VMware Cloud Community
dennes
Enthusiast
Enthusiast
Jump to solution

SBS 2003 and VDI on Infrastructure Starter

Hi,

I'm new to VMWare in a business environment (only used it on home/test servers), so i hope somebody canb help me eith these questions:

Case:

I'm looking into building a colocated solution for our small (~ 5-10 users) shop. I want everything to be located in a remote datacenter and to cut down on cost, i want it all to run one one box (hp dl360 Quad Core)

I'm thinking of the following setup (using local storage), and i hope anybody can tell if i'm going down the right path here:

\* VMware Infrastructure Starter running the following guest VM's:

\- SBS 2003 Standard

\- 5-10 XP Pro VM's

The following questions spring to mind:

\- Is this a feasible solution, or am i totally off here

\- How much memory should i put into the server, eg. is 4GB enough?

\- Which would be the best XP license? Can i use OEM?

\- Is this a better solution than installing SBS on the server and then running VMWare server on SBS for the XP VM's? (so not using ESX, but regular VMWare)

Any help and tips will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Dennes

Reply
0 Kudos
1 Solution

Accepted Solutions
TomHowarth
Leadership
Leadership
Jump to solution

Case:

I'm looking into building a collocated solution for our small (~ 5-10 users) hop. I want everything to be located in a remote datacenter and to cut down on cost, i want it all to run one box (hp dl360 Quad Core)

Excellent Choice[/b]

I' m thinking of the following setup (using local storage), and i hope anybody can tell if i'm going down the right path here:

\* VMware Infrastructure Starter running the following guest VM's:

\- SBS 2003 Standard

\- 5-10 XP Pro VM's

The following questions spring to mind:

\- Is this a feasible solution, or am i totally off here

Completely Feasible, Your choice of server is more than adequate[/b]

\- How much memory should i put into the server, eg. is 4GB enough?

The DL360 takes upto 12 GB, I would go with 8Gb or Max it out. RAM is cheap on initial purchase.[/b]

- Which would be the best XP license? Can i use OEM?

Unless you have a select agreement you would have to use Retail licenses, it is unlawful to utilise OEM as they are tied to the Machine they were purchased with and die when the machine dies.[/b]

\- Is this a better solution than installing SBS on the server and then running VMware server on SBS for the XP VM's? (so not using ESX, but regular VMware)

Eminently so, you will get a much better return on resources.[/b]

Tom Howarth VCP / VCAP / vExpert
VMware Communities User Moderator
Blog: http://www.planetvm.net
Contributing author on VMware vSphere and Virtual Infrastructure Security: Securing ESX and the Virtual Environment
Contributing author on VCP VMware Certified Professional on VSphere 4 Study Guide: Exam VCP-410

View solution in original post

Reply
0 Kudos
11 Replies
crazex
Hot Shot
Hot Shot
Jump to solution

Hi,

I'm new to VMWare in a business environment (only

used it on home/test servers), so i hope somebody

canb help me eith these questions:

Case:

I'm looking into building a colocated solution for

our small (~ 5-10 users) shop. I want everything to

be located in a remote datacenter and to cut down on

cost, i want it all to run one one box (hp dl360 Quad

Core)

I'm thinking of the following setup (using local

storage), and i hope anybody can tell if i'm going

down the right path here:

  • VMware Infrastructure Starter running the following

guest VM's:

- SBS 2003 Standard

- 5-10 XP Pro VM's

This solution will definitely work. I assume this will not be heavily load VMs. The only real bottleneck you would have is the connection to your data center, but I am guessing the DC already has a good connection to the remote offices.

The following questions spring to mind:

- Is this a feasible solution, or am i totally off

here

- How much memory should i put into the server, eg.

is 4GB enough?

- Which would be the best XP license? Can i use OEM?

- Is this a better solution than installing SBS on

the server and then running VMWare server on SBS for

the XP VM's? (so not using ESX, but regular VMWare)

The memory is completely dependent upon your environment. For instance, in my environment, there is no way 4GB would be enough. I would say, you might as well put in 8GB of memory, that way you have room to expand later on. Since you want to run VDI, you definitely want ESX not VMware Server. As far as licensing that is something you will need to check on, as I believe you won't be able to use the OEM. Hope this info helps.

-Jon-

-Jon- VMware Certified Professional
TomHowarth
Leadership
Leadership
Jump to solution

Case:

I'm looking into building a collocated solution for our small (~ 5-10 users) hop. I want everything to be located in a remote datacenter and to cut down on cost, i want it all to run one box (hp dl360 Quad Core)

Excellent Choice[/b]

I' m thinking of the following setup (using local storage), and i hope anybody can tell if i'm going down the right path here:

\* VMware Infrastructure Starter running the following guest VM's:

\- SBS 2003 Standard

\- 5-10 XP Pro VM's

The following questions spring to mind:

\- Is this a feasible solution, or am i totally off here

Completely Feasible, Your choice of server is more than adequate[/b]

\- How much memory should i put into the server, eg. is 4GB enough?

The DL360 takes upto 12 GB, I would go with 8Gb or Max it out. RAM is cheap on initial purchase.[/b]

- Which would be the best XP license? Can i use OEM?

