* on* the* probability* of* outage* given* these* uptime* expectations.* But* those* uptime* expectations* also* need* to* be* realistic;* subsystems* that* tout* 5* 9’s* availability*in*the*field*do*not*factor*in*the*incidence*of*user*errors*and*the*combination*of*multiple*systems*that* each* introduce* risk* of* outage* and* decrease* the* availability* of* the* infrastructure* as* a* whole.* In* our* view,* the* typical*state*of*the*art*enterprise*experiences*availability*levels*to*the*degree*of*3*9’s*or*worse,*and*the*risks*and* costs*of*outage*should*be*evaluated*by*those*metrics.*From*our*handsZon*and*research*work,*SDDC*technologies* like* VMware’s*vCloud* Suite* look* ideally* constructed* to* help* enterprises*reduce* their* uptime* risks* and* achieve* operational*uptime*levels*closer*to*a*5*9’s*goal*with*optimized*operational*costs.**
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CHOICE'–'UNLOCKING'FLEXIBILITY'THROUGH'INTEROPERABILITY'
!
Copyright*©*2014*The*Taneja*Group,*Inc.*All*Rights*Reserved.* 9*of*11*
Choice
Based! on! our! agility! observations,! it! is! similarly! fitting! to! note! that! agility! is! a! key! driver! of! another! aspect!of!the!VMware,vision!of!the!Software,Defined! Data! Center! –! choice.! While! VMware! has! long! provided! some! of! the! broadest! choice! in! the! virtualization! ecosystem! by! way! of! a! long! list! of! interoperable! and! supported! operating! systems! and! applications,! software,defined! services! ultimately! provide! choice! or! flexibility! in! how! and! when! services! are! deployed.! VMware! customers! that! recognized!via!our!survey!an!improvement!in!agility! undoubtedly! realize! the! benefits! of! choice! in! when! they!provision.!
Moreover,! VMware! has! steadily! grown! the! possible! locations! to! which! their! customers! can! choose! to! provision! and! use! compute! services.! Today,! this! includes! the! vCloud! Service! Provider! Partner! ecosystem,! and! VMware’s! vCloud! Hybrid! Service.! This! ecosystem! of! offerings! provides! significant! choice!in!the!locality!and!cost!of!compute!services,!not!only!by!offering!customers!the!ability!to!shift! their! IT! spending! from! capital! expenditures! to! pay,as,you,go! consumption,! but! by! also! creating! a! competitive!ecosystem!that!provides!customers!with!a!rich!choice!in!quality!and!cost!of!computing! services.! ! !
ABOUT'TANEJA'GROUP'
Taneja#Group’s#mission#is#to#deliver#bestQinQclass#technology#analysis#and#consulting#for#the#storage,#servQ er,#virtualization,#cloud#and#big#data#markets#to#enable#our#clients#to#convert#technology#into#business.#We# are# a# boutique# firm# of# operational# experts# with# both# broad# and# deep# expertise# in# storage# systems# and# technologies,#server#and#desktop#hardware#and#software,#virtualization#platforms#and#appliances,#cloud# software#and#services,#and#physical#and#virtual#infrastructure#management#solutions.#(
For#more#information,#please#visit#www.tanejagroup.com.# # # # # # NOTICE:(THE(INFORMATION(CONTAINED(HEREIN(HAS(BEEN(OBTAINED(FROM(SOURCES(BELIEVED(TO(BE(ACCURATE(AND(RELIABLE,(AND(INCLUDES( PERSONAL(OPINIONS(THAT(ARE(SUBJECT(TO(CHANGE(WITHOUT(NOTICE.(TANEJA(GROUP(DISCLAIMS(ALL(WARRANTIES(AS(TO(THE(ACCURACY(OF( SUCH( INFORMATION( AND( ASSUMES( NO( RESPONSIBILITY( OR( LIABILITY( FOR( ERRORS( OR( FOR( YOUR( USE( OF,( OR( RELIANCE( UPON,( SUCH( INFORMATION.(COMPANY,(BRAND(AND(PRODUCT(NAMES(REFERENCED(HEREIN(MAY(BE(TRADEMARKS(OF(THEIR(RESPECTIVE(OWNERS.( !1.7x%
