Virtualize 2 Servers? With VMWare? What Host OS?

[BackCat3]

Hi Guys,

I want to virtualize two Windows 2008 Servers, what should I use for the host OS? And would VMWareWorkstation be okay or should I use something different?

[Mcshammer_dj]

Server 2008 r2 at SP1 and then use Hyper-v

[salan]

I would say depends upon your hardware and what you want. Personally I would go esxi (free) and then the VM's. But nothing wrong with W2K8R2 and Hyper v except cost of licence. (not hyper v but w2k8r2)
Alan

[FN-GM]

I used to like Hyper-V but i am not a convert.

I would say get VMware ESXi. Its free and an excellent bit of kit. Dead easy to install.

[Mcshammer_dj]

should not be that expensive. For our schools Server 2008 r2 enterprise is only £151.42 and this allows you to install host and then up to 4 virtual servers.

[salan]

should not be that expensive. For our schools Server 2008 r2 enterprise is only £151.42 and this allows you to install host and then up to 4 virtual servers.

Agreed, but ESXi is free and can take far more VM's depending upon your hardware. Also it is 'upscaleable' (sp?).
Alan

[FN-GM]

Agreed, but ESXi is free and can take far more VM's depending upon your hardware. Also it is 'upscaleable' (sp?).
Alan

Another good point is you done need to pay for another AV licence, etc.

Also the Host os footprint is tiny compared to Windows

[jamesreedersmith]

Or try XEN - the freebie one Citrix Systems » Citrix XenServer: Efficient Server Virtualization Software

[plexer]

Or try the free version of 2008 R2 Hyper-V.

Ben

[gshaw]

VMWare of some sort and then you don't need to worry about Windows patches on your VM hosts

Microsoft have done well to get Hyper-V to where it is but until they lose the parent partition I still don't feel as comfortable with it as I do with a stripped down hypervisor... you'll find arguments for either camp so it's a case of trying both out and seeing which you prefer on a day-to-day level

Only thing with the free ESXi to watch out for is backup as I believe you can't use the APIs to back up VMs so will need to do it a different way. Microsoft's Hyper-V \ DPM combo is quite attractive from that point of view

Btw if using two hosts make sure you have enough spare capacity on each that one server could handle the full load should one go down, from my point of view if you need 2 servers to run your VMs you really need 3 hosts to give N+1 redundancy but does come down to £££ to some extent

[zag]

Hyper-v just got SP1 which gives it dynamic memory so you can run loads of virtual machines these days.

Its also incredibly easy to use.

[m25man]

We went totally Hyper-V across all sites never looked back.. SP1 has made it even better.

[glennda]

If you good with Linux look at KVM - works a treat and IMHO is quicker then ESXI (not used Hyper-V so cannot comment.)