16/05/2015
By Luiz Henrique Ernica, Senior Technical Support at TmaxSoft
That cloud computing is one of the great trends in information technology for 2016, this is a consensus. According to IDC, companies in Latin America are expected to invest around R $ 3.6 billion by the end of the year, 40% higher than in 2014. With innovation, a range of usage possibilities opens up, such as virtualizing banks data, for example. The practice, which has become increasingly common among corporations, allows greater versatility in the delivery of services and disaster recovery in a continuous and safe manner. However, since the management solution must always be available with the highest possible processing power, some points must be taken into account when virtualizing the information.
The first point to achieve a successful virtualization and according to the business demand is to understand the software licensing rules imposed by the supplier. Not all database providers have a clear and pro-virtualization licensing policy. In some cases, it is not allowed to license the software by the number of CPUs or virtual colors, limiting only to the physical quantity. This can be a determining factor in cases where the need for database virtualization is for a limited number of logical processors in an environment that has several physical processing units, or even in a database that is hosted in an environment cloud. Therefore, always look for partners who have transparent rules and are adherent to the reality of the business: if the company has a cloud environment, licensing must be done considering this factor.
Scaling resources is also essential to ensure that database virtualization brings more efficiency instead of headaches. Therefore, it is important to understand how much memory resource each instance of the database demands in order to scale the ideal amount of virtualization of possible instances on each physical server. Fine-tuning the dimensioning ensures the correct operation of the database managers, keeping the performance SLA within the established limits. Otherwise, the practice can cause a loss of performance if many instances are virtualized on just one physical server.
Additionally, defining processing resources considering the allocation of logical processing units is essential for the operation of the virtualized database. For this, it is necessary to understand the volume of simultaneous online accesses in online transactions, as well as the behavior of processing transactions in a batch environment in the bank. Based on these characteristics, it is possible to define the number of processes and threads that meet the demand and, consequently, the number of suitable logical processing units. Some database managers even allow the automatic configuration of these resources on the server according to these metrics.
In this way, virtualization can become a good option for companies that seek speed in the exchange of information, scalability according to the demand of the business. Still, it brings other benefits that add value to the company, such as the implementation of a “green IT”, since it reduces costs with electricity and the acquisition of physical spaces, as well as scalability according to the business demand and high availability.
The first point to achieve a successful virtualization and according to the business demand is to understand the software licensing rules imposed by the supplier. Not all database providers have a clear and pro-virtualization licensing policy. In some cases, it is not allowed to license the software by the number of CPUs or virtual colors, limiting only to the physical quantity. This can be a determining factor in cases where the need for database virtualization is for a limited number of logical processors in an environment that has several physical processing units, or even in a database that is hosted in an environment cloud. Therefore, always look for partners who have transparent rules and are adherent to the reality of the business: if the company has a cloud environment, licensing must be done considering this factor.
Scaling resources is also essential to ensure that database virtualization brings more efficiency instead of headaches. Therefore, it is important to understand how much memory resource each instance of the database demands in order to scale the ideal amount of virtualization of possible instances on each physical server. Fine-tuning the dimensioning ensures the correct operation of the database managers, keeping the performance SLA within the established limits. Otherwise, the practice can cause a loss of performance if many instances are virtualized on just one physical server.
Additionally, defining processing resources considering the allocation of logical processing units is essential for the operation of the virtualized database. For this, it is necessary to understand the volume of simultaneous online accesses in online transactions, as well as the behavior of processing transactions in a batch environment in the bank. Based on these characteristics, it is possible to define the number of processes and threads that meet the demand and, consequently, the number of suitable logical processing units. Some database managers even allow the automatic configuration of these resources on the server according to these metrics.
In this way, virtualization can become a good option for companies that seek speed in the exchange of information, scalability according to the demand of the business. Still, it brings other benefits that add value to the company, such as the implementation of a “green IT”, since it reduces costs with electricity and the acquisition of physical spaces, as well as scalability according to the business demand and high availability.
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