Virtualization can impact systems management in several ways. First, the adoption of virtualization may cause changes to existing management tools and procedures, and it may introduce a requirement for new management tools. Hypervisors may need to be integrated with certain standard protocols for managing physical infrastructure. Virtualization is also likely to introduce the need for new backup procedures for virtual machines, hosts, and storage. Finally, as virtualization becomes a standard part of IT operations, it may be necessary to introduce new tools and procedures for testing, developing, and managing the complete lifecycle of virtual machines.

Click on one of the links below to see how the studied server virtualization platforms compare in addressing these manageability requirements:

	Basic Management Tools (15 ratings)
	Infrastructure Management Protocols (6 ratings)
	Backup Functions (3 ratings)
	Virtualization Testing & Development Tools (3 ratings)
	Virtualization Lifecycle Management Tools (3 ratings)