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® ™
VMware ESX Server 2.1.2 Software
™ ™
for Dell PowerEdge Servers
Deployment Guide
www.dell.com | support.dell.com
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X6320bk0.book Page 1 Friday, August 27, 2004 1:35 PM ® ™ VMware ESX Server 2.1.2 Software ™ ™ for Dell PowerEdge Servers Deployment Guide www.dell.com | support.dell.com
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X6320bk0.book Page 2 Friday, August 27, 2004 1:35 PM Notes, Notices, and Cautions NOTE: A NOTE indicates important information that helps you make better use of your computer. NOTICE: A NOTICE indicates either potential damage to hardware or loss of data and tells you how to avoid the problem. CAUTION: A CAUTION indicates a potential for property damage, personal injury, or death. ____________________ Information in this document is subject to change without notice. © 2004 Dell Inc. All
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X6320bk0.book Page 3 Friday, August 27, 2004 1:35 PM Contents Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Understanding Dell Configurations . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Understanding ESX Server Components . . . . . . . . 11 Understanding VirtualCenter Components. . . . . . . 11 Current Hardware and Software Qualification List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Installation of ESX Server 2.1.2 Software . . . . . . . 12 Before Installation . . . . . . . . .
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X6320bk0.book Page 4 Friday, August 27, 2004 1:35 PM Guest Operating Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Guest OS Installation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Guest OS Performance Tuning Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Additional Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Product Documentation Resources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Technical Support Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Newsgroups. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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X6320bk0.book Page 5 Friday, August 27, 2004 1:35 PM Introduction ® ™ VMware ESX Server software provides the rapid creation of multiple virtual machines (VMs) on a single physical server. These VMs each run in a ® resource-isolated, secure environment and include a Microsoft Windows, ® ® Linux™, or Novell NetWare operating system (OS) with their associated applications. The ESX Server software has a virtualization layer that allocates virtualized Dell resources to VMs and a Service Cons
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X6320bk0.book Page 6 Friday, August 27, 2004 1:35 PM zero-downtime maintenance. If a physical server needs servicing, it can be vacated; that is, all running VMs are moved to other ESX Server systems without affecting users. The vacant system can be shutdown, repaired, then placed back into service at which time VMs can be migrated back to it – all without impacting availability to end users. Dell configurations of ESX Server software and VirtualCenter allow users to: Implement server
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X6320bk0.book Page 7 Friday, August 27, 2004 1:35 PM Understanding Dell Configurations For this release, Dell has qualified a base server configuration for use with ESX Server 2.1.2 software. A single server can be used in a "stand-alone" mode, or one or more servers can be connected to a shared SAN through a switch. VMotion technology is available when two or more servers share a common SAN. VirtualCenter may be used to manage servers in any of these configurations, and is required to i
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X6320bk0.book Page 8 Friday, August 27, 2004 1:35 PM Table 1-2. Additional Supported Devices for a Stand-Alone ESX Server System Configuration Server PE 6650 PE 2850 PE 1850 Storage Five internal hard Six internal hard Two internal hard disks (15K RPM disks (15K RPM disks (15K RPM at RAID 5 at RAID 5 at RAID 1 recommended) recommended) recommended) Table 1-3. Additional Supported Devices for a SAN-attached ESX Server System Device Class Configuration Host Bus Adapter (HBA) One fiber chan
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X6320bk0.book Page 9 Friday, August 27, 2004 1:35 PM Figure 1-2 shows the Dell qualified base server configuration when not using VirtualCenter. Figure 1-2. Non-VirtualCenter Configuration, One or More PowerEdge Servers with Optional SAN Dell's qualified configuration with VMware VirtualCenter is: VMware ESX Server 2.1.2 software on each PowerEdge server with a single VirtualCenter 1.1 Server on a PowerEdge 1850 managing all ESX Server installations in a farm. For additional performance
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X6320bk0.book Page 10 Friday, August 27, 2004 1:35 PM Figure 1-3. VirtualCenter Configuration with SAN for VMotion Figure 1-4. VirtualCenter Configuration with SAN for VMotion (with HBA Failover) 10 Deployment Guide www.dell.com | support.dell.com
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X6320bk0.book Page 11 Friday, August 27, 2004 1:35 PM Understanding ESX Server Components ESX Server – VMware virtualization software infrastructure installed on PowerEdge Servers for partitioning and consolidating systems, providing a platform for VMs. Service Console – a management interface for VMware virtualization layer, which enables management of the ESX Server software remotely from a web browser. Management User Interface (MUI) – Web based interface used to configure the E
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X6320bk0.book Page 12 Friday, August 27, 2004 1:35 PM Template Repository - is a persistent storage location that maintains VM templates. These are run-able images of OSs, optionally including applications. The images can be rapidly cloned for use by ESX Server systems. NOTE: Cloning is deployment of a new VM and not migration of an existing VM. VirtualCenter Agent - an agent that is installed on each Dell PowerEdge Server with ESX Server software that is part of a VirtualCenter fa
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X6320bk0.book Page 13 Friday, August 27, 2004 1:35 PM ESX Server 2.1 Installation Guide from VMware. This document comes with the installation CD and can also be found at: http://www.vmware.com/pdf/esx/esx21install.pdf. Before Installation Planning Planning is an important phase in the installation of the ESX Server software. A well planned installation will require fewer reconfigurations and less tuning in the future. Gather the following information prior to installation: Determine t
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X6320bk0.book Page 14 Friday, August 27, 2004 1:35 PM Utility Partition New Dell Servers ship with the Dell Utility Partition (UP) pre-installed. The UP is a bootable disk partition that contains Dell diagnostic utilities and other software useful in maintaining the hardware. It is accessed by pressing the key at system boot time. Dell recommends that you keep the UP on your ESX Server system. If the UP has been deleted, it can be restored using the Dell OpenManage Server Assistant
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X6320bk0.book Page 15 Friday, August 27, 2004 1:35 PM Table 1-5. Suggested Disk Partitioning within VMware ESX Server (continued) Mount Point Type Recommended Notes Size /vmimages ext3 10 GB+ Holds both ISO image files and Template Exported Virtual Disk images. /home ext3 2 GB Holds the individual Virtual Machine configuration files. (none) vmkcore 102 MB Holds the core dump file for the VMkernel. (none) vmfs2 Remaining Holds the disk files for the virtual machines. NOTE: The /vmimage
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X6320bk0.book Page 16 Friday, August 27, 2004 1:35 PM After Installation After the installation of the ESX Server software in graphics mode, execute the following steps to complete the installation. Create and activate a swap file for the VMkernel. The swap file helps in over-provisioning of the memory to the VMs and results in better resource management. Give a name to the local VMFS partition. This will improve usability and also preserve access to the local VM disk files, even if o
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X6320bk0.book Page 17 Friday, August 27, 2004 1:35 PM TM In order to create and use Storage Groups in Navisphere, the Access Logic option must be enabled. NOTE: Access Logic is a software component of Navisphere® which needs to be installed at the storage system. Zoning: Zoning controls access between fiber channel devices. Zoning at the switch would determine the group servers that can access a particular storage device. The typical steps involved in setting up a SAN are: 1 Install and
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X6320bk0.book Page 18 Friday, August 27, 2004 1:35 PM 3 Select the following options: Initiator Type: CLARiiON Open Failover Mode:1 Array CommPath: Enabled Unit Serial Number: Array 4 Enter the required Hostname and IP address for the server and select OK. Repeat the steps for all the WWNs connected to the storage device. 5 The host server must now be registered to the storage device. The host is then assigned to a Storage Group along with the LUNs that it will use to store VMFS