More%agility%in%
deployment%and%
provisioning%of%
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1.7x% faster% deployment/provisioning% allows% vCloud% Suite% customers% to% easily% and% flexibly% deploy% when% and% where% needed% and% u@lize% both% on% and% offCpremise% resources% through%vCloud%Hybrid%Service.%%This%maintains%control%with%a% single%management%paradigm,%while%improving%efficiency%and% driving%down%costs.% % %
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! Technology*Brief*APPENDIX
# The!following!footnotes!and!details!reference!the!tables!found!throughout!this!report.! TABLE*1:* *Testing*utilized*a*small*virtual*network*and*4*to*8*physical*hosts*depending*on*scenario.* *To*simplify*testing*does*not*include*software*installation*time*or*physical*hardware*rack/install*time*(for*traditional*infrastructure)**Time* and* effort* reflects* the* crossZdomain* discussion/planning/coordination* time,* but* does* not* include* wait* times;* wait* times* for* multiZ disciplinary*handZoffs,*coordination,*downtime*windows,*etc.*are*identified*in*“Total*Cycle*Time”,*and*are*inclusive*of*Time*and*Effort*time.**Total* Cycle*Time*is*used*in*our*discussion*of*Agility*in*this*paper.* *Time*and*effort*measurements*greater*than*15*minutes*are*rounded*to*nearest*minute,*greater*than*2*hours*are*rounded*to*nearest*15*minutes,* greater*than*8*hours*are*rounded*to*nearest*hour.* *Time*comparisons*based*on*simulation*and/or*end*user*discussion*across*midZsized*enterprises,*for*an*environment*running*approximately*100* production*VMs.* *Compute*comparisons*focus*on*using*autoZdeploy*(which*is*later*coupled*with*vCenter*Automation*Center/vCenter*Operations*Manager/vCenter* Orchestrator*for*automated*scaling)*versus*manual*installation*of*ESXi*hosts.**SDDC*time*includes*the*time*and*effort*and*cycle*time*required*for* host*install/configuration,*and*does*not*include*the*initial*configuration*time*for*a*wellZconfigured*autoZdeploy*infrastructure*(approximately*15* minutes).** *Network*tasks*include*general*configuration*comparisons*between*dvSwitch*vs*vSwitches*plus*external*network*components.*
*Firewall* comparisons* assume* comparable* configuration* of* a* traditional* IPZbased* firewall* (managed* by* separate* firewall* or* network* administrator)*with*no*preZexisting*configuration*versus*NSX’s*identityZbased*firewall.**For*traditional*infrastructure,*assumes*dedicated*firewall* for*new*virtual*infrastructure,*which*yields*consequent*speed*of*execution*advantages*versus*navigating*dependencies*of*existing*rule*sets.* *For*data*protection,*we*assumed*a*virtualizationZoptimized*solution,*but*coordinated*by*a*separate*data*protection*administrator.**We*calculated* the*time*required*to*begin*initial*backups*of*a*given*set*of*virtual*machines*(10*VMs).*** *DR*deployment*comparisons*leveraged*Site*Recovery*Manager*with*vSphere*Replication*in*the*SDDC*solution,*but*utilized*external*arrayZbased* replication*for*the*traditional*infrastructure.**For*the*SDDC*solution,*we’ve*assumed*a*moderate*level*of*complexity*and*significant*crossZdomain* discussion*for*the*configuration*of*recovery*plans.**For*SDDC/VMware*SRM*we’ve*assumed*the*secondary*site*exists*with*a*configured*vCenter* Server,*and*that*a*Microsoft*WindowsZinstalled*vCenter*Server*exists*with*an*already*configured*64Zbit*client*connection*to*a*SQL*Server*or*Oracle* database.