Hello, again! Hope everyone did well with their NCAA Tournament picks. Now that the hoopla of March Madness and the first quarter is behind us, it's time to get down to business and ensure a successful 2012. Last time, we looked at how virtualization can help address the challenges that small and medium-sized businesses are facing by delivering:
* Infrastructure consolidation and cost savings
* Application high-availability and business continuity
* Simplification of server resource and application management
* Security and centralized patch management
* A building block for leveraging cloud computing
Now, let's look at how easy it is to get started with virtualization in four easy steps.
Step 1. Check that your server hardware has the minimum requirements to support virtualization. Below is a list of the hardware requirements:
[http://blogs.vmware.com/.a/6a00d8341c328153ef016303f50c59970d-800wi]<http://blogs.vmware.com/.a/6a00d8341c328153ef016303f50c59970d-pi>
Server
* CPU
* Minimum: Single socket, dual core
* Ideal: Dual-socket, 4 or more cores per CPU
* Memory:
* Minimum: 2GB; Ideal: 8+GB
Network
* Minimum: one NIC, plus one for management interface
* Ideal: One for mgmt. interface plus multiple NICs for VMs
Storage
* Local Storage (SATA/SAS):
* Minimum: one 80GB drive
* Ideal: 2 mirrored drives (only for ESXi Installable)
plus 4 RAID5 drives for VMs
* ESXi 4.0 Installable may be installed on 1GB+ USB 2.0 flash storage
* Shared Storage
* Leverages local storage:
* VMware vSphere Storage Appliance (VSA)
* Leverages traditional shared storage:
* NFS, iSCSI, Fibre Channel: for VM storage
* ESXi Installable requires local disk or 1 GB+ USB 2.0 flash storage for the hypervisor
Step 2. Install vSphere hypervisor. There are three ways one can choose to install vSphere hypervisor.
vSphere Hypervisor Embedded
* Installed via SD flash or USB key internal to the server
* Distributed with a new server
* No Installation -- Just Turn It On!
vSphere Hypervisor Installable
* Load Installer via CD or ISO image
* Simple 2-step procedure:
1. Accept EULA
2. Select local drive for installation
VMware Go
* Cloud-based IT management solution
* Intuitive wizard for installation and setup of vSphere Hypervisor
Step 3. Setup and configure.
1. Power on server, which boots into hypervisor
2. Configure Admin Password
3. Modify network configuration (optional)
4. Connect via vSphere Client
* Point your browser to the configured IP Address
* Download & Install Windows-based vSphere Client
* Start vSphere Client and log into host
Step 4. Create virtual machines (VM). There are three ways VMs can be created.
[http://blogs.vmware.com/.a/6a00d8341c328153ef016764e96b2a970b-800wi]<http://blogs.vmware.com/.a/6a00d8341c328153ef016764e96b2a970b-pi>
P2V (Physical to Virtual)
* Use VMware Converter
* Transfer existing physical servers into virtual machines
* Import existing VMware and 3rd party virtual images
[http://blogs.vmware.com/.a/6a00d8341c328153ef016764e97eb0970b-800wi]<http://blogs.vmware.com/.a/6a00d8341c328153ef016764e97eb0970b-pi>
Create from Scratch
* Specify CPUs (1-32), Memory (1-256 GB), Disks, Network interfaces
* Load OS from ISO image (over 80 supported OSes)
[http://blogs.vmware.com/.a/6a00d8341c328153ef016764e97fdb970b-800wi]<http://blogs.vmware.com/.a/6a00d8341c328153ef016764e97fdb970b-pi>
Import Virtual Appliance
* Hundreds to choose from on the Virtual Appliance Marketplace
* Download directly via vSphere Client and deploy on host
That's it! You're now on your way to simplifying your IT. By virtualizing, you can now consolidate your servers and reduce costs, implement an effective business continuity and disaster recovery solution and deliver a desktop virtualization solution. We'll cover these solutions in more detail next time. In the meantime, check out these resources to help you get started with virtualization.
Resources:
Read how the Tampa Bay Rays, a Major League Baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida, virtualized 70% of their IT infrastructure, reduced overall costs and downtime and put a disaster recovery plan in place: http://bit.ly/I1dou8 <javascript:void(0);>
vSphere Eval Download Link: http://bit.ly/HI7OgY
vSphere Eval Guide: http://bit.ly/IfItcN
VMware Hardware Compatibility Guide: http://bit.ly/HwvFCe
vSphere Quick Start Classes: http://bit.ly/IfIygm
vSphere Product Documentation: http://bit.ly/HAl1Hh <javascript:void(0);>
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