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Cheap vSphere Lab

Cheap vSphere Lab. Simon Gallagher http://vinf.net Simon Seagrave http://www.techhead.co.uk. Agenda. Why would you want to do that? Best boxes for vSphere Where to get them Datacentre in a box (virtualized ESX) Muti -Node TARDIS cluster Demo Performance I/O Demo FT Demo

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Cheap vSphere Lab

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  1. Cheap vSphere Lab Simon Gallagher http://vinf.net Simon Seagrave http://www.techhead.co.uk

  2. Agenda • Why would you want to do that? • Best boxes for vSphere • Where to get them • Datacentre in a box (virtualized ESX) • Muti-Node TARDIS cluster Demo • Performance I/O Demo • FT Demo • Cheap/Free SAN Storage • Cheap/Free Networking • Software Licensing • Further Information...

  3. Why? • Because you can  • VCP study • Critical home infrastructure (wife & kids 2.0) • IT is a vocation, not an occupation • Production use cases • Automated install testing • Changes (ITIL) • VUM patch testing

  4. Best Boxes for vSphere • Need: • Cheap • Low-Power!!! • Quiet • Options • eBay an old Proliant • Buy something cheap but less “server” • Find someone else to pay for it (good luck)

  5. Best Budget Boxes for vSphere • New HP ML115 G5 / ML110 G5 • With 160Gb HDD, 8GB RAM, dual/quad core ~£330 • ML115 G5 is weapon of choice (AMD x64, FT) • Used HP D530 • 160Gb HDD, With 4Gb ~£90 • ESX 3.5 only (not x64) • Build your own (White-box) • Compatibility issues • http://virtualgeek.typepad.com/virtual_geek/2009/01/updated-homebrew-esx-hardware-list.html • Community supported H/W • http://www.vmware.com/resources/communitysupport/

  6. Where to get them • eBay for old kit • http://www.techhead.co.uk/hot-deals • That “spares” pile – but ask 1st!

  7. Trolley Attached Random Datacentreof Inexpensive Servers(T.A.R.D.I.S) • 2 x Physical HP ML115 G5 with 8Gb RAM vSphere 4 Servers • 1 x HP D530 OpenFiler (1TB iSCSI storage, 60Gb SSD) • Cheap VLAN’able GbE switch • 10 x virtual ESXi instances in a HA/DRS cluster • 4Gb RAM allocated to each instance (heavy overcommit!) • Software L3 router; Vyatta • Trolley & luggage straps (B&Q) • Approx cost to buy <£1,000 • Non-HA version ~£500 • Even cheaper if you can recycle the OpenFiler box & Storage

  8. TARDIS – Network Diagram VM Network for guest iSCSI VLAN Physical Host Network Config VM Network for guest vMotionVLAN 10.0.0.x Admin Network VMKernel Ports For physical hosts

  9. TARDIS – Network Diagram VMKernel Ports in ESXi Guest These are really vNICs Virtual ESXi Guest Network Note: no need to specify VLAN tag – it is done on host

  10. T.A.R.D.I.S Demo • It’s bigger on the inside than outside • vMotion between physical host & VM ESXi (Nested VM) • Host Profiles • VMware Update Manager • Nested Virtual Machines (configuration) • FT (FT’d vCenter & Vyatta installation)

  11. T.A.R.D.I.S Configuration Notes • Separate VLAN’s for storage, vMotion, FT • VM Template with multiple vNICs & mounted .ISO • Do not clone installed ESXi/Classic • Physical Host – set vSwitch to allow promiscuous mode otherwise it will not work • Pay attention to max number of ESX hosts to a single shared LUN (or it will stop working) • Nested VM with FT needs special VM configuration & doesn’t work brilliantly • Virtual ESX servers need monitor_control.restrict_backdoor TRUE setting to run nested VMs

  12. Storage • SATA, consumer grade SSD is cost-effective • Don’t expect amazing performance, but good-enough • Beware of iSCSI reservation conflicts • OpenFiler • Free, open-source, wide hardware support • Will also run as a VM (caution with HA testing) • Replication possible if you are a Linux wizz • HP Lefthand Virtual Storage Appliance • Not free • 30-day eval available • Fault-tolerance/replication & failover possible • EMC Celerra Virtual Machine • Resource hungry • Free • Fully featured • (..more coming from EMC soon; CLARiiON etc.) • NAS – Drobo/IX StorCentre

  13. Networking • There are no cheap L3 switches • Old L3 Cisco kit is <£100 but not Gigabit (eBay) • Solution • Cheap SoHo GbE switch that supports VLAN’ing • Linksys SLM series ~£80 for 8 GbE ports & VLAN support • Vyatta software appliance router (VM with multiple vNICs • Configure router VM with FT

  14. Software Licensing • VMware software is an expensive problem for the lab • 60-day evals out of the box (re-install) • ESXi – but no vMotion/etc. • NFR via employer • Re-using production keys; naughty • The Internet; naughty • No real product activation at present or viable solution to this problem from VMware – No more VMTN subscription! • Microsoft • Mainly for guest VMs or you could try out Hyper-V or Xen if you can’t get an eval license from VMware to use in your lab  • Downloadable evals • TechNet Direct – best approach to be legal, and reasonably priced with lots of copies ~£300 unless you go to TechEd then it’s free • Open-Source • Nothing to see here, move along – it’s free!

  15. Links... • Simon Gallagher • Blog http://vinf.net • Twitter @vinf_net • Simon Seagrave • Blog http://www.techhead.co.uk • Twitter @kiwi_si • Reference • http://www.techhead.co.uk/installing-vmware-esx-and-esxi-35-on-an-hp-proliant-ml115-g5-quad-corehttp://vinf.net/2009/05/21/cheap-vsphere-server/http://vinf.net/2009/06/07/vsphere-cannot-enable-ft-for-a-nested-vm/http://vinf.net/2008/05/18/running-esx-35-and-3i-under-vmware-workstation-65-beta-build-91182/http://www.techhead.co.uk/hot-dealshttp://www.serversplus.com/product.asp?s=SVHEW-VIRTBUN1http://vinf.net/2009/10/07/performance-update-on-cheap-vsphere-server/ • http://vinf.net/2009/11/19/comparing-the-io-performance-of-2-or-more-virtual-machines-ssd-sata-iometer/

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