The battle is just in its opening stages, but so far as best as we can tell, the leader in this area seems to be Xen.  This is all dependent on exactly what you most need it for, and do note that some hosts will provide more than one platform.

A quick summary of Xen’s appeal

What makes Xen attractive to many users is its powerful flexibility.  It uses a type of architecture known as “paravirtualization.”  That convoluted word may be the last straw for some of you technophobes, but don’t sweat it.  What that means is that underneath the Xen kernel is an extra layer virtual kernels.  This means that each user on a Xen-backed VPS machine effectively has their own virtual operation system.  The advantage to that comes from the fact that, since there is an invisible kernel controlling the action in the background, system resources that are normally static can shift around a bit as the users on the machine require it to.

The bottom line is that this creates a very robust type of type of VPS server.  Many web hosts have seized on this and offered some very worthwhile packages utilizing it.  Let’s take a look at some of the best ones out there.

BudgetVM

Each of the VPS packages that BudgetVM offers has roughly double the specs of the one below it.  With 11 packages this gets pretty big.  Since you are not likely to want to pay $1,899/month for 64 TB of bandwidth, we suggest looking at their lower-middle packages instead.  $19.50/month for 1GB of RAM, 1TB of bandwidth and 40GB of disk space is one of the best deals you’re going to find anywhere.

Their Xen platforms run on 11 different Linux variants, and BudgetVM themselves operate out of 4 different locations.  One minor drawback is that cPanel and DirectAdmin are both addons with large monthly fees, $20 and $10 respectively.

Crucial Paradigm

Crucial Paradigm’s web site explains their services in great detail.  They also off a number of packages that more-or-less double each other, but they don’t go hog wild like BudgetVM.  Just about all of their account types are arguably good deals for the appropriate customer.  Even their top-level choice, the CP-Xen-8192, is only $199/month for 8GB of RAM, 4TB/month of storage and access to all 4 of your machine’s cores.

As usual we’re going to push customers towards the middle options here, though CP’s under-$10 bargain plans cannot be ignored.  Their installed control panel gives the user many types of server reboot controls, from restarting the virtual server, to a hard reboot, to rebuilding the VPS’s operating system.  You can even install multiple operating systems, and change them at the touch of a button!

ProVPS

ProVPS does something with their plans that more hosts should do, and may well be an indicator of their quality.  Each of their VPS accounts comes with a guaranteed maximum number of users on it.  Most hosts don’t publish that information, and many won’t even tell you when you ask.  Those who are going the VPS route would do well to remember that multiple users on a single machine is still multiple users on a single machine.  While the virtualization technology is getting better, it will never be infallible, and will always be vulnerable to the creative problems presented by That User.

Anyway, this leads us to point out that with ProVPS the higher the plan you pick the lower the number of users per server, going all the way down to 10 on the top choice.  The machine specs are impressive as well: all of their plans right down to their lowest utilize a dual quad core Xeon (that’s 8 CPU’s), and SATA II Raid 10 Arrays for their drives.  This is a host that has gone the extra mile to ensure stability, and they don’t charge you an arm and a leg for it.

Prgmr.com

We have to admit it.  After constantly poring over one host after another with sleek, almost magically interactive site designs, we’re just not sure what to make of a web host whose front page looks like it was written as a 1997 HTML 101 assignment, and whose company logo is made from ASCII art.  Their slogan is “We don’t assume you are stupid”.  From looking at their site, it almost appears the opposite:this looks like a VPS host for the experts.

Don’t get us wrong: this is not a bad thing.  Not everyone needs to be hand-held.  If you are a user who can do it yourself, then you might appreciate a host that will provide you with instructions for installing your own (there’s that word again) paravirtualized operating system under their Linux Xen kernel.  If this sounds enticing, it will be even more so when you look at their prices.  Apply enough pre-pay discounts and coupons, and you can get their machine with 2GB RAM for roughly $20/month.

Evorack

We’ll be generous and not think too badly of the fact that this is the first VPS host we’ve surveyed in a long time that doesn’t tell you how much CPU you buy with your account.  Instead we’ll focus on the fact that Evorack is one of the few hosts to offer both managed and unmanaged VPS.  Their managed plans come at two different levels on top of that, depending on the level of service you need.  None of their fees for any of these are bad, and the lower level Basic Managed accounts might be a good deal for someone who just needs a little help getting started.

