Remove Those VMware Myths

If your business wants to get the most out of its physical devices, then VMware is a great solution.

However, there are some myths that go along with running multiple virtual machines on one physical device.

Here are just a few myth-busting pointers to keep in mind when going the VMware route at your business:

Memory Issues with VMs

Your system's memory is a key component to your business operations.

With that said, many in the IT world believe VMware and virtualization in general can affect the host machine's entire memory. This is just what it sounds like: a myth.

Virtual machines never affect more than the actual memory limit they are given.

In other words, if you assign your virtual machines 6GB of memory and it exceeds the limit, it won't start siphoning memory from other machines. This failsafe is built in to most VMware tools.

The amount of memory you assign each virtual machine can affect the speed at which your physical machine runs, so it is important to keep GB limits in mind. After all, it is possible to assign a memory limit that's beyond what the VM environment can handle.

VMware and Affordability

Your bottom dollar is probably a top priority for your business, especially when it comes to expenses in the IT department.

Although aspects of the VM process are affordable, such as the cost savings in the hardware department, there are other expenses to keep in mind.

The article, "Busted! Taking Down the Top 8 VMware Myths" mentions the fact that just because VMware exists on the cloud, that doesn't mean the services are automatically affordable.

Most VM services offer entry-level packages, but there are maintenance costs and minimal hardware costs to keep in mind, which can add up in the long run.

Importance-based Resource Pools

Another myth that goes along with VMware is the idea of importance-based resource pools. When set up and assigned properly, it is possible to assign virtual machine resources low, medium, and high levels of importance.

However, your business's virtual machines must share the same number of resources in order for resource pools to be successful.

For example, if you have a virtual machine assigned with a low level of importance, it may end up with the same level of performance as your high level machines based on its resource pool. 

Infrastructure Virtualization and VMware

Most VMware advocates insist that four levels of virtualization are required in order to make the VM process work. This is yet another VMware myth.

To take full advantage of machine virtualization, all that's really needed are three specific components: the operating system, minimal hardware, and the applications.

VMware and Unlimited VMs

Although this myth is technically true, it all boils down to memory allocation.

The ideal operating conditions for VMware is a 2 to 1 ratio: two virtual machines for every physical machine. Sure your business can add more virtual machines, but memory over commit issues could arise as mentioned above.

If your business is going the virtual machine route, then it's important to keep these VMware myths in mind.