In simple terms, virtualization means that we will employ one big server instead of many smaller ones. The current ratio is about 35 to 1, meaning 1 big server will do the work of 35 smaller ones. The big server is able to be divided up “virtually” so that it can appear and act the same as many individual servers. Cost savings are realized through economies of scale and efficiency from using fewer pieces of equipment.
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Reduced IT costs: The upfront cost per virtual server is about 35% of a comparable standalone server.
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Reduced Power Consumption: Power and cooling requirements per virtual server are about 10% of those for a physical server.
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Increase Reliability: Virtual Servers run a on a cluster of virtual hosts. If one of the hosts fails the server will automatically move to a functioning host.
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Improved Security: Both physical and network security through monitoring. This increases reliability of the system and protects intuitional data.
Frequently Asked Questions
Current Status
Maintenance
Managed Windows Servers will be undergoing monthly patching during their normally scheduled maintenance window.
Please contact the ITS Help Desk if you are interested in the list of patches that will be applied or if you have any questions.
Past 90 Days
Alert History
The ITS production VMware clusters will be updated to the latest vSphere 6.7 patch set.
This work will be non-disruptive rolling updates, with VMs migrated off hosts as they are patched. SQL Server clustered VMs will be migrated off-hours to minimize performance impact.
If you have other concerns or questions, please let the ITS Virtualization Team know at its-vm-ops@iowa.uiowa.edu.
The VMware vCenter appliance will be updated to version 6.7 Update 3m.
This update will not disrupt running servers. The vCenter service (vcenter.iowa.uiowa.edu) will not be available, and any changes to running VMs or connections to virtual consoles in the VMware environment will not be readily available.
Managed Windows Servers will be undergoing monthly patching during their normally scheduled maintenance window.
Please contact the ITS Help Desk if you are interested in the list of patches that will be applied or if you have any questions.
Managed Windows Servers will be undergoing monthly patching during their normally scheduled maintenance window.
Please contact the ITS Help Desk if you are interested in the list of patches that will be applied or if you have any questions.
Managed Windows Servers will be undergoing monthly patching during their normally scheduled maintenance window.
Please contact the ITS Help Desk if you are interested in the list of patches that will be applied or if you have any questions.
Managed Windows Servers will be undergoing monthly patching during their normally scheduled maintenance window.
Please contact the ITS Help Desk if you are interested in the list of patches that will be applied or if you have any questions.
The ITS production VMware clusters will be updated to the latest vSphere 6.7 patch set.
This work will be non-disruptive rolling updates, with VMs migrated off hosts as they are patched. SQL Server clustered VMs will be migrated off-hours to minimize performance impact.
If you have other concerns or questions, please let the ITS Virtualization Team know at its-vm-ops@iowa.uiowa.edu.
The VMware vCenter appliance will be updated to version 6.7 Update 3l.
This update will not disrupt running servers. The vCenter service (vcenter.iowa.uiowa.edu) will not be available, and any changes to running VMs or connections to virtual consoles in the VMware environment will not be readily available.
Managed Windows Servers will be patched during their normally scheduled maintenance window. Please contact the ITS Help Desk if you are interested in the list of patches that will be applied or if you have any questions.
Managed Windows Servers will be undergoing monthly patching during their normally scheduled maintenance window.
Please contact the ITS Help Desk if you are interested in the list of patches that will be applied or if you have any questions.
The ITS production VMware clusters will be updated to the latest vSphere 6.7 patch set. This will bring the platform to the latest patch level, providing various security and stability fixes.
This work will be non-disruptive rolling updates, with VMs migrated off hosts as they are patched. SQL Server clustered VMs will be migrated off-hours to minimize performance impact.
If you are aware of any issues with your VMs that would conflict with this patch plan, or if you have other concerns or questions, please let the ITS Virtualization Team know at its-vm-ops@iowa.uiowa.edu.
Managed Windows Servers will be undergoing monthly patching during their normally scheduled maintenance window.
Please contact the ITS Help Desk if you are interested in the list of patches that will be applied or if you have any questions.
Managed Windows Servers will be undergoing monthly patching during their normally scheduled maintenance window.
The Hyper-V clusters will be offline for upgrades. This update should be non-disruptive.
Managed Windows Servers will be undergoing monthly patching during their normally scheduled maintenance window.
Please contact the ITS Help Desk if you are interested in the list of patches that will be applied or if you have any questions.
Managed Windows Servers will be undergoing monthly patching during their normally scheduled maintenance window.
Please contact the ITS Help Desk if you are interested in the list of patches that will be applied or if you have any questions.
Managed Windows Servers will be undergoing monthly patching during their normally scheduled maintenance window.
Please contact the ITS Help Desk if you are interested in the list of patches that will be applied or if you have any questions.
Managed Windows Servers will be undergoing monthly patching during their normally scheduled maintenance window.
Please contact the ITS Help Desk if you are interested in the list of patches that will be applied or if you have any questions.
Managed Windows Servers will be undergoing monthly patching during their normally scheduled maintenance window.
Please contact the ITS Help Desk if you are interested in the list of patches that will be applied or if you have any questions.
ITS will upgrade the firmware on the server infrastructure that hosts Virtual Server services in the ITF data center. These upgrades will address security issues and other bug fixes. The infrastructure has redundant components and connections, so no service impact is expected.
ITS will upgrade the firmware on the server infrastructure that hosts Virtual Server services in the LC data center. These upgrades will address security issues and other bug fixes. The infrastructure has redundant components and connections, so no service impact is expected.
ITS will upgrade the firmware on the server infrastructure that hosts Virtual Server services in the ITF data center. These upgrades will address security issues and provide new features. The infrastructure has redundant units and connections so no service impact is expected.
ITS will upgrade the firmware that hosts Virtual Server services in the LC data center. The upgrade will address security issues and provide new features. The infrastructure has redundant units and connections so no service impact is expected.
The NetApp root volume at ITF will be migrated during this time. The controller is a pair of active-active nodes so disk and network services are moved to the partner node during the migration. This node primarily provides storage for VMware and Hyper-V hypervisors. Home drives and departmental drives will not be affected and no disruption of service is expected.
The VMware vCenter appliance will be unavailable for a maintenance upgrade.
Scheduled work: Upgrade NetApp clusters
Data center(s): Information Technology Facility (ITF)
Expected impact on services: No impact is expected
Scheduled work: Replace NetApp controller
Data center(s): Information Technology Facility (ITF)
Expected impact on services: No impact is expected
ITS will be replacing a component of the environment that hosts Virtual Server services. The infrastructure has redundant units and connections so no service impact is expected.
ITS will be upgrading firmware on the Cisco UCS blade server infrastructure in the ITF datacenter. These upgrades will address bugs and security issues, and provide new features.
These environments host ITS-managed VMware and some Hyper-V services in ITF. The infrastructure components have redundant units and connections. No service impact is expected.
ITS will be upgrading firmware on the Cisco UCS blade server infrastructure in the Lindquist Center datacenter. These upgrades will address bugs and security issues, provide new features.
These environments host ITS-managed VMware services in LC. The infrastructure components have redundant units and connections. No service impact is expected.