Dell VMware ESXi 4.x Deployment Guide

VMware ESXi 4 on

Dell PowerEdge Systems

Deployment Guide

Notes and Cautions

NOTE: A NOTE indicates important information that helps you make better use of

your computer.

CAUTION: A CAUTION indicates potential damage to hardware or loss of data if

instructions are not followed.

____________________

© 2009–2012 Dell Inc.

Trademarks used in this text: Dell™, the DELL logo, PowerEdge™, and PowerVault™ are trademarks
of Dell Inc. Intel
in the U.S. and other countries. AMD
of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Microsoft
registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Novell
and NetWare
Oracle
and vSphere™ are registered trademarks or trademarks of VMware, Inc. in the United States
or other countries.

®

and Xeon® are registered trademarks and Core™ is a trademark of Intel Corporation

®

are registered trademarks of Novell Inc. in the United States and other countries.

®

is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation and/or its affiliates. VMware®, VMotion™,

®

is a registered trademark and AMD Opteron™ is a trademark

®

, SQL Server®, and Windows® are either trademarks or

®

2012 - 06 Rev. A15

Contents

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

VMware License Offerings

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

vSphere 4 Architecture Overview . . . . . . . . . . 6

ESXi Architecture Overview

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

Supported Configurations

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Important Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Supported vSphere 4 Configuration Solutions

. . . . . 23

Configuring vSphere 4 Using
Dell Fibre
Channel SAN

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Configuring vSphere 4 Using
iSCSI SAN

ESXi and vCenter Deployment

Guidelines for Deploying ESXi

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

. . . . . . . . . . . 25

Best Practices Checklist for

Deployment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Booting ESXi

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Configuring the Password . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Configuring Lockdown Mode

. . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Configuring, Restarting, Testing,
or Disabling the Management

Network Services. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Additional Setup Steps

Deploying vCenter Server

Installing vSphere Client

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

. . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Image Recovery

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Contents 3

Creating the ESXi Recovery

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Media

Image Recovery for ESXi
Embedded Edition

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Configuration Backup and Restore Procedures

. . . . . 33

Backing Up the Configuration
of Your ESXi Host

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Restoring the Configuration

of Your ESXi Host . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Troubleshooting

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Related Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

4 Contents

Introduction

This document is a companion guide to the VMware ESXi 4 guides.

This document helps you to deploy ESXi 4 and provides specific information
on recommended configurations, best practices, and additional resources.

NOTE: For information on deploying ESX 4, see the

PowerEdge Systems Deployment Guide

at support.dell.com/manuals.

VMware ESX 4 on Dell

VMware License Offerings

Dell offers the following VMware editions:

• vSphere Essentials Plus

• vSphere Standard

• vSphere Enterprise

• vSphere Enterprise Plus

• vCenter Server

• vSphere Standard Acceleration Kit (8 sockets)

• vSphere Enterprise Acceleration Kit (6 sockets)

• vSphere Enterprise Plus Acceleration Kit (6 sockets)

NOTE: In addition to the above, Dell also offers ESXi Single Server edition.

For information on latest ESXi editions, see
vmware.com/products/vsphere/buy/editions_comparison.html.

NOTE: vSphere Essentials Plus is an all-inclusive package that includes licenses

for three physical systems, each system with up to two processors. It also includes
VMware vCenter Server to centrally manage the systems. vSphere Essentials Plus
edition is supported only on two-socket systems. The additional licenses must still
be deployed on approved systems for Dell support.

NOTE: vSphere Acceleration Kits are packages of vSphere licenses plus a vCenter

Server Standard license for initial deployments. All the licenses provided are on the
same VMware contract and Dell support contract. The additional licenses must be
deployed on approved systems for Dell support.

If you have ordered ESXi with your PowerEdge system, ESXi is pre-installed
and pre-activated with the Single Server edition license key. Ensure that you
note down the license key.

ESXi Deployment Guide 5

If you have ordered ESXi hypervisor-based vSphere

PowerEdge System as ESXi Host

vSphere Client/vSphere CLI

vCenter Server

Ethernet Fabric

vCenter Server Database

License
Server

Storage
Interconnect Fabric

Essentials Plus,

Standard,
Enterprise, or Enterprise Plus, replace the Single Server edition license key
with the purchased one.

vSphere 4 Architecture Overview

Figure 1. vSphere Components

vSphere infrastructure consists of the following components:

•

•

6 ESXi Deployment Guide

ESXi

— Allows multiple operating systems to run simultaneously on

a single system.

vCenter Server — Runs on Windows-based operating systems and

monitors and manages Virtual Machines (VMs) and copies of ESXi.
With vCenter Server, you can create, start, stop, and migrate VMs across
the entire physical data center. vCenter Server is optional and is required

for advanced management capabilities such as VMware VMotion,
Distributed Resource Scheduling (DRS), and High Availability (HA).
For more information, see "Deploying vCenter Server

•

vCenter Server Database

VMware infrastructure environment. It is recommended that you use a
production database such as Microsoft SQL Server or Oracle for the
vCenter Server database.

