introduction to server virtualisation planning and implementing a virtualisation project
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Introduction to Server Virtualisation and Planning and Implementing a Virtualisation Project
Alan McSweeney
April 8, 2023 2
Agenda
• Solution Requirements• Virtualisation Benefits and Applications• Why Implement Virtualisation• Server Virtualisation Implementation Process• Capacity Planning• Financial and Cost Benefit Analysis• Architecture Design• Monitoring and Reporting• Project Planning and Implementation
April 8, 2023 3
General IT Solution Characteristics
• Resilience− Infrastructure tolerant of failure to reduce the need to invoke
disaster recovery− Reliable underlying hardware and software components
• Scalable− Infrastructure that can grow to meet future requirements
without significant engineering− Platform for long-term growth
• Disaster Recovery− Solution that provides disaster recovery and business continuity
• Manageable− Solution that is easily manageable, supportable
• Secure• Return on Investment
− Delivers a real business benefit
April 8, 2023 4
Server Questions to Ask
Issue Issue/Response Number of Servers Planned Number of New Servers Population of Old Servers Applications Requiring NT4 Servers Delays in Acquiring New Servers Server Resource Constraints Server Space Constraints Server Environment – Power, Air Conditioning – Constraints Development Projects Current and Planned Migration Projects Current and Planned Requirement for Temporary Servers “Desktop” Servers Underused Servers Server Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Issues Server Hardware Maintenance Costs Server Performance Issues Build Move or Server Relocation SAN Model(s), if Applicable
April 8, 2023 5
Virtualisation Benefits
• Consolidate Existing Servers – your existing servers can be consolidated into a reduced number. This recovers floor space and reduces server operating costs and environmental requirements
• Contain Server Growth – server growth is contained as servers are reused and made available to new applications
• Ease of Implementation – Server Virtualisation can be implemented without any application changes unlike application partitioning which requires substantial effort
• Adaptive Flexible Computer Resources – demand for additional computing resources can be addressed easily and quickly. Additional resources can be distributed across all applications
April 8, 2023 6
Virtualisation Benefits
• Performance Improvement – constrained servers can be allocated more resources
• Ease of Management and Administration – the management of virtual servers is made easier and simpler
• Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery – a simplified server infrastructure and the server virtualisation layer makes recovery to a backup facility quicker and easier
• Capacity Management – improved capacity planning through central performance management, ability to manage service levels and user response times
April 8, 2023 7
Virtualisation Benefits
• Tangible benefit - reduced costs• Hardware and software costs can be reduced
by 50% to 80%• Operations costs can be reduced by 40% to
90%
April 8, 2023 8
Virtualisation Applications
• Server Growth – contains growth• Server Containment – reuse existing servers
to deliver more by freeing unused resources• Server Replacement – replace existing
servers with new, specially designed virtual server infrastructure
• New Servers – new virtual servers can be created quickly for applications
• Performance – additional resources can be added to virtual servers to meet scheduled or unscheduled demands
April 8, 2023 9
Virtualisation Applications
• Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity – virtualised infrastructure is very easy to recover
• Application Development Projects – new virtual servers can be created quickly for application development and testing
• System and Application Migration Projects– new virtual servers can be created quickly for migrating systems and applications:− ActiveDirectory− Exchange upgrades− SQL upgrades
April 8, 2023 10
Data Centre Costs – Administration and Power
Electricity 13%
Security 10%
Maintenance and
Administration 67%
Rent 4%
Other 6%
April 8, 2023 11
Power and Floor Space Issues Dominate
• Data Centre Issue Ranking
5.78
5.71
5.43
5.14
5.14
4.35
4.02
3.49
3.22
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
PowerProvisioning
Floor Space
PowerConsumption
Integration ofNew Systems
Staff Skills
Capacity
SystemsManagement
Cooling
Reliability
April 8, 2023 12
Data Centre Power and Heat – 25% Annual Growth
• Server blades have had an impact on data centre economics
• Freed budget through cost reduction should focus on power and cooling
25.00%
28.20%
23.00%
24.00%
25.00%
26.00%
27.00%
28.00%
29.00%
How do youexpect your
powerrequirementsto changeover
the next 2years?
How haveyour power
requirementschanged over
the past 2years?
