Datasheet

Chapter 1: Overview of Virtualization
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Current licensing — Whether the application requires a license and, if so, the type of license:
per - copy, floating, node - locked (locked to a specific system based on a board identifier, network
IP, or MAC address), and so on.
Virtualization licensing — Whether the application can be used in a virtual machine
environment, which may not be the case if the software license prohibits the use of the
application or the operating system that it requires in a virtual machine. This should also
include information about whether the use of the application in a virtual machine requires
licensing changes, the purchase of additional licenses, and so on.
As you can see, it can take some time to collect and organize all of this information, but doing so will
simplify the process of identifying applications that can (or cannot) be moved to a virtual machine, and
any special characteristics that the virtual machine must have in order to provide a successful and robust
execution environment for your applications and servers.
Summary
This chapter provides an introduction to virtualization, discussing the many ways in which the term is
used, and the different approaches to each that are available. It explains why virtualization is an
increasingly popular topic today, and provides an overview of the primary advantages of virtualization.
It also discusses some circumstances in which virtualization may not be appropriate.
The chapter concludes with a checklist of information that you should collect for each application,
server, or service that you are using, in order to help identify candidates for virtualization and to make
sure that the migration process is as smooth as possible for any applications that you are moving to
virtual machines.
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