•

License Server

hosts. It is recommended that you install the license server on the vCenter
Server host. This can also reside on a separate host. The license server is
required when using a centralized licensing model, but is not required for
host-based licensing.

•

vSphere Client

to it or through the vCenter Server. Installs on a system running a supported
Windows operating system.

•

VM DataStore

storage can either be an internal storage local to the ESXi or an external
storage that can be shared by multiple ESXi systems. Advanced features
such as VMotion, HA, and DRS require that the disk and configuration
files are stored on external shared storage.

•

vSphere CLI

4 Service Console. vSphere CLI commands can be used in scripts that run
on ESX/ESXi 4 hosts. vSphere CLI commands are useful for an ESXi 4
host, because the ESXi 4 host does not include a service console.

— Required if vCenter Server manages ESX 3.0.x/ESXi 3.5

— Required to manage an ESXi host by directly connecting

— Stores VM configuration and virtual disk files. The VM

— Performs operations that are performed using ESX Server

— Stores all the configuration data about a

" on page 33

.

ESXi Architecture Overview

ESXi is a bare-metal enterprise class hypervisor, which is pre-installed on
PowerEdge systems. With the reduced footprint of the hypervisor, ESXi is
integrated on PowerEdge systems through embedded Secure Digital (SD).
Integrated virtualization by VMware offers:

•Ease of deployment

• Integrated hardware monitoring

• Enhanced security

• Reduced patch management

• Improved reliability

ESXi Deployment Guide 7

Figure 2. ESXi 4 Architecture

Supported Configurations

For complete information about all the supported Dell PowerEdge systems
with ESXi, see VMware ESX/ESXi 4.x on Dell PowerEdge Systems and Storage
Compatibility Matrix at support.dell.com/manuals.

NOTE: SAS/SATA drives mentioned under Table 1, Table 2, and Table 3 also include

SSDs.

8 ESXi Deployment Guide

Table 1 lists the currently shipping modular-based Dell PowerEdge systems
that support ESXi Embedded.

Table 1. Modular-Based PowerEdge Systems

PowerEdge M820 Configuration

Processors Intel Xeon E5-4600 product family

Minimum Memory 4 GB

Internal Storage Up to four 2.5 inch SAS/SATA disks

Internal Flash Memory Supported SD memory card

Internal Storage Adapter PowerEdge RAID Controller (PERC) H310, PERC

H710, and PERC H710P

External Disk Storage
Adapter

Fibre Channel HBA All supported HBAs

Networking BCM 57810S bNDC, Intel X520 bNDC, Qlogic

Remote Access Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller(iDRAC)7

PowerEdge M620 Configuration

Processors Intel Xeon E5-2600 product family

Minimum Memory 4 GB

Internal Storage Up to two 2.5 inch SAS/SATA disks

Internal Flash Memory Supported SD memory card

Internal Storage Adapter PERC H310, PERC H710, and PERC H710P

External Disk Storage
Adapter

Fibre Channel HBA All supported HBAs

Networking BCM 57810S bNDC, Intel X520 bNDC, Qlogic

Remote Access iDRAC7

Not applicable

QMD8262-k bNDC, and supported peripheral NICs

Not applicable

QMD8262-k bNDC, and supported peripheral NICs

ESXi Deployment Guide 9

Table 1. Modular-Based PowerEdge Systems

PowerEdge M520 Configuration

Processors Intel Xeon E5-2400 product family

Minimum Memory 4 GB

Internal Storage Up to two 2.5 inch SAS/SATA disks

Internal Flash Memory Supported SD memory card

Internal Storage Adapter PERC H310 Mini Blade, PERC H710 Mini Blade, and

PERC H710P Mini Blade

External Disk Storage
Adapter

Fibre Channel HBA All supported HBAs

Networking Four integrated network ports and all supported

Remote Access iDRAC7

PowerEdge M420 Configuration

Processors Intel Xeon E5-2400 product family

Minimum Memory 4 GB

Internal Storage Up to two 1.8 inch uSATA drive

Internal Storage Adapter PERC H310 adapter

External Disk Storage
Adapter

Fibre Channel HBA
(SAN connectivity)

Networking Two integrated network ports and all supported

Remote Access iDRAC7

Not applicable

peripheral NICs

Not applicable

All supported HBAs

peripheral NICs

(continued)

10 ESXi Deployment Guide

Table 1. Modular-Based PowerEdge Systems

PowerEdge M915 Configuration

Processors AMD Opteron 6100/6200 series

Minimum Memory 4 GB

Internal Storage Two 2.5 inch SAS/SATA disks

Internal Storage Adapter PERC H200 Modular and PERC H700 Modular

External Disk Storage
Adapter

Fibre Channel HBA
(SAN connectivity)

