Server repurposing comes to the channel

My latest tech files column for eWeek’s Strategic Partner edition talks about how the concept of server repurposing is extending virtualization and describes ways that VARs should take a closer look at this technology. The idea is to take the parts of a server such as its IP address, its disk storage, and its associated applications, and make them virtual so that they can run on any machine in a data center and aren’t tied to a particular piece of hardware. When an enterprise needs more processing power for particular applications, you can bring up a new server in a matter of minutes and have it satisfy this demand.

You can read the full version here.

Virtual apps go mainstream

By now you have no doubt heard about virtualization. VARs can extend this concept further with a new twist called virtual application streaming. The idea is simple: Send all the bits that are needed for running one application to a user’s desktop at the moment they are needed, similar to how a video or music file is streamed when requested from a server. Rather than install the application, take up disk space and consume software licenses, you keep the applications centralized and archived, ready to be used when needed. You can read my article  in eWeek here.