April 8, 2023 13
Reasons for Virtualisation
5.0
5.5
6.0
6.5
7.0
7.5
8.0
Staff
Savin
gs
Legac
y Applic
ation S
upport
Reduced S
oftwar
e Lic
ensi
ng
Applicat
ion C
onsolid
atio
n
Response
to O
rgan
isat
ion C
hange
Response
to C
hangin
g Wor
kload
Reduce In
itial
Ser
ver C
osts
Impro
ve A
vaila
bility
Reduced O
ngoing O
perat
ional
Cost
s
Simplif
y Man
agem
ent
Reduce S
erver
Dep
loym
ent T
ime
Serve
r Cons
olidat
ion
Impro
ve S
erver
Util
isatio
n
April 8, 2023 14
Projects Associated With Virtualisation
57%
19%
5%
10%
5%
4%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
Disaster Recovery
Storage Virtualisation
Utility Computing
Server Refresh
Migration Initiatives
Consolidation Initiative
April 8, 2023 15
Managing the Virtualised Environment - ITIL
• Configuration Management− VM configuration− CMDB feeder− Charge-back
• Change Management− Audit management and
tracking− VM access control− Provisioning management− Disaster recovery
• Incident and Problem Management− Service desk integration− Root cause analysis− Problem identification− Performance management
• Release Management− Application
mapping/discovery− Code development− Operations/development
process integrations− Scalability testing
April 8, 2023 16
Lessons Learned
• Server blades remain a key platform for future enterprise computing strategies
• TCO is necessitating a push towards IT simplification that drives the server market today and in particular server blades
• Power and cooling issues remain front of mind for IT and data centre managers today and for the near future
• Awareness of internal political struggles critical:− Disparate groups do not share data and probably won't care to
start doing so
• Requires sensitivity to change management challenges• Work in phases - start with small pilot, gradual rollout
− Hidden costs exist as there is no way of knowing what will really be uncovered as work begins
− Undocumented processes are a huge and costly challenge
April 8, 2023 17
Server Virtualisation Implementation Process
Analysis and
Design
Implement Virtualisation
Platform
PhysicalTo
VirtualMigration
VirtualServerBackup
AndReplication
Reportingand
PerformanceMonitoring
Policy-BasedVirtualService
LifeCycle
Management
Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3
Stage 4 Stage 5 Stage 6
April 8, 2023 18
Stage 1 - Analysis and Design
• Four steps− Inventory− Workload Data Collection− Analyse− Design and Specify
Inventory AnalyseRecord Design andSpecify
April 8, 2023 19
Approach to Capacity Planning
• Two product options available:− VMware Capacity Planner
• Hosted and chargeable service from VMware partner• Data collected from servers via WMI API
− PlateSpin PowerRecon • Product from PlateSpin that provides a local data collection
and reporting client• PowerRecon is very functional tool but it has higher cost that
VMware Capacity Planner
April 8, 2023 20
Capacity Planning Outputs
• Server inventory including hardware specification• Virtualisation exclusions
