Is there a need for a hot standby server?

[Priceless]

I need to find out the best practice suggestion on eliminating the hot standby server in a Data Centre. Therefore there will be just one DC server and a DRS server.

[a_p_]

Can you please clarify some things:

Which product are you talking about? I assume it's ESX/ESX(i) with vCenter Server!?

... eliminating the hot standby server in a Data Centre.

Which standby server. How does your current configuration look like?

Therefore there will be just one DC server and a DRS server.

DC? DataCenter, DomainContoller?

DRS server? In vCenter, DRS is a function, not a server.

André

[Priceless]

Sorry for the long wait? Yes it's ESX/ESX(i) with vCenter Server. At our Data Centre(DC), there will be two servers, one main server and a standby server. We also have an additional server at our Disater Recovery Site(DRS). I need to know whether Best Practice suggest would discourage the elimination of a standby server at our Data Centre

[a_p_]

Things are clearer now for me. However, some more questions.

- Do you use shared storage or local storage for the VMFS datastores?

- If shared storage, is it available at your DRS?

- What is your current backup strategy? Do you backup the VM's and restore them to the other servers? Or do you have a replication in place?

- How is your DRS connected to the DC? Is the bandwith sufficiant in case you need to run the VM's in the DRS.

- Are you tied to any SLA's? (Time limits to restart the VM's)

André

[Texiwill]

Hello,

Welcome to the forums.

With 2 servers at your DC, I tend to keep both those servers with load so that if one server fails the other takes over using VMware HA. This is all about Business Continuity however. What does your current Business Continuity plan state?

I have 20+ VMs spread over 2 hosts. Yes they could all fit on 1 host but I spread the load. The hotsite would is not used unless the mainsite is catastrophically down.

With VMware HA, VM boot times are around 3 minutes max. With a hotsite, you have other issues to worry about. They do not automatically boot as you need to 'maybe' fix up IPs, etc.

So yes I would use it and keep it.

Best regards,
Edward L. Haletky VMware Communities User Moderator, VMware vExpert 2009, 2010

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[jsnavely]

Best practice would be to run both servers, splitting the load between them.