vCenter Linked Mode

[virek]

Is it supported/technically possible to use a vCenter Standard in Linked Mode with a vCenter Foundation?

I'll explain the problem. I have a client that is made up of a group of 12 separate entities, each of which will have 3 ESX servers and vCenter Foundation (as they will not need any more than 3 ESX servers). I'd like to manage all the ESX servers from one console as each entity doesn't have the necessary resources to manage ESX individually, so can I take a vCenter Standard and use Linked Mode to manage the 12 vCenters?

Cheers.

[lamw]

Good question, I imagine it'll check to see if the vCenter you're trying to add is using Standard license or greater and if it doesn't have support for Linked Mode it'll deny you from adding.

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William Lam

VMware vExpert 2009

VMware ESX/ESXi scripts and resources at:

If you find this information useful, please award points for "correct" or "helpful".

[maishsk]

Can we get an official answer from VMware here please?

Maish

Systems Administrator & Virtualization Architect

[Troy_Clavell]

A Scalable and Extensible Management Platform

• Improved large-scale management is possible with vCenter Server since it is designed from the ground up to handle the largest IT environments. A single instance of vCenter Server 4.0 manages up to 300 hosts and 3000 virtual machines and with Linked Mode you can manage up to 1,000 hosts and 10,000 virtual machines across 10 vCenter Server instances. VMware HA and DRS clusters can support up to 32 hosts.

• Linked Mode provides a scalable architecture and visibility across multiple vCenter Server instances, with roles, permissions and licenses replicated across the infrastructure so you can simultaneously log in, view and search the inventories of all vCenter Servers.

I found this which may answer the question whether or not you can link foundation and standard together.

[lamw]

Troy,

I found that article earlier too, but it doesn't really state that you can't link between Foundation and Standard, it just states that Standard and greater will include Linked Mode and that Foundation does not include it, my guess is there will be a check, else you could get away with just purchasing one license and manage a slew of basic vCenter say for remote/branch offices.

Hopefully will get an answer, I'm curious to know and I've also posted in the BETA forum.

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William Lam

VMware vExpert 2009

VMware ESX/ESXi scripts and resources at:

If you find this information useful, please award points for "correct" or "helpful".

[maishsk]

Last time I looked at the documentation it was 200 hosts and 3000 VM's not 300 hosts - correct me if I am wrong?
Maish

Systems Administrator & Virtualization Architect

[lamw]

Yep, if you take a look at the config max doc it's 200 host(s) and 3,000 VM(s)

=========================================================================

William Lam

VMware vExpert 2009

VMware ESX/ESXi scripts and resources at:

If you find this information useful, please award points for "correct" or "helpful".

[lamw]

Here is the official word from a VMware engineer who provided an answer within the BETA forum and I've gotten permission to quote the answer regarding the license check for Linked Mode for vCenter 4.0

In order for a VC to be linked to a VC group, it has to have a license which includes Linked Mode feature. Currently only VC Standard edition license includes this feature. So each, every VC in the Linked Mode group must have Standard edition license.

So you can not link a vCenter instance with Foundation license to a group of vCenter instances with Linked Mode.

So you do need all vCenter's that are part of the Linked Mode to have at least Standard license+

=========================================================================

William Lam

VMware vExpert 2009

VMware ESX/ESXi scripts and resources at:

If you find this information useful, please award points for "correct" or "helpful".

[rafaelfonseca]

I just got off the phone with VMware in regards to Essentials licensing and the upgrade path to Standard, and I was told that it is possible to connect the hosts individually to one instance of vCenter Server Standard.

What won't be available are the features of vSphere Standard seeing as the hosts would still be running the Essentials license.

Upgrading vCenter Server Foundation to Standard costs US$3845 per instance, and that would allow for Linked Mode to work as well (provided you upgrade each instance).

[tfcatalanojr08]

So can you link a vc 2.5 server to a vcenter server without losing any of the historical data