vCenter : server on Physical or virtual ?

[v-4-virtual]

Hello All

I was googling on having vCenter server on physical box or VM. But not satisfies with results wanted your opinion guys

Thanks

RHCE | Th!nk V!rtuaL!!!

[athlon_crazy]

I'll running it as a VM in order to provide high-availability when host failure.

[MauroBonder]

fully supported - http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=10087w...

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

[jasonvines]

There are times I really prefer to have vCenter as a physical box. For instance when I lost both power supplies in the SAN and the datastore vCenter was running on was not available. However most times with HA, and vMotion a virtual vCenter Server is a great thing.

[MauroBonder]

to

resolve this problem commented above, creates a rule to have vcenter is

always in the same box, and place your call as high priority in case of

failure of the box, it connects with the HA priority.

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

[jasonvines]

HA wouldn't have made a difference. Once the LUNs in that chassis dropped off the face of the earth and the datastores weren't available, there was no virtual machine to restart.

[MauroBonder]

Ok then I agree, unless it is on local disk, but i do not work with HA / DRS. There are pros and cons on how to use virtual center VM.

If you have a stable environment, I would put as virtual.

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

[jasonvines]

I setup a nightly scheduled task to clone the vCenter server to a separate host's local storage. So moral of the story if vCenter is virtual, make sure you have a backup or clone on separate storage that you can access in a pinch.

[RParker]

I setup a nightly scheduled task to clone the vCenter server to a separate host's local storage.

Not really necessary since

A) you should NOT be running a local database in the same server as vCenter anyway.

B) There is NO useful data on vCenter. EVERYTHING is the in the database, which should be a separate server.

[v-4-virtual]

Also , advantages and disadvantages of VC on VM and physical

RHCE | Th!nk V!rtuaL!!!

[piaroa]

Advantages of virtual:

- You can protect the vCenter VM with HA

- You can take snapshots before upgrading vCenter, patching the OS or doing anything that can potentially lead to disaster.

- You can backup the entire VM.

- You can move the VM to other hosts if you need to perform hardware maintenance.

- You better utilize your hardware

If this post has been helpful/solved your issue, please mark the thread and award points as you see fit. Thanks!

[RParker]

Also , advantages and disadvantages of VC on VM and physical

None really, at first physical made more sense (hardware failures, san access) but now you don't NEED to run vCenter on the SAME esx host as your cluster, it can be free standing...

Even if it is on a ESX cluster, you can simply login directly to the ESX host with the vCenter VM and manage it from there. The MOST important aspect is the database. Make it a very good server, if you lose that database and vCenter service isn't stopped first you could corrupt it.

But other than that physical vs VM for vCenter ZERO difference. No Advantages either way, its ALL preference.

[RParker]

You can take snapshots before upgrading vCenter, patching the OS or doing anything that can potentially lead to disaster

vCenter isn't a production App. If it doesn't work, reinstall it. It really is JUST that simple. I know, I have done it at least a dozen times (for various reasons).

It's not hard, it takes 10 minutes.

I can do a start to finish FRESH install of vCenter in under 15 minutes, so rebuild, recovery not necessary just reinstall.

[jasonvines]

I don't think having a separate database is a mandatory thing. In large environments sure, but in smaller environments it doesn't make as much sense. However that is a different discussion.

No matter where it resides, you still have to protect the database in some way or another and have a backup or copy handy in the event of a failure.

[piaroa]

If you keep your DB and vCenter in the same guest OS, it's best to keep reinstalls at a minimum as you'd loose all your statistics, events, etc (if that matters at all, as it does in my case).I don't think it's a 10 minute task to deploy a template, install SQL and restore DB, install vCenter, etc.

Also, why rebuild when you can prevent with a couple of clicks?

I think vCenter can be considered Production in some environments.

If this post has been helpful/solved your issue, please mark the thread and award points as you see fit. Thanks!