High availability migration

Hello,

thanks for your comments!

The intent to start with VMWare server is because we have an existing production system that we want to virtualise the existing system as an in-house project using our existing infrastructure.  This work will probably be completed before our first customer sign-off, at which stage we will commit to building the production platform.

Thanks for the advice regarding SAN/NAS - is this something that we MUST have even with a single server solution if we want to upgrade to a high availability system?  And what happens when the NAS fails - is it better (or even possible) to use two identical servers with storage replicated in some manner?

Regards,  Mike.

Internal storage is not a recommend solution for HA between ESX servers.  A SAN/NAS is a MUST have to really perform HA.  WHen you talk about HA I think of having more than one system running in conjuction with another in the even that A fails, B can take over within minutes.

Do yo have server that will become the ESX host immediately?

I would also like to add that, when considering Networking, choose Gigabit Ethernet for effective performance.

What is the Server Model which would host the VMware Server 2.0 ?

Hi Guys,

thanks for the comments.  in response to those specific questions, and some additional comments:

1.  we do not have the production system host yet.  that is why we intend to use VMWare server to build the guest systems.
2.  the hardware platform for the VMWare Server development build guest/s is a DELL poweredge 6850.
3.  Yes, definately Gigabit network.  If there is mirroring between servers, we would use a dedicated interface to connect them together.
4.  note that I did not mean to suggest that we want HA 'up front' - the idea is "can we start with a single ESX host with multiple guests, and then UPGRADE to a high availability platform at a later stage - assuming that this CAN be done, then what should we be thinking about now to leave this opportunity open to us"

regards,  Mike.

Actually, foundations DOES give you HA. It also gives you upto 3 servers along with VCB. Every other module is an add-on the Virtual Center Founsations such as VMotion.

For starters, I would recomment you start with VMWare Workstation rather than server. Workstation gives you mothan one snapshot for troubleshooting, 30 days installation support by VMWare rather than comunity support. Also, if something really goes wrong, their techs are available 24/7 for live support.

Other things to consider when you move to ESX, plan for a SAN or NAS for your guest and other shared data storage.
Plan to have 3 servers, 2 as the hosts and the third becomes your Virtual Center and backup server. Although it can be fone to virtualize your Virtual Center server, I would not recommend it.

nappy_d, as per this page HA is unavailable in ESX Foundation Edition - http://www.vmware.com/products/vi/buy.html

I am talking about Virtual Center Foundations not ESX foundation. Total cost is/was $2500USD including 1yr gold support.

There's a great deal of good info here but raj27962: I don't agree with your comment about SAN's failing.
Well I guess if you buy cheap SAN's you get what you pay for hey!
Here's the point I think raj27962: was trying to make.
Your SAN is the centre of the universe for your ESX Servers. Don't go cheap with your SAN.
There's always plenty who are prepared to use OpenFiler or the like installed on an old server. Yep it's probably going to fail at some stage. If you bys a SAN from HP, EMC, NetApp ensureing it has redundancy from all facets you'll be fine.
Even the small EMC and Netapp filers have 2 SP's (or heads) redundant pathing etc.
When looking at your conectivity methods you really have Fiber (FC), NFS and iSCSI. ISCSI is generally considered the worst performer of the 3.
NFS is a good tradeoff for most small shops, most SAN's that support IP Storage will support both NFS and iSCSI. FC is a significant investment in switching etc.
Always dedicate 2 NIC ports on each host to your IP Storage network, 2 ports for the service console and 2 or more for your Guest sessions..
Anyway I guess we're getting a bit ahead of our selves here..
When it comes time to budget the new ESX farm it won't be cheap but it will save you $ in the long term and therefore if budgeted over a 3 year term will be cost positive over buying physical servers.  

Thanks for all comments - there is useful detail here for me, but a definitive answer to my question is not quite clear to me.

This is what I can extract from the comments - please correct me if I am mistaken:

1. can I easily copy VMs built on VS to other VMware platforms?
a. YES - but use ESXi instead of VS

2. what should I look out for when upgrading to a high availability system?
a. your concern is NOT VMware - worry about hardware instead (and take haraware comments on board)

If I have not misunderstood the details provided, then that is good enough for me to go ahead with this project with at least some confidence that I won't hit a brick wall down the track! ;-)

Cheers,  Mike.

I forgot the URLs for you to reference

VMWare Converter http://www.vmware.com/products/converter/features.html

HCL http://www.vmware.com/resources/guides.html