Assignment: Identifying Server Virtualization Solutions

Description of LASA:

In this assignment, you will research on available server virtualization solutions. Subsequently, you will create a slideshow presentation to describe the available virtualization options, identify the key differences between the virtualization options, and recommend solutions for virtualization implementation.

Scenario:

You are the director of IT for a midsized California coastal city named Seacliff Heights. While the city has previously weathered poor economic conditions without much effect, an extended period of economic doldrums is now taking its toll on the city. Sales of the large, luxury homes that provided critical property tax revenue to the city have been consistently down for an extended period of time.

In addition to the loss of property tax revenue, the city is seeing fewer tourists, resulting in a loss of sales tax revenue and hotel tax revenue, both key generators of cash for the city. If the severe reduction in these revenue streams were not enough to cause concern, the state of California is also demanding that local cities turn over 15% of the gross revenues to the state to help offset an exploding budget deficit.

The city manager of Seacliff Heights has asked you to meet him or her. During the meeting, he or she describes the painful economic condition of the city and states that unless the city can identify innovative ways to either cut costs or increase revenues, the city may have to consider declaring bankruptcy. He or she has asked you to review your department to identify where the elimination, replacement, or addition of technology will help generate revenue or save the city money.

After considering a number of initiatives, you believe that the biggest impact to the bottom line will come from virtualizing your entire server and desktop computer environment, which currently consists of 98 servers and 433 desktop computers, due to the reduction of replacement server and desktop computer costs, maintenance fees, power consumption, and datacenter cooling costs, among other things.

Tasks:

You need to create a 10- to 12-slide Microsoft PowerPoint presentation that accomplishes the following:

• Identify and research two server virtualization solutions currently available on the market (such as, but not limited to, VMware ESX and Citrix XenServer) and two desktop virtualization solutions currently available on the market (such as, but not limited to, Microsoft Virtual Desktop Infrastructure and VMware View).

• Identify the three key areas in both server virtualization technology and desktop virtualization technology that you feel are important in making a decision on which products to select. This means that you will identify six areas of focus-three for server virtualization technologies and three for desktop virtualization technologies.

You may choose any area that you feel should be taken into consideration, such as cost, performance, physical hardware requirements, long-term viability, single-source vendor, etc. Explain why you selected these three specific areas within each type of virtualization solution.

• Research each solution's specifications with respect to the three key areas you have identified. Compare the server virtualization solutions across the areas of focus you selected for server virtualization technology. Compare the desktop virtualization solutions across the areas of focus you selected for desktop virtualization technology.

• Based on the criteria you have identified, recommend one of the server virtualization solutions and one of the desktop virtualization solutions to the city manager. Provide justification for why your recommendations are the best choice of the three solutions in each virtualization technology area (server and desktop).

Your presentation should include a title slide and a reference slide, as well as an audio file for the entire presentation. Here are some tips to keep in mind as you develop your presentation:

• Prepare speaker notes before recording the audio.

• Use an outline or paragraph format to write the speaker notes.

• Use the slides to summarize the content of the audio file.

• Use images, charts, and bulleted lists of phrases and keywords on the slides (i.e., do not use paragraphs and long sentences on the slides).

Use at least three sources (scholarly and nonacademic) to complete your research. Your writing should be clear, concise, and organized; demonstrate ethical scholarship in accurate representation and attribution of resources; and display accurate spelling, grammar, and punctuation.