Don't Miss Out on the Potential of Application Virtualization

Many business owners and managers are learning of the benefits that virtualization can deliver in terms of optimizing the return on investment in computer hardware. However, if you are under the impression that virtualization's potential for improving efficiency and reducing Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) "stops at the box," it's time to think again.

Software applications also represent major investments in up-front licensing fees, not to mention the time and expense required to maintain and upgrade them. With so much riding on the efficient coordination and management of software, can businesses afford to ignore the potential benefits that come from extending virtualization to the software application layer as well?

After all, systems virtualization can do an excellent job at efficiently managing resource usage and optimization and provide measures of flexibility, but it ignores how well the applications on that hardware are performing.

Application-Focused Virtualization
That need to apply the principles of virtualization to software management led IBM in 2004 to create WebSphere® Extended Deployment (WebSphere XD), a powerful new tool rooted in application-focused virtualization. IBM developed WebSphere XD as a result of identifying some additional needs of businesses that had been using IBM® WebSphere® Application Server Network Deployment. WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment is IBM's Java-based web application server that deploys and manages web applications, ranging from simple websites to powerful e-business solutions; it allows users to take advantage of the productivity, performance advantages, and portability that Java provides for dynamic websites.

WebSphere XD works at the business application layer in an array of heterogeneous servers or a server farm of homogeneous servers, and allows the user to view infrastructure resources as a single, consistent entity. WebSphere XD eliminates the potential for bottlenecks when various different server types are in use and dynamically manages the workload at the application layer so that applications are started and stopped at the proper time and in the desired priority. In this way, WebSphere XD's strong workload management capabilities enable the business to meet its established service policies.

From the business perspective, WebSphere XD presents a compelling value proposition by accomplishing three important goals:

• Business service level objectives are met and workload throughput is increased;
• Utilization of hardware resources is maximized, often resulting in a consolidation of servers; and
• The IT infrastructure can support new, innovative applications and types of workloads.

"To manage workloads, WebSphere XD pools resources for efficiency. Workloads are then prioritized using policies that the business owner or manager has established. The system then routes workloads intelligently and adjusts application resources as the workload fluctuates."

Workload Management and Information Virtualization
WebSphere XD works in two distinct ways. First, it actively manages fluctuating workloads, starting applications as required on an array of servers or within a virtual machine. To manage workloads, WebSphere XD pools resources for efficiency. Workloads are then prioritized using policies that the business owner or manager has established. The system then routes workloads intelligently and adjusts application resources as the workload fluctuates. Workloads that have lengthy run-times are scheduled and balanced with transactional workloads that demand a rapid response.

The workload management feature offers two additional benefits that are vital to avoid service interruptions and outages. When new versions of an existing application are introduced, the selected workload requests are routed intelligently to the new version of the application while the existing production version receives the bulk of the requests. This way if problems are encountered with the new version, the workload can be rerouted to the existing production application, thereby insuring a smooth work flow and mitigating against common server "health" problems before they trigger an outage. If no problems occur, the load on the new version can be safely increased.

The second way in which WebSphere XD works to enhance system effectiveness is through information virtualization. By employing distributed transactional caching and asymmetric clustering through application partitioning, WebSphere XD relieves the demands placed on the backend data stores, improves response times, and reduces the need for constant fine-tuning of applications. All this increases the performance and computational capacity of IT systems without demanding additional administrative oversight.

Real Business Benefits
As an example, consider a bank's ATM network. Forecasting peak demand for ATM usage can be challenging and involve a host of variables, many difficult to predict. At peak times, the network can be called on to execute a multitude of different tasks. Some of the tasks, such as dispensing cash and accepting deposits, may be mission-critical and have priority, while others, for instance a balance inquiry, may have a lower priority.

In order to avoid a strain on the system at peak times and sub-par service on high priority tasks, WebSphere XD manages the workload in the most effective way. An in-memory cache is designed into the application across the server farm for some of the least critical tasks in accord with the hierarchy for data management. The application first requests information from the cache; if the information isn't available in the cache, the application requests it from the data source for caching.

By virtualizing this information, WebSphere XD saves the system from going back repeatedly into the database to retrieve the information, while still promptly responding to the bank's customers requests for non-critical tasks. This virtual caching relieves the workload on the system and extends the network's capacity—all while meeting customer service standards. When the peak demand subsides, WebSphere XD automatically reallocates the applications and resources across the system.

Examples (PDF, 156KB) abound of businesses that have saved money while improving IT performance, thanks to WebSphere XD. For instance, an insurance company reduced its TCO by 25% while managing peak demand periods and growth within its existing server base. A large manufacturer implemented WebSphere XD in the expectation of reducing its server, software, and administrative costs by 25%. Finally, a bank with an ATM network of 25,000 machines used WebSphere XD to improve response time for ATM users, relieve the demands on the backend data tier, and cut the time required for high priority transactions.

While not every business may require Websphere XD, many have gained enormous benefits from the ability it provides to manage data processing workloads efficiently. How can the business owner or manager know if Websphere XD can help? It can most likely improve the service performance and resource utilization of IT systems where there are multiple applications across multiple servers, where forecasting peak demand periods is challenging, and where there are multiple applications that require consistent and fast response times.

In short, application-focused virtualization, as demonstrated by WebSphere Extended Deployment, delivers computing power in the right place, at the right time, and at the right price. That's truly creating value for businesses.