By now, most enterprises have found or are finding value in virtualization technologies like vmware, xen, or Microsoft Virtual Server. For larger organizations, the choice is not whether, but how to choose and what other options are available?

But for the smaller organization–or for an ambitious IT Director who doesn’t want to pull resources away from other projects to prototype–virtualization can deliver some immediate benefits at little or no cost.

The Prototype/Playground

In my last company, I wanted to launch a number of projects but did not have the time to do it all myself and could not justify allocating resources for a proof of concept. I found vmware appliances could save me the trouble of setting up an entire system from scratch, allowing to me run prototypes such as the twiki wiki and cacti monitoring system from a virtual server hosted on my laptop. I saved myself the time of setting up a server and was able to jump in and evaluate whether the software would give us what we needed. Then, when the concept had been proven and demonstrated, I was in a better position to invest the time in setting it up to work in a more production-oriented role.

Many Servers, Small Company

My philosphy on services is to keep each server as close to single purpose as possible. Anyone who has worked in a startup can relate to the rapidly changing requirements that lead to servers with names that have no relation to the tasks they now perform–or to the problem of needing to upgrade something that is now on a mission critical server. Even the most basic free versions of virtualization software provide a way to organize your systems development in a way that anticipates future expansion.

First, I created a vanilla server–our operating system was Novell’s SuSE Linux Enterprise, so I built one server up from the install CDs in what I determined to be the simplest, common configuration. Then I copied the files created for that server and used them as a reference point for all future “build-outs.” When we needed a simple mail relay, rather than piggy-back off our Exchange Server or turn on the SMTP service somewhere, I just enabled smarthost relaying on a linux virtual server. If it breaks, I can rebuild it in about 15 minutes–or as long as it takes to copy the reference vmx files to a new location.

For those with more experience in managing virtual environments, there are probably many ways to leverage these concepts–and there are likely security concerns I should consider. But in a small organization, the lack of resources to purchase additional equipment can paralyze an IT staff–caught between the knowledge of what should be done, and the lack of ability to demonstrate it effectively. At a minimum, virtualization can help you cross that barrier.