3. Virtual Storage
"Virtually every position request we get for virtualization has some component of storage in it," Gabrielson says. Storage is such an integral part of the pattern of data use within an organization that no IT infrastructure, virtual or not, can succeed while gumming up the storage arrangements.
Virtualizing storage (via storage area networks, primarily) should make the interface between virtual servers and virtual storage simpler, but idiosyncracies in one can cause major problems in the other.
4. Heterogeneity
A year ago it might have been enough to be a real, true expert on VMware's virtualization software; and it's still a vital component to any virtualization guru's expertise. The release of Microsoft's Hyper-V in Windows Server 2008 broke open the doors, however. Analysts such as Burton Group's Chris Wolf predict VMware and Hyper-V will have to co-exist in data centers for a long time.
Virtualization 'experts' who can handle one vendor's technology but not the other are likely to be only virtually useful as well.
5. Virtual security
Being a system administrator for virtual servers, or a whole VM infrastructure, means more than just making sure the NICs don't fall out the back of the physical servers. VM sys admins have to control server sprawl and have enough expertise in security to keep the servers safe even when users or the app dev crew spawn off rogue VMs like butterflies in spring.
"Security has become the de facto requirement for almost every job in the data center," Gabrielson says. "In virtualization, it's just that much more important because virtualization touches everything else."
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