(June 2009) Virtualization Technology

Virtualization refers to the separation of the user resource of computing from its physical resources. This concept is not new to IT and software professionals. However, virtualization, in particular Server Virtualization, has exploded on the IT scene in the last few years with the success of VMWare (the largest IPO since Google).

What is driving the emergence of virtualization technology is the realization that decades of CPU and storage advancements have left most powerful servers with abundant under-utilized resources. The continued one on one growth of logical and physical resources is no longer sustainable. In the era characterized by conservative use of power and budget, it is becoming imperative for companies to implement virtualization at various levels. In short, multiple “systems” can run on a single hardware and users can access a “single storage” that is managed by multiple hardware.  

The benefits of virtualization are not only of interest to system administrators and IT managers, but also to software developers who must take into account the evolving hardware interfaces.  UCSC Extension features several virtualization technology courses in the summer and fall to help our students learn these interesting technologies in the most efficient way. Server Virtualization explains the core technology that is being deployed in datacenters all over the world. Storage Networking Architecture and Design introduces the new storage paradigms. Multicore Programming teaches software developers to write software to run on several cores concurrently. Network Storage Essentials introduces the concepts of SAN and NAS. We also offer a basic course in IO technology that lays the foundation for the world of virtualization.