So your interested in Virtualisation,
its a great thing to get your teeth into and it’s a technology that’s not going away. There are a couple of things you’ll want to know about;
Firstly are you already using virtualisation, if not then listen up, we really like Microsoft’s HyperV Server 2008 R2, which for schools is fantastic value. If you are already using Server 2008 R2, usually your already licensed to use HyperV, all you need is some hardware to do so. If your not using Server 2008 R2 not to worry as it’s not a requirement but you should look at updating your licensing, which is something else we can help you with.
Microsoft HyperV requires so specific server hardware to run, but it’s nothing unusual and most servers within 2 years are supported, so if you already have a server that you can use then you may only need some upgrades. Speaking of upgrades RAM is critical when it comes to Virtualisation as are CPU cores, we typically supply HP Servers with 32GB of RAM and 2x Intel Xeon Quad Core CPUs with a minimum clock speed of 2.4GHz, a spec like this will allow you to run 6 or 7 Virtual Machines quite comfortably. There are some other prerequisites aside from CPU and RAM, and that is network connections usually you’ll want to add an additional Dual or Quad Port network card depending on the server you buy, on average you’ll want 6 network connection; and storage, you’ll either want local storage in the form of internal SAS drive, or a form of external storage usually in the form of iSCSI storage, which we’ll get into in a minute as it’s tied into whether or not your just testing the waters, or your setting of full steam ahead to Cluster-town…
If you want to expand your virtualisation to a Cluster,
Then the first thing you’ll need is a form of shared storage, which is usually referred to as a SAN or Storage Area Network, the idea of a SAN is to centralise your storage to that it can be seen by multiple servers at the same time. In previous years, many people where put off by SANs due to their high price, and inflexibility with storage and connections.
Principles of clustering
Well now thats all changed, as a NetGear Platinum Partner, we would like to introduce you to the NetGear ReadyNAS series of NAS/iSCSI SAN devices, these device are capable of running both as an iSCSI SAN to host your virtual machines, whilst also running as a traditional NAS box if you need a file server. They use enterprise class SATA drives, that come with a 5 year warranty as standard, in a RAID 6 configuration which allows for 2 disk failures, as well as support for dynamic volume expansion allowing you to start small and grow when your ready. The ReadyNAS 3200 and 4200 ranges are one of the first low cost SANs to support 10GBe Fibre connections for maximum scalability for high demand applications.
You’ll also require a switch to connect everything together, especially if you choose the 10GBe fibre option for the ReadyNAS 3200 or 4200 series, for this we recommend using a NetGear GSM7328S which features 2 front facing 10GBe SFP+ slots, as well as 2 rear facing XFP module slots* allowing you to connect to your SAN at 10GB. The GSM7328S is one of a very few switches that support 4 10GBe modules in a traditional switch form factor, which allows us to build compact clusters in the minimal of space.
Once you have a SAN and a Switch in place the expansion to a cluster is really quite simple, the HyperV Failover Clustering features are built into Server 2008R2, all thats needed is a second and/or third server to complete the Cluster, and it only takes a few hours to configure everything and you can have yourself a redundant failover cluster.
A typical 3-node FailOver cluster has the capacity to run approximately 12-20 Virtual Machines, including high demand applications such as SQL/MIS, Exchange, Domain Controllers, and File Servers.
If your interest has been peeked, then get in contact with us and we can arrange a Virtualisation planning session to assess what you need to either get your self on the HyperV ladder, or what you need to take it to the next level.