Database Consolidation

Database sprawl is a common occurence today as databases blossom and  are installed as part of applications or other uses (such as development or test instances) to the point that it is not entirely known how many databases are actually deployed.  It should be no surprise, therefore, to learn industry experts estimate that 70% of Enterprises are actively engaged in or considering Database Consolidation projects.  However, the complexities of the consolidation effort deter many organizations, especially those without the Database Administration resources needed to plan and execute these efforts.  

Ntirety is well-versed in the best practices of Database Consolidation ranging from collapsing databases to schema-level consolidation to virtualization.  Learn how Ntirety can help your organization achieve these key benefits of a Database Consolidation:

Database Consolidation - Improved Manageability

By standardizing and reducing the complexity of service infrastructure, organizations facilitate more effective service management processes, tools, and automated system administration. 

• Centralized management. Because consolidation facilitates centralized management, it becomes easier to implement standard policies across your systems.
• Simplified contingency planning solutions. A simpler service infrastructure means that more services can be restored when a site failure occurs. 
• Improved quality of service (QoS). Consolidation improves up-time and can deliver better performing systems.
• Better integration. Using a single platform makes for better systems integration, which improves data consistency and reduces the complexity of tasks such as extract, transform, and load (ETL) operations.

Database Consolidation - Improved Performance

Standardized systems deliver more predictable performance, and proprietary technologies such as data compression can improve query response times. Other advanced technologies like Virtualization, properly deployed, can provide performance improvements, too.

VMware vSphere 5.0 can match or exceed native performance for more than 99% of SQL instances. A recent TPC-E workload study demonstrated that in typical situations, virtual machines provide 90% to 98% of the native physical performance, even for larger 8 vCPU configurations.

• Increased reliability and availability. Server consolidation makes it more economic to provide high-availability configurations and dedicated support staff. Organizations also benefit from implementing better storage management and service continuity solutions.
• Improved infrastructure agility. In uncertain times, flexibility and the ability to respond quickly to changing needs of the business can help to maintain the competitive edge. Consolidation results in a more standardized, centralized and dynamic infrastructure, which makes it possible for systems to be more responsive to change and to quickly adapt to business needs.
• Improved resource utilization. Organizations may already have the resources that they need in order to consolidate. It is not uncommon for companies that possess powerful servers to be using only a relatively small percentage of those servers’ capacity. Consolidating by using these servers enables a company to make more efficient use of their resources and requires no extra investment in hardware.

Database Virtualization

Ntirety views Database Virtualization as an important part of a Database Consolidation strategy. Yet, many organizations are not pursuing this approach aggressively, in some cases because they have been convinced by database and/or application vendors that performance is contingent on dedicated physical hardware and databases. In our experience, with the correct configuration, a virtualized database and application run at or near native speeds.

For example, Ntirety partner VMWare has documented examples of utilizing vSphere virtualization software to consolidate a SQL infrastructure by 4X to 20X while cutting hardware and software costs by more than 50% , all the while avoiding the painful compromises associated with traditional database consolidation. Traditional database consolidation can require painful application migrations and rigorous processes for version control and continued application compatibility. Virtualizing simultaneously consolidates databases and optimizes compute resources, while maintaining application flexibility by isolating each database in its own virtual machine. Databases can be migrated in their current state without expensive and error-prone application migrations. 

Representatative Database Virtualization Benefits:

• Achieve 10X Consolidation on Large Multicore Servers 
  
  
• Minimize Impact on Applications 
  
  
• Consolidate Database Server Licenses

Ntirety can plan and execute your Database Virtualization!

Database Consolidation - Cost Savings

In the current economic climate, keeping costs down is imperative. According to IDC, Cost Reduction is the #1 Priority for IT organizations. Database Consolidation can help you to achieve this is several ways:

• Reduced administration. By standardizing and reducing the number of servers, businesses reduce the complexity of the infrastructure they must administer. Fewer support staff can therefore manage the same service demands. For international companies, this standardization also facilitates the provision of 24/7 support using worldwide support resources.
• Reduced operations costs. Increase in service capacity and growth are achieved with better utilization of resources. Typically, fewer servers are required, resulting in hardware and power savings. 
• Reduced data center costs. Site space formerly used for IT services can be returned to the business, and existing facilities can be used more efficiently. 
• Reduced revenue loss through higher uptime/availability. Consolidation reduces the cost of implementing high-availability solutions, which reduces revenue losses due to downtime.
• Reduced licensing costs. In most consolidation scenarios, licensing is reduced because there are fewer servers that require licenses. However, even when this is not the case, the other savings you make will still result in a lower TCO.