Planing and installing vmware esx server
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Select the right hardware for virtualization
. most hardware selected for a tradition server is
oversized and much of the capacity goes
underutilized
 .keep in mind that the performance of the virtual
server host determins the performance of 
infrastucture
 . multi-core cpu are excellent for vmware
 . compare the option of fewer high performance
servers vs more lower perfoemance servers.
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in general
 . RAM - the more the better, 16GB+ on new
enterprise productin servers
 . CPU -multiple multi-core processors -4xquad-
core=16 cores
 .networking -1Gb ethernet
 . disk -consider SAN options - iSCSI and FC. at
minimum local SCSI disk or RAID disk array, on
the local disk array or the SAN, use RAID 1,5,or
10
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ESX sever Requirements
ESX server requires a computer with the following
specifications:
 . At least two processors of the following types:
    1500MHZ intel Xeon and later, or AMD opteron
(32-bit mode)
    1500MHZ intel Viiv or AMD A64x2 dual-core
processors
  . 1GB RAM minimum
  . one or more erthernet controllers- Broadcom
Netxtreme 570xGB ethernet or Intel pro/100
  . A SCSI adapter, Fiber channel adapter, or 
internal RAID controller
      Basic SCSI controllers are adaptec Ultra-160
and Ultra-320,LSI logic Fusion-MPT, and most
NCR/symbios SCSI controllers
     RAID and LSI megaRAID, and IBM (adaptec)
server RAID controllers.
     Fibre channel adapters supported are Emulex
and QLogic host bus adapters(HBAS)
   . A SCSI disk, Fibre cannel LUN, or RAID LUN
with unpartitioned space(ESX supports boot from
SCSI disk or SAN,SATA is not supported)
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Esx server installation recommendations:
  . 1GB for VMs(256MBx4) + 272MB for SC(server
console)  + overhead for each VM
  .dedicated 1GB ethernet adaptor for vms
  .dedicated disk for vms
  . set VMFS3 partitions to be 64k aligned to
improve performance (done with VI client)
  . Faster processors and more cache
  . match exact hard medels with ESX compatible
list
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VMware esx server hardware maximum
 . storage
    16 host bus adapters(HBAs) per esx
server,with 15 targets per HBA
    128 logical unit numbers(LUNs) per storage
array
    255 LUNs per esx server system
    32 paths to a LUN
    maximum LUN ID: 255
 Virtual machine File System( VMFS)
    128 VMFS volumes per esx server system
    maximum physical extents per VMFS volume
    VMFS-3 volumes: 32 physical extents
    VMFS-2 volumes: 32 physical extents(VMFS-2
volumes are read-only for esx server 3.0)
   2TB per physical extent
   Maximum size per VMFS volume
  VMFS-3 volumes:approximately 64TB, with a
maximum of 2TB per physical extent
  VMFS-2 volumes:approximately 64TB, with a
maximum of 2TB per physical extent(VMFS-2
volumes are read-only for esx server3.0)
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Importance of SAN storage
 . your virtual machines are stored on disk -of
some kind
 . those virtual disks could be on each server, a
NFS mount,iSCSI array, or Fibre channel(FC)
storage array( the performance improves in that
order)
 . without SAN disk storage( either iSCSI or FC),
many of the advanced capabilities of ESX server
&VI (virtual infrastrucutre) won't work
 . Thus, unless you just have 1 or 2 single ESX
servers and plan on using it only as a stand-along
server virtualization product, otherwise you should
begin planning for iSCSI or FC storage for your
VM servers.
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Lencensing options for esx server -host based vs
server based
 . the VI client is used to import the licenses
 . host-based -files stored on each host
 . server-based -stored on a central server
 To use VC and other advanced features you
must use server-based licensing
 with server licenses:
  . licenses are in a pool and can be shared
  . centralized license managment
  . 14 day grace period if license are unavailable,
even if servers reboot
   . you are required to install a windows license
server
vmware features are licensed in  both per-
processor and per-feature
   . per-processor : licenses and could be shared
when using server-based licensing. multi-core
systems count as a single processor
  . per-feature -two types, esx server & virtual
center. VC feature licenses are not only for the
server but also for functions that the server
performs like VMotion,VM HA, and VM DRS
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installation disk partitioning with VMware esx
 .required vmware esx disk partitions
    /boot -100MB -ext3
    swap -544MB
    /root -2560MB -ext3 - for the service sonsole
    vmcore -100MB -core dump
   VMFS -1GB+ -could be local, network, or SAN
  . optional
     /home
     /tmp
     /var/log
     VFAT -for raw disks
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 how to i nstall vmware esx server
  consider what servers will be virtualized and
what their requirements are
  plan your infrastructure design around the needs
of the servers that will be virtualized , both now
and in the future.
  consult the various hardware compatibiltiy
guide& obtain hardware
  obtain your media and license key
  install esx server
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