Updated: July 10, 2020 (July 12, 2004)

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Server Consolidation Explained

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908 wordsTime to read: 5 min
Michael Cherry by
Michael Cherry

Michael analyzed and wrote about Microsoft's operating systems, including the Windows client OS, as well as compliance and governance. Michael... more

Consolidation involves reducing quantities: server consolidation can reduce the number of physical locations where servers are installed, the actual number of servers, the quantity of software licenses, or the number of points of management.

Forces Driving Consolidation

A variety of forces are driving interest in consolidation projects, including the following:

Need to reduce costs. Because of increasingly competitive business and economic conditions, IT groups are under growing pressure to reduce capital and operating costs while maintaining or improving the level of services they offer.

Need to update legacy systems. As organizations update systems at the end of their support life cycle, such as those running on Windows NT 4.0 or older versions of Unix and Novell NetWare, they have a natural opportunity to consolidate servers. This is also an opportunity to switch platforms, as growing movement from Unix and NetWare to Windows or Linux illustrates.

Improved hardware. Intel-compatible hardware has increased in power while decreasing in cost, as evidenced by the growing availability of relatively inexpensive multiprocessor and 64-bit systems from both Intel and AMD. The widespread use of network-attached storage (NAS) and storage area network (SAN) hardware is also encouraging consolidation of data storage.

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