topic Re: Windows consolidation in Windows Server 2003

Windows consolidation

Kego — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 08:56:44 GMT

Hi all

Please assist. I need to recommend a server for consolidation of 10 Windows environmets. How do I determine which server will be the best? With regard to virtualization software I think I will go for VMWARE ESX server. Any inputs.

Regards
Kego

Re: Windows consolidation

Jacky Zhang_1 — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 21:34:19 GMT

VMWare ESX server will cost money, if you have new purchase, new HP server support Xen Virtual server, and which cause less money

Re: Windows consolidation

Phil.Howell — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 01:12:16 GMT

It depends on the environments that you are replacing, first you should get stats on cpu, memory, page file, and i/o usage from your existing setup.
You should avoid trying to virtualise database servers with heavy i/o loads, or physical environments that make extensive use of dual or quad processors.
Get as much memory as you can for your ESX server, so that each vm has its memory reserved.
Try to partition your storage based on vm usage, and think about what RAID level you want (if at all)
Vmware have tools to convert physical -> virtual servers.
Phil