All of Evorack’s plans offer 14 different Linux variants in either 32 or 64 bit versions, and come with a /64 Ipv6 subnet.  This means that your account comes with 18.4 quintillion IPv6 addresses, just in case you needed a few.   It’s refreshing as well to see a host that admits that “uptime guarantees” are often subtly empty promises.

Who knows what tomorrow will bring.  For right now, Xen appears to be the virtual private server platform of choice.  Customers who are looking for this have even more choice.

Related posts:

• April 28, 2010 – The In’s and Out’s of Virtual Private Server Hosting
• February 3, 2009 – Benefitting From VPS Hosting
• October 12, 2011 – A News Rundown About the Great Growing Cloud
• September 25, 2011 – What To Remember When Moving To A New Control Panel
• September 22, 2011 – Choosing The Right Linux Distro For Your LAMP VPS
• September 20, 2011 – Cheap VPS hosting – Considering the Top 5 Options
• August 15, 2011 – Do-it-yourself Virtualization
• August 3, 2011 – New Services Launched by Evalice
• July 27, 2011 – New Customer Support Options at HostingZoom
• June 30, 2011 – Telconet Scheduled to Build Two New Data Centers

China flies further into the cloud

Hewlett-Packard (HP) announced this week that they will be building a 7,500 square meter cloud data center facility for Range Technology Development, a Chinese cloud provider.  The press release stated that this is a reaction to expanding customer needs, both private and governmental.  It further stated that the data center will be designed to fit “carbon emission reduction plans” in the country.

Here’s why this is a very interesting development.  While this isn’t the first introduction of the cloud to China, this is a technology that may soon run the risk of running afoul of Great Firewall standards.  While crafty users have always found a way around China’s notorious censorship, now, more than ever, the country will need to provide to businesses a more sanction method of getting outside of it in order to remain competitive.

Cloud technologies are becoming increasingly distributed.  The trend of advancements in this field is for farmed out bits of the web to become smaller and smaller.  This is going to make it all but impossible for state agencies to keep a lid on what kind of data goes in and out.  How they will deal with this problem once they realize the breadth of it is an open question.

Cloud9 goes dark but stays on

The unexpected state-wide blackout that hit California in early September had one positive benefit: it wound up being an effective test run for how well the cloud would handle disaster-level situations.  While the news article detailing how well Cloud9 dealt with it very much reads like a company-written press release, there’s no reason not to believe that it’s accurate.  If that’s the case, the answer to this is “blazingly well.”  The article states that not a single customer was affected by the outage.

Let us remember that this was the whole point behind the design of the internet in the first place: to make a network so robust that even a nuclear strike couldn’t disable it.  In that sense, cloud technology is one of the developments that is looking to further realize this original idea.  We could very well be entering an era in which downtime seriously starts to become a thing of the past.

WeVideo introduces cloud-based video editing

This is a simple concept, but one that has the potential to seriously take off.  WeVideo has launched the first cloud-based collaborative video editing web site.  It’s difficult to say for certain from a glance, but it looks like they thought of all of the basics.  The site seems easy to use while still containing enough editing options to create high-quality videos.  It’s already set to work well with different types of smart phones and tablets, and to make sharing on social networks easy.

Nevertheless it’s the underlying idea that’s exciting.  Even for the experienced user, video editing can be hard, laborious work.  Using the cloud to allow editing by multiple users seems like the kind of idea whose time has come.  We’ll keep a close eye on it and see if it is.

CloudLinux doubles in size

CloudLinux Inc. announced recently that its operating system, CloudLinux OS, is now being run on more than 5,000 servers, double the amount of just six months ago.  CloudLinux bills its product as the only commercially supported shared hosting Linux OS.  It has the notable feature that each user account is put into its own Lightweight Virtual Environment.  This allows the administrator to put up safeguards that prevent a single bad user from impacting the entire server, the most common problem on shared hosting servers.  In that way it’s much like virtual private servers, and is designed to work with them, but without the level of virtualization that makes it appear like you are the only user on that machine.

With simple shared hosting starting to get squeezed out by all of the other hosting services providing more reliability at not much more cost, this is a development worth watching.  If this OS succeeds, expect to see others start to adopt some of CloudLinux’s tricks.

App developers find a Buddy

What Buddy Platform, Inc. has opened up for beta use is simultaneously expected and exciting.  As the number of portable devices grows and along with it the number of desired apps, programmers need to pump out their material faster.  Buddy helps in this endeavor by providing for developers APIs of common application functions such as user accounts, photo albums, location-based services and so forth.  The APIs would be in the cloud, accessed by the apps.

