[mythtv-users] Back-end Virtualization

Karl Dietz dekarl at spaetfruehstuecken.org
Sat May 12 11:32:22 UTC 2012


I've been trying hard to ignore this thread, but I failed :-)

On 11.05.2012 21:19, Raymond Wagner wrote:
> On 5/11/2012 14:34, Nathan Hawkins wrote:
>> @Ray - you mention several good reasons why virtualization
>> isn't desirable, and I agree that for the majority of people
>> its not the way to go because they simply don't have the raw
>> computing needs that some others do. In my case its ALL about
>> efficiency... Strictly from a power perspective (which
>> translates to TCO), it costs less to virtualize. I, however,
>> demand my hardware to actually/continually work rather than
>> sitting idle 99.9% of the time. Virtualization allows me to
>> get far more efficiency for the same hardware, thus TCO goes
>> down while pushing my gear to do the same amount of work on
>> less hardware and power.
>
> You're missing the whole point I've been trying to make. Virtualization
> doesn't do any of that. Reduced redundant hardware needs, improved
> hardware utilization, it comes from just moving multiple applications
> onto a single piece of hardware. In a commercial setting, virtualization
> merely allows you to do that while retaining the old security levels you
> got from having physically independent systems.

I have not seen the unique selling point for VMs yet... Its support!

As 3/4 of the professionals in IT are in the job because it pays the
bills, not because they like what they do or because they are good at
what they do... (what a crazy idea, doing something that one is good at
for a living)

So when the vendor tells you "we only answer questions for issues on
FooBaz Linux 3.tos.5" you got two options, run a box full of VMs just
to reproduce production issues, so the vendors will accept your bug
reports. Or simply please the vendor and run random old crap that is
certified by people who are in their jobs because of the paye, too.

In my experience these 3/4 of the professional do not care what the
right tool or procedure is to achieve a goal. They only care about
getting the pay check and don't want to be bothered with work.

With these people on both sides of the contract you can only use VM
technology to keep your business going. They simply do not care.
And as VM technology can be sold as a product you have all the nice
high-gloss marketing material telling random by-standers how great
VM technology is and that its even better then sliced bread. Which
makes it even harder to get someone to even consider doing anything
else.


Lets just say, virtualization is a tool, but its not the best tool to
run a high throughput application on consumer hardware. But it is a good
tool if you must use random OS variants/version to support a special
installation or get support from a vendor.

Regards,
Karl

PS: I'm only in the industry for 15 years and sometimes the people who
don't care to get a clue simply p*** m* o**, so feel free to ignore
this rant from a newbie.


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