Virtualization

Question : What is Virtual Machine?

Answer : If we check it out from wiki , we see definition of VM as "In computing, a VM is an emulation of a computer system. Virtual machines are based on computer architectures and provide functionality of a physical computer."

That being said, in a very simple terms if we go with the literal meaning of the word 'Virtual Machine' : A machine which is not physical however it works as a physical Machine.

Question : Why do we need Virtaul Machines?

Answer : Well, this is the very first question and it can easily be answered if we look at the advantages of Virtual Machines. I tried to list down a high level advantages as below, but there are many more:

• Consistency
• More Control
• HA - Highly Available
• Security

Question : How to a design Virtual Enviornment for Blue Prism?

Answer : Well the answer of this question is not straight forward. But as a technical architect, one has to build this strategy by reviewing following consideration :

• Security : This is the most important factor while desiging any application( Not just Blue Prism deployment)
• Performance: Application should perform as per the Business expectation. So while designing Blue Prism Application's setup, as a technical architect one has to consider industry best practices for each component and has to consider the Business requirement and Use Cases.
• Deciding Virtualization Software : Depending upon the use case, one has to decide which virtualization software/strategy to be leveraged in the final solution. The decision should be based on number of factors such as number of automations which will run, how the users will be located geographically etc.

Question : What is a Hypervisor?

Answer : As per Wiki , Hypervisor is software, hardware of firmware that creates and runs the Virtual Machine. There are two types of Hypervisor:

• Type 1
• Type 2

You can refer to the wikipedia URL(mentioned above in this answer) to for more details on Type 1 and Type 2 Hypervisors

Question : For Blue Prism , do we need to use Physical or Virtual Server?

Answer : Blue Prism recommends to implement Database on a physical server. Logically, database is the main core critical component of Blue Prism Deployment and any performance issues with Database will directly impact the Blue Prism appication's stability.By hosting on a physical server, we will make sure that there will not be any OS related performance issues and database will have all available resources on the server.

Question : Should we virtualize RR and IC?

Answer : Depending upon the use case , yes we should. One will get many advantages by virtualizing these components.

Question : Are there any additional design considerations which one need to take while designing BP setup?

Answer: The most important additional design considerations would be overall resources availability on the build and available OS.