Virtualising Servers

[ArchersIT]

Hi there,

I have been reading the various posts on virtuatlising servers and am convinced we should be going down this route to replace our current old hardware, but would really like to be able to chat with some success stories over the phone.

Would some people be willing for me to contact them to have a chat through what they have done and the lessons that have been learnt? I am looking to go down the Raid Array rather than SAN and Hypervisor rather than VMware, but would like to talk to all flavours if possible.

If you are willing then it would be fantastic if you could PM me your contact details.

Many thanks

Jonathan

[localzuk]

Just FYI - a SAN is a RAID array (or multiple RAID arrays). Doing server virtualisation without a server independent storage device (ie. SAN), you are going to defeat one of the main points of it - being able to move vms from one machine to another without having to move files/mess around (ie. moving vms is only a couple of clicks and seconds work).

[nicholab]

Intel Modular server in 6U has a SAN 2TB and 6 server diskless blades design for Hyper-V. Or HP 3000C Blade centre.

[ArchersIT]

Just FYI - a SAN is a RAID array (or multiple RAID arrays). Doing server virtualisation without a server independent storage device (ie. SAN), you are going to defeat one of the main points of it - being able to move vms from one machine to another without having to move files/mess around (ie. moving vms is only a couple of clicks and seconds work).

Thanks for this - I have worked with SANs prior to working in schools so am aware of them and their setup. I meant a directly attached Raid Array.

The frustrating part of this whole process is trying to get real world examples of what works in schools. For example, some people will use multiple smaller blades servers while some people will go down the one big server route. Each may well have it's place and without understanding the setup and configuration of the school involved it is difficult to compare this to the setup and configuration here.

This is why I asked to be able to chat to people that have had successes/failures with this kind of technology. I have found that reading the threads most people recommend their own setup (fairly naturally!) but without explaining necessarily what one is doing and why.

For example, some people are creating lots and lots of virtual servers on their setup, but at the moment I dont feel the need to be doing this. Does this mean that their setup is optimised for a configuration I dont need, or does it mean that once you have a setup you start to think differently about your configuration. Personally I find these kind of questions easier to sort out in a phone call rather than in an open forum, but YMMV.

Cheers

Jonathan