Database Virtualization for Business Continuity

I happened across Ken Oestreich's Fountainhead blog, where he recounts the following from a conversation with a sales rep:

"He's noted that "Virtualization" is being inaccurately  subsumed to mean the software hypervisors purveyed by VMware.

You know, I couldn't agree more.  VMware is certainly the best known virtualization product, and a good jumping off point for discussions, but I think people need to understand that this is a bigger trend, as IDC is covering.

The problem with only understanding server virtualizaiton is that you limit your thinking to hardware consolidation.  And there are so many other benefits.  One that I've been paying attention to recently is business continuity (nee disaster recovery).

When you think about it, this is a great fit for database virtualization.  What happens when my database goes kaput?  When you virtualize, you have options.  You can redirect to another database.  Or, you could even have a backup Web Service that would provide the data (perhaps master data, position data, sales data).  The virtualization layer insulates the users and applications from outage.

Last year, Ipedo introduced a feature called dynamic failover redirection, where Ipedo XIP can automatically look to a pre-defined replica if the primary data source is not available. This boosts uptime and minimizes business disruption by delivering real-time information to users from wherever it resides. 

Think of it as failover at the the view level - read virtual level - rather than at the database level.  Another interesting aspect of the ever expanding world of virtualization.