Provisioning Hard Drives for ESX Server 3.5

[brsolutions]

Hi,

I am new to VMWare, and I am about to start my first installation on a new IBM Series x3650 server I just purchased. I currently have 6 local hard drives installed on the server, each 500GB each. Is there any recommended way that I should configure them (RAID / sizing / etc) in order for ESX to run at peak performance while also providing some level of data protection? My initial thought was two RAID5 arrays (3 x 500gb drives each), and just break up my VMs across the two arrays. But I would like to hear what the community recommends.

Thanks!

Chris

[hutchingsp]

It may help to add roughly what size, number, and roles of virtual machines you're planning on adding. For example a database server has different requirements than, say, a file server if you're after the best possible performance.

I'll be watching this thread with interest as I'm in a similar situation myself.

[christianZ]

I guess you have sata disk there, therefore I would prefer R10 - you will have all spindles for your vms - that is crucial for random ios.

Just my 2 cents.

[brsolutions]

Here are some of the servers I will be running (note this is for an office of 10 individuals, so we won't be pounding them)... rough ideas on what I'm looking to allocate:

Domain Controller

(1) 30GB Drive

Web Server

(2) 30GB Drives

Database Server

(2) 30GB Drive

(1) 50GB Drive

Exchange Server

(1) 30GB Drive

(1) 50GB Drive

[Dave_Mishchenko]

I'd concur with the earlier post of using all the drives in a RAID 10. It'll give you a performance edge over RAID5 and with a single array you'll ensure that all the disks are equally contributing to I/O. With 2 arrays, you'd have to load balance your VMDK across the arrays and there's a chance you would end up with 3 drives doing significantly more work than the other 3. Downside is that you lose the ability to have data on one array and logs on another, but you can take care of that with more frequent backups to a network location.

[Rodos]

Chris, as others have suggest R10 is most likely best for what you have described.

The only thing you have not mentioned is your growth plans. You have plenty of space for R10 now. Look at how much available space you will have with the different configurations and see if they fit within you storage plans and budget. If you have a big project in 6 months which requires lots more disk space you will either want to have the space available or a plan for some extra storage.

Just a thought.

Rodos

[brsolutions]

Thanks for all of the helpful tips. I would like to maximize the amount of space I have - as I feel space is going to be more important than performance. Would you foresee any problem with one big RAID5 array, or would you go with two then - and break out data / logs for my VMs?

[Rodos]

Chris, you first post said "in order for ESX to run at peak performance", which is why people have leaned towards R10.

If you really want "space" with some data protection because "space is going to be more important than performance" then a R5 is probably best. With six disks one set will give you the most space and spindles.

Your next question will be about partitioning. That is do you create one large VMFS file system or more. For one its going to be about 2.5Tb so you are going to have to use a larger block size than default. For various reasons I would go with three partitions, two 1Tb ones to spread you VMs accross and the remaining space into one for templates and ISOs. (best practices for VMFS sizing is a whole can of worms)

[brsolutions]

Rodos - yep, initially I was looking for performance, but after consideration with some co-workers, the concensus was that space is going to be more important moving forward.

You're right about the partitioning question... exactly where I'm heading next (especially since I'm running the install in a few hours). What do you think about two R5 arrays (3 disks each) to provide me with about 990GB of space per array? My though it using one array for the operating system drives + templates + ISOs and then the other for my data drives. Or is just going with the 6 as you mentioned a better approach (more space, just lose the separation of drives, but gain the additional spindles to assist with some performance)?

Thanks for your insight. Seems like there are way too many options here!

[Rodos]

There are always too many options. It keeps consultants in a job. :smileygrin:

Personally I would go with all the disks in one raid set, you are throwing away a lot of space to split it into 2x3, thay are not small drives. Plus performance would be less.

[Dave_Mishchenko]

I would still stick with RAID 10 as that will give you 1.5 TB. If you go with a single RAID 5, you may end up with problems if you present a single array over 2 TB - http://communities.vmware.com/message/829753.

Given you specs for VMDK above, what do you plan do do with the rest? What do you have planned for backup? If you do go with 2 * RAID 5, I would place the databases for Exchange and SQL on different arrays.