Limitations of Web Based Access ????

[--Norton--]

Hi All

I was wondering if there are any limitations to the web based access.

I have a single VC Server running 32bit 2003 with 4GB Ram and we are looking at giving approx 50 people access to about 100 servers through the web based interface.

Is this going to be a problem??

Has anyone got any experience of using the web based access for large numbers??

If it is deemed to slow response then what sort of max connections can I manage with the client app for the same amount of users??

Thanks

[kjb007]

What exactly will the web access be used for? I would not recommend doing all of your day-to-day activities over web access. That's not really what it is intended for. You should use webaccess for managing the "hardware" aspect of the vm, meaning to change or add hardware, NIC connection, power on/off. Not for the console. For the console, I would use standard RDP/SSH access for Windows/Linux vm's and bypass webaccess all together. If used only for managing hardware, I don't see a problem with that number of users, but you should limit that type of access to people who need it, and give regular RDP/SSH access to those people who are using the VM and not administering it.

-KjB

[--Norton--]

Thanks for the reply.

You have said exactly as I have said to my collegues which is great.

However, Do you know of any white papers or links to official information on this as I do not.

Also when you say RDP do you mean striaght into the VM Client machine of to the VC Server to use the VC app ??

I think I know the answer but the more people who agree the better to be honest.

[azn2kew · Accepted solution]

Limitations to Web Access is that you can't manage or configured any ESX host related functions. It is best for help desks people logon and view status, reset/power on type of VM administration or minor changes to VMs themselves virtually anywhere with internet connected. You of course need to strip down permissions to only allow certain tasks to be perform.

RDP/SSH mentioned is that you have to enable it from Windows XP and Linux machines perspective. Right click on "My Computer"->Properties->Remote->Remote Desktop and enable from there. From Linux just enable SSH firewall or configure it in the systems. This way you have direct access to the machines themselve rather than through slow Web Access console and console again which is slow. You should consult VMware Web Access admin guide or more docs on www.vmware-land.com for details.

If you found this information useful, please consider awarding points for "Correct" or "Helpful". Thanks!!!

Regards,

Stefan Nguyen

iGeek Systems Inc.

VMware, Citrix, Microsoft Consultant

[weinstein5]

Yes that is exactly what is being refered to when he talked about RDP, use either a remote desktop client or SSH into LInux based vms - the problem comes about if you use web access to open a console to the vm will use resources from the services console of your esx host - the service console does many things and if it does not have enought resources available can affect performance of all vms on the esx host - that is why best practice is to use the VM Console, either throught web access or the vi client, only for management and not daily production use.

Also be aware if two people connect to the same VM through Web Access they will share the console -