Although merely mentioning the word ‘virtualization’ has the power to make people’s eyes glaze over, its value and relevance can’t be denied. Since VMware first launched their workstation client in 1999, the industry has seen steady expansion and engulfed a number of legacy network solutions.

If your business has decided to make the move to virtualized servers and databases, there are countless variables you need to plan for during the migration process. In an effort to make the whole affair as painless as possible for SMBs, Amazon Web Services has created a tool to make migrations faster, cheaper and simpler -- what else could you ask for? Not much, which is why we’re excited to tell you all about it.

Virtualization allows you to eliminate dependency on physical hardware limitations and software requirements. Exactly how you achieve that comes in a number of different solutions with even more confusing lingo and acronyms, but before you can tackle any of that it’s a good idea to go over the different companies providing the services.

Server-hosted delivery of client applications is hardly new. Whether it was Microsoft Windows Terminal Services back in 1996 or the Remote Desktop Services of today, it has been around for a while now. With client virtualization, boundaries of traditional networks are done away with to allow rich client applications and environments to endpoints.

Software developers make a profit by selling us the best product they can create. When selling pieces of their software in bulk they offer licensing packages to businesses so you don’t have to buy 100 copies of the same CD. Simple enough, right? Well, now that an increasing amount of services and tools are moving into the cloud it’s a lot harder to track how many licenses you’ll need and how much they’ll cost.

Many business owners think that Virtualization and Disaster Recovery are two separate services. And while that’s true in most respects, they actually have more in common than you think. Particularly in how Virtualization can serve as a legitimate Disaster Recovery solution.

While virtualization security is not often talked about, it is nevertheless important. Like all technology, securing your virtualized infrastructure is vital to the success of your business. So what are some of the security risks posed by virtualization? And how can you mitigate them? Here are some answers you should consider.

Before you start purchasing any new hardware, consider virtualizing your IT infrastructure. Virtualization means to abstract the software from the hardware. Basically, as processors have increased in power and memory capacity, one physical server can now act as five virtual servers.

With the gradual integration of virtualization, many small and medium-sized businesses have seen many benefits that extend beyond their bottom line. Not only does it aid with cost efficiency but also with disaster recovery and several other areas of operations.

It’s a fact of life. Events out of your control can disrupt your business operations. While you can’t necessarily control the unexpected, you can take some precautions to prevent most business disruptions. Here are some key business continuity strategies that organizations across the globe rely on to keep their doors open.