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Welcome to the class. Every IT decision maker faces the challenge of
maximizing resources while minimizing the costs of using technology in
business. Traditional network and systems development and deployment
strategies don't take full advantage of available resources; often only about
10 percent of hardware resources are used. Enter virtualization. With
virtualization technology, you can use hardware resources strategically where
they're most needed. By separating hardware and software, virtualization
enables organizations to improve their information technology adaptability
and flexibility.
But how do you virtualize your IT environment? This class, aimed at small and
medium-size business (SMB) IT professionals with an understanding of
virtualization technologies, discusses how to plan your virtualization
information infrastructure and helps you understand the role of information
technology in business..
This class covers best practices associated with planning for virtual
infrastructures, and virtual server hosting in particular. You won't learn
details about specific virtualization applications, such as VMware ESX/ESXi,
Citrix XenServer or Microsoft Hyper-V; however, you can apply concepts
learned in this class to any of the products.
Here's what to expect in the lessons:
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Lesson 1: Understanding virtualization explores the
components of a virtual environment. You'll learn about virtual machines
(VMs) and hardware clusters, review virtualization benefits and assess your
organization's readiness.
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Lesson 2: Preparing for virtualization: performing an
infrastructure evaluation helps you evaluate your current
environment effectively. You'll learn how to assess current utilization and
performance rates and determine what you can virtualize in your current
environment.
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Lesson 3: Understanding and selecting virtualization
technology discusses virtualization features. You'll consider
requirements for operating systems and applications, and learn how to
select a server platform, storage systems and management software.
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Lesson 4: Planning the virtualization implementation helps
you plan your rollout. This lesson focuses on best practices and strategies
for your virtualization project.
Each lesson is accompanied by a brief assignment and quiz. It's to your
advantage to complete these elements to reinforce important concepts and
techniques presented in the lessons and to get the most out of the class.
Let's get started with the topics in Lesson 1.
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