Virtual vcenter ?

[MBordelon]

I had someone suggest putting the vcenter on a virtual server to manage the vm's on the same host that this virtual vcenter would be on. Is this supported configuration? Are there any advantages/disadvantages or other issues with this configuration?

[golddiggie]

vCenter as a VM is 100% supported. I'm using that exact configuration in my home lab, and have set up environments to do the same (typically 3-4 host servers being managed by the vCenter VM so far). I would use a SQL Server for the database that is not on the vCenter VM (in any configuration).

Advantages include being hardware independant, being able to allow it to shift between host servers as HA/load balancing needs and not having to worry about a physical server going down bringing down your ability to manage your VMware environment. There's also the added advantage of not needing to run the additional physical server (think power, cooling, support contracts, etc) and savings then associated with not running the pServer... If you have more than one host, then it makes even more sense to have the vCenter Server as a VM... Even when you have just one host it makes sense (less physical hardware using resources)...

VMware VCP4

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[Sreejesh_D]

"vCenter on VM" is a supported configuration. The following guide explains the pros nd cons of having vCenter on a VM.

http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi3_vc_in_vm.pdf

Note : the doc is for vc 2.x, but the content will give insight on vSphere 4 as well.

VCP3, VCP4, RHCE, EMCPA

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[jcwuerfl]

As other people mentioned it is supported. Lots of the same pro's/con's as the physical vs. virtual comparison. One thing to watch out for is making sure you can bring things up in an order where everything works. With DNS/DHCP before active Active Directory etc. Have vCenter run on 1 specific server typically the first host, so you know exactly where it is so you don't have to connect to 5-10 Hosts to find it if your running it from within the cluster. Or better run it from a second cluster or esxi server so its outside of the "management domain". As when there is issues with storage or networks with that cluster, its better for vCenter to be outside of that so it can still be running and manage what's going on.