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root_five
Contributor
Contributor

need hardware advice for esx

Hi,

We are data center environment and we want to start pilot test with esx. We plan to sell virtual servers to different customers. Each will run IIS and SQL. For the pilot implementation, we are thinking of 5, 10, 15 vm per host server. I want to go first without SAN. Can anybody advice what capicity of hardware should I buy? If somebody has their running live environment, can you please share what type of hardware are you using and how many vm server can I run on each host hardware. I am planning to use HP Proliant G5 series. Thanks in advance for your help.

Best regards,

Wilco

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8 Replies
demz
Expert
Expert

I'm a huge HP fan...

So I can only advise you to acquire some HP servers.

Just take care to have a maximum of NIC and HBA slots in order to have a good redundandcy.

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root_five
Contributor
Contributor

Hi,

If you don't mind, can you tell me how many vm can you run on HP DL 360 G5? Do I need to upgrade default raid to more powerful raid controller?

Thanks

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demz
Expert
Expert

You can run approx 4-8 VM per core (so 6 is a good number)

So depending of the model (number os sockets and cores) of your DL360G5 you will run around between 24 and 48 VMs (so consider 32 or less in order to face peak activity and evolutivity)

root_five
Contributor
Contributor

Thanks for your reply demz. 4-8 VM per core means, If I use quad core dual cpu, it can accormodate 32 windows 2003 vm concurrently?

I am planning to fill up with SAS drive and it has 6 slots. How should I estimate the memory requirement?

Thanks

Wilco

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bluepenguin
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Hi

I would not buy DL360 G5 servers, as these are not certified by VMware, at least not the latest model.

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jvenier
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

According to page 12-13 in the compatibility guide they are. What makes you say they aren't?

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azn2kew
Champion
Champion

As a consultant, you will face with different hardware vendors, but my years of work I've satisfied with Dell PE 2950 & PE 6950, HP DL380 G5 and IBM x3650 servers. For starter and low end business I would start using Dell PE 2950 series they tend to be very reliable and work good with ESX. I do not suggest putting more than 10 VMs per host you will see performance bottleneck. Also if you happened to use SAN, try to curve your LUN between 400-600GB in size. Its okay to host your VMs on local disk but for your customer you should think about iSCSI solution or NFS for them because it would be beneficial to HA-DRS-VMotion features within ESX Enterprise product. Hope you find what you need! If you need further consultation let us know anytime.

If

Regards,

Stefan Nguyen

"The Power of Knowledge"

If you found this information useful, please consider awarding points for "Correct" or "Helpful". Thanks!!! Regards, Stefan Nguyen VMware vExpert 2009 iGeek Systems Inc. VMware vExpert, VCP 3 & 4, VSP, VTSP, CCA, CCEA, CCNA, MCSA, EMCSE, EMCISA
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Patrick_Miller
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

I think by "latest model", he means with the Xeon 5400 series CPUs.

I'll 2nd stefan's recomendation of the DL380 G5's, they have been great boxes for us...but I disagree on the 10 VMs per host. It really depends on a number of factors.

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