− Specialist hardware (such as FAX servers)− High paging rates− High I/O− High CPU utilisation− MSCS clusters (not specifically excluded but problematic)
• Multiprocessor imbalances• Server anomalies and alerts• Identify and resolve problems in advance of starting
virtualisation to reduce risk and increase success• Consolidation scenarios
− Multiple platforms
April 8, 2023 21
Sample Server Issues
• Sample analysis output with some potential issues
Server Paging (Pg/sec)
I/O (Trans/sec)
I/O (MB/sec)
Speed (MB/sec)
1. dub-2k-005 2,102.83 528.69 34.00 0.04 2. dub-2k-012 276.17 50,000.56 67.84 0.02 3. dub-2k-018 1,838.97 210.53 7.55 0.03 4. dub-2k-026 2,976.12 254.74 12.26 0.04 5. Dub-2k-050 2,376.27 1,120.73 71.53 0.05 6. dub-2k3-018 1,254.22 82.44 5.16 0.04 7. dub-2k3-024 1,369.40 489.89 9.08 1.58 8. dub-2k3-026 2,839.66 184.38 11.65 0.01 9. dub-2k3-027 1,604.48 421.68 8.34 0.82 10. dub-2k3-040 2,267.86 325.35 9.37 0.02 11. dub-nt-018 1,521.93 0.00 0.00 0.03
April 8, 2023 22
Server CPU Utilisation
• Extract from an analysis of 117 servers Server CPU
% RAM Avail
Disk Transfer/Sec
Server Bytes/ Sec
Paging Queue Length
CPU Cards
CPU Mhz
Total CPU
RAM
1 dub-2k-001 0.32 592 0 6,064 0 0 2 1,000 2,000 1,024 2 dub-2k-002 2.96 1,741 13 27,789 0 0 2 1,258 2,516 2,304 3 dub-2k-003 1.09 1,639 3 29,010 2 0 2 1,258 2,516 2,304 4 dub-2k-004 7.81 713 10 36,847 118 1 2 1,258 2,516 1,280 5 dub-2k-005 1.43 113 0 35,174 13 0 2 2,399 4,798 2,048 6 dub-2k-006 1.86 143 0 48,827 0 0 2 1,396 2,792 512 7 dub-2k-007 0.71 629 10 25,245 0 0 2 1,000 2,000 1,024 8 dub-2k-008 2.92 142 3 285,857 35 0 2 1,390 2,780 512 9 dub-2k-009 3.83 43 7 330,240 44 0 2 1,390 2,780 512
10 dub-2k-009r2 6.88 481 31 20,712 0 0 2 927 1,854 1,024
Server CPU%
RAM Avail
Disk Transfer/Sec
Server Bytes/Sec
Paging Queue Length
CPU Cards
CPU Mhz
Total CPU
RAM
dub-2k-033 22.38 118 31 28,204 51 0 2 2,780 5,560 2,048 2 dub-2k3-021 20.48 171 56 38,125 321 0 2 2,787 5,574 2,048
3 dub-2k3-031 26.11 1,227 51 15,795 0 11 2 3,200 6,400 3,072 4 dub-2k3-032 23.03 369 0 12,977 0 0 2 3,200 6,400 1,024 5 dub-2k3-040 26.53 362 37 24,091 2,268 1 2 3,000 6,000 2,
dub-2k-033 22.38 118 31 28,204 51 0 2 2,780 5,560 2,048
April 8, 2023 23
Multiprocessor Server Utilisation
Server CPU0 CPU1 CPU2 CPU3 dub-2k-001 0.34 0.32 - - dub-2k-002 3.42 2.51 - - dub-2k-003 0.86 1.33 - - dub-2k-004 6.61 9.01 - - dub-2k-005 1.5 1.38 1.31 1.59 dub-2k-018 0.93 0.62 0.37 1.3 dub-2k-021 8.28 8.46 8.97 10.28 dub-2k-022 4.38 0.61 2.33 2.99 dub-2k-026 0.77 0.7 0.53 1.29 dub-2k-035 0.79 0.38 0.58 0.61 Dub-2k-043 0.83 0.18 0.16 0.32 dub-2k-051 0.62 1.08 1.62 1.38 dub-2k-fs2 0.92 0.11 0.27 0.61 dub-2k-fs3 0.18 0.09 0.18 0.18 dub-2k3-003 0.87 0.76 0.75 0.96 dub-2k3-004 3.94 1.4 - - dub-2k3-005 0.14 0.67 0.24 0.33 dub-2k3-006 0.86 1.68 1.59 1.3 dub-2k3-014 0.7 0.29 0.29 0.41 dub-2k3-037 0.93 0.36 0.3 0.19 dub-2k3-038 0.77 1.33 - - dub-2k3-039 3.42 0.93 1.29 4.15
April 8, 2023 24
Potential Server Performance Anomalies and Alerts
• Potential anomalies in yellow and alerts in redServer %
CPU Available Bytes
Pages/Sec Pagefile % Av.
