I. Selecting the Right Virtualization Product
When building a virtualized data center, choosing a stable and reliable virtualization platform is crucial. VMware vSphere stands out as the go-to choice for many enterprises due to its superior performance and stability. Although there are alternative solutions on the market, they may present issues under certain conditions, such as limited network connection speeds. In contrast, VMware ESXi offers advantages like a streamlined architecture that can run from a 1GB USB drive and the ability to operate for extended periods without requiring reboots.
II. Addressing SME Concerns about Virtualization
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) often worry about system security and whether the performance will suffice post-migration when considering virtualization. By employing virtualization technology, data is centrally stored in highly secure shared storage rather than scattered across local hard drives of individual physical servers. This not only enhances data security but also facilitates smoother failover processes. Moreover, the resource utilization in a virtualized system is optimized, and multiple VMs sharing one physical server typically do not significantly slow down application response times; instead, it can improve overall efficiency through optimized configurations.
III. Steps for Implementing Virtualization
During the deployment of virtualization, businesses generally start by migrating non-critical applications into the virtual environment for testing over a period to ensure no disruption to business operations. Applications unsuitable for virtualization, such as video-on-demand or core database services, remain running on physical servers.
IV. Leveraging Existing Equipment for Virtualization
Enterprises can evaluate their current servers, storage, and networking equipment to determine which can be used directly for virtualization and which need upgrades or replacement. For instance, servers acquired within the past couple of years can be enhanced with additional memory, NICs, and redundant power supplies to meet the standards required for virtualization hosts. Additionally, older servers with numerous local disks can be repurposed as storage servers, providing extra data storage capacity.
V. Planning Server Performance and Capacity
Before implementing virtualization, it’s essential to accurately estimate how many VMs a physical server can host and consider the allocation of resources such as CPU, memory, and disk space. Typically, the ratio between physical CPUs and virtual CPUs is set between 1:4 to 1:10, while at least 30% spare capacity should be reserved to handle peak loads. Memory is especially sensitive in a virtualized environment, so careful planning is necessary to avoid over-allocation leading to exhaustion of the physical host’s memory.
VI. Assessing Existing Server Capacities
For companies planning to migrate existing physical servers into a virtual environment, it’s important to meticulously document each server’s hardware specifications and actual usage patterns. This serves as a foundation for calculating the total virtualization resources needed. It helps decide if new servers are required and how best to utilize the existing hardware resources.
VII. Choosing Suitable Servers
When existing servers cannot meet the requirements, enterprises may choose to purchase new servers to complement them. When selecting, factors such as server type (2U vs 4U), number of CPU cores, memory size, number of NIC ports, and power supply configuration must be considered. Brands like Huawei, IBM, HP, or Dell offer suitable options depending on specific needs and technological preferences.
VIII. Selecting Appropriate Storage Solutions
It’s recommended to use dedicated storage devices instead of server local disks to better support advanced features like HA (High Availability), FT (Fault Tolerance), and vMotion. Designing a storage system requires thorough consideration of capacity, IOPS performance metrics, and interface bandwidth to efficiently handle high volumes of concurrent read/write operations without impacting performance.
IX. Optimizing Network Infrastructure
As virtualization deepens, the density of network interfaces on physical servers increases significantly, placing higher demands on edge or distribution switches. To ensure good network performance, it might be necessary to enhance the uplink capacity from edge switches to the core network and consider configuring high-performance switches with redundancy. Furthermore, virtualization introduces functionalities like live migration, adding complexity to network traffic management, which must be carefully considered during design.
In summary, enterprises can achieve cost savings and significantly increase the flexibility and reliability of their IT infrastructure by carefully planning and selecting VMware vSphere as their virtualization platform.