The short-term gain from this is that applications, especially those from budding freelancers and small IT firms who have limited resources but have ideas that are based on thinking outside the box, will come more frequently and be of higher overall quality.  The long-term gain is even more fascinating.  If this trend sticks, it means that programming will become even more distributed, opening up more opportunities outside of traditional IT business channels.

Trying to capture the cloud

For our last news item we come to an article which proves that cloud technology is operating by a new set of rules.  Marketing research firm Research and Markets (couldn’t they have chosen just a slightly less redundant name?) has added to their list of research publications the Frost & Sullivan report “Cloud Data Analytics: Technology Penetration and Roadmapping”.

As cloud technology rapidly develops, trying to get accurate cost-benefit data is going to prove increasingly labyrinthine.  Even just trying to determine who is using your technology at any point will be difficult.  What Frost & Sullivan is offering is surely going to be something that you’re going to see more often.  Even hosting providers can’t tell just from looking at it exactly where the edges of the cloud are anymore.

Related posts:

• April 14, 2011 – The Transition from Shared Hosting to the Cloud
• August 25, 2009 – Layer Technologies Breaks Through on Inc. 5000
• April 16, 2009 – Novella Reveals Plans for New IT Solutions
• January 20, 2012 – Data Backup and Recovery Solutions
• December 19, 2011 – Cloud Backup & Online Storage Services
• December 2, 2011 – Is Cloud Computing Worth It for Your Business?
• November 19, 2011 – A Dark Cloud: Anonymity and Privacy Fall Further Before a Cloud Computing Experiment
• November 19, 2011 – The Future of Cloud Computing – Where it’s Going, and What it Means for You
• October 29, 2011 – Future Uses and Growth of Cloud Computing
• October 21, 2011 – A Look at the Top Xen VPS Web Host Providers

Statement from ServerBeach

The General Manager of ServerBeach released a statement informing the public that many smaller clients had been requesting “do-it-yourself virtualization” and utilize a group of servers however they need. Common uses include running websites or specific applications, backing or storing content or utilizing it for security purposes.

The Problem with Hosting

Customers were aware of the components of the equipment; the company previously did not allow them to open it up in the manner they wanted. However, with the new service, the equipment is open and customers can do exactly what they need to do. Clients have a choice between the Citrix ZenServer or Microsoft Hyper-V hypervisor. Both servers give administrators a centralized control panel to allocate specific services to dedicated servers.

Improving System Management

As a division of Peer 1 Hosting, ServerBeach targets small-to-mid-sized businesses that have the knowledge and experience to be the system’s administrator of their own servers. These new tools of advanced virtualization will allow information technology professionals to improve management and allow for more cost-effective initiatives.

Corporate Objectives

The goal for this new infrastructure is to extend the company’s reach and increase growth within the market. Simultaneously this will escalate competitive pressure on other local and international web hosting providers. In the web hosting industry it typically only takes one innovative idea to spark a slew of changes.

Showcasing the Significance of Virtualization

Since each hosting provider has shifted toward virtualization, this expanded service will showcase the significance of the practice. It is more than likely similar news from other web hosting providers will be announced in the near future.

ServerBeach Company Information

Peer 1 began running ServerBeach from its Toronto, Canada location. At that time the facility was newly built. As the years progressed, ServerBeach services became expanded to Los Angeles, London, San Antonio and Herndon, Virginia.

Virtualization of resources has become a popular new hosting type due to its cost-effectiveness and performance capabilities. The new do-it-yourself service takes the basic idea and expands it to allow customers to basically do whatever they want on the server. Many businesses are limited to unlocking the complete functionality they need from a server. However, ServerBeach’s new product will now allow customers to utilize exactly what they require.

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• October 12, 2011 – A News Rundown About the Great Growing Cloud
• June 30, 2011 – Telconet Scheduled to Build Two New Data Centers
• June 14, 2011 – Ascent to Partner with Comcast
• October 21, 2010 – The Pros and Con of Linux Web Hosting
• October 14, 2010 – The Benefits of Virtualized Hosting for eCommerce
• April 28, 2010 – The In’s and Out’s of Virtual Private Server Hosting
• November 2, 2009 – Do You Need Cloud Hosting?
• October 14, 2009 – How Secure is Virtualization Technology?
• August 25, 2009 – Layer Technologies Breaks Through on Inc. 5000

Three Options

The new location will be a colocation facility with low, medium and high-density options. The facility will also play host to physical servers, server virtualization, networking, virtual storage and processing. The company is attempting to cater to clients attempting to post applications in a private or public cloud. Due to the popularity of cloud hosting, Telconet must offering the service to remain competitive with other hosting providers.

