VMware VmWare ESX Server 2.12 Deployment Quick reference guide

www.dell.com | support.dell.com

VMware®ESX Server™2.1.2 Software

for Dell™PowerEdge™Servers

Deployment Guide

X6320bk0.book Page 1 Friday, August 27, 2004 1:35 PM

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www.dell.com | support.dell.com

VMware®ESX Server™2.1.2 Software

for Dell™PowerEdge™Servers

Deployment Guide

X6320bk0.book Page 1 Friday, August 27, 2004 1:35 PM

Notes, Notices, and Cautions

NOTE: A NOTE indicates important information that helps you

make better use of your computer.

NOTICE: A NOTICE indicates either potential damage to

hardware or loss of data and tells you how to avoid the problem.

CAUTION: A CAUTION indicates a potential for property

damage, personal injury, or death.

____________________

Information in this document is subject to change without notice.

Reproduction in any manner whatsoever without the written permission of

Dell Inc. is strictly forbidden.

Trademarks used in this text: Dell, the DELL logo, and PowerEdge are

trademarks of Dell Inc.; VMware, VMotion, and ESX Server are trademarks of

VMware, Inc.; EMC is a registered trademark of EMC Corporation; Linux is a

registered trademark of Linus Torvalds; Netware is a registered trademark of

Novell Inc.; Intel, Xeon, and Pentium are registered trademarks of

Intel Corporation; Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks of

Microsoft Corporation.

Othertrademarksandtradenamesmaybeusedinthisdocumenttorefertoeither

the entities claiming the marks and names or their products. Dell Inc. disclaims

any proprietary interest in trademarks and trade names other than its own.

Portions of this document Copyrighted VMware, Inc. 2004.

August 2004 P/N X6320 Rev. A00

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Contents 3

Contents

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Understanding Dell Configurations . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Understanding ESX Server Components . . . . . . . . 11

Understanding VirtualCenter Components. . . . . . . 11

Current Hardware and Software

Qualification List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Installation of ESX Server 2.1.2 Software . . . . . . . 12

Before Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Recommended Local Disk Partitioning . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Service Console Configuration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

After Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

SAN Environment Setup with

ESX Server Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Setting Up Manual Load Balancing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Dell OpenManage in a

VMware ESX Server Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

OpenManage Software Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Using the Dell Remote Access Card III (DRAC III)

on PE 6650 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Installing OpenManage Server Administrator and

Remote Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

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4Contents

Guest Operating Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Guest OS Installation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Guest OS Performance Tuning Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Additional Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Product Documentation Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Technical Support Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Newsgroups. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Tables

Table 1-1. Base ESX Server System

Hardware Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-7

Table 1-2. Additional Supported Devices for a Stand-Alone

ESX Server System Configuration . . . . . . . . 1-8

Table 1-3. Additional Supported Devices for a SAN-attached

ESX Server System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-8

Table 1-4. Recommended VirtualCenter Server

Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-8

Table 1-5. Suggested Disk Partitioning within

VMware ESX Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-14

Table 1-6. Limiting Resources by Application Type . . . . 1-23

Figures

Figure 1-1. VMware ESX Server Architecture . . . . . . . 1-5

Figure 1-2. Non-VirtualCenter Configuration, One or More

PowerEdge Servers with Optional SAN . . . . 1-9

Figure 1-3. VirtualCenter Configuration with SAN for

VMotion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-10

Figure 1-4. VirtualCenter Configuration with SAN for

VMotion (with HBA Failover) . . . . . . . . . 1-10

Figure 1-5. Example of a Management Station and

Managed Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-19

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Deployment Guide 5

Introduction

VMware

ESX Server

™

software provides the rapid creation of multiple

virtual machines (VMs) on a single physical server. These VMs each run in a

resource-isolated, secure environment and include a Microsoft

Windows,

Linux™, or Novell

NetWare

operating system (OS) with their associated

applications. The ESX Server software has a virtualization layer that

allocates virtualized Dell resources to VMs and a Service Console – a

management interface for the VMware virtualization layer.

Figure 1-1

shows

the ESX Server architecture.

Figure 1-1. VMware ESX Server Architecture

VMware VirtualCenter is a management application that monitors and

manages virtual machines distributed across ESX Server installations, as well

as the ESX Server systems themselves. VirtualCenter can show global task

lists, each individual ESX Server, or each individual VM.

When VirtualCenter-managed ESX Server farms have a common

Storage Area Network (SAN), they can take advantage of VMotion™

technology. This technology allows for the “hot” migration of a running VM.

