masdf123
asked on
Cloud Platform
Hi,
I was wondering if I have SAN storage. and few machines.
And want to run a small private cloud. Say few Win7 machines and few CentOS machines. With some sort of failover. So one machine fails it can failover to another machine using the same storage? Is this possible using current platforms?
Thanks
I was wondering if I have SAN storage. and few machines.
And want to run a small private cloud. Say few Win7 machines and few CentOS machines. With some sort of failover. So one machine fails it can failover to another machine using the same storage? Is this possible using current platforms?
Thanks
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bgoering
If you go with VMwares full "cloud" platform you would need a higher licensing level in addition to the cloud software add-ons. I think it only installs on Enterprise Plus.
ASKER
OK. Are there any open source solutions? Because vshere and vcenter can be expensive. And I think I need vcenter for sure to do HA?
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I think you can use Xen or KVM on linux platforms. There are fully opensource as well as open and supported editions of those. I am not certain about their support for high availability and failover though as I don't use them myself
ASKER
So what is difference between vsphere and vcenter?
And yes - you do need vCenter to do the HA, The Essentials plus edition is the minimum required to do HA - its retail cost is $3495, but if you shop around you can do a bit better than that
Here is the pricing link http://www.vmware.com/products/vsphere/pricing.html
ASKER
So if I have vcenter, I dont need vsphere right?
vSphere is the overall name of the platform, vCenter server is the managemt / monitoring piece, and ESX or ESXi are the servers that host the virtual machines.
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"So if I have vcenter, I dont need vsphere right?" They are pretty much the same thing.
ASKER
So when we say HA. We assume the storage VM's are using is redundant and HA then provides ESX server failover, is this correct?
ASKER
I think I confused it with the vshpere infrastructure client.
Correct, until vSphere 5!
ASKER
what does vSphere 5 bring?
then we get new super functionality of HA of the Storage Datastores as well!
ASKER
oh wow. So there is HA of the stores after a SAN storage as an example?
ASKER
Thats like Exchange DAG
When we say HA, it means if one host (ESX or ESXi) fails, the virtual machine will automatically be restarted on the other host. For a good HA solution there are a number of pieces one should consider besides just the storage. Of course the storage shoulc be configured with a fault tolerant raid solution, have multiple power supplies, etc. but also consider.
reduandancy in
networking
ups
servers
air conditioning
all of the things that go into making a continous operating datacenter
reduandancy in
networking
ups
servers
air conditioning
all of the things that go into making a continous operating datacenter
I was a bit underwhelmed with what I heard about vSphere 5 from the partners exchange. The biggies I guess are.
Storage will kind of autotune itself (Storage DRS)
Some replication capabilities for their DR solution that don't require hardware replication in the storage
Ability to throttle some network connectivity on a per vm basis
thats about it, what was missing for me was long distance vmotion - was hoping for that
Storage will kind of autotune itself (Storage DRS)
Some replication capabilities for their DR solution that don't require hardware replication in the storage
Ability to throttle some network connectivity on a per vm basis
thats about it, what was missing for me was long distance vmotion - was hoping for that
vSphere 5, which is due out this summer, will add Storage DRS, HA, host-based replication, vMotion over long distance and network I/O control at the virtual machine level.
At present we have VM - HA, DRS, vMotion moving VMs between ESX Hosts.
Storage DRS, HA will use Storage vMotion to perform automatic load balancing if a datastore becomes overloaded.
Storage DRS,HA users will be able to define groups of data stores, called “storage pods,” that will automatically load-balance based on capacity. Users can then provision virtual machines (VMs) to specific storage pods rather than to specific data stores.
At present we have VM - HA, DRS, vMotion moving VMs between ESX Hosts.
Storage DRS, HA will use Storage vMotion to perform automatic load balancing if a datastore becomes overloaded.
Storage DRS,HA users will be able to define groups of data stores, called “storage pods,” that will automatically load-balance based on capacity. Users can then provision virtual machines (VMs) to specific storage pods rather than to specific data stores.
@bgoering: vmotion over long distance is in, we've been testing for months....
@bgoering: however, what's not been defined as to what options will be in which license level! and there could be a Super Datacenter License! above Enterprise Plus, Enterprise Plus Plus
@hanccocka: not according to http://searchservervirtualization.techtarget.com/news/2240031960/VMware-previews-vSphere-5-at-Partner-Exchange
No mention of stoage HA (what would that be anyway?) just storage DRS and host based replication for the SRM product.
This article also states the long distance vmotion (along with SLAs) are slated for a 2012 release...
No mention of stoage HA (what would that be anyway?) just storage DRS and host based replication for the SRM product.
This article also states the long distance vmotion (along with SLAs) are slated for a 2012 release...
@hanccocka undoubtably on the licensing - I am still a bit perturbed that I have to go to a new higher licensing tier to get all the features when I was an Enterprise customer on 3.5
@bgoering: I'll have to speak to the Channel, in May 2010, they stated it would be in vSphere 5, because of the work with the Cisco alliance, and Cisco were very keen for the option. 2012....what version would that be, an update?
<rant>
Who knows - they have run the gamut 2.5 3.0 3.01 3.02 3.5 3.5 U1 (2,3,4,5) 4.0 4.0 U1 & 2, 4.1
I can't find any rhyme or reason to the number scheme - it all seems kind of arbitrary. I am gathering the change the first number when they want to introduce a new licensing level to get the useful features of the new release that SHOULD be entitled to anyway (IMNSHO) because of all the maintenance I pay
</rant>
Who knows - they have run the gamut 2.5 3.0 3.01 3.02 3.5 3.5 U1 (2,3,4,5) 4.0 4.0 U1 & 2, 4.1
I can't find any rhyme or reason to the number scheme - it all seems kind of arbitrary. I am gathering the change the first number when they want to introduce a new licensing level to get the useful features of the new release that SHOULD be entitled to anyway (IMNSHO) because of all the maintenance I pay
</rant>
ASKER
This post had good info. Thanks guys!
This question has been classified as abandoned and is being closed as part of the Cleanup Program. See my comment at the end of the question for more details.