Basics Specifications of the New Data Centers

Additionally, the new data centers will be specifically designed to meet Standard 942-2 TIA. Also, the Uptime Institute will provide Tier ratings of the facilities. Tier ratings are an industry measurement of different aspects of the center. Furthermore, each location will feature 1500 square meters of floor space, all of which will be dedicated to computing. The Quito location will be a Tier III with 180 racks. The Guayaquil facility will be Tier IV and feature 400 racks.

Equipment Providers

GE, Schneider Electric APC and Cisco will be a few of the many providers of equipment which will all be interconnected by a fiber optic network with a maximum transfer rate of 20 Gbps. This speed will certainly enhance available backup options.

External Connections to the World

Each data center will be externally connected to Ecuador and the rest of the world through NAP of the Americas high speed connections which is based out of Miami, Florida. Additional connections will be made through Cloud Latin or Cloud Latin American Internet Peering Group which connects Columbia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Chile, Peru, Argentina and Brazil.

The Growing Demand for Internet Services

With more individuals accessing the Internet on a daily basis, the demand for web hosting services continues to grow. In emerging markets such as South America and China, Internet connectivity is growing a rapid pace. Therefore, website creation and access to websites is also expanding. With the construction of these two new data centers in Ecuador, all South American customers will benefit from the technology.

Related posts:

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• September 1, 2010 – Colocation Hosting – Is it Right For You?
• August 6, 2010 – Telehouse America Expands to China
• April 16, 2009 – Novella Reveals Plans for New IT Solutions
• October 21, 2011 – A Look at the Top Xen VPS Web Host Providers
• October 12, 2011 – A News Rundown About the Great Growing Cloud
• September 27, 2011 – Common Web Hosting Terms And What They Mean

Data Center Specifications

The data center is a 20,000 square foot, SAS Type II certified facility located in RIDC Park, O’Hara Township; approximately 12 miles from downtown Pittsburgh. The combination of services between the two companies is a response to the growing demand for cloud hosting services. Both companies are hoping the partnership will offer small and mid-sized businesses with the resources to improve data security and information technology through a point-to-point connection.

Growing Success of Both Companies

Comcast is excited about the collaboration as it will help to continue driving success for both companies through a dedicated Metro Ethernet bandwidth that provides a secure and scalable solution to meet customer’s expanding bandwidth demands. The pairing of services also bring Comcast’s fiber-optic based network together with Ascent’s secure data center to provide customers with quality, performance, robust solutions and exceptional value.

Ascent Company Information

As the leading provider of data center services in the Pittsburgh area, Ascent offers a variety of services including managed, colocation, server virtualization, data security, cloud hosting and business continuity. All customer information and applications are protected by their state-of-the-art data center. Applications and infrastructure is outsources to third-parties which significantly improves operational efficiencies and decreases business risk.

Comcast Business Services Company Information

Comcast Business Services is the leading provider of business-grade Ethernet, video solutions, phone and internet for all types of customers. The voice and data plans come packed with features developed to assist the continued growth of businesses. Comcast’s Metro Ethernet features a 40 gigabit fiber-optic backbone, the largest in the nation. Packaged with the Ethernet is reliable, around the clock support resulting in a robust, scalable solution for organizations of all types.

Ascent Data and Comcast Business Services are leading service providers in their respective industries and regions. Therefore, the partnership between the two organizations should result in a major increase in new customers for both parties. As Comcast continues to expand its services into other industries, the company is continually improving its products and services provide for to a wider audience.

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• June 1, 2011 – Latisys Expands Credit Facility to $125 Million
• July 21, 2011 – Data Foundry Opens Data Center in Austin
• April 1, 2011 – Three Reasons Why Colocation Hosting Is More Expensive
• September 1, 2010 – Colocation Hosting – Is it Right For You?
• August 6, 2010 – Telehouse America Expands to China
• September 15, 2009 – How Will You Host Your E-commerce Site?
• August 25, 2009 – Layer Technologies Breaks Through on Inc. 5000
• April 16, 2009 – Novella Reveals Plans for New IT Solutions
• March 18, 2009 – Hosting Considerations for E-commerce

Linux hosting offers advantages for webmasters that are interested in developing eCommerce stores, as well as amateur webmasters in search of a more personalized solution. If you’re interested about the pros and cons of Linux web hosting then you may want to consider the following summary of the advantages and disadvantages of Linux web hosting.

