Purpose

Virtualization and cloud computing continue to gain momentum for both large and small businesses as the need to maximize efficiency while minimizing resources continues. This assignment will help you compare the various advantages and disadvantages to moving to cloud services rather than maintaining a physical infrastructure in-house.

Assignment Instructions

Virtualization and cloud services continue to gain momentum as more and more organizations desire to reduce costs while improving efficiency. According to Portnoy (2012), “Once the infrastructure services are virtualized and an organization starts to reap some of the fiscal benefits of their new strategy, an active program is put in place to move to the next level. As servers come off their leases, those workloads are migrated to the growing infrastructure. Companies usually adopt virtualization-first policies, which state that as new projects come in house, any server requirements will be satisfied by the virtual resources, rather than by paying for new physical resources. Actual hardware will be purchased only if it can be proven that the need cannot be satisfied with the virtual environment.” (Understanding the Importance of Virtualization).

References:

Portnoy, Matthew. (2012). Virtualization essentials. [Books24x7 version] Available from http://common.books24x7.com.libauth.purdueglobal.edu/toc.aspx?bookid=46282.

Based on your research, write a 3–5page paper that compares the adoption and implementation of virtualization versus physical server infrastructure. The paper should also discuss the costs and support considerations of the two technologies. This paper is to be written for the executive leadership of the company, in an effort to persuade them to invest in virtualization as a cost-effective option toward managing the enterprise network.

Assignment Requirements

All papers must meet these standard requirements:

· Paper follows APA formatting.

· Length is 3–5pages long, not including references and cover page.

· As you research various access technologies, ALL of the pages must have citations and references.

· No more than three bulleted or listed points per paper.

· Bulleted lists without substantial narrative included are strongly discouraged.

· No more than one directquotation (of 40 words or more) per page from a reference source and those quotes must be properly cited within the body and in the references at the end of the paper.

· References are required for all sources, and all figures and tables must be captioned in APA format.

· Title page

· Reference page