C4 Marine Brig. Gen. Kevin J. Nally - KMI Media Group

that determine the level of access that
users have to government data. For example,
IT managers can set the security controls
to allow a user access to only certain
types of databases, while also prohibiting
the user from printing or downloading
information onto a storage device. These
security protocols—including limits on
download and upload capabilities—can
also change based on the type and location
of device used to access the data.
This provides a strong level of security
against internal as well as external
threats, and can help prevent breaches
similar to WikiLeaks. Finally, the virtual
desktop and server environment provides
more robust continuity of operations, an
important requirement for every DoD
organization.
Reduced costs. Virtualization streamlines
the management and provisioning
of desktops and other devices. IT personnel
can centrally manage user access,
High-Performing
Environment
There have been many different definitions
for virtualization in the IT industry.
“Virtual” is a concept where an object
appears to exist for all its functions, but may
not be physical—similar to virtual private
networks, for instance, where the network is
not physically private, but appears and functions
as a private network. Virtualization of
hardware gives you a whole operating environment
all inter-networked to each other,
instead of a single server.
evolutIon of
vIrtualIzatIon
Experiments were done with different
architectures, where one “host” operating
system was running one or more “guest”
operating systems. However, the challenge of
networking them and creating a stable and
high-performing environment was solved
in the past few years, making virtualization
a reality. Modern virtual machine software
provides an entire, networked virtual environment,
where one gets an entire data
center, all communicating with each other
passwords, patches, provisioning and
other tasks, saving time and money.
Desktops, laptops and other devices last
years longer, because the virtual desktop
alleviates operating system and memory
requirements on the end device itself.
Getting users up and running following
PC crashes is also much easier, because
their entire desktop resides in the data
center rather than on the device itself. In
addition to saving money in IT management,
organizations gain enormous efficiencies
from the ability of employees to
work securely on any authorized device at
home, on the road or anywhere they have
a connection.
Effective consolidation. In January,
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates
said the Pentagon plans to consolidate
hundreds of data centers. Virtualization
will drive that consolidation because it
enables a single server to carry the storage
and application workloads of mul-
Modern virtual machine software provides
an entire, networked virtual environment,
where one gets an entire data center.
By Roger Raj, CISSP CISA, Senior Technical Director
Oracle Corp. Advanced Technology Services
roger.raj@oracle.com
with logical TCP/IP connections, sharing a
physical network card.
key BenefIts of
vIrtualIzatIon
Virtualization of hardware has several
benefits, including the following:
• Smaller footprint, compared to
physical, interconnected servers,
but yet achieving most of the benefits
of a distributed architecture.
Such smaller footprints may be
needed for quick deployments in
military, especially in smaller planes
and smaller ships used for war/rescue
missions. Power requirements
are also lower, due to the smaller
footprint and uninterrupted power
supply can get these machines running
for many hours, when they are
away from shore, with no access to
full power supply.
• Lower costs in most cases, as a
single hardware can be effectively
tiple virtual servers. Virtualization also
automates and streamlines server management,
further supporting the consolidation
effort and cutting costs.
Occasionally, someone who is unfamiliar
with the virtualization concept may
wonder whether a virtual desktop is just
a thin client—a computer that accesses
one or two simple applications or runs a
routine operation, such as e-mail. This, of
course, is incorrect. The virtual desktop
delivers the end-user’s entire computer
environment.
Citrix delivers virtual desktops and
services to all branches of the military,
helping our DoD customers consolidate
datacenters and streamline IT
management while improving IT security.
But the most important benefit of
virtualization may be the resulting savings,
which DoD can repurpose for other
priority programs without sacrificing IT
performance.
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