Operating System Reliability

This is definitely a pro for Linux web hosting, the Linux operating system is  known for being reliable and easy to work with. Being that Linux is an open source software, it can be amended or fixed by any developer with the willingness and knowledge to do so.

Most web hosting providers choose to offer Linux web hosting for this reason, because they can provide better support with an open source operating system. Linux is extremely flexible, and comes in a wide variety of distributions that are suitable for a diverse range of webmasters and hosting providers. When it comes to compatibility and reliability, the Linux operating system is definitely a pro.

The Cost Of Linux Hosting

Linux hosting is also usually cheaper than Windows hosting, because the Linux operating system does not cost as much as Windows. The cost of support for a Linux operating system is also less than Windows support, simply because the in house support staff of the web hosting company can control the operating system more efficiently.

When an error occurs in the Windows operating system there is little the web hosting company can do besides wait for an update from Microsoft. All of this ultimately contributes to the low cost and common availability of Linux web hosting, which is often favored over Windows web hosting by hosting providers.

Linux Software Compatibility

This is a pro and a con for Linux web hosting, because the Linux operating system is compatible with anything that is not a Microsoft software. Microsoft holds a monopoly for all of their software that prevents any operating system other than Windows from being compatible with Microsoft software. If you’re planning to use Microsoft software for your web server then you may want to consider Windows web hosting.

On the other hand, the Linux operating system can be used to boot virtually any other kind of operating system within itself, using virtualization software such as VMware. In fact, virtualization software could also be used within Windows web hosting to load Linux as well. However, if you don’t have enough web hosting expertise to use virtualization software, then you may want to choose the type of hosting plan that includes an ideal operating system for your preferences.

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• January 20, 2012 – Data Backup and Recovery Solutions
• October 21, 2011 – A Look at the Top Xen VPS Web Host Providers
• October 12, 2011 – A News Rundown About the Great Growing Cloud
• October 5, 2011 – What to Look for in Your Shopping Cart Software
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Unlimited Compatibility

Today’s virtualization software has unlocked new possibilities by unleashing any compatibility issues that may have previously been a problem when choosing a specific operating system for your web hosting plan. Now webmasters can install any software they’d like in their hosting account, as long as the hosting provider gives them the permissions to do so. It is important to note that virtualization software cannot be used in a shared hosting account because you’re not allowed to change the server configuration. If you’re planning on using visualization software like VMware then you need to shop around for a good VPS or dedicated hosting plan that gives you full control over the server’s software.

Cost Benefits

In the past, if you wanted a web server with Windows and Linux you would need to purchase two separate hosting accounts. However, with the advent of virtualized web server software, it is now possible to have both operating systems running simultaneously for half the cost. Now you no longer have to debate about the pros and cons of Windows web hosting vs Linux web hosting, because you can have the best of both worlds. Since Linux hosting costs less than Windows hosting, it would be ideal to purchase a Linux hosting plan and then install a partition of Windows within a virtualization software.

How Do Virtualized Operating Systems Work?

Virtualized operating systems are actually separate from the original operating system of the web server, Which means any damage done to a virtual operating system will not affect the native operating system. Think of it as a computer within a computer, both completely separate and unique. Some people use virtualized operating system to test out suspicious files that may contain viruses, as even the worse virus will not affect the native operating system or the rest of the computer. Virtualized hosting is also perfect for webmasters that need several operating systems to test and develop compatibility during the construction of new web based software.

It is important to note that you’ll need to consider the amount of RAM your server has when installing additional operating systems. Virtualization software does not enhance your server’s capabilities, it simply splits them up amongst several operating systems.

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How it works

In lemans terms, the operating systems share the overall resources of the server. It’s split between the main system and the “guest” system. In this virtual environment, the guest system can utilize a virtual set of hardware of which it’s unaware that the hardware is not physical.

The hypervisor; which is responsible for creating, destroying, and managing the resources of the guest, translates maps and converts all requests from the guest to the appropriate resources on the server.

Primary Uses

The main use of VPS hosting is to bridge the gap between shared and dedicated hosting providers. This gives the users independence from other customers in terms of software, but allows them to still remain on a shared server which significantly decreases the cost.

Another use is for software upgrade testing. If a single server with two virtual servers running; one primary and one for backup, need to be updated, the patches and software can be tested on the backup segment so it doesn’t disrupt normal uptime.

Additionally, virtual servers can be employed to run software with known security issues without interrupting the main server. This can be tremendously beneficial for further testing software for the flaws that may accompany it.

