A basic virtualization solution will include the following components:
1. A VMware ESX Server installation.
This software operating system installs on a single physical server (or can create a cluster using several physical servers). VMware can then “host” multiple virtual servers—each with their own operating systems and applications—all running in parallel on the same server hardware. VMware also includes the necessary initiators and network clients to connect to network storage.
2. Gigabit Ethernet switches and cables.
These switches and cables connect the physical server acting as the VMware host to the Network Storage device hardware. VMware and a Network Storage device provide immediate benefits to your IT environment that spring from the virtualization of both processing power and storage resources.
3. Network Interface Card (NIC): Providing the Glue for VMware Virtual Machines
Often taken for granted in servers, the NIC capacity must be carefully maintained on servers hosting multiple virtual machines. Best practices for VMware ESX Server recommend a minimum of three network adapters:
* One for the virtual machine and its applications
* One for the VMware service console to handle system Administration
* One for VMotion to enable dynamic workload balancing
4. Easy and non-disruptive storage management.
Thin provisioning lets volumes grow on the fly as needed by a virtual machine. No longer are you limited to specific, inflexible server and application LUN allocations. All volumes on a Network Storage device benefit from Advanced Protection Architecture. Each virtual machine has a dedicated LUN and, on a Network Storage device, each LUN is on its own volume. LUNs can grow without any downtime, and new disk capacity can even be added to the system on the fly, so there is no disruption for users or applications when additional storage is required. Network Storage device’s FlexVol thin provisioning technology provides unmatched efficiencies in advanced storage virtualization for file volumes. Thin-provisioned storage has been provisioned just like traditional storage, but it is not consumed until data is written. Users can dramatically increase their storage utilization without sacrificing performance.
5. Painless backup and restore.
Now you need not depend on tapes and backup servers. The Network Storage device S500’s Snapshot technology enables reliable and instant backups and restores of virtual machine data. Choose from multiple points in time to backup or recover a file or folder for any virtual machine using the Network Storage device.
See More
- Deployment of VMware along with Network Storage
- Virtualization Solution
- VMware Deployment Requirement
- Recommendations for VMware Deployment
