Virtualization Frontier

The Right Storage for Virtualization

ToddMuirhead — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 21:22:00 GMT

So you want to know what the right storage solution is for your new VMware deployment you are planning. Or maybe you are ready to start deploying Microsoft Hyper-v and need to know which iSCSI array is right for you. Because there really isn't a single answer that is right for everybody, the answer is - It depends.

The question really should be how do I decide what is the right storage. What questions should I ask? and how do I find the answers? Or maybe more simply - What process should I follow to find the right answer? I think that the answer is basically to ask questions, learn about the options, and learn from others experiences. We did a similar focus topic on selecting a server for virtualization in the summer and now it is time to look at storage.

For the next three weeks on DellTechCenter we are going to focus on the question of what is the right storage for virtualization for a range of scenarios. There is a homepage for the topic and series of three web chats scheduled. So if you have a question about storage and virtualization get it answered here. We have lined up experts from the storage engineering teams to help out with the chats and assist in getting your questions answered.

Todd

Better Advice for Virtualization Solutions

ToddMuirhead — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 21:42:00 GMT

The super virtualization engineering team here at Dell recently upgraded the Dell Virtualization Advisor Tool. This free on-line tool prompts you to answer about 10 questions and then gives a detailed sizing of servers and storage. Additionally it will list the available services that might be useful when implementing the proposed solution. The part that I really like is it is easy to go back and change your answers to some of the questions to see how that affects the proposed solution. For example you can change your preferred storage from fibre channel to iSCSI.

In addition to support for VMware based solutions, it will now also provide Microsoft Hyper-V and Citrix XenServer based solutions as well. So for those that are interested in what is needed for a Hyper-V solution with high-availability and "quick-migration" the advisor can help. Additionally if you want to get the specifications for a Xen Server solution with live migration and backup and recovery capabilities - the advisor has a configuration recommendation.

The other new feature of the advisor tool is the ability to specify what workloads you will be running in the VMs which makes the sizing more accurate. You are able to specify the number of test and dev, file servers, web servers, domain controller, DNS servers, and other you will be running as VMs.

Take advantage of the free advice.

Todd

Support for Microsoft in VMware VMs

ToddMuirhead — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 20:58:00 GMT

A question that has come up many times over the last several years is that of support of Microsoft software when running in VMware VMs. This blog entry by Mark Bowler at Liquefying IT has some great stats that show a majority of people are running Microsoft in their VMs and that the support picture is fuzzy for some of them. If you have a Microsoft Premier Support agreement they will support you when running on VMware, but they do reserve the right to have you reproduce it on hardware. Mark then points out a new program from Microsoft to provide validation of virtualized environments which would then lead to the ability for customers to receive technical support.

The program is called the Windows Server Virtualization Validation Program (SVVP) and currently lists four other virtualizaiton vendors: Citrix, Novell, Sun, and Virtual Iron. Notably absent from the list is VMware.

Dell provides support for Microsoft operating systems running in VMware VMs which is detailed in this customer letter and on VMware's webpage on Support for Microsoft Software in VMware Virtual Machines:

"For customers who purchase OEM VMware products with Dell hardware and Dell Gold Enterprise Support or Dell ProSupport, the vendor provides end-to-end support-including the VMware software and certified Microsoft operating systems that are run within virtual machines."

Todd