6^th Annual Edition

Most of these servers were five-years-old and replacing them was proving to be an expensive proposition. Instead, Rao adopted a twin-solution combining hardware and software virtualization, and blade server technology. Hardware virtualization helped them remove the need for additional servers and reduced downtime to 15 minutes from the six hours. The software-based virtualization has reduced the number of physical servers from 30 to three and number of racks from five to two. "With this creative solution, the same basic blade architecture can be used in both IT landscapes but customized according to business requirements." The TCO of the blade server set up is Rs 30 lakh cheaper than its traditional rack mounted alternative. Virtualization helped Marico consolidate 30 servers onto four physical blades achieving power saving of around 70 percent.