DH2i delivers application virtualization for SQL Server

Don Boxley, CEO and Founder of DH2i, spent some time with me recently to discuss his company and DxConsole and DxTransfer. The company's goal is addressing the product limitations of Microsoft's SQL Server. These limitations force organizations to deploy multiple instances of the product on separate systems (virtual or physical) in order to deal with their business requirements.

What's the problem?

All database products have limitations, that is restrictions that were part of the design of the product. Some of these might be the size of batches that can be processed at one time; sizes of  items, index entries, or  databases themselves. Customers using Microsoft SQL have traditionally segmented their database activities and deployed multiple instances of SQL Server to overcome these limitations. Since there are limits to the number of instances of SQL Server that can run on a single server, these instances are often deployed on multiple systems. DH2i is fond of calling this "SQL Server Sprawl."

What is DH2i offering?

DH2i has developed application virtualization solution designed to encapsulate Microsoft SQL Server and allow multiple instances to run on a single server. This approach to database consolidation allows database use to grow larger than a single instance of SQL Server can handle. The company has also developed technology allowing these encapsulated database instances to be migrated from one server to another to help users achieve service level objectives or to quiesce a system so it can be taken off line for regular service.

Snapshot analysis

Some users of Microsoft SQL Server have addressed product limitations by spinning up complete virtual machines to support instances of SQL Server. While this approach is certainly workable, it is not efficient. Each virtual machine requires its own copy of the operating system, database software, system memory and storage. By using application vitalization rather than processing virtualization, DH2i customers can sharply reduce the number of operating system licenses, database licenses, the amount of memory and storage required for the application.

Although DH2i is just starting out, its approach shows a great deal of potential.  I expect that as they ramp up, other Microsoft server products, such as Exchange and SharePoint just might get the same treatment.

This is a company worth watching.