Virtualisation as a technology typically refers to computing or communications resource virtualization and has been in use for 40 or so years, mainly in the mainframe computer environment and telecommunications networks. The virtualization technology typically allows IT&C users to replicate virtual infrastructure on a single hardware platform and more effectively use the hardware platform.

In more recent years the term “virtualisation” in IT&C circles refers to computing virtualization. This has become popular due to the availability of software that allows many virtual servers to operate on a single server hardware platform. This software operates on commonly available X86/Wintel platforms which are widely implemented globally and very cost effectively. Typical corporate servers that have a single application running on them have very low processor utilization, such as 5%. With that same hardware users can now run 6 servers for example with the processor utilsation extended to 60% (nominally).

This means substantial savings can be made by utilizing this technology. Savings can be made in hardware maintenance, power utilisation, operational process, hardware acquisition, infrastructure supporting IT, intellectual property management and software licensing. Another key benefit of this technology is that it helps organisations easily implement robust disaster recovery, business continuity and fault tolerance (availability) in their IT infrastructure. Virtualisation has also started to drive concepts such as desktop PC virtualization and cloud computing. Laminar can assist clients with this new IT environment and can clearly articulate commercial benefits in most cases.

VMWARE
As virtualization is now a critical component to an overall IT strategy, it is important to choose the right vendor. VMware is the leading virtualization provider, offering the most trusted and reliable platform for building internal cloud infrastructures and federating to external clouds. Vmware offers a solution that meets ALL of the following requirements:

· Is built on a robust, proven foundation
· Delivers a platform for shared IT services
· Provides a complete solution for virtualization and cloud management
· Supports your entire IT infrastructure
· Is proven across tens of thousands of customer deployments.

VMware offers solutions for servers and datacenter applications as well as desktop environments.