Cutting costs with SQL Server

digitaldive — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 17:22:18 GMT

We’re all experiencing the effects of tough economic times, and as most you will probably have heard, even Microsoft are taking drastic measures to reduce expenditure. From an IT perspective, there are ways and means to drive down the cost of IT.

My colleagues, John Noakes and Matthew Stephen, have put together an easy-to-understand video on this very theme, with specific reference to using SQL Server to save money. Also on the video, Stephen Porter discusses using System Center Data Protection Manager to ensure your sensitive and business-critical information is protected. Take a look here:

http://www.microsoft.com/uk/business/event/cutting-costs-with-sql-server-2008.mspx

Virtualization - more than cost cutting

digitaldive — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 16:36:00 GMT

I've recently started my exploration into Virtualization, which in a nutshell is the ability to create multiple "virtual" servers on a single physical one. Naturally the first thing that comes to mind is the cost-savings this technology brings, i.e. the direct cost saving of running many severs whilst only shelling out for a single physical server rack or box. But there's more to it then that.

First of all, think about the space you will save by having only one server replacing many. Real-estate costs can be pretty high, depending on where your located. If you've got a data centre in London you know what I'm talking about!

Then there's the power savings. Again, by having one physical server in the space of many, your cutting your electricity bill drastically, not only for the servers themselves, but for infrastructure requirements (air conditioning, lighting etc.)

The agility of your organisation can also be improved through virtualization. Essentially you can have one box doing many different tasks, based on how you configure it. How cool would it be to have an Exchange server running by day, and an SQL server doing some number-crunching at night? Furthermore, one server can include business continuity and disaster recovery, making such an arduous and critical infrastructure simple.

Virtualization is a key feature of Windows Server 2008, which is being launched soon, giving the ability to consolidate servers, manage business continuity and disaster recovery, test and develop, and creating a dynamic IT environment (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/virtualization/default.mspx).

Click the diagram to learn more about virtualization. There's some fascinating stuff out there...

The Digital DoorMatt : cost saving

Cutting costs with SQL Server

Virtualization - more than cost cutting