Prototype Complex Enterprise Solutions with Just Your Workstation
Before embarking on a hardware purchasing spree to prototype and test that clustered backend solution you're planning, learn how virtualization enables you to build a prototype right on your desktop.
by Edmon Begoli
January 30, 2006
uppose you have to deploy a highly available and scalable database backend solution for an Internet application (similar to what is described here). A cluster immediately comes to mind. A cluster is a conglomerate of two or more machines that are capable of sharing their workload in a real-time, near real-time, or scheduled "toggle" mode. The following are its three main components:
Machines running some form of an enterprise-level operating system, such as Linux, Windows, or Unix
A network—a key component of the clustered architecture
Cluster-capable software products running within machines that are designated as the cluster members
Buying some hardware to prototype and test the proposed solution seems to be a reasonable course of action, but before you embark on a hardware purchasing spree, consider an option that will let you build a prototype of your clustered backend application right on your desktop: virtualization. Virtualization is based on the concept of creating an environment that appears to a "guest" operating system as hardware (a virtual machine), yet is simulated in a contained software environment by the host system.
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uppose you have to deploy a highly available and scalable database backend solution for an Internet application (similar to what is described 
