Question

When to Virtualize a server

Asked by: kevinecaldwell

I am a newbie regarding virtualizing a server.  I was asked by a company to give a quote for a new server that would replace the old. I was competing with IT companies.  The existing provider quoted a virtual server running SBS 2008.  They have 3 users.  No special databases or anything big.   I am a Dell partner and my team could not figure out why you would virtualize for 3 users and with just one OS.  They whole idea behind virtual is multiple servers running virtually under one box.     I didn't get the job.

I would like to know more on when do you virtualize.  What is the best scenario to virtualize?  Does it really help a company with 3 users to be virtual?  
Thanks

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Asked On
2009-06-11 at 13:26:03ID24484641
Tags

virtualization

,

server

Topics

SBS Small Business Server

,

Computer Servers

Participating Experts
3
Points
500
Comments
8

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Answers

 

by: simsjrgPosted on 2009-06-11 at 13:31:06ID: 24606554

Really depends... Personally I love to virtualize anything I possibly can that I know will function well. It's great because moving it from physical server to physical server is effortless and in general recovering from failure tends to be easier. I tend to stay away from virtualizing Exchange and SQL due to heavy IO though direct disk mapping or iSCSI storage helps overcome this.

I would suggest getting your hands on Hyper-V Server and VMware ESXi and taking them for a spin.


 

by: dmarinenkoPosted on 2009-06-11 at 13:31:39ID: 24606558

Well there are some nice things about virtualization.
Since a virtual machine is just a file, you can save the file and have a "backup"
You can run other things off of the server, or instance you could have virtual desktops to go along with your virtual server on one box.
I have a client who has a linux server and a couple of 2003 service all on 1 machine.  Of the 2003's one is a file server and one runs applications.

That being said normally you DON'T want to virtualize domain controllers, there can be some issues that arise from that and it's one more thing to break.  If you have 3DC's on 1 virtual you lose your hardware redundancy.

In there case I would guess they are using the 2003 primarily as a file server and want the option of adding another server or virtual desktops down the line, and the ease of having to just back up the machine file.

 

by: dmarinenkoPosted on 2009-06-11 at 13:36:06ID: 24606610

P.S. By "Backing up just the machine file" obviously you would have to back up other files (Such as storage for a file server).  But a machine file is better then a normal backup of the OS as all you have to do is put it back on and start it up, instead of a normal re-install of the os and then restoring of all the settings style.

 

by: kevinecaldwellPosted on 2009-06-11 at 13:36:13ID: 24606611

The existing old server is SBS 2003 that is maxed out with hard drive.  With that in mind, I believe they have the mind set that with a virtual server, you can never run out of space.    
SBS 2008 would be the domain controller.  So you think most people would steer away from putting Windows Server  as a domain or SBS as a domain?

 

by: simsjrgPosted on 2009-06-11 at 13:39:46ID: 24606638

>> The existing old server is SBS 2003 that is maxed out with hard drive.  With that in mind, I believe they have the mind set that with a virtual server, you can never run out of space.    

Well no... but you can move the VM to another physical server with more space and expand the virtual hard drive if needed.

>> SBS 2008 would be the domain controller.  So you think most people would steer away from putting Windows Server  as a domain or SBS as a domain?

Not quite following the logic... sorry...

 

by: kind4mePosted on 2009-06-11 at 13:40:06ID: 24606645

You can virtualize with 3 users if you
1) want to get a better use out of the server hardware and run multiable os's on the physical server.  
2) You plan on alot of growth and don't want to have to invest in additional hardware
3) High availability.  2 physical servers that are both running a virtual interface with a "heartbeat" of sorts going from one to the other.  If one of the servers goes down, the other will bring up a copy of the server.  
That works better if you have central storage like a third server / nas or SAN
4) Because virtualization is cool / because you can

 

by: dmarinenkoPosted on 2009-06-11 at 14:50:06ID: 24607236

The portability is a Nice feature.  4 years down the road they may decide, "Hey we neeed more power"
Copy the machine file on a disk and move it to another server.  

And to answer simsjrg; You can add more hardrives and expand the space, so in essence you could keep adding more hard drive room. And there are reasons not to virtualize DC's, such as another point of failure, performance reductions during heavy loads, and some people have had glitchy problems depending on what they are doing.
Here is a microsoft article on considerations of virtualizing DC's http://support.microsoft.com/kb/888794

That being said the guy probably got the sale, by showing the expandability and portability of using a vmware machine.  He might have even thrown in the "Green" factor if they want more servers.  I personally wouldn't have virtualized in there case.  If they were expecting serious growth they should have gotten server 2003 standard.

 

by: kevinecaldwellPosted on 2009-11-05 at 09:45:32ID: 31591512

Thanks for the help.

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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