Front End Servers

[doboszb]

We are considering a virtualization project and are looking to move to a SAN with 3 front end servers running the virtualization hypervisor. Is any specific vendor's server hardware better for this role than another in terms of throughput and performance?

[weinstein5]

I personally do not think of the major server manufacturers that once it is up and running will run ESX significantly better than the other - I think it will boil down to personal preference based on experience, cost and availability - this goes to the beauty of virtualization that as long as the physical cans upport the esx it does not mattter what manufacturer you go with -

[Ken_Cline]

The performance differences between the major hardware vendors is on the order of 10-15% - at most. Since the likelihood is that you will not be pushing these hosts anywhere near their maximum capabilities, that minor difference won't matter. The more important things are vendor relationship, inhouse management skills, availability and quality of support, etc.

Ken Cline

Technical Director, Virtualization

Wells Landers[/url]

VMware Communities User Moderator