The VMguy

Just started review today’s pile of Virtualization news and came across this blog post .  So many of my customers are starting to look to virtualize SQL and Exchange.  The article contains some great information on enhancements you can do to make SQL hum on ESX.  What I found interesting is that with some tweaking, you can increase performance by 21%.  That is pretty substantial.

To find out all of the tips and tweaks of running SQL on ESX, better read the Best practices guidlines for running SQL on VMware .

Next up, virtualizing Exchange tips.

I honestly don’t know the answer to this question but I’ve already been asked by a few customers so I’m opening it for discussion.  If you read VMware’s current EULA (Section 1.6), it describes a processor to include up to 6 cores.

Intel has announced a sweet 8-core Nehelem-EX Xeon and it will be interesting how this will apply to ESX.  As mentioned, I don’t know how ESX will license on it but with the processors hitting the street this quarter , we won’t have to wait long to find out.

I will, of course, post additional information as soon as it becomes publically available.

Whew!  I usually check the White papers for new submissions weekly but clearly I’m asleep at the wheel!  6 new ones were added.

There’s two new hi-level papers on why NetApp storage and VMware view run well together.  They bring up some good points on the advantages.  They can be found here and here .

There are some great ones on Application Virtualization.

• The first is a performance comparison of Application Virtualization technologies which can be found here .  I don’t know if it was a sponsored study or not but the results are compelling none the less.
• Next a great reviewer’s guide for ThinApp was posted.  This is a must have if you are going to download the ThinApp eval and try it out.  It gives you the basics of how ThinApp works and how to get started.

There’s also a new one on Best Practices running Java in a VM on ESX .  Here’s one that I definately get asked on periodically.  Very technical and good reading for those running Java in a VM.

Lastly, one question I get asked often is how many desktops a customer can stack on a ESX server.  That’s not a very easy question to answer as everyone’s workloads are different.  Here’s a great paper on some standard workloads and how they stack up and affect performance.  Definately a good read for those looking to deploy virtualized desktops.

I’m a firm believer that better decisions are made with better information.  When you open up the Virtual Infrastructure Client and select Administration/VirtualCenter Management server configuration.  From there select statistics in the left pane.  You will see a right pane that looks something like this:

By default, Virtual Center has set the statistics level to 1.  The levels can range from 1 to 4.  Level 4 maintains the most stats on your environment and is typically used for debugging.  Read the rest of this entry »