Virtual Server Solution and OS

[Victor Mendonça]

I think a SAN would be out of question for this project. We are trying 
to get a simple solution that will keep costs down to avoid having to go 
trough IT's budget.

The virtual machines will be used for testing purpose only, so the data 
stored on them will not be crucial. Still, I'll be proposing the use of 
multiple sata disks with RAID 5 for a better speed and recovery if 
needed. And it seems that ESXi is the winner for me, but I still need to 
present all the pros and cons for the other solutions as well.

As always I appreciate all the replies and input from everyone here. It 
helped me have a better understanding to what our options are for this 
deployment.


*Victor Mendonça*
/http://wazem.org

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Andrew Mathenge wrote:
> VMware Server is really a desktop application to be used when a
> desktop user wants to run additional operating systems. It really
> shouldn't be considered as an alternative to running ESXi or even
> VMware Infrastructure.
>
> If you can't afford a SAN but a good server with RAID and built in
> redundancy, perhaps you can afford to put all those eggs in one
> basket.
>
> Andrew.
>
> On Mon, Jun 8, 2009 at 9:53 AM, <mcr at simtone.net> wrote:
>   
>> There are significant advantages of ESXi over VMWare-server when it
>> comes to disk I/O.  However, please realize that if you are putting
>> critical infrastructure into virtual machines that effectively you are
>> putting many eggs into fewer baskets.   You need to have spares.
>>
>> ESXi is okay to admin, but they (VMware) really wants you to purchase
>> Virtual Infrastructure, and wrap that up with a SAN of some kind.
>> You can't manage ESXi from a Linux desktop, btw.
>>
>> I thought that LeftHand Networks (now an HP company) would come through
>> with a virtual SAN, but by the time you put together their license
>> costs (just got a quote today), it is close to cheaper to buy a hardware
>> SAN.   Without the SAN, you can't recover from broken hardware.
>>
>> If you have no local Linux expertise then KVM is right out at this time.
>> (That could change soon)   XEN is something to think about --- and
>> CitrixXen may appeal to your management.
>>
>> --
>> Michael Richardson <mcr at simtone.net>
>> Director -- Consumer Desktop Development, Simtone Corporation, Ottawa, Canada
>> Personal: http://www.sandelman.ca/mcr/
>>
>> SIMtone Corporation fundamentally transforms computing into simple,
>> secure, and very low-cost network-provisioned services pervasively
>> accessible by everyone.  Learn more at www.simtone.net and www.SIMtoneVDU.com
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
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>> ubuntu-ca at lists.ubuntu.com
>> https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-ca
>>
>>     
>
>