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s627y
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VM Ware 101 Stupid Question

Hi everyone. I had started a testing environment a while ago using the VM Ware Server and VM Ware Converter to test for disaster recovery. Then I put the project off due to other things. Now that the new ESXi is out, I am very confused as what I should use and how.

Can you please give me recommendation for what I should be using?

We have 4 production servers - web, application, SQL. Our main goal using VM Ware is for disaster recovery. So when a server dies, we can swap it out within 30 minutes. Also, when there is no server down issue, we would like to use the VM Ware Server as a test server.

How would ESXi work with my requirement? What is different from ESXi from the VM Ware Server and VM Ware Converter I used before? Thank you so much for your time!

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khughes
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Sounds like a lot of this is regarding disaster recovery and you just use converter every now and then to making backup images of your servers in case it dies so you can fire it up on VMware Server. The big differences between ESXi and VMware server is how it is in stalled and how it sits on the hardware. As you know VMware server gets installed like a normal program ontop of an OS, from there it is able to run and share resources. ESXi gets installed directly onto the server as the primary OS. It basically manages the hardware and is the buffer between the Virtual Machines and the hardware.

Like the last poster said, checking to see if the hardware you would use for ESXi is compatable is a very good idea. While many people get non-supported hardware to work, it is hit or miss. Also if you use ESXi as your solution you will need a dedicated box to run it on for your disaster recovery where as lets say your web goes down, you could install VMware server on a production server or other computer hardware and fire up the server on that box.

There are lots of ways you can go with this, reading the documentation is a good start, but knowing what you want to do down the road will lead you down different paths. If you're looking at possibly virtualizing your physical production servers down the road ESXi might be the way to go, but know that a lot of backup solutions aren't ready for ESXi yet. From what you've said, I would stick with VMware Server but definatly play with ESXi for future changes.

  • Kyle

-- Kyle "RParker wrote: I guess I was wrong, everything CAN be virtualized "

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jayolsen
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First thing you would want to see is if ESXi is supported on your hardware. That alone might be enough to answer your question. You can check in this document.

khughes
Virtuoso
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Sounds like a lot of this is regarding disaster recovery and you just use converter every now and then to making backup images of your servers in case it dies so you can fire it up on VMware Server. The big differences between ESXi and VMware server is how it is in stalled and how it sits on the hardware. As you know VMware server gets installed like a normal program ontop of an OS, from there it is able to run and share resources. ESXi gets installed directly onto the server as the primary OS. It basically manages the hardware and is the buffer between the Virtual Machines and the hardware.

Like the last poster said, checking to see if the hardware you would use for ESXi is compatable is a very good idea. While many people get non-supported hardware to work, it is hit or miss. Also if you use ESXi as your solution you will need a dedicated box to run it on for your disaster recovery where as lets say your web goes down, you could install VMware server on a production server or other computer hardware and fire up the server on that box.

There are lots of ways you can go with this, reading the documentation is a good start, but knowing what you want to do down the road will lead you down different paths. If you're looking at possibly virtualizing your physical production servers down the road ESXi might be the way to go, but know that a lot of backup solutions aren't ready for ESXi yet. From what you've said, I would stick with VMware Server but definatly play with ESXi for future changes.

  • Kyle

-- Kyle "RParker wrote: I guess I was wrong, everything CAN be virtualized "
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s627y
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Thank you so much for taking the time to explain this to me. I truly appreciate it.

I will go through the documentation for now, and then ask specific questions.

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