A live, state-full application, with its OS, can be moved from one

PowerEdge™ server running ESX Server to another. This migration is

transparent to the end users, who are not aware that it is taking place.

VMotion technology provides dynamic scaling, performance, and

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6Deployment Guide

zero-downtime maintenance. If a physical server needs servicing, it can be

vacated; that is, all running VMs are moved to other ESX Server systems

without affecting users. The vacant system can be shutdown, repaired, then

placed back into service at which time VMs can be migrated back to it – all

without impacting availability to end users.

Dell configurations of ESX Server software and VirtualCenter allow users to:

• Implement server consolidation

• Deliver high availability and guaranteed service levels

• Streamline testing and deployment

• Scale hardware and software infrastructure

• Upgrade to current and standard hardware, independently of

software upgrades

This document is a companion guide to the

VMware ESX Server 2.1

Installation Guide

and provides specific information as it relates to

Dell servers and Dell recommended configurations. For the latest version of

this document see

www.dell.com/vmware

under the

Resource

tab. For more

information about ESX Server software and VirtualCenter, consult the

following documents, which are distributed with the software and are

available on the VMware Web site at

www.vmware.com/support/esx21/

and

www.vmware.com/support/vc11/

• ESX Server 2.1 Installation Guide

• ESX Server 2.1 Administrator’s Guide

• Guest Operating System Installation Guide

• VMware Scripting API User’s Manual

• VMware VirtualCenter 1.1 User's Manual

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Deployment Guide 7

Understanding Dell Configurations

For this release, Dell has qualified a base server configuration for use with

ESX Server 2.1.2 software. A single server can be used in a "stand-alone"

mode, or one or more servers can be connected to a shared SAN through a

switch. VMotion technology is available when two or more servers share a

common SAN. VirtualCenter may be used to manage servers in any of these

configurations, and is required to initiate VMotion events.

NOTE: USB devices are not supported with ESX Server 2.1.2 software default

installation and configuration. Even if USB is enabled in the BIOS, the

ESX Server 2.1.2 software will disable it by default. If you need to use USB with

ESX Server 2.1.2, see the VMware knowledge base article 1326 - Using USB

When ESX Server Disables It.

The following tables list Dell's recommended configurations.

Tabl e 1- 1

shows the common baseline configuration. For standalone configurations,

add the contents of

Table 1 -2

to that of

Tabl e 1 -1

. For SAN-attached

configurations, add the contents of

Table 1-3

to that of

Table 1-1

Table 1-1. Base ESX Server System Hardware Configuration

Device

Class

Configuration Configuration Configuration

Server PowerEdge 6650 PowerEdge 2850 PowerEdge 1850

Processor Four Intel Xeon

Processors

Two Intel Xeon

Processors

Two Intel Xeon

Processors

RAM 16 GB

(recommended)

8 GB

(recommended)

8 GB

(recommended)

RAID

Controller

PowerEdge

Expandable Raid

Controller 4, dual

channel

(PERC4/DC)

PowerEdge

Expandable Raid

Controller 4e/Di

(Dual Channel

Integrated)

PowerEdge

Expandable Raid

Controller 4e/Si

(Single Channel

Integrated)

Networking Two Integrated

Network Ports

Add-On NIC

Two Integrated

Network Ports

Add-On NIC

Two Integrated

Network Ports

Add-On NIC

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8Deployment Guide

Table 1-2. Additional Supported Devices for a Stand-Alone

ESX Server System Configuration

Server PE 6650 PE 2850 PE 1850

Storage Five internal hard

disks (15K RPM

at RAID 5

recommended)

Six internal hard

disks (15K RPM

at RAID 5

recommended)

Two internal hard

disks (15K RPM

at RAID 1

recommended)

Table 1-3. Additional Supported Devices for a SAN-attached

ESX Server System

Device Class Configuration

Host Bus Adapter (HBA) One fiber channel host bus

adapter (HBA)

Two fiber channel host bus

adapters (HBAs) for HBA failover

configurations

For higher availability on the PE

1850, the Qlogic QLA 2342 (dual

port HBA card) is recommended.

Storage Two internal hard disks (15K RPM

at RAID 1 recommended)

Table 1-4. Recommended VirtualCenter Server Configuration

Resource Class Recommendation

Server PowerEdge 1850

Memory 2 GB RAM

RAID Controller Integrated RAID controller

enabled

Storage Two internal hard disks (largest

capacity available at RAID 5)

Network Two integrated network ports

Operating System Microsoft Windows Server 2003

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