April 5, 2004 -- (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) -- Web hosting and managed services provider Savvis Communications (savvis.net) has chosen to deploy Inkra Networks' (inkra.com) networking virtualization technology in its data centers, Inkra announced on Monday, forming a key component of what is being billed as the industry's first virtualized utility computing data center environment. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Inkra's role in the build-out of Savvis' utility computing infrastructure is in "the networking piece of their virtualization story," says David Roberts, vice president of marketing at Inkra. Two other vendors - Egenera (egenera.com) and 3Par (3pardata.com) - are also working with Savvis, helping it develop the computing and storage virtualization side of its infrastructure.

Under the deal, Savvis is deploying Inkra's Virtual Service Switch, a network management device that virtualizes, consolidates and automates the delivery of networking and security services such as firewall, intrusion prevention and load balancing to constituencies in a data center. For hosting service providers, virtualization creates partitions that are then allocated to each customer in the data center. Each allocation is then custom-configured in line with the set of services that particular customer needs and requires. Virtualization ensures that no excess capacity is allotted for the customer. The customer gets only what it needs. "That is in contrast to the old way of doing this... which is really to build out each of these functions with separate appliances," says Roberts. In this scenario, customers often find themselves in a position where they are paying for unused, excess capacity.

The most significant advantage of the utility computing model is significant cost savings. According to Inkra, Savvis has been able cut its infrastructure equipment and operations costs in half through the use of its technology. With virtualization, "there is an obvious capital reduction," says Roberts. "Rather than buying hundreds of independent devices I am now buying one device."

Virtualization, Roberts says, also offers the benefits of electronic provisioning, another plus that traditional models cannot deliver. "In the old model, I have to purchase equipment, I have to install it in the data center, cable it up and configure it. There are a lot of manual labor processes associated with that." In a utility computing environment, all of these tasks are automated and changes can be made from a single source. Installations times are also longer when service providers have to install separate appliances, whereas automated provisioning allows a customized environment to be built on and operation within minutes," says Roberts. "And you can do it with a phone call to Savvis and have it active and ready minutes later."

On the flip side, the disadvantages of a utility computing environment, if any, are mostly related to issues of training. "There is a knowledge you have to have, it's a different way of doing things," says Roberts, but he insists that thepositives far outweigh the drawbacks. "I think once you get over that [the training] there is mostly just upside."

In building Savvis' infrastructure, the three vendors have rolled out their respective solutions with their own management systems, making collaboration difficult between platforms. Savvis has alleviated this problem by supplying the management system that brings everything together. "Savvis has provided their custom management system that talks to each of the individual management systems to make that automated provisioning happen end to end," says Roberts.

The latest contract win for Inkra comes just seven months after the company announced it would be supplying virtualization technology to IT outsourcing giant EDS, following a similar deal with IBM. Roberts says that while no definite plans have been announced, Savvis is planning to roll out utility computing models into its recently acquired Cable & Wireless USA facilities.

Roberts believes that the utility computing model is set to take off as service providers realize the benefits or virtualization beyond just the server. "What's really happening this year is we've gone from more talk to a more widespread deployment. So Savvis and other service providers are really pushing I think. We see 2004 as the year where a lot of this stuff really takes off."