Pdsk % busy
Pdsk Av. Queue
Bytes Tot/s
CPU Queue
Industry Average
4.6 0 19.09 6.8 3.98 0.36 60,001 1.15
dub-2k-002 2.8 1,728 0.21 0.29 11.57 0.12 28,460 0.05 dub-2k-003 0.9 1,637 0 0.2 3.2 0.03 28,433 0 dub-2k-004 15.09 692 224.18 0.62 17.14 0.37 35,323 0.76 dub-2k-005 1.44 111 27.56 8.83 0.43 0.02 36,189 0.01 dub-2k-006 1.98 146 0 75.17 0.03 0 45,959 0.17 dub-2k-007 0.61 631 0.35 0.18 15.94 0.17 24,580 0.02 dub-2k-011 1.24 183 1.51 19.61 0.11 0 41,382 0.9 dub-2k-019 1.67 395 0 2.06 0.05 0 36,897 4.31 dub-2k-026 0.8 514 0.07 21.24 2.03 0.02 31,720 0 dub-2k-031 0.37 253 0 8.6 1.15 0.01 25,508 0 dub-2k-032 0.26 1,627 0.06 0.17 3.06 0.75 30,775 0 dub-2k-033 8.74 110 0.02 2.78 6.15 0.52 27,303 0 dub-2k-035 0.84 1,624 34.75 0.32 0 0 7,915 0 dub-2k-040 0.76 63 0.04 1.27 0.06 0 27,996 3.18 dub-2k-041 0.25 164 0 0.75 0.03 0 20,872 3.21 dub-2k-042 0.39 110 0 2.44 0.03 0 24,237 3.2 dub-2k3-003 0.82 323 0.28 14.14 4.71 0.05 15,159 0.03 dub-2k3-004 2.91 1,457 24.06 1.58 0.88 0.02 538,318 0
April 8, 2023 25
Consolidation Scenarios
• Identify target server type• Identify the number of servers required to support the virtualisation
workload• Number of processors• Number of cores• Typical target servers
− Dual processor, dual core− Dual processor, quad core− Quad processor, dual core
Capacity
Processors Memory Disk Network Physical
Make/Model Count
Speed (MHz)
Word Length
Size (MB)
Size (GB)
I/O (MB/sec)
I/O (Trans/sec) Count
Speed (MB/sec)
Rack Units
Weight (lbs)
Power (W)
Thermal (BTU/hr)
4P 2C 24 GB RAM
8 3,400 32 24,000 1,000 320 141,000 6 1,000 3 80 1,000 5,457
Utilisation Limits
Processor Memory Disk Network
% Used Queue
per CPU % Used File Sys
Cache (MB) Page
File % Paging
(Pg/sec) I/O
(Trans/sec) I/O
(MB/sec) Speed
(MB/sec)
75 4 75 2,048 70 1,000 10,000 250 200
April 8, 2023 26
Consolidation Scenario
• Results of consolidation scenario• Consolidate 117 servers on to six servers
Capacity Estimated New Utilisation
Processors Memory Disk Network Physical Processor Memory Disk Network
Target System Name
Source System Name(s) Count
Speed (MHz)
Size (MB)
Size (GB) Count
Speed (MB/sec)
Rack Units
Weight (lbs)
Power (W)
Thermal (BTU/hr)
% Used
Queue per CPU
% Used
File Sys Cache
(MB)
Page File
% Paging
(Pg/sec) I/O
(Trans/sec) I/O
(MB/sec) Speed
(MB/sec)
4P 2C 8 3,400 24,000 1,000.00 6 6,000.00 3 80 1,000 5,457 11.71 0.03 56.63 1,664.84 1.19 947.75 284.16 10.56 0.32
4P 2C 8 3,400 24,000 1,000.00 6 6,000.00 3 80 1,000 5,457 16.92 0.59 40.33 1,490.63 1.41 963.22 504.95 12.75 0.60
4P 2C 8 3,400 24,000 1,000.00 6 6,000.00 3 80 1,000 5,457 9.78 0.61 20.88 1,479.18 4.33 985.84 506.15 4.11 2.72
4P 2C 8 3,400 24,000 1,000.00 6 6,000.00 3 80 1,000 5,457 16.57 0.38 29.56 1,487.49 1.70 989.17 624.11 10.19 1.40
4P 2C 8 3,400 24,000 1,000.00 6 6,000.00 3 80 1,000 5,457 31.93 0.32 73.10 4,050.63 7.45 946.57 485.54 13.59 2.94
4P 2C 8 3,400 24,000 1,000.00 6 6,000.00 3 80 1,000 5,457 15.34 0.81 74.96 3,144.40 5.21 940.59 395.35 17.77 1.43
April 8, 2023 27
Virtualisation Resource Allocation and Configuration Analysis
• How much resources to leave free to cater for server failure?
VM1 VM2 VM3 VM4
Limit Threshold
Reservation Threshold
Actual Usage
VM5 VM6 VM7 VM8
Server 1 Server 2HA Cluster
April 8, 2023 28
Virtualisation Resource Allocation and Configuration Analysis
• Critical (or all virtual servers) will be restarted on other physical server(s)
VM1 VM2 VM3 VM4 VM5 VM6 VM7 VM8
Server 1 Server 2
VM1 VM2 VM3 VM4
HA Cluster
April 8, 2023 29
Stage 2 - Implement Virtualisation Platform
• VMware ESX Server - Platform for virtualising servers• VMