HP Adaptive Infrastructure Solution Security for BladeSystem Matrix

Figure 1: HP Logical Server technology
Server virtualization provides savings, ranging from the reduction of resources through consolidation
to the more efficient use of the remaining resources. This technology can result in significant savings in
both the amount of equipment required as well as the ongoing operating costs such as the costs
associated with power and cooling or administration personnel. The current marketplace offers
numerous types of server virtualization to address a wide range of diverse and complex needs.
Many organizations require the coexistence and unified management of multiple types of virtual
machines and physical machines to satisfy their business needs. HP supports several software
hypervisor solutions including VMware®, Microsoft® Hyper-V™, HP Integrity Virtual Machines, and
HP vPars. HP also supports multiple hardware solutions such as HP nPars and c-Class blade
enclosures with Virtual Connect. Software such as HP Insight Dynamics – VSE suite for ProLiant (ID -
VSE) and HP Insight Orchestration (HPIO) facilitate unified management of virtualized environments.
Insight Dynamics – VSE suite for ProLiant and HP Insight Orchestration enable the provisioning of
servers allowing you to manage both physical and virtual machines using the same management
construct. BladeSystem Matrix technology also provides a cloud infrastructure in a box, uniting the
virtual and physical environments.
Many organizations are comfortable with the security of physical servers, but are concerned about
the security ramifications of adding virtualization technology to their environment. Virtualization
security is often associated solely with the security of a hypervisor. However, many other hardware
and software components are involved in the security of a virtualized environment. Many customers
utilize more than one type of the many virtualization solutions in their environment.
To provide an acceptable level of security the solution designer must understand the specific physical
and virtual components being combined in the solution and the potential threats. The threats can then
be mitigated to acceptable risk levels through a strategy employing multiple levels of security. This
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