VMware White Paper Sample

A key benefit of virtualization technology is the ability to contain and consolidate the number of servers in a datacenter. This allows businesses to run multiple application and OS workloads on the same server. Ten server workloads running on a single physical server is typical, but some companies are consolidating as many as 30 or 40 workloads onto one server. As you might expect, dramatically reducing server count has a transformational impact on IT energy consumption. Utilization of x86 servers increases from the typical 8-15 percent to 70-80 percent. Reducing the number of physical servers through virtualization cuts power and cooling costs and provides more computing power in less space. As a result, energy consumption typically decreases by 80 percent.

The impact of virtualization on energy consumption is so significant that utilities in North America such as PG&E, Southern California Edison, SDG&E, BC Hydro and Austin Energy are paying customers for removing servers through consolidation.iii These programs compare the energy use of existing equipment to that of remaining equipment in service after consolidation. Incentives are based on the net reduction in kilowatt-hours from direct energy savings from the project (cooling costs are excluded), which can be as high as $300 USD per server and $4 million per physical site. Incentive programs are more cost-effective than creating new power plants, and better for the environment.