1. Discussion at lease 150 words.
A server farm is a massive data center which contain networked computer servers. Servers are computers that support networks, allowing users to share files, software, and other network devices. A server farm is usually reserved for one centralized location. They are mainly found in places of academics and big companies. Workloads can be distributed through multiple servers allowing for faster data processing. Server farms have primary and backup servers. Usually both servers will only be given one task to perform. This way, if one goes out, the other can perform the task. There is no limit to the size of a server farm. However, larger server farms become redundant and servers are more likely to fail. Server farms require large amounts of energy and money to operate. Server farms are not as reliable as mainframes and often have to have staff on hand to fix the problems that arise with the farms, which can happen quite frequently.
Server virtualization uses software-based partitions to create multiple virtual servers. This means that multiple applications can run on one server. There are several benefits to using virtualization such as:
- a lower number of physical servers leads to cost savings in equipment, energy, space, cooling, personnel, and maintenance.
- enhanced organizational agility
- shifting the focus of the IT department from strictly fixing computer malfunctions to improving the functionality of the company.
Virtualization is best used for applications that are small to medium in size. Larger applications will not work well in this environment because one or more servers would need to be linked together, thus reducing performance. Companies use virtualization to conserve space through consolidation. It also helps companies to practice redundancy without purchasing additional hardware. Virtual servers allow programmers to test new software on isolated, independent systems. This is done by creating a virtual server on an existing machine. No other functions will be interrupted while the programmers are testing. A new concept that is emerging is called migration. Migration is when servers are physically moved from one location to another and they are still connected to the same network.
Server farms are extremely important for today's companies, especially Google, Yahoo!, and Microsoft. They all need the power of a server farm to operate. This is where all of our much searched for data comes from. They are huge mills, factories, and processing plants, if you will, of the technology age. Without server farms, there would be no internet. The information has to come from somewhere, right?! Virtualization is important too, because it allows companies to save space within servers. This means less actual hardware for the companies to buy, saving time and money.
2. Discussion at lease 150 words.
A server farm is a large amount (Thousands) o f server, network switches, and routers together in one central location creating a super computer. A server farm is sometimes called a server cluster. It's a mix of servers that are used for communication, data backup, and power supplies. Server farms are usually connected by Gigabit Ethernet for high speed processing. Server farm run nonstop 24/7, so a down fall is that they use a lot of electrical power. A typical server farm uses 10 to 20 megawatts of power per hour. With that amount of equipment running it get very hot in the area where the farm is located. Air conditioning is normally installed in the location of the farm to prevent overheating. This too would be on the expensive side. In a business network, a server farm provides centralized access control, files access, printer sharing, and backup other workstations. Whereas Web server farms may refer to web sites that uses two or more servers to handle user request for.
Virtualization is software used to change the appearance of what is actually there. Hardware, OS, Storage, and Network server can all be virtualized. Virtual machines can be used to consolidate the workloads of several servers to fewer machines, perhaps a single machine. This is done though Virtual Machine Monitor (VMM) which will cut back on a server infrastructure and hardware cost. It also makes system migration, backup, and recovery easier and more manageable. Virtual machines allow for powerful debugging, can be used to provide secure sandboxes for running untrusted applications. VM can be used to create OS and can provide the illusion of hardware
Web companies like Google and Amazon would benefit with server farms. Google has numerous data centers scattered around the world so to grabbing the data off different server makes it easy using server farms. Companies that don't rely on cloud for their resources will benefit more with virtualization. From hardware to network infrastructure the cost alone makes Virtualization a more economical choice for large companies.