* *HA*configurations*assumed*a*third*party*hostZbased*HA*failover*software*in*the*traditional*infrastructure.**VMware*HA*configuration*assumes* DRS*is*already*enabled,*and*that*the*VMware*HA*configuration*enables*VMZlevel*monitoring.*HA*configurations*assume*the*involvement*of*an* application*developer*or*administrator*for*configuration*of*the*traditional*hostZbased*failover*software.* TABLE*2:* *Our*improvements*are*represented*as*multiplier*improvements*in*efficiency.**E.g.*a*1X*improvement*in*utilization*is*equivalent*to*no*utilization* improvement.***
*In* assessing* utilizationZbased* efficiency* gains,* we’ve* considered* the* full* suite* of* tools* at* each* layer,* including* technologies* like* SIOC* at* the* hypervisor*layer,*as*well*as*the*utilization*gains*made*possible*through*vCenter*Operations*Management.*
*When*estimating*utilization*efficiency*improvements,*we*sometimes*evaluated*the*cost*of*optimized*infrastructure*that*costs*considerably*less,* e.g.*network*virtualization*may*make*the*same*infrastructure*design*possible*at*a*much*lower*cost*because*less*physical*equipment*is*required.** To* reach* our* utilization* improvement* factor,* we* then* projected* how* many* more* VMs* we* could* support* when* maintaining* the* same* dollar* investment*as*the*nonZoptimized*solution,*while*assuming*the*solution*would*scale*linearly*if*more*money*was*invested.* *Utilization*improvement*models*were*evaluated*against*an*environment*of*100VMs,*assuming*multiple*network*zones*with*security*isolation,* logical*isolation,*load*balancing,*and*remote*access.* *Storage*assessment*based*on*use*of*VSAN*and*the*hard*dollar*cost*of*acquisition*difference*between*VSAN*and*a*traditional*upperZend*midZ range*storage*array.* *We*have*excluded*Data*Protection*from*a*utilization*assessment,*as*the*primary*impact*is*upon*utilized*disk*capacity,*which*is*a*different*metric* than*the*broader*infrastructure*utilization*optimized*by*other*technologies.**But*it*should*be*noted*that*VMware*SDDC*data*protection*(vSphere* Data*Protection)*does*decrease*network*utilization*for*backup,*and*may*scale*and*deduplicate*more*efficiently*than*competing*alternatives.* *By*our*assessment,*best*of*class*utilization*of*SDDC*disaster*recovery*tools*allow*customers*to*significantly*enhance*utilization*by*rightZsizing* failover*infrastructure,*approaching*failover*plans*with*better*utilization*planning,*and*utilizing*failover*resources*for*less*critical*compute*needs* until*the*time*of*disaster.* *For*our*faultZtolerance*utilization*assessment,*we*assume*that*VMwareHA*can*eliminate*the*need*for*a*standby*application*instance*and*hostZ based* failover* software.* * We* assume* that* 20%* of* the* workloads* in* our* infrastructure* model* are* protected* by* HA,* but* that* the* traditional* infrastructure’s*standby*servers*are*relatively*idle*and*do*not*reflect*a*1:1*increase*in*utilization.***
TABLE*3:*
*We*focused*our*handsZon*agility*validation*on*the*cycle*time*required*to*complete*tasks,*including*in*some*cases*the*cycle*time*required*for* multiZdisciplinary/interZdisciplinary*practitioner*participation*and*coordination*around*some*tasks.***
*Tasks* are* not* inclusive* of* logistics* or* process* times* required* for* hardware* provisioning* beyond* the* coordination* of* other* team* members,* resources,*or*sneakerZnet*time*for*tasks*like*IP*addressing*and*powerZcycling,*etc.*
!
