Alain Convert - BB1749 - Virtual downtime – it’s real and can be avoided

© Copyright 2012 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice.

Patrice Lamare, EMEA ISS SW Services Business ManagerAlain Convert, Global Marketing Manager


Virtual downtime −it’s real and can be avoidedPatrice Lamare, Alain Convert / December 6, 2012

© Copyright 2012 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice.3

Agenda

1. Virtual downtime: please explain!2. Examples3. Virtualization challenges4. Possible solutions5. HP offerings


“IT now is as essential to business as paper used to be 100 years ago and so, as we move our virtualization from small projects to large projects, virtualization isn’t guaranteed to be successful on its own”Ian Head, Research Director, Gartner


Virtual downtime

Virtual and unlikely?• Hardware reliability increases• HW built in redundancy• Hot swap of blades• HA features of virtualization

Benefits of virtualization• Reduce costs• Improve IT utilisation• Improve IT responsiveness• Improve IT flexibility


Visible examples of downtime

Amazon downtimesApril 21, 2011

Microsoft downtimeFebruary 29, 2012

VMware downtimesMay 2, 2011…twice in a row!

http://allthingsd.com/20110421/amazons-cloud-crashed-overnight-and-brought-several-other-companies-down-too/

http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2012/02/29/windows-azure-cloud-hit-by-downtime/

http://www.networkworld.com/news/2011/050211-vmware-foundry-outage.html

http://www.networkworld.com/news/2011/050211-vmware-foundry-outage.html

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/windowsazure/archive/2012/03/01/windows-azure-service-disruption-update.aspx


Quiz

Q: Do you think IT HW has become more resilient to failure in the last ten years?

Yes

No

Same


Quiz

Q. What is the current and future trend for the number of unplanned disruptions?

Down

Up (significantly)

No change


Quiz

Q. What percentage of disruptions is caused by hardware failure?

>80%

About 50%

<20%


Quiz

Q. If not due to hardware failure, what else causes IT to be disrupted?People make mistakes (and lots of them)

IT procedures and processes are not well designed, tested or simply not followed

Not learning from prior mistakes (not using IT best practices = lessons learned)

All of the above


Virtual but real downtime

Virtual and unlikely?• Hardware reliability

increases• HW built-in redundancy• Hot swap of blades• HA features of

virtualization

So what could go wrong?• People and process fail • HW capacity not in line

with business requirement

• HW/SW/firmware compatibility issues

• A problem on a not detected single points of failure

• Non-tested applications for virtualised environments

Downtime• All or groups of users

cannot work• Slow downs – happening

once, or from time to time or up to servers down

• Downtime may be long


Real stories

Downtime stories

Story #1: The hidden process

Story #2: According to tests, it should have worked!

Story #3: A storage issue, not a virtualization one

Story #4: A true virtualization one

Story #5: Manage hardware, firmware and software interdependencies

Story #6: Running critical and non-critical applications together

Story #7: A question of configuration

The problem moved: no longer a hardware availability problem


Key differences of virtual environments vs. physical onesMore complexWhat runs on what?Less single points of failure, but harder to identify root causeMuch more dynamic environmentMany more applications impacted when something wrongLonger time to solve issues

The legacy management, automation, processes, technology and approaches are inadequate for the virtual world


How to address Virtualization challenges• Master Virtual sprawl of devices/VM • Make configuration consistent• Keep link between physical and virtual• Align physical procurement/ overall provisioning• Create and test new standardized processes• Implement automation – but too many automated processes may result in

additional risks• Develop skills of customer IT staff• Measure and reward people


Shortest way to maturity

1. Understand your environment

2. Understand the technology you are using

3. Only use what you really need. Keep it simple wherever possible

4. Monitor your environment. All components. Always. Monitoring is key


What to do?

Prevent problemsCheck processesTest realityTrain your staffImplement best practices (ITSM services from HP can greatly help)

• Monitor and manage every component• Standardise and automate• Verify change and configuration

management are robust and scalable

• Provide IT staff with the knowledge they need to be effective

• Integrate and automate request fulfilment and deployment

• Integrate capacity, demand, and financial management

• Verify processes work for both physical and virtual components

• Test and test again

New support for the new IT reality – HP technology services

Click here to launch the video

http://youtu.be/kRKbG0DxIlI


HP Technology Services portfolio

Datacenter/

CloudConsultin

g

Foundation

Care

Datacenter

Care

ProactiveCare

StorageConsultin

g

NetworkConsultin

g

LifecycleEvent

Services

Big DataConsultin

g

Technical Education Services

Availability Evolution

Support Consulting


HP TS solutions making technology work for youProject services• HP Infrastructure

Consulting Services• HP Lifecycle Event

Services• ITSM assessment services

for virtualised environment (help implement best practices)

• VMware health check• Education services

Proactive support• HP Proactive Care• Capture events and

escalate them• Performance monitoring• Proactive patch

management

Preventive support• HP Datacenter Care • Environment optimisation• Enhanced call handling• Multivendor

accountability• Prevent issues before

they become a problem• Built-in flexibility• Assigned account team

“The modern support model is based on things to prevent problems from happening in the first place and take actions proactively; and a lot of these actions are, in fact, taken remotely”Sanjay Ahuja, Director, Americas Value Support Business


Core features

HP Proactive Care Service

Advisory support

Advanced solution centre technical account managers deliver:• Semi-annual specific firmware, patch and software update

recommendations• Semi-annual proactive scan• Quarterly incident and trend reporting

Advanced solution centre technical solution specialists deliver a premium call experience:• Rapid connection to specialists with advanced solution skills• Onshore / near shore support backed by HPs global delivery organisation• Single point of contact for end-to-end case ownership• Collaboration with ISVs• Choice of HW on-site support levels (NBD, 24/7, 6hr CTR)

Hardware and software support

Insight Remote Support • Secure 24/7 monitoring, diagnostics and notifications• Required (installation assistance provided)


Deploy, operate and evolve

HP Datacenter Care

Entire IT environment

Primary Service Provider

Reactive Services

Expert guidance

Assigned Account TeamEntire IT

environment

Single point of accountability

Tailored to your needs

Enhanced Call Handling

Proactive

Services


We’ve known that complexity is bad. We’ve allowed complexity to build up and so, in many cases, we’ve virtualised in order to gain more simplicity. But, we’ve ended up in a place where we’ve got multiple virtualised environments, we’ve got multiple hypervisors, and we know that that’s potentially not a good thing. It’s adding to our complexity, but it’s unavoidable.

Ian Head, Research Director, Gartner


Find out more

Take the assessment

• Visit us on CI-B1 (HP Support Services)

• Or www.hp.com/services/anticipate

Visit our booths

• CC-A3: HP Datacenter Care

• CI-B1: HP Support Services

• CI-C1: HP Proactive Care & Insight Remote Support

• MEET-the-EXPERT Sessions

After the event

• Watch replays of HP Discover at: www.hp.com/go/discover

• Contact your sales rep

• Visit the website www.hp.com/services/caresupport

• Download the whitepaper: Stretch the limits of your infrastructure; how to get the most out of virtualization

• Watch the HP webcast “Supporting Virtualization” featuring Gartner analyst Ian Head

Your feedback is important to us. Please take a few minutes to complete the session survey.

http://www.hp.com/services/anticipate

http://www.hp.com/go/discover

http://www.hp.com/services/caresupport

http://www.hp.com/services/caresupport

http://h20195.www2.hp.com/V2/GetDocument.aspx?docname=%204AA1-9185ENW%20&cc=us&lc=en



http://www.accelacomm.com/acc/hp/0/50145395/


Thank you