ESX Host Requirements
1. At least two 150 MHz processors (Intel Xeon or later or AMD Opteron™ (32 bit mode)).
2.1GB RAM minimum.
3. One or more supported Ethernet controllers.
4. A SCSI adapter, Fibre Channel adapter, or internal RAID controller.
5. SCSI disk drives are supported for installing ESX Server.
6. A SCSI disk, Fibre Channel LUN, or RAID LUN with unpartitioned space.
7. For iSCSI, a disk attached to an iSCSI target and some disk drives.
8. Network Interface Card (NIC)
9. Storage of virtual machines is currently not supported on internal, local IDE/ATA drives or internal RAIDs. Virtual machines must be stored on VMFS (Virtual File System Management) partitions configured on a SCSI drive, a SCSI RAID, or SATA drives on a SAN.
This can be challenging if servers are Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) slot–on-strained. Every IT administrator also needs to mitigate reliability risks. On a server that is operating multiple applications on multiple virtual machines, a connection failure can be a costly business interruption that is time-consuming to fix. If redundant network connections are desired to enhance the reliability of servers hosting many applications, the issue intensifies—up to four ports could be required per server. In addition, IT administrators must be able to segment traffic to maintain a flexible and secure network. The flexibility to assign NICs to servers and virtual machines enables administrators to increase performance quickly during peak times. Server workloads are always growing in size as well, which means that enterprises need multiple network connections that provide the throughput to respond immediately to employee and customer requests for data. All of these requirements consume server ports. For that reason, Intel created the Intel PRO/1000 MT Dual Port and Quad Port Server Adapters, which are optimized for Intel Xeon processor–based servers. They provide the foundation for a flexible and reliable virtual infrastructure. Intel dual- and quad-port adapters conserve valuable PCI slots in servers while helping to eliminate network bottlenecks—especially in a connection-dense virtual machine environment. Migration to high-speed Gigabit Ethernet can also be achieved easily and cost-effectively using Intel multi-port NICs.
Dedicated ports for virtualization
Intel PRO/1000 MT Dual Port and Quad Port Server Adapters have two or four Gigabit Ethernet connections in a single PCI card, delivering increased port density for slot-constrained servers. A single, integrated, dual-port Gigabit Ethernet controller chip provides high performance and reliability along with low power consumption. For servers running VMware server virtualization software, ESX Server best practices strongly recommend extra ports to establish separate physical networks for application production traffic, for management and for VMotion virtual machine migration
Virtualization: Making the Connection
To improve return on investment (ROI) and reduce TCO, organizations need to make the most of what is already in place. Virtual IT infrastructure has become a powerful enabler for consolidating servers, for running applications in multiple operating-system environments, for simplifying administration and for lowering operating costs. VMware software on Intel Xeon processor–based servers provides a robust virtualization platform, and Intel NICs provide the connections to make the virtual IT infrastructure a reality. Together, VMware and Intel help IT managers reach their common goal: serving enterprise needs in the most efficient and responsive way possible.
See More
- Deployment of VMware along with Network Storage
- Virtualization Solution
- VMware Deployment Requirement
- Recommendations for VMware Deployment