Copyright*©*2014*The*Taneja*Group,*Inc.*All*Rights*Reserved.* 11*of*11*
*We* assessed* improvements* in* deployment* time* by* assessing* strictly* the* time* required* for* execution* of* tasks* in* a* manualZbuild* environment* versus*an*autoZdeploying*vCloud*Automation*Center*environment,*or*autoZscaling*with*instrumentation*from*vCenter*Operations*Manager*and* automation* via* vCloud* Automation* Center* and* vCenter* Orchestrator.* * We* specifically* evaluated* the* construction* of* a* 4* VM* multiZtiered* application*for*deployment*tasks,*and*consequent*demandZdriven*scaling.**Comparisons*with*traditional*infrastructure*only*measured*the*task* execution*times.**When*also*including*the*wait*times*involved*in*multiZdisciplinary*team*task*handZoffs*and*collaboration,*our*calculations*suggest* that*SDDC*automation*could*make*deployment*as*much*as*76X*faster*than*the*traditional*infrastructure*(when*measuring*only*the*business*hour* wait* cycles).* * These* numbers* do* not* include* the* oneZtime* 8* minutes* and* 42* seconds* of* effort* required* to* initially* configure* a* multiZmachine* blueprint*and*approval*process*(nor*do*these*figures*include*oneZtime*vCenter*Automation*Center*installation*time).*
*For*the*traditional*environment,*we*were*inclusive*of*discovery*and*documentation*tasks*that*may*be*needed*in*traditional*environments*that* lack*pervasive*change*control.**In*the*SDDC,*these*tasks*are*automated*by*vCenter*Operations*Manager*and*vCenter*Infrastructure*Navigator.** *Network*exercises*include*adding*additional*NSX*controllers*for*scale,*versus*configuring*additional*ports*and*network*devices,*and*creating*new* logical*networks*and*routing*policies*on*demand*versus*configuring*external*switching,*VLANs,*and*coordinating*with*a*network*team.*
*For* Data* Protection,* we* used* the* same* scenario* for* scale* and* change,* as* typical* change* involves* adding* additional* capacity,* which* VDPA* addresses*with*the*addition*of*another*VDPA*node.*
*We’ve*assessed*troubleshooting*for*a*multiZtiered,*multiZVM*that*assumes*a*need*for*discovery*of*application*components*and*assessment*of* basic*outZofZnorm*performance*metrics*to*arrive*at*theory*for*trouble*location,*and*then*requires*analysis*of*storage*or*network*components*for* further*remediation.*
TABLE*4:*
*We* compared* SDDC* and* nonZSDDC* processes,* while* assuming* that* nonZSDDC* infrastructures* make* use* of* VMware* technologies* available* in* baseZlevel* licensing,* such* as* DRS.* DRS* and* similar* baseZlevel* technologies* can* identify* ideal* placement* of* VMs,* and* environments* running* competitive*hypervisors*or*electing*not*to*use*DRS*may*see*substantially*higher*time*and*effort*costs.***
*Note,* optimization* tasks* such* as* reclaimable* waste* reviews* or* assessment* of* available* resources* involve* taskZlevel* SDDC* and* nonZSDDC* environment*comparisons*for*compute*and*storage*resources,*but*not*network*capacity;*today’s*products*have*little*utilization*integration*with* emerging*SDN*capabilities,*although*we*expect*this*will*rapidly*change*with*future*product*releases.*
*Many*of*the*nonZSDDC*tasks*require*a*perZVM*review*to*obtain*an*aggregate*picture*of*available*resources,*and*consequently*exact*severe*time* and*effort*costs,*with*a*very*large*multiplier*in*these*tables.*
TABLE*5:*
*For* the* nonZSDDC* environment,* our* model* assumes* that* administrators* would* make* use* of* VMware’s* DRS* in* automating* the* optimized* placement*of*workloads*and*consequently*reducing*time*and*effort.**Without*DRS,*the*advantage*would*be*much*larger.* *For*a*100*VM*environment,*we’ve*assumed*that*the*time*and*effort*identified*for*deployment/change*with*a*view*toward*future*utilization*also* involves*reviewing*when*systems*will*run*out*of*storage*capacity.**The*time*and*effort*for*the*SDDC*environment*includes*the*visibility*advantages* of*tools*like*VMware*vCenter*Operations*Manager*(or*VMware*VSAN*when*utilized).* TABLE*6:* *Assumptions*are*identified*in*the*table,*and*the*frequency/occurrence*of*events*is*based*on*end*user*research*and*the*average*occurrence*in* nonZSDDC*environments.*