Upgrade VC server or Better to use VC appliance.

[MrVmware9423]

Dear Team

We are planning to upgrade our vmware envrionrment from ESXi5.1 to 5.5 , for that first step will be VC, Instead of VC upgrade we are palnning to move with VC appliance , before that just want to confirm pross and cons and limitation so it will share these details with customer.

Need ur suggestion on the same what will be better do I upgrade my VC Server or start using VC Applliance which one will be the best.

regards

Mr VMware

[vThinkBeyondVM]

Here is nice blog post on Windows vCenter vs vCenter appliance: http://www.vmwarearena.com/2014/02/difference-between-vcenter-server.html

[MrVmware9423]

Thanks Vicky for prompt response....

Just want to confirm in vCSA SSO is not there ??? as i have refered the above link , I haven't found SSO component.

Also what if vCSA appliance fails then how we recover the data. also request u to let me know the retention period for (task/events/performance) in vCSA...

regards

Mr VMware

[vThinkBeyondVM]

Yes, we do have SSO in vCSA as well : Refer: How to deploy the same :http://vmwaremine.com/2014/06/18/deploy-vcenter-server-appliance-5-5/#sthash.kDOHA3VE.dpbs

Backup & restore vPostgres database (This is embedded database in 5.5) : VMware KB: Backing up and restoring the vCenter Server Appliance vPostgres database

Database retention policy for task/events is same as that of windows VC. ie. default is 180 days..You can cross check the same when you deploy the VCSA. (VI client::: administration>>vCenter server setting>>database retention policy) :::Refer:VMware vSphere 5.1

[a_p_]

Unless you have add-ons installed on the vCenter Server which require it to be a Windows Server, the only really missing part in the vCenter Server Appliance might be the Update Manager, which has to be installed on a separate Windows system in this case.

You can backup the vCenter Server Appliance using a VM based backup application, and/or backup the datasbase separately (see http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2034505). Anyway, if it's a simple installation (i.e. only for managing the ESXi hosts) reinstalling the vCSA - in case the original one cannot be recovered - shouldn't be a real issue, and usually doesn's cause downtime for the hosts/VMs.

André

[MrVmware9423]

Thanks Andre and Vicky,

I have below list of plugin in my current VC5.1 U1 . Just want to confirm will all these plugin will be supported in vCSA especially Cisco_Nexus / Cisco_NV Plugins....

regards

Mr VMware