Can Virtual Center Run on SQL Server Express

[twahl]

Hi,  I currently have Virtual Center running on SQL Server 2005 Standard.  I would like to move databases to SQL Server Express.  Will Virtual Center run on SQL Server Express?  Are there any limitations that I may hit?  We are running ESX 4.X and an environment of some 50 VM's.

Thanks in advance for your help,

Terry

[Troy_Clavell · Accepted solution]

the limitation to Express is 5 Hosts and 50 VM's.  However the bigger concern may be the 4GB size restriction of your DB.  Can I ask why if you are already running on 2005 Standard would you go back to Express?

[twahl]

Virtual Center device is a physical server.  We have clustered our SQL Servers, one physical and one virtual.  Virtual Center database is running on this cluster.  The thought is we start having issues with sql servers we will lose Virtual Center functionalities (VMotion...).  We are now thinking that it might be better to have Virtual Center's database local on the Virtual Center physical server.  For licensing reasons we were considering SQL Server Express.

Thanks,

Terry

[Troy_Clavell]

if vCenter goes down, yes, you lose vMotion/DRS, but not HA.  You would have to manage the VM's using a standalone connection into your ESX(i) Hosts. Remember, there are restrictions for SQL Express, so you need to keep them in mind.

I can't tell you what to do, but If you already have SQL Server Standard running, I would just leave it as is.  You will find it scales better, it will be easier during upgrades and you have some redundancy built in when using the MSCS.

[twahl]

Hi Troy,

Silly follow-up question.  I am getting up to speed on VMware so I'm not exactly sure what HA is in the VMworld.  We have two ESX machines.  So in our case HA would mean that should one of the servers go down the VM's will be moved over to the other running ESX machine automatically?

Thanks,

Terry

[Troy_Clavell]

So in our case HA would mean that should one of the servers go down the  VM's will be moved over to the other running ESX machine automatically?

At a high level, yes.  See below for a more detailed look into HA

http://www.yellow-bricks.com/vmware-high-availability-deepdiv/