Unless you have a select agreement you would have to use Retail licenses, it is unlawful to utilise OEM as they are tied to the Machine they were purchased with and die when the machine dies.[/b]

\- Is this a better solution than installing SBS on the server and then running VMware server on SBS for the XP VM's? (so not using ESX, but regular VMware)

Eminently so, you will get a much better return on resources.[/b]

Tom Howarth VCP / VCAP / vExpert
VMware Communities User Moderator
Blog: http://www.planetvm.net
Contributing author on VMware vSphere and Virtual Infrastructure Security: Securing ESX and the Virtual Environment
Contributing author on VCP VMware Certified Professional on VSphere 4 Study Guide: Exam VCP-410
Reply
0 Kudos
dennes
Enthusiast
Enthusiast
Jump to solution

Thanks to both of you!

I'll go ahead and set this up in a test environment first and when everything runs as expected, i'll transfer the lot to the datacenter.

I just noticed i can buy VMWare Starter straight from HP (OEM-ish i guess). Does anybody know if this includes a support contract?

Thanks,

Dennes

Reply
0 Kudos
Dave_Mishchenko
Immortal
Immortal
Jump to solution

The support contract will likely be a different part number. See page 5 here for the basic priciing: http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi_pricing.pdf

As noted, more memory will help, but you should be aware that the starter edition is limited to 8 GB. Have you given any consideration to what you'll be doing for backup?

Reply
0 Kudos
dennes
Enthusiast
Enthusiast
Jump to solution

Thanks,

I just found out it has an HP support contract 24x5. Contact with VMWare seems to go through HP in this case.

For backup i'm considering Vizioncore esxRanger. Just sent out for some pricing info. I have to stay in the SMB budget, so i'll see what it'll cost me.

Another option would be using snapshot software on the guest os itself (StorageCraft), but i'll just have to see and test if that'll work. I already have the product so there's no extra hidden cost there.

The snapshots would preferably be sent to an usb hdd attached to the server and placed on a shelf in the DC rack.

Dennes

Reply
0 Kudos
petedr
Virtuoso
Virtuoso
Jump to solution

For backups take a look at esXpress, The free version gives you complete Full vmdk backups and the inexpensive LE version ( targeted for SMBs ) brings in Delta technology among other features. Licensing for LE is host based.

Backups run in the virtual space using VBAs ( Virtual Backup Appliances ).

www.thevirtualheadline.com www.liquidwarelabs.com
Reply
0 Kudos
TomHowarth
Leadership
Leadership
Jump to solution

As noted, more memory will help, but you should be

aware that the starter edition is limited to 8 GB.

Have you given any consideration to what you'll be

doing for backup?

Well pointed out Dave, I forgot about the 8Gb limitation in Starter!

Tom Howarth VCP / VCAP / vExpert
VMware Communities User Moderator
Blog: http://www.planetvm.net
Contributing author on VMware vSphere and Virtual Infrastructure Security: Securing ESX and the Virtual Environment
Contributing author on VCP VMware Certified Professional on VSphere 4 Study Guide: Exam VCP-410
Reply
0 Kudos
dennes
Enthusiast
Enthusiast
Jump to solution

OK,

The site for esXpress seems to be down, but the Google cache is still there.

Looks like that's just what i need.

The 8GB limit won't be a problem, i can address max. 4GB to SBS and the rest is available to the XP VM's. Should be more than enough.

Are there any gotcha's/catches on using local storage (RAID1 SAS disks).

Should i use different mirror sets for the os and the VM's?

And the final question that i've been reading different opinions about: Do i HAVE to use 2 physical processors with VMWare Starter, or is one Quad Core enough and/or workable.

Thank you guys for the patience and great tips!

Dennes

Reply
0 Kudos
Dave_Mishchenko
Immortal
Immortal
Jump to solution

Are you just using the 2 internal drives? If so, 15 K would be better. If you have more drives, then go with a RAID 5 array (or RAID 10 would be best if space isn't a concern).

Also consider the battery backed write cache option.

The minimum supported server is supposed to have 2 processors, but I think they're listed as 1500 MHz processors. So basically you'll be fine with 1 quad core.

Reply
0 Kudos
dennes
Enthusiast
Enthusiast
Jump to solution

For starters i'm going to have 2x73GB SAS for os (ok?) and 2x 146GB SAS for data. Should be enough at first. Can always expand with an MSA

Onboard controller is a P400, which has 512MB BBWC

Dennes

Reply
0 Kudos
TomHowarth
Leadership
Leadership
Jump to solution

Dennes

the new G5 DL360 can have upto 6 SAS drives, personally I would buy 2x73GB (RAID1) for OS, SWAP VMIMAGES etc, and then ramp the remaining 4 with 146 GB (RAID5) for VM's this will give you the maximum stroage. the new DL360 G% is an awesome beast.

Tom Howarth VCP / VCAP / vExpert
VMware Communities User Moderator
Blog: http://www.planetvm.net
Contributing author on VMware vSphere and Virtual Infrastructure Security: Securing ESX and the Virtual Environment
Contributing author on VCP VMware Certified Professional on VSphere 4 Study Guide: Exam VCP-410
Reply
0 Kudos