Networking Four 1 GbE or 10 GbE integrated network ports and all

Remote Access iDRAC6

PowerEdge M910 Configuration

Processors Intel Xeon 6500 series or Intel Xeon 7500 series or Intel Xeon

Minimum Memory 4 GB

Internal Storage Two 2.5 inch SAS/SATA disks

Internal Flash Memory Supported SD memory card

Internal Storage Adapter PERC H200 Modular and PERC H700 Modular

External Disk Storage
Adapter

Fibre Channel HBA
(SAN connectivity)

Networking Four integrated network ports and all supported

Remote Access iDRAC6

Not applicable

All supported HBAs

supported peripheral NICs

E7-2800/4800/8800 product family

Not applicable

All supported daughter cards

peripheral NICs

(continued)

ESXi Deployment Guide 11

Table 1. Modular-Based PowerEdge Systems

PowerEdge M710HD Configuration

Processors Intel Xeon 5500/5600 series

Minimum Memory 4 GB

Internal Storage Up to four 2.5 inch SAS/SATA disks

Internal Flash Memory Supported SD memory card

Internal Storage Adapter PERC H200 Embedded

External Disk Storage
Adapter

Fibre Channel HBA
(SAN connectivity)

Networking Four 1 GbE or two 10 GbE integrated network ports and

Remote Access iDRAC6

PowerEdge M710 Configuration

Processors Intel Xeon 5500/5600 series

Minimum Memory 4 GB

Internal Storage Up to four 2.5 inch SAS/SATA disks

Internal Flash Memory Supported SD memory card

Internal Storage Adapter SAS 6/iR Integrated, Cost-Effective RAID Controller

External Disk Storage
Adapter

Fibre Channel HBA
(SAN connectivity)

Networking Four integrated network ports and all supported NIC

Remote Access iDRAC6

Not applicable

All supported daughter cards

all supported peripheral NICs

(CERC) 6/i, PERC 6/i Integrated, PERC H200 Modular,
and PERC H700 Modular

Not applicable

All supported daughter cards

daughter cards

(continued)

12 ESXi Deployment Guide

Table 1. Modular-Based PowerEdge Systems

PowerEdge M610x Configuration

Processors Intel Xeon 5500/5600 series

Minimum Memory 4 GB

Internal Storage Two 2.5 inch SAS/SATA disks

Internal Flash Memory Supported SD memory card

Internal Storage Adapter PERC H200 Modular and PERC H700 Modular

External Disk Storage
Adapter

Fibre Channel HBA
(SAN connectivity)

Networking Four integrated network ports and all supported NIC

Remote Access iDRAC6

PowerEdge M610 Configuration

Processors Intel Xeon 5500/5600 series

Minimum Memory 4 GB

Internal Storage Two 2.5 inch SAS/SATA disks

Internal Flash Memory Supported SD memory card

Internal Storage Adapter SAS 6/iR Integrated, CERC 6/i, PERC 6/i Integrated,

External Disk Storage
Adapter

Fibre Channel HBA
(SAN connectivity)

Networking Two integrated network ports and all supported NIC

Remote Access iDRAC6

PERC H800

All supported daughter cards

daughter cards

PERC H200 Modular, and PERC H700 Modular

Not applicable

All supported daughter cards

daughter cards

(continued)

ESXi Deployment Guide 13

Table 2 lists the currently shipping rack-based Dell PowerEdge systems that
support ESXi Embedded.

Table 2. Rack-Based PowerEdge Systems

PowerEdge R820 Configuration

Processors Intel Xeon E5-4600 product family

Minimum Memory 4 GB

Internal Storage Up to sixteen 2.5 inch SAS/SATA disks

Internal Flash Memory Supported SD memory card

Internal Storage Adapter PERC H310, PERC H710, and PERC H710P

External Disk Storage
Adapter

Fibre Channel HBA All supported HBAs

Networking Broadcom 57800S QP rNDC, Broadcom 5720 QP rNDC,

Remote Access iDRAC7

PowerEdge R720 Configuration

Processors Intel Xeon E5-2600 product family

Minimum Memory 4 GB

Internal Storage Up to sixteen 2.5 inch or eight 3.5 inch SAS/SATA disks

Internal Flash Memory Supported SD memory card

Internal Storage Adapter PERC H310, PERC H710, and PERC H710P

External Disk Storage
Adapter

Fibre Channel HBA All supported HBAs

Networking Broadcom 57800S QP rNDC, Broadcom 5720 QP rNDC,

Remote Access iDRAC7

PERC H810, 6Gbps SAS HBA

Intel X540 QP rNDC, Intel i350 rNDC, and supported
peripheral NICs

PERC H810, 6Gbps SAS HBA

Intel X540 QP rNDC, Intel i350 rNDC, and supported
peripheral NICs

14 ESXi Deployment Guide