Taking the Pain Out of Virtual Computing

The story of virtualization software has been a high-tech fairy tale. Once upon a time, corporate-tech users had to buy a server for every application they used. Human resources systems, general-ledger programs, sales and marketing software—all needed their own individual machines. Then along came an extremely geeky but important innovation called virtualization technology, much of it built by the software maker VMware (VMW), that let companies cram pretty much whatever they wanted onto their servers. Businesses saved money by purchasing less data-center hardware, and VMware turned into a giant valued at $32 billion.

All is well in the world, right? Not quite, according to Kieran Harty, who helped develop VMware's technology. The problem is that virtualization has progressed faster than the storage devices needed to hold data. In the old days, each server would have its own storage system, just as a PC has its own hard disk. Now dozens of virtual servers have to fight for access to that storage. "It's an archaic model," says Harty. "Storage companies designed their systems before virtual servers even existed." Further complicating matters is the worldwide deluge of data: Companies are creating more information than ever.