Private Hosting

An even newer trend is dynamic dedicated server hosting. This is actually a virtual dedicated server that allows companies exclusive access. There are two types of dynamic dedicated server hosting:

• Unmanaged
• Unmetered

In this instance, unmanaged hosting is simply a server that is administered by the company paying for the hosting package. Similarly unmetered hosting is also unmanaged, but with a fixed data transfer rate so the monthly allowance is not exceeded.

Although virtualization has been used for many years, the comeback of this technology in relation to web hosting has been enormous. There are many benefits that make this technology appealing to businesses. As the web sector continues to grow and expand, VPS will become a more popular web hosting option.

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What is Cloud Hosting?

Also known as clustered hosting, cloud hosting is a solution that often uses virtualization technology to facilitate load balancing, security and system resources over multiple servers.  This basically means that instead of relying a single piece of hardware, your website and applications can benefit from the resources of multiple servers.   In the typical shared hosting environment, a website is limited to the bandwidth, disk space, RAM, processing power and others resources allocated to the physical machine.  Cloud hosting is a concept that frees you of these limitations, providing you with on-demand access to an infrastructure that is virtually inexhaustible.  The mere structure of the cloud makes it easy to scale up or down based on your individual requirements.

Who Needs Cloud Hosting?

Throughout the years, a countless number of websites have been the victims of their own success.  This is the website then ends up suffering because of its sudden boost in popularity and traffic.  The environment in which this situation occurs the most is shared web hosting.  Once your website exceeds the limitations of a single physical server, it is susceptible to choking.   Cloud hosting is the perfect alternative as it gives you access to a cluster of servers, allowing your website to benefit from additional bandwidth, RAM, processing power and other resources it might require.  The major selling point to this solution as that you can obtain this extra boost in computing power when you need it.  If the popularity of your website subsides a bit, you can easily place the resources back into the cloud and make them available to other users.

Are There Other Benefits?

Cloud hosting services offer benefits from numerous angles.  The most obvious advantages are its scalability and cost efficiency.  Being that cloud computing is a highly scalable technology, websites and applications can be expanded greatly thanks to the additional resources.  Dealing with slow responses and frequent crashes just because your site experienced a sudden surge in traffic is a common thing in the shared hosting environment.  The cloud’s scalability allows you to avoid this problem with ease.  Another major benefit of cloud hosting is the flexible pay-per-usage model.  When signing up with a provider, you are only charged for the amount of computing power you use, similar to how you pay for your gas and electrical bill.   No longer do you have to lease and maintain a costly and complex dedicated server just to improve performance.   These are a few of many benefits that have made the cloud the talk of the IT world.

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OS Hardening

The configuration for virtual machines and switches must be hardened just like your physical boxes and network switches. The underlying operating system must also be hardened through routine patches and updates, removal of unused components and maintaining secure settings. The EMC report suggests modeling virtual systems after the guidelines from the CIS (Center for Internet Security) and DISA (Defense Information Systems Agency) as they are viewed as well established security practices.

Configuration and Change Management

Since virtualization technology makes it simple to deploy new virtual machines and modify their set ups, it becomes very easy to fall into a chaotic state of configuration when it comes time to managing the environment. Even when systems are adequately hardened during installation, it is still important for organizations to stay on top of the environment to ensure a secure configuration. This means that when system settings are modified or new software applications are added, administrators are making sure the virtual system continues to meet what the EMA report calls the “gold standard” of configuration.

Access Control

Practical security polices such as least privilege and separation of duty should not be thrown to the wayside just because virtualization has come into the picture. Instead, such principles should become more essential than ever. The presence of virtualization results in increased density of all the systems and applications on your server. This is more convenient for your organization as well as the intruder who may be able to manipulate these systems if proper access control is not enforced and maintained. The report suggests that solution providers aid their staff and clients in understanding the importance of role-based access control both in and out of the virtual environment.

Network Security and Segmentation

Companies operating virtual servers lacking any sort of segmentation are far more vulnerable to exploit and exposure than organizations making use of virtual switches to incorporate those virtual machines into virtual local area networks like their physical counterparts. The security report explains that one of the most essential factors in compliance is ensuring that data is isolated and not mingled with or available to users on other virtual machines. Organizations that possess expertise in the network security field should put it to use in the virtualization environment. This can be done by obtaining virtual switches and other virtual security mechanisms such as firewalls and intrusion protection systems to protect network perimeters.

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