‘Virtualization Station’: What it is and why you should have it
As we continue to make quantum leaps in technology, many businesses are facing the same problem – the generation gap of hardware and software.
Previously, organisations adopted conventional physical servers and hardware expenditures rose with their growing IT needs. However, as time passes the software on these systems becomes outdated or even unsupported by their developers and the servers themselves will be discontinued by their manufacturer or lack support for new hardware.
Fortunately, there is a solution – QNAP's Virtualization Station, a full service for x86-based QNAP NAS with virtualization extensions (Intel VT or AMD-V) that enables businesses to operate and manage multiple virtual machines (VM) on the same NAS.
According to QNAP, Virtualization Station adds incredible versatility to a NAS. From using a NAS as a PC by connecting a keyboard, mouse, and HDMI display to creating private virtual networks between virtual machines (VMs), you can also use USB and GPU pass-through to provide VMs and NAS with greater functionality and performance.
"At QNAP, we have always been proud of our excellent R-D capabilities, and the fact that we aim to deliver latest hardware/software advancements to our users," says Jamie Yang, QNAP marketing director for Australia and New Zealand.
"In the coming QTS 4.3.4, we will be supporting RAID 50/60 which will deliver a giant leap toward high-performance storage and solid data security. We also offer versatile ways to expand storage capabilities so your investment on storage can grow along with your business.
The service on QNAP NAS can easily run VMs that have been converted from physical PCs or servers, allowing users to consolidate their IT infrastructure, simply back-up and restore important systems, benefit from high performance and storage capacity, and save on purchasing and maintaining hardware.
And when it comes to converting physical PCs to VMs (or P2V), VMware offers professional software that helps businesses to deploy flexible and efficient virtualization applications, converting physical machines into VMs in a process that is quick and easy with no downtime.
The entire solution also includes simplified management via the VDI application, which helps rapidly deploy a common desktop environment for multiple users and centrally deploys updates and changes.
"As a company that specialises in hardware-software integration, we are devoted to bringing full-throttle innovations accommodating comprehensive business and home entertainment applications," says Yang.
"QNAP controls every aspect of planning, designing, manufacturing, coding, and testing our hardware and software, providing us with greater quality control and allowing us to fully maximise the potential of our products. Our software is also constantly reaching new heights, with our integrated virtualization solution (Virtualization Station) that redefines what NAS can do.
Below is a quick overview of the benefits of Virtualization Station:
- It can be easily installed from the QNAP App Center with just one click
- It supports various modern and legacy operating systems
- A built-in Access Control List (ACL) allows users to easily manage access to specific virtual machines
- It allows users to centrally monitor and manage every VM while allocating resources such as CPU, memory and storage capacity.
- VMs can be imported and exported with just a few clicks.
- VMs can be easily backed up and restored for quick disaster recovery
- VM Snapshot helps to mitigate the threat of ransomware and other attacks
