Service · Systems administration

Virtualisation

In many companies the server room holds five boxes of different vintages, each ticking along at a fraction of its capacity and each on its own warranty. Virtualisation swaps them for one or two hosts where servers become files: easy to copy, roll back to the pre-update state or shift onto other hardware mid-shift. Since VMware changed its pricing, many companies also ask about Proxmox and Hyper-V. Our advice is vendor-neutral, and every step is carried out through remote consoles.

Snapshot
before every change
Live moves
of VMs where the platform allows
2 hosts
our recommended minimum
3 platforms
Hyper-V, VMware, Proxmox

Included in this service

We work from load figures, not a hardware catalogue, so the host ends up neither underpowered nor overpriced.

Talk the scope through with an engineer

Load profile

For a week we record CPU, memory and disk operations on your current servers, then size cores, RAM and space with three years of growth in mind.

Storage

Local NVMe, ZFS, Ceph or a shared array: the right answer depends on how many hosts you have and how fast you must be back after a fault.

Networking

Separate VLANs for management, guest traffic and replication, so backup streams never throttle your users.

P2V conversion

Physical machines become VMs one by one, each in a short after-hours slot.

Templates

Ready images of Windows Server and Linux, patched and carrying the monitoring agent. A fresh test server comes from a template, with no install from scratch.

Recovery plan

Replication to a second host or the cloud, and a written runbook stating what gets started first when a host goes silent.

How we work together

Project length depends on the number of servers and on hardware delivery, which you arrange with your own supplier.

01

Measure

A week of data gathering and a conversation about which systems are critical and which can be switched off.

02

Specify

An exact host configuration to order from your own supplier, who installs it on your premises or at the data centre.

03

Remote install

Once power and network are connected, we log in via iDRAC or iLO, install the hypervisor and networking, and benchmark it.

04

Move in

Servers migrate singly, users confirm all is well, and only then is the old hardware powered down.

A host with no remote console is a host somebody has to stand beside. When you buy one, insist on an iDRAC Enterprise, iLO Advanced or similar licence and get the management port plugged into the network. Then we can power it up, enter the BIOS and install the OS without anyone's help, and your staff are needed at most to swap a disk.

Questions and answers

Yes, that is normal practice now. The one condition is that the SQL Server database gets quick disks and reserved memory rather than fighting the file server and backup VM for them. Before migrating we time routine operations, such as posting a document, and compare afterwards.

Licensing depends on the edition and on the number of cores in the host, and editions differ in how many VMs they cover. A handful of servers usually calls for a different option than a dozen, and Microsoft revises its terms from time to time. We do the sums on current rules before purchase, as an error can be expensive.

With a pair of replicated hosts we boot the copies on the survivor, losing no more than the last replication interval. With one host we rebuild from backup onto spare kit or into the cloud, which takes considerably longer. The right choice depends on what a lost day costs your business.

Often, not always. We model three years of licence spend, confirm your backup product supports the new platform and trial one low-priority VM first. The remainder then follows, one per maintenance slot.

Let us work out how many hosts you really need

List your current servers and their jobs. We reply with an outline configuration and a rough licence cost.

Hours
Mon-Fri 8:00-18:00 CET, reply within one working day
Meetings
Online via Teams or Google Meet

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