What is virtualization? According to the online encyclopedia Wikipedia, "virtualization is the process of presenting a logical grouping of computing resources so they can be accessed in ways that give benefits over the original configuration." Virtualized resources generally include computing power and data storage.

A good example of virtualization is multiprocessing computer architectures. This is the practice of partitioning or splitting up one server to appear as multiple servers. Add virtualization software such as VMware Workstation and Microsoft Virtual Server, and one physical machine can run multiple operating systems and therefore a broader, richer set of business applications.

Before virtualization technology, if a small business wanted to run applications requiring different OSs, hey probably needed to invest in two to four servers for one office. Today, one medium-powered HP ProLiant Series Server does the job of all four. Virtual machines become almost like a vacuum cleaner with multiple attachments to handle different jobs.

Virtualization in practice: :Today, mid-market business are initiating virtualization projects not only to reduce costs, but to make specific improvements to their infrastructure, including:

• Server consolidation - Virtualization technology to host several servers on one physical server.

• Disaster recovery - Maintain disaster recovery site without using same number of physical servers. For example, the daily backup can by placed on a standby virtual machine for rapid disaster recovery.

• Test and development - Use of virtual machines to quickly provision and scale test machines and rapidly transition to newer projects.

• Client consolidation - Host several clients on high capacity servers, reducing the manageability burden associated withstand-alone clients.