Another major benefit of server virtualization is the ability to shift running virtual servers between physical hosts to balance load and allow for maintenance windows. You can also use snapshots of virtual servers to keep a moment-in-time copy of a running server prior to making changes such as software updates. If something goes wrong, you can simply return to the snapshot, and the affected server will be running as if you had never touched anything. Clearly, this approach can save significant time and aggravation.

If you haven't already moved down the virtualization road, fear not: More options are available now than ever before, and any time is the right time to get started.

Although server virtualization has certainly taken the server room by storm, you also have many ways to bring virtualization into the office on a smaller scale--namely, on your or .

Generally, modern desktop and laptop PCs have a surprising amount of resources that go unused when the system is performing little tasks such as email reading or Web browsing. If you find that you have the need to run a different operating system from time to time (say, to support a legacy application), you could fire up a virtual desktop on your local system and forgo the physical installation.