Planning VMware vSphere Deployment
Saturday, 20 November 2010 22:18 | 
Written by Michael | 
Without the appropriate planning, vSphere implementation runs the risk of configuration problems, incompatibilities, and diminished financial impact. So keeping in mind on above issues good planning is most before you deploy vSphere in your organization.
You might have to start asking question to yourself before you do project plan on virtualizing your organization computer system. Question to ask yourself would be
- VMware ESX or VMware ESXi (also known as VMware vSphere Hypervisor), which am I going to use ?
- What types of servers will I use for the underlying physical hardware?
- How will the networking be configured?
- What kinds of storage will be used, and the way to connect that storage to the servers?
VMware ESX or ESXi
Below table will give you correct idea on what should you use as your hypervisor (ESX or ESXi)
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VMware ESX |
VMware ESXi (also known as VMware vSphere Hypervisor) |
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VMware ESX consists of two components that interact with each other to provide a dynamic and robust virtualization environment: the Service Console and the VMkernel. |
VMware ESXi Server has no service console but ESXi shares the same underlying VMkernel as VMware ESX and supports the same set of virtualization features. |
|
VMware ESX is robust with heavy installation. |
VMware ESXi Server is extremely thin ( fast installation + faster boot) only 32MB |
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VMware ESX Server can not be purchased as an embedded hypervisor on hardware. |
VMware ESXi Server can be purchased as an embedded hypervisor on hardware. |
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VMware ESX Server doesn't have a yellow firmware console. |
VMware ESXi Server has a yellow firmware console. |
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VMware ESX Server requires more patches and more rebooting. |
VMware ESXi Server requires fewer patches and less rebooting. |
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VMware ESX has a risk of security vulnerabilities due to built-in service console. |
VMware ESXi by omitting the service console eliminates the potential security vulnerabilities. |
VMware ESX incorporates a customized 64-bit management interface, known as the Service Console, which provides an interface for administrators to use to interact with the hypervisor. This built-in service console, based on Linux, provides a place for third-party applications or agents to execute and allows vSphere administrators to run command-line configuration tools and custom scripts.
VMware ESXi omits the Service Console. Instead, ESXi is a hypervisor-only deployment that requires just 32MB of space. By omitting the Service Console, ESXi also eliminates the potential security vulnerabilities that are contained within that customized Linux environment, as well as dramatically shrinks its footprint. This minimized footprint is what enables ESXi to be distributed in two different versions: ESXi Installable, which can be installed onto a server’s hard drives; and ESXi Embedded, which is intended to run from a Universal Serial Bus (USB)–based flash device. Aside from their intended deployment model, ESXi Installable and ESXi Embedded are the same; they share the same underlying architecture and code.
Types of servers for the underlying physical hardware
The next task is to find out hardware compatibility list for your chosen servers. For full list of HCL visit below VMware website
http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/search.php
How will the networking be configured
The next major decision that you need to make during the planning process is how your vSphere deployment will integrate with the existing network infrastructure. In part, this decision is driven by the choice of server hardware and the storage protocol. You need to find out in advance if you are going to use NIC's or fibre technology. If you are using NIC's, how many of them you need ?What kinds of storage will be used, and the way to connect that storage to the servers?
The next major decision you need to make during the planning process is about storage architecture.
vSphere supports a number of storage architectures out of the box and has implemented a modular, plug-in architecture that will make supporting future storage technologies easier. vSphere supports Fibre Channel–based storage, iSCSI-based storage, and storage accessed via Network File System (NFS). In addition, vSphere supports the use of multiple storage protocols within a single solution so that one portion of the vSphere implementation might run over Fibre Channel, while another portion runs over NFS.
How will the networking be configured
The next major decision that you need to make during the planning process is how your vSphere deployment will integrate with the existing network infrastructure. In part, this decision is driven by the choice of server hardware and the storage protocol. You need to find out in advance if you are going to use NIC's or fibre technology. If you are using NIC's, how many of them you need ?
- 12/01/2011 03:56 - Vsphere Client Installation
- 24/11/2010 23:37 - Deploying/Installing VMware ESX and ESXi
- 20/11/2010 22:03 - What's new in VMware Vsphere 4.1 ?
- 20/11/2010 21:52 - VMware Vsphere Products / Components
- 11/11/2010 05:53 - VMware Vsphere Versions and Specification
- 11/11/2010 02:00 - VMware Vsphere Introduction
- 07/11/2010 00:34 - VMware Terminology
- 05/11/2010 04:46 - VMware the Company
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