[ngw] ESXI 3.5 vs ESXi 4.0 (multi posted)

Sat Apr 24 14:36:44 UTC 2010

4-6 vms per core works quite well -- as long as you know the particular work
loads and as long as you don't have some bottleneck other than CPU

After memory, disk is the first to bottle-neck usually, but that is much
more robust with vSphere ... how many Ethernet ports for VM comms?

I would not call XIV tier 2 storage -- it uses commodity drives and parts,
but it is a robust beast of a performer and also is very competitive with
even the most expensive and traditional "tier 1" units like a Shark or XP.
Do you have the full chassis, or the smaller 1/2 sized one?

On Sat, Apr 24, 2010 at 9:29 AM, Matt Ray <mray at groupwiseguru.com> wrote:

>  I'm working on 24 server Virtualized GroupWise solution right now.   Here
> are the hardware specs:
>
> 6 3950 M2 IBM X Series servers (high end)
> 128 Gigs of memory in each Host server
> 4 CPUs, 24 Cores per server
> SAN: IBM XIV, Tier 2 storage
> Switches:
> CISCO 9516 SAN Switches
> 4 Gig for SAN connectivity
> NetWare 6.5 SP8
> GW703
> Running this all on a 6 node, VSphere 4 Update 1 Cluster
>
> Supposedly, each of the X Series Hosts can handle up to 128 servers each.
>
> I'll let you know how it goes.
>
> Matt
>
>
>
>
>  <http://gwguru.com/>
>
>
>
> Matt Ray <http://www.groupwiseguru.com/>
>
> MC Consulting - GroupWiseGuru.com
> <http://www.gwguru.com/>CNE, MCNE, LPI, CLS, CNS
>
> mray at groupwiseguru.com
>
> 661.885.2699 - Office
>
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>
> 866.869.9654 - eFax
>
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> Let us help you upgrade to GroupWise System today!
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>
> >>> "Keith Larson" <KLarson at K12GROUP.NET> 4/24/2010 7:12 AM >>>
> I would caution anyone against Virtualize NetWare.  It can be done and I
> have a few small utility type servers virtualized, but I tried virtualizing
> a full server with shared folder and users home directories and nearly had a
> mutiny because of performance.  I also tried virtualizing a server that was
> nothing more than the Symantec parent server for several hundred
> workstations.  All that they would do is get signature updates from it,
> nothing else.  That didn't go well either.  It had been moved back to a
> physical server and it working well.  We haven't gone to EPP yet we are
> still at Corporate Edition for SAV.
>
> OES2SP1/SLES10SP2 has been fine virtualized with several hundred users
> hitting an NSS volume.
>
>
>
> Keith Larson
> Franklin Computer Services - K12 Group
> (614) 561-4887
> klarson at k12group.net
>
>
>
>
>
>
> >>> "zzz" <zzz at minneapolis.edu> 4/23/2010 10:53 PM >>>
> Greetings,
> If you are worried about VMWARE perfomance on older hardware, possibly
> do some testing and monitor memory, CPU and NIC utiiliztion.  Should be
> present in the local VM client install.
>
> Not sure on the novell end, (I do have a couple of OES2 in virtual,
> including GW8 1000 user server) but  I have plenty of production WINDOZE
> W2K8 64 bit guest VMs running on HP DL380 G5 ESX 3.5 cluster on SAN with
> no major performance problems.
> NIC utilization has not been an issue at my site with the onboard HP
> NICs.
>
> However, if you do have the chance, "VMWARE 4"  would be the preferred
> option to move to.
>
>
> Hope this helps.
> Thank you
>
> Dana
>
>
> >>> Danita Zanre <dzanre.ngwlist at gmail.com> 4/23/2010 4:42:06 PM >>>
> I of course can use whatever I want because I'm not a big company, so I
> use
> ESXi 3.5 on a my 32 bit server, and it works very well.  On my 64bit
> server,
> I'm worried that ESXi 4.0 will not work, but I need 64 bit VMs (thanks
> Novell <heehee>), so I'm running Server 2.0 on that for the 64 bit VMs.
> So,
> my take is that unless you need to actually have 64 bit VMs for
> something,
> 3.5 has been perfectly fine for my needs, which aren't as great as
> many
> large companies, but greater than most of my small company clients.
>
> Danita
>
>
> On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 11:14 AM, Joe Acquisto
> <joe.acquisto at gmail.com>wrote:
>
> > Certainly there is enough experience and options on these lists to
> comment.
> >
> > Wondering if the "real world" performance difference, if any,
> between
> > ESXi 3.5 (32 bit) and 4.0 (64 bit) is worth having to go hunt up an
> > "approved" 64 bit machine?
> >
> > Guest performance, of primary interest.
> >
> > I have several older servers that accept (and seem to run) 3.5, but,
> > sigh, none that accept an install of 4.0.
> >
> > joea
> > _______________________________________________
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>
>
>
> --
> Danita Zanrè
> Keep in touch!
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