Server Virtualization Policy
The following example Server Virtualization Policy defines an organization’s server virtualization requirements and minimum standards. This policy is intended for informational purposes only.
Purpose
The purpose of this policy is to establish server virtualization requirements that define the acquisition, use, and management of server virtualization technologies. This policy provides controls that ensure that Enterprise issues are considered along with business objectives when making server virtualization related decisions.
Platform Architecture policies, standards and guidelines will be used to acquire, design, implement and manage all server virtualization technologies.
Scope
The scope of this policy encompasses all new and existing workloads.
Responsibilities
The CEO and CIO ensure that policies are followed in order to establish contracts, review procurement requests and to develop and manage services.
Policy
<Company Name>’ legacy IT practice was to dedicate one physical server to a single workload. The result of <Company Name>’ legacy IT practice was excessive server underutilization, an ever-expanding data center footprint and excessive data center power consumption.
Server virtualization software allows the consolidation of new and existing workloads onto high capacity x86 servers. Consolidating workloads onto high capacity x86 servers allows <Company Name> to reduce the x86 server inventory, which in turn decreases the data center footprint and data center power consumption.
<Company Name> will migrate all new and existing workloads from physical servers to virtual machines. All workloads that cannot be migrated to a virtual machine will be subject to <Company Name>’ Hardware and Software Sunset Policy.
Server Virtualization Software Requirements:
- Support industry-wide open-standards
- Embedded security
- Single centralized management console
- Support industry standard management tools
- Support industry standard backup and recovery tools
- Interoperate with other platform technologies
- Support industry standard x86 hardware
- Support industry standard storage
- Support unmodified guest operating systems
- Migrate running guests without interruption
- Add disks to a running guest
- Snapshot running guests
- Revert to a previous snapshots on a running guest
- Automatically detect a hardware failure and restart guests on another physical server
- Functionality to configure role based access for the administrative console
- Support LDAP for authentication and authorization for administrative console
- Encrypt all intra host and administrative console traffic
- Integrated graphical CPU, memory, disk and network performance monitoring, alerting, and historical reporting for hosts and guests.
- Retain performance data for up to one (1) year
- Functionality to manage host CPU, memory, storage and network resource allocation
- Functionality to manage guest CPU, memory, disk and network resource allocation
- Functionality to create, stop, start, pause, migrate, clone and provision guests
- Functionality to automatically load balance guests across multiple hosts
- Consolidated logging for hosts and guests that log date and time of all administrative user actions
- Functionality to convert x86 physical servers to virtual machines
- Encrypted remote administrative console access
Review Cycle
This policy is subject to annual review.
Compliance
All information technology investments shall conform to existing policies in order to ensure the integrity and interoperability of computing platforms.
Any employee found to have violated this policy may be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment.
Related Policies
Platform Infrastructure Standard
Server Virtualization Standard
Server Virtualization Guidelines
Hardware and Software Sunset Policy
