introduction to virutalization vmware esx server
what is virtualization
1. server virtualization is where you use virtual
machines to seperate the hardware from virtual
os , allowing you to run multiple operation
systems on a single computer, all at the same
time.
2. from many IT pros getting started with
virtualization or using it on their desktop,
virtualization is done with a general virtualization
product like MS virtual pc/server or vmware
workstation/server.
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Approach to Reduce virtualization penalty.
users who are willing to spend more money and
have greater performance can use the dedicated
virtualization approach. the primary product used
in this approach is vmware ESX server.
because there is no host operation system, you
will achieve much greater performance out of the
virtual machines.However, the hardware and the
virutalization software must be compatible and
you will loose some management features
because you have no more host os.
Another approach is the hardware-based or
hardware-assisted virtualization approach. in
this approach, the hardware is virtualization
aware and assists the virtulization layer in some
way.for example, both intel and AMD have
processors designed for virtualization. intel
offers its intel virtualization techonology(VT) and
AMD has its AMD-Virtualization(AMD-V), on Xeon
and opteron processors, respectively . These
technologies will open the door for more
applications to be virtualized, because they
reduce the virtualization overhead.
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VMkernel
1. an operating system that works at the
virtualization layer
2. it manages the physical resources of the
server
-memory,cpu,storage and network
3. the heart of vmware esx and its power
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Virtualization products available
vmware(EMC)
  vmware player
  vmware workstation
  vmware fusion(mac os)
  vmware server 1.x(used to be GSX)
  vmware esx server 3/3i & virtual infrastrucure(VI)
Microsoft
  virtual PC
  virtual server
  windows server 2008 virtualization -WAV/Viridian
 
VirtualIRON
  virutalIRON
Parallels
  parellels Desktop&Workstation (Mac OS)
Xensource
  linux Xen (owned by citrix)
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Vmware ESX server vs VMware server
    starting at $1000 and up from  there (usually
about $6K per server) - part of a larger suite
(called VI)
   runs on the hardware ( no underlying OS)
   highest performance VMware virtualization 
product
  used with a SAN to get highest performance
  fully suite of enterprise features
  recommended to run enterprise servers in a 
datacenter
 
Vmware Server
  .  Free
  . runs on top of linux or windows
  . multiple user access
  . web console
  . optional centralized management application
VCMS for VM server
   . recommended for small to medium size
server cosolidation, testing and development
purposes.
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VMware ESX server vs MS windows 2008 server
virtualization(WSV)/Viridian
VMware ESX server
  . expensive
  . more mature
  . more options&add-ons
  . proven
 
MS windows 2008 WSV / Viridian
  . No out
  . microsoft product
  . free???
  . microsoft add-in availaibility is increasing
  . suspected to be slightly more confusing to use
  . unproven
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Future of virtulization
Hardware:
  . 1st generation -Hardware assisted virtualization with Intel VT platform and AMD virtualization Platform
  . 2nd generation- Hardware assisted virtualization with AMD's rapid virtualization indexing(Nested page tables) = near native guest performance, eliminate shadow page tables and fewer "unnatural acts"
 ESX server 3.5
 . support for NPT (nested page tables)
 . solid state boot
 . update manager
 . ESX 3i- embeded or flash bootable with no service console
  . VCB enhancements.(virtual consolidate backup)
  . server consolidation advisor
  . guest OS DR (disaster recovery)
  . 10GB network card support
  . 200 hosts&2000VMs
  . 128GB of RAM per host and 64GB per VM
  . SATA storage support
  . VCB over iSCSI
in General
  . built in operating system virtualization(Longhorn&Hypervisor, with more to come)
  . Vitualiztion in the hardware(embeded)
  . VMware and Microsoft battle between MS's "include" and VMware's "feature rich"
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Virtual machine specification -ESX 3.01
 . each ESX server machine can host up to 128 vitual CPU in virtual machines(and up to 200 registered virtual machines), with the following capabilities adn specifications.
 . virtual storage
     up to 4 host bus adapters per VM
     up to 15 targets per host bus adapter
     up to 60 targets per VM; 256 targets concurrently in all virtual machines per ESX server host
 . virtual SCSI devices
     up to four virtual SCSI adapter per VM, with up to 15 devices per adapter
     9TB per virtual disk
 . virtual processor
    intel pentium II or later (dependent on system processor) 
    one, two, or four processors per virtual machine
  . virtual chip set
    intel 440BX-based motherboard with NS338 SIO chip
   .Virtual BIOS 
    phoenixBIOS4.0 release 6
   . Virtual machine memory
     up to 16GB per vm
    .virtual adapters
    up to six virtual PCI slots per virtual machine
    .virtual ethernet cards
    up to four virtual ethernet adapters per vm
    . virtual CD
     up to four drivers per vm
     .legacy devices
     virtual macines van also make use of the following legacy devices, however for performance reasons, use of these devices is not recommended.
    virtual serial (COM) ports
       up to four serial ports per vm
    virtual parallel(LPT) ports
       up to three virtual LPT ports per VM
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VMTN
vmware technology network(VMTN)
  .http://www.vmware.com/vmtn
  . virtual appliances(virtual appliance marketplace)
  . techical paper
  . documentation
  . knowledge base
  . discussion forums(community)
  .user groups
  . vmware technology newsletter
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how can I test and demo esx ?
 . physical server
    scsi disk& specific controller
    etc
  .virtual server
    vt capable cpu
    vmware workstation6.x
    etc
  .evaluation copy of esx server
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