VMware solutions can provide many benefits to MySQL administrators. VMware virtualization provides a layer of abstraction between the resources required by MySQL Server and the operating system and the underlying hardware providing those resources. Benefits of virtualizing MySQL include: Consolidation: Consolidate multiple physical servers onto one, with little to no impact on user response time and throughput. Ease of Provisioning: Encapsulate standard MySQL Server/OS configuration to an image that can then be cloned or moved across hardware resources, thereby reducing the cost of application provisioning and deployment. Manageability: Use VMware® VMotion to move virtual machines from server to server with no loss of user connectivity, data, or transactions, eliminating planned downtime for common operations such as hardware maintenance. Availability: Reduce unplanned downtime and maintain higher service levels. VMware HA ensures that in the case of an unplanned hardware failure, affected virtual machines are rapidly restarted on another host in a VMware cluster.