racastillojr
asked on
VMware HA, DRS & FT
Hello Experts,
I am looking to set up an HA Cluster for the purpose of fault tolerance. My questions along with my current setup are below.
Current setup:
VMware ESX Server 3i, 3.5.0
2 Hosts (12 VMs | 6 on each Host | 6 Datastores)
If I create the cluster and move my hosts in the cluster, will there be downtime during the move? Is fault tolerance only available in the HA cluster or is it available in the DRS cluster too. My issue is I only have two hosts and I'm worried that the last host standing wont be able to handle HA if it ever has to be used. Also, I'm a little confused about the fault tolerance feature. If I enable fault tolerance for a specific VM, is the "Clone" VM created on the same host and data-store as the original or on a different host and different data-store. If its created in the same data-store, is the clone the same size of the original VM? I ask because of the storage restraints in my data-stores. Some of my data-stores don't have enough space to create another 700gb guest if it needed to. Any advice would help. Thanks in advance.
(I do plan on decommissioning a few VMs in the near, near future)
I am looking to set up an HA Cluster for the purpose of fault tolerance. My questions along with my current setup are below.
Current setup:
VMware ESX Server 3i, 3.5.0
2 Hosts (12 VMs | 6 on each Host | 6 Datastores)
If I create the cluster and move my hosts in the cluster, will there be downtime during the move? Is fault tolerance only available in the HA cluster or is it available in the DRS cluster too. My issue is I only have two hosts and I'm worried that the last host standing wont be able to handle HA if it ever has to be used. Also, I'm a little confused about the fault tolerance feature. If I enable fault tolerance for a specific VM, is the "Clone" VM created on the same host and data-store as the original or on a different host and different data-store. If its created in the same data-store, is the clone the same size of the original VM? I ask because of the storage restraints in my data-stores. Some of my data-stores don't have enough space to create another 700gb guest if it needed to. Any advice would help. Thanks in advance.
(I do plan on decommissioning a few VMs in the near, near future)
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
coolsport00
My guess is that the Cloned VM is on the same datastore as the primary as it takes on all the attributes as the orig/source VM. (the Guide doesn't state which DS the Cloned VM is on)...
Confirmed with some colleagues that it is on same DS. And that makes sense in a way because you don't get to decide anything during its creation..it's an automatic process. On the other hand, it doesn't make sense because it presents a SPOF. Along with some of the other caveats associated with FT req's (no SMP VMs, etc.), VMware has some tweaking to do with this technology.
~coolsport00
~coolsport00
SOLUTION
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
ASKER
We plan on upgrading to the lates version in the near, near future. Thank you for all your comments.