Leading Manufacturing Execution System specialists Marco are constantly looking at ways to improve their TRAC-IT MES factory floor efficiency systems and software, pushing the boundaries of the latest technologies to their limits. In the quest to continue to be leaders in their field, they have now embraced virtual server technology and firmly believe this is the optimum way forward to simplify and reduce the investment in IT infrastructure.

Virtual machine technology applies to both server and client hardware, enabling multiple operating systems to run concurrently on a single server. Under normal operational conditions, existing servers will only be utilising a very small proportion of their available resource. This is best illustrated by the fact that most server rooms are crammed with under-utilised individual machines, all individually requiring the same level of stringent maintenance and back up routines. By comparison, a virtual machine can be loaded with several different operating systems, running several applications at once, utilising all the available power within the single physical machine. Because they only contain a single file they are very easily backed up: the file and entire operating system can be moved from a faulty machine to a new one in a fraction of the time it would take to rebuild a failed traditional server.

Marco's MD Murray Hilborne is committed to this new technology and as he concludes: "We currently test all our software on several operating systems under a virtual environment, enabling our developers to quickly and precisely evaluate our product updates ready for release. The virtual operating system environment can also easily be reset to a clean state for any new tests or developments to take place. We believe this is the way forward and the technology has radical and important benefits for our rapidly growing number of customers around the world."