Dell ESX Server User Manual

VMware® ESX Server™ 2.1.2 Software

for Dell

Deployment Guide

™

PowerEdge™ Servers

www.dell.com | support.dell.com

VMware® ESX Server™ 2.1.2 Software

for Dell

Deployment Guide

™

PowerEdge™ Servers

www.dell.com | support.dell.com

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.

____________________

Reproduction in any manner whatsoever without the written permission of Dell Inc. is strictly forbidden.

Trademarks used in this text: Dell, the DELL logo, and PowerEdge are trademarks of Dell Inc.; VMware, VMotion, and ESX Server are trademarks of VMware, Inc.; EMC is a registered trademark of EMC Corporation; Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds; Netware is a registered trademark of Novell In c.; Intel, Xeon, and Pentium are registered trademarks of Intel Corporation; Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.

Other trademarks and trade names may be used in this document to refer to either the entities claiming the marks and names or their products. Dell Inc. disclaims any proprietary interest in trademarks and trade names other than its own.

Portions of this document Copyrighted VMware, Inc. 2004.

August 2004 P/N X6320 Rev. A00

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Understanding Dell Configurations

Understanding ESX Server Components

Understanding VirtualCenter Components

. . . . . . . . . . . . 7

. . . . . . . . 11

. . . . . . . 11

Current Hardware and Software

Qualification List

Installation of ESX Server 2.1.2 Software

Before Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Recommended Local Disk Partitioning Service Console Configuration After Installation

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

. . . . . . . 12

. . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

SAN Environment Setup with

ESX Server Software

Setting Up Manual Load Balancing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Dell OpenManage in a

VMware ESX Server Environment

. . . . . . . . . . . . 18

OpenManage Software Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Using the Dell Remote Access Card III (DRAC III) on PE 6650

Installing OpenManage Server Administrator and Remote Management

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Contents 3

Guest Operating Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Guest OS Installation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Guest OS Performance Tuning Tips

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Additional Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Product Documentation Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Technical Support Resources Newsgroups

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Tables

Table 1-1. Base ESX Server System

Hardware Configuration

Table 1-2. Additional Supported Devices for a Stand-Alone

ESX Server System Configuration

Table 1-3. Additional Supported Devices for a SAN-attached

ESX Server System

Table 1-4. Recommended VirtualCenter Server

Configuration

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-8

Table 1-5. Suggested Disk Partitioning within

VMware ESX Server

Table 1-6. Limiting Resources by Application Type

. . . . . . . . . . . . 1-7

. . . . . . . . 1-8

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-8

. . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-14

. . . . 1-23

Figures

Figure 1-1. VMware ESX Server Architecture . . . . . . . 1-5

Figure 1-2. Non-VirtualCenter Configuration, One or More

PowerEdge Servers with Optional SAN

Figure 1-3. VirtualCenter Configuration with SAN for

VMotion

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-10

Figure 1-4. VirtualCenter Configuration with SAN for

VMotion (with HBA Failover)

Figure 1-5. Example of a Management Station and

Managed Systems

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-19

4 Contents

. . . . . . . . . 1-10

. . . . 1-9

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 Linux™, or Novell applications. The ESX Server software has a virtualization layer that allocates virtualized Dell resources to VMs and a Service Console – a management interface for the VMware virtualization layer. the ESX Server architecture.

Figure 1-1. VMware ESX Server Architecture

NetWare® operating system (OS) with their associated

Windows,

Figure 1-1

shows

VMware VirtualCenter is a management application that monitors and manages virtual machines distributed across ESX Server installations, as well as the ESX Server systems themselves. VirtualCenter can show global task lists, each individual ESX Server, or each individual VM.

