A few days back, I opened up a discussion on the convergence of virtualization and service-oriented architecture.
The convergence comes in many flavors. In one sense, SOA itself can be considered the "virtualization" of applications. But the main issue that concerns executives and managers these days is how their underlying infrastructure -- servers, networks, databases -- will hold up as SOA creates unexpected surges in demand.
I like the way Brad Shimmin of Current Analysis describes service virtualization: it's a process "where bandwidth emerges from the mist and vanishes just as mysteriously in response to provisioning rules and service-level agreements."
He also is watching the growing convergence between SOA and virtualization. He describes the challenge this way: "With so much talk recently about automated biofeedback monitoring and business rules within rules, you might think that an enterprise stands as much of a chance of optimizing its service-oriented architecture applications as it does launching a Saturn V rocket. And you'd be right."
While virtualization has actually been around for some time, SOA adds a new urgency to the mix. The "ultimate justification" for virtualization, Brad says, is "that loosely coupled and extremely unknowable universe of reused and often misused Web services."
Announcements from Red Hat and IBM recognize this growing need. All SOA virtualization needs at this point, Brad says, is the ability to abstract "the entire notion of SOA process optimization away from the human element, thereby answering the question, 'should I add another virtual Java messaging server to accommodate tomorrow's anticipated rush on Tickle Me Elmos?'"
As SOAs keep growing in scope and keeping adding reusable services, enterprises are going to start really feeling the pinch on their servers and infrastructure. The more successful your SOA -- meaning there is a lot of adoption of your reusable services -- the more you are going to get pinched. Virtualization offers a way to intelligently handle new SOA workloads without having to go out and buy dozens of new servers.
Joe-
Interesting post. Personally, I think that a key factor in success is not virtualization, but having a well-thought management architecture, a subject I just recently blogged about. While virtualization has the ability to improve resource utilization, it doesn't do you a bit of good if you don't know what metrics and events to look at to know when to deploy or reprovision VMs. With every product out there having its own management architecture, it's critical that all of the services begin exposing management information in a way that can be digested by dedicated management systems. The only way this happens is if you define a management architecture first, and then find products that meet the needs. Interestingly, a management architecture maps nicely to SOA and EDA.
My thoughts: http://www.biske.com/blog/?p=158
-tb