Vcenter 4.1 Database on a virtual machine

[madhavip]

Hi,

we are planning to setup new VC 4.1 Infra and migrate all the ESX 3.5 hosts from old VC 2.5 to here and then upgrade to ESXi 4.1. For the new VC 4.1 server, we want to use Database on a Windows Virtual server (SQL server 2008) instead of a physical database server.

Inventory size is as following

70 ESX hosts

1500 VMs

Stats level 1

using NFS storage.

any one using virtual DB server for Vcenter and any challenges?

is it recommended to use virtual DB?

please suggest.

let me know if additional details needed.

Thanks,

Madhavi

[IamTHEvilONE]

It's really up to you if you want to use a VM to house the vCenter Database, or any database for that matter.  Most people would find it easier to manage, and allows for vMotion and all that good stuff (if you have the license for it).

There is also a lot of good reading material on virtual MS SQL, like:

http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/sql_server_virt_bp.pdf

* a little dated, but still gets the point across.

VMware vCenter 4.0 Database Performance for Microsoft SQL Server 2008

http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vsp_4_vcdb_sql2008.pdf

Best Regards,

Jon Hemming

[arturka]

Hi

Are you going to use Distibited Switches for ESXi networking configuration ?

Cheers
Artur

Please, don't forget the awarding points for "helpful" and/or "correct" answers.

[madhavip]

thanks for the reply. we are using standard virtual switch, not the distributed one.

[logiboy123]

I deal with environments your size all the time and I have not ever had a problem putting the VCDB on a VM. It can be a bit risky if your management network is using vDS but you said you are not so no big deal.

Is this VM going to be used exclusively for the vCenter database and dependant systems (Update Manager, View, SRM) or is it a shared database environment? If it is shared I would just confirm that it has the spare capacity to do the job and that it is sized correctly for your vCenter server.

Here is a nice walkthrough on the vCenter and database installation:

http://www.vmadmin.co.uk/vmware/36-virtualcenter/263-vcenterinstall41

Make sure the underlying OS for the database server is 64bit if you can.

Regards,

Paul

[madhavip]

Thanks Paul. Yes, this DB VM is exclusively for VCenter, no plans to share with other DB.

[arturka]

Hi

No problem at all if you wanna run vCenter DB on a VM. I've asked about VSS and vDS cause if you would use a vDS then all network (vDS) configuration is stored on vCenter DB and in that case you should create a afinity rule to keep vCenter VM and DB VM always at the same host.

Cheers
Artur

Please, don't forget the awarding points for "helpful" and/or "correct" answers.