Securing Virtualized Infrastructure:

From Static Security to Virtual Shields

Data centers have undergone tremendous transformation in the past five years. Virtualization has changed the architecture for servers, storage and networks. IT organizations are using management and provisioning automation to reduce operational cost, and increase responsiveness to business demands. But security is becoming more and more challenging. While virtualization has impacted every part of IT, security lags. As a result, most security products today do not easily support a virtualized infrastructure.

Next generation security products are emerging however. Implemented as virtual software appliances or as virtual shields, they can provide security in a pool of virtual servers, regardless of operating system or application. Data center architects and security architects need to carefully choose security products that support -- and not subvert -- their data center virtualization strategies.