Microsoft eating its virtualisation dogfood

Stephen Withers
Monday, 17 May 2010 10:35

Business IT - Technology

Microsoft is using Hyper-V on its production systems to reduce the amount of hardware required and to respond more quickly to changing user needs.

The idea that Microsoft should be its own "first and best customer" means that the company's production systems may run on beta software, according to Jim Dubois, general manager Microsoft IT (MS IT) and Office of the CIO.

"We always give the product group a chance," he said, but sometimes Microsoft's own software doesn't meet MS IT's needs and a wider net must be cast.

For example, MS IT used to use VMware, but has now switched to Hyper-V. 38% of the servers run by MS IT are currently virtualised, and that figure is expected to grow to 50% by the end of June. The move to virtualised servers has been slowed by the reluctance of some developer teams to go virtual, plus the need for additional storage.

Dubois has instituted a program to address the cultural issues that are affecting the adoption of virtualisation. He explains that Microsoft is less hierarchical than some other companies, so the use of VMs cannot be simply mandated. Messages such as "you can have a physical server in three or four weeks or you can have a VM now" are helping, as are 'two for one' offers.

Process issues, not technology, are holding back the greater use of virtualisation at Microsoft, he said.

The use of virtualisation has helped reduce server sprawl. Even though the number of operating system instances has grown, virtualisation has allowed a reduction in the number of physical production servers from around 10,000 to less than 8000. "You really do get more with less," said Dubois.

There are other benefits - see page 2.