When VirtualCenter-managed ESX Server farms have a common Storage Area Network (SAN), they can take advantage of VMotion™ technology. This technology allows for the “hot” migration of a running VM. A live, state-full application, with its OS, can be moved from one PowerEdge™ server running ESX Server to another. This migration is transparent to the end users, who are not aware that it is taking place. VMotion technology provides dynamic scaling, performance, and

Deployment Guide 5

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 consolidation

• Deliver high availability and guaranteed service levels

• Streamline testing and deployment

• Scale hardware and software infrastructure

www.dell.com | support.dell.com

• Upgrade to current and standard hardware, independently of software upgrades

This document is a companion guide to the

Installation Guide

and provides specific information as it relates to

VMware ESX Server 2.1

Dell servers and Dell recommended configurations. For the latest version of this document see

www.dell.com/vmware

under the

Resource

tab. For more information about ESX Server software and VirtualCenter, consult the following documents, which are distributed with the software and are available on the VMware Web site at

www.vmware.com/support/vc11/

www.vmware.com/support/esx21/

• ESX Server 2.1 Installation Guide

• ESX Server 2.1 Administrator’s Guide

• Guest Operating System Installation Guide

• VMware Scripting API User’s Manual

• VMware VirtualCenter 1.1 User's Manual

and

6 Deployment Guide

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 initiate VMotion events.

NOTE: USB devices are not supported with ESX Server 2.1.2 software default

installation and configuration. Even if USB is enabled in the BIOS, the ESX Server 2.1.2 software will disable it by default. If you need to use USB with

ESX Server 2.1.2, see the VMware knowledge base article 1326 - Using USB When ESX Server Disables It.

The following tables list Dell's recommended configurations. shows the common baseline configuration. For standalone configurations, add the contents of

Ta b l e 1 - 2

configurations, add the contents of

Table 1-1. Base ESX Server System Hardware Configuration

to that of

Ta b l e 1 - 3

Ta b l e 1 - 1

to that of

. For SAN-attached

Ta b l e 1 - 1

Ta b le 1 - 1

Device Class

Server PowerEdge 6650 PowerEdge 2850 PowerEdge 1850

Processor Four Intel Xeon

RAM 16 GB

RAID Controller

Networking Two Integrated

Configuration Configuration Configuration

Processors

(recommended)

PowerEdge Expandable Raid Controller 4, dual channel (PERC4/DC)

Network Ports

Add-On NIC

Two Intel Xeon Processors

8 GB (recommended)

PowerEdge Expandable Raid Controller 4e/Di (Dual Channel Integrated)

Two Integrated Network Ports

Add-On NIC

Two Intel Xeon Processors

8 GB (recommended)

PowerEdge Expandable Raid Controller 4e/Si (Single Channel Integrated)

Two Integrated Network Ports

Add-On NIC

Deployment Guide 7

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

disks (15K RPM at RAID 5 recommended)

Six internal hard disks (15K RPM at RAID 5 recommended)

Two internal hard disks (15K RPM at RAID 1 recommended)

Table 1-3. Additional Supported Devices for a SAN-attached

ESX Server System

Device Class Configuration

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Host Bus Adapter (HBA) One fiber channel host bus

adapter (HBA)

Two fiber channel host bus adapters (HBAs) for HBA failover configurations

For higher availability on the PE 1850, the Qlogic QLA 2342 (dual port HBA card) is recommended.

Storage Two internal hard disks (15K RPM

at RAID 1 recommended)

Table 1-4. Recommended VirtualCenter Server Configuration

Resource Class Recommendation

Server PowerEdge 1850

Memory 2 GB RAM

RAID Controller Integrated RAID controller

enabled

Storage Two internal hard disks (largest

capacity available at RAID 5)

Network Two integrated network ports

Operating System Microsoft Windows Server 2003

8 Deployment Guide

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 or VMware VMotion features, Dell|EMC CX300, CX500, or CX700 storage is required.

Figure 1-3

shows the configuration when using VirtualCenter and

Figure 1-4

shows the configuration when implementing HBA failover.

Deployment Guide 9

+ 23 hidden pages