Help/Suggestions with setup

[allanligon]

Hi,

I'm new to the community and as well as with VMWare. I'm now supporting the VMWare ESX 4.1.0 in the company using Dell PowerEdge R710 with 8x2.4Ghz CPU, 24GB ram and 4TB HDD. The server runs the following VMs:

AD Server

Exchange 2003

BES (blackberry)

My boss needs me to re-evaluate the setup and wants to have a reliable redundancy so in case the server goes down, there will be a backup that will automatically take over.

Please help me with a reasonable solution on how to do this.

Thanks in advance.

[julienvarela]

Hi,

First, welcome in the community.

Second, you can implemant a Cluster with HA enable and a shared storage. If a host goes down, vm will restart on the available host.

So you need, a vCenter, 2 hosts, a shared storage (iSCSI, SAN, NFS, VSA). And HA functionality.

Regards,

Julien.

[allanligon]

Hi Julien,

Thank you for the reply and welcome. Will definitely look up your suggestion. What do you recommend for the shared storage and HA?

Also, will the VCenter installed in my current PowerEdge server or to the new PowerEdge server that I will use as the redundant? Please feel free to add anymore suggestions.

Allan

[julienvarela]

Allan,

For high availability on VMware you need minimum 2 hosts. So you will need to buy another Dell Poweredge R710.

Then you will have 2 possibilities but in all case upgrade your esxi to 5.x :

:2 hosts (R710) ,vCenter, VSA, VDP and HA.

     1 - Install a vCenter  VMware vCenter Server Virtualization & Server Management Software

     2 - Implement VSA (Vsphere Storage Appliance) if you cannot buy a Storage Area :vSphere Storage Appliance - Shared Storage for Everyone. Here, VSA will share your local Storage and create Replica of your local datastore. (So if you have 2 hosts with 4TB each) , you will have 2 TB available.

     3 - Implemement VDP (Vmware Data Protection) It is for backup your VMs.  vSphere Data Protection Advanced: Backup and Recovery for vSphere environments

     4 - Create a Cluster with HA (High avaibility) enable. if you lost a host, all your vm hosted on it , will be restart on the other. 

In this case you will not loose your local storage (4TB).

2 hosts (R710), vCenter, Storage AREA, VDP and HA.

     1 - Install a vCenter

     2 - Install a storage area, using iSCSI, FC or NFS

     3 - Implemement VDP (Vmware Data Protection) It is for backup your VMs.  vSphere Data Protection Advanced: Backup and Recovery for vSphere environments

     4 - Create a Cluster with HA (High avaibility) enable. if you lost a host, all your vm hosted on it , will be restart on the other. 

I hope this will help you.

Regards,

Julien

[allanligon]

Hi Julien,

Thanks a lot! Will the VCenter installed in my current PowerEdge server or to the new PowerEdge server that I will use as the redundant? or to both? What is your recommendation for the Storage area? Do you have any ball park costs for these setup you have mentioned? Thank you so much for your help.

Regards,

Allan

[julienvarela]

Allan,

No need to create a second vCenter, if you have already a vCenter you can use it. With HA in case of a host failure, the vCenter will be restarted on the other host.

For me , choice the first one . Because if you choice the second recommandation  you will loose the investissement of your local storage (4TB).

Then , please call VMware Sales, they will be better than me to discuss costs . I am just an engineer :smileysilly: Contact Sales

Regards,

Julien.

[allanligon]

Thank you Julien. Will contact Sales for the cost

BTW, on the new host that I will purchase, Do I need to install all the VMs (AD, Exchange, BES) again?

[julienvarela]

No you don't need to do that . I think you will need to take a course for understanding all VMware's functionalities.

Allan please click Vote As Helpful, and/or Mark As Answer if your issue is resolved.

Edit :  Some links for your understanding.

HA : http://www.vmware.com/products/datacenter-virtualization/vsphere/high-availability.html

DRS : VMware vSphere Distributed Resources Scheduler & Power Management

VSA : vSphere Storage Appliance - Shared Storage for Everyone

All features with vsphere : VMware vSphere: Enterprise Cloud Computing & Virtualization Features

Regards,

Julien.

[allanligon]

Yes I really need to take a course. thanks so much for all your help.

[julienvarela]

Sure, you're welcome Always a pleasure to help someone in vmware community .

I just edit my last post with some links for your understanding.

Regards,

Julien.

[allanligon]

hi julien, what is the best way to connect the 2 hosts for HA? any ideas? thanks in advance!

[julienvarela]

Hi,

I don't really understand your answer, can you explain more what exactly you want to know ?

Regards,

Julien.

[allanligon]

sorry for the confusion. i just want to know the best way to connect the 2 host for replication. i'm assuming that connecting them both on a gigabit switch is fine?

[julienvarela]

I think you are confusing HA and replication. HA will not apply a replication of your virtual machine. So if you need only HA, create a cluster and add your both ESXi then edit your cluster and enable HA fonctionnality.

So with HA vMotion and some VMs , a gigabit switch is enough.

Regards,

Julien.