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11 Replies Last post: Sep 26, 2008 8:53 AM by jean-marc.lagace
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Why Lab Manager if I have Virtual Center?

Oct 25, 2007 8:56 AM

Click to view johnswb's profile Hot Shot johnswb 219 posts since
Feb 14, 2006

Can some one give me a quick suggestion why I would want to use Lab Manager. What can I do with it that I can not do with VC?

Reply Re: Why Lab Manager if I have Virtual Center? Oct 25, 2007 9:38 AM
Click to view brsockel's profile Hot Shot brsockel 133 posts since
Oct 2, 2006

The Quick answer is Control. With Lab Manager you give them the ability to control there own workspaces, templates and libraries with out directly giving them access to the virtual Center Interface. The Lab Manager is a Self Service Application as will. Look at the full feature list http://www.vmware.com/products/labmanager/features.html.

The way that labmanager creates it's machines, uses the disk space more efficiently.

Reply Re: Why Lab Manager if I have Virtual Center? Oct 26, 2007 6:08 AM
Click to view Maduro's profile Enthusiast Maduro 32 posts since
Apr 28, 2007
Lab Manager's target audiences are software test environments (QA, Development, etc.) where provisioning, networking and storage would be an issue with physical servers. The biggest features are probably self-service and configuration (i.e. multi-server) environment management. Check:

http://www.vmware.com/products/labmanager/faqs.html

where it reads:

How is Lab Manager different from VMware Virtual Center?
VMware Lab Manager was purpose-built to meet the needs of application development and test teams including:
  • Self service - designed specifically to enable application development/test users, not IT, to self-provision and capture configurations on a shared pool of resources*
  • Multi-VM - "atomic unit" for a Lab Manager check out or capture operation is a complete, multi-machine application environment (not a single VM at a time)*
  • Easy to use - optimized for use by non IT professionals, hides things like "which physical host should I deploy this VM to?"*
  • IT policy and quota enforcement - users operate within the bounds set by IT including resource usage limits
Reply Re: Why Lab Manager if I have Virtual Center? Oct 26, 2007 6:30 AM
Click to view johnswb's profile Hot Shot johnswb 219 posts since
Feb 14, 2006

Thanks guys for the replies. I still say it is AWESOME that people such as yourself's will answer the smallest questions.

thx again

Reply Re: Why Lab Manager if I have Virtual Center? Oct 26, 2007 7:06 AM
in response to: johnswb
Click to view brsockel's profile Hot Shot brsockel 133 posts since
Oct 2, 2006
I have been working with Lab Manager for almost 8 Months now between eval and production implementation, and every day i figure out something new. A question that you say is a small question really isn't that small of a question when you sit down and try and figure out how to explain everything that Lab Manager can do along with what could be in store for future versions of Lab Manager.
Reply Re: Why Lab Manager if I have Virtual Center? Oct 26, 2007 7:44 AM
Click to view skishi's profile Master skishi 603 posts since
Oct 6, 2006 VMware
Lab Manager provides a virtual machine library that has several capabilities beyond what you can do with VC alone, which is then made accessible to end users who are not IT professionals. The points below admittedly come from VMware materials, but summarize some of the differences.

Shared virtual machine library

  • Stores "multi-machine" configurations in state as a unit
  • Creates copies of VMs using a fraction of the storage normally required
  • Runs identical copies simultaneously on the lab network
  • Leverages central pool of virtualization resources

Rapid provisioning engine and portal

  • Easy to use web based interface, even for a non-IT professional
  • Quotas and Leases to control usage of resources
  • Communicate copies of running machines with a URL (LiveLink)

Optimized for managing "transiently configured" IT infrastructure

Some use cases are below.

While many of the use cases below can also be accomplished with VC, the thing to keep in mind is that Lab Manager allows end users to accomplish these tasks themselves-- without taking the time of IT staff yet while still under IT control-- and in a way that leverages resources to the hilt both in packing more onto less hardware and allowing that hardware to be easily reused over time.

IT

  • Provisioning machines for users (dev/test, support, PM, etc.)
  • Storing all the reference desktop and server images
  • Compatibility and patch testing
  • Build and other servers
  • Storing copies of machines at given dates for SarbOx, HIPPA, etc.
  • Huge lab capacity expansion

Dev/Test

  • Gold masters
  • Checkpoints
  • Test cases
  • Saving and communicating bugs
  • Storing nightly builds
  • Different machines for different projects
  • Library of different platforms
  • Documentation
  • Localization
  • Storing various development desktops with different tools
  • Onboarding new employees
  • - Providing quick desktops/ dev environments
  • - Training on applications

Support/Services

  • Storing a library of different products/ versions
  • Storing a library of customer-configured/customized installations
  • Copying customer machines for custom work offsite

Sales

  • Demo machines
  • Storing customized demos
  • Giving prospects their own copies of software to try out

Training

  • Provisioning training labs

Software Product Management

  • Feature review and design
  • Partner product functionality testing
Reply Re: Why Lab Manager if I have Virtual Center? Sep 26, 2008 8:05 AM
in response to: skishi
Click to view jean-marc.lagace's profile Novice jean-marc.lagace 5 posts since
Sep 26, 2008

And does one need to have Virtual Center to make proper use of Lab Manager?

I'm trying to get a "self served" Virtual Lab for our QA department and the functionality of the Lab Manager seems to be more than enough for what we'd like to do.

    • Jean-Marc Lagacé
Senior Software Consultant
BancTec (Canada), Inc.
Reply Re: Why Lab Manager if I have Virtual Center? Sep 26, 2008 8:23 AM
in response to: jean-marc.lagace
Click to view VMweaver's profile Novice VMweaver 3 posts since
Jun 7, 2007
Lab Manager 3 requires VirtualCenter 2.5 Update 1or Update 2.
Reply Re: Why Lab Manager if I have Virtual Center? Sep 26, 2008 8:23 AM
in response to: jean-marc.lagace
Click to view Maduro's profile Enthusiast Maduro 32 posts since
Apr 28, 2007

Jean-Marc,

Lab Manager 2.5.x does not require Virtual Center. However, and quoting from the Lab Manager 3.0 Release Notes:

Lab Manager http://3.0 requires VMware Infrastructure 3 Standard or Enterprise (VMware ESX 3.5 Update 1 or Update 2 and VMware VirtualCenter 2.5 Update 1 or Update 2). Lab Manager does not work with VMware Infrastructure 3 Foundation or VMware ESXi 3.5. For details on all requirements and procedures to set up the product, see the Lab Manager Installation and Upgrade Guide.
http://www.vmware.com/support/labmanager30/doc/releasenotes_labmanager30.html

To clarify how they're related, check the Lab Manager's FAQ:

*How is VMware Lab Manager different from VMware VirtualCenter? Is Lab Manager integrated with VMware VirtualCenter?*<dd>VMware VirtualCenter is the main console for IT administrators responsible for managing VMware Infrastructure. VMware Lab Manager is a higher level automation solution for IT administrators who need to provide lab infrastructures to users more on an intermittent basis. VMware Lab Manager tightly integrates with VMware VirtualCenter to assign dedicated or shared resource pools to lab users, and to take advantage of the server consolidation, high availability and business continuity benefits of VMware Infrastructure. +Unlike previous versions, VMware Lab Manager 3.0 requires VMware VirtualCenter. (emphasis added)+</dd>

http://www.vmware.com/products/labmanager/faqs.html

Hope this helps.


Reply Re: Why Lab Manager if I have Virtual Center? Sep 26, 2008 8:46 AM
in response to: Maduro
Click to view jean-marc.lagace's profile Novice jean-marc.lagace 5 posts since
Sep 26, 2008
Thank you both... I'll go through all the documents once more ...

    • Jean-Marc Lagacé
Senior Software Consultant
BancTec (Canada), Inc.
Reply Re: Why Lab Manager if I have Virtual Center? Sep 26, 2008 8:48 AM
Click to view bbookman's profile Expert bbookman 570 posts since
Sep 29, 2006 VMware

The online demo is a very quick way to get a good idea of the benefits. It is here http://www.vmware.com/products/labmanager/ , under Next Steps > View the Online Demo.

:8}

Reply Re: Why Lab Manager if I have Virtual Center? Sep 26, 2008 8:53 AM
in response to: bbookman
Click to view jean-marc.lagace's profile Novice jean-marc.lagace 5 posts since
Sep 26, 2008
Well the demo for Lab Manager is the reason why I'm asking all of those questions. It shows the functionality and how easy it is to use... I now have to figure out how we can implement it.


Jean-Marc Lagacé
Senior Software Consultant
BancTec (Canada), Inc.

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