License Server / Virtual Center Question

[GoBlue2002]

I would appreciate any feedback on why VMWare recommends that you run both Virtual Center and the License Server on the same physical server.

Can Virtual Center and the License server run on different physical servers?

Thanks.

[bister]

Yes they can although it is recommended to have them on a single server.

[thorsten_tritts]

Can Virtual Center and the License server run on

different physical servers?

Yes.

Think VMware recommends that because there is no single point of failure (network) between VC and a separated license server if both run on the same box. Makes sense in my eyes.

[ANSA]

To add to the other comments, it is a more cost effective solution

[esiebert7625]

It makes sense because you only need one server and because VC and the License server are closely tied together. If the License server was unavailable ESX hosts would still continue to function OK. You can run without a license server for up to 14 days without any impact, you just can't add or remove hosts.

From the install guide:

The server-based licensing mechanisms used by VMware software are designed to

prevent the license server from being a single point of failure. If your license server

stops being available, all VirtualCenter licensed features continue to operate

indefinitely, relying on a cached version of the license state. For ESX Server licensed

features, there is a 14 day grace period during which hosts continue operation, relying

on a cached version of the license state, even across reboots. After the grace period

expires, certain ESX Server operations, such as powering on virtual machines, become

unavailable.

[bister]

I think the idea of having them on separate servers is different: The VMware License Server is the same that's provided by Citrix (according to my Citrix colleagues). So people could try to use one license Server for VI3 and Citrix.

[GoBlue2002]

Thank you for the response. This is my first experience with VI3, Virtual Center, and the license server. I currently have 20 ESX 2.5 servers, host based licensing, and no virtual center. We purchased all the licenses for Virtual Center, VMOTION, etc. finally.

The reason for my original question was because I currently have a windows active/passive cluster running other vendors license servers and wanted to add the VMWare license server to this cluster and then build a physical server to exclusively run Virtual Center.

[esiebert7625]

That won't be a problem, it's OK to run it separate from VC. Also it really does not put any performance burden on the VC server when it is run conjunction with it.

[bister]

Right. It's just what you like to do. If you want to consolidate all your license servers then it makes sense to separate it from the VC server. But it also makes sense to keep it on the VC server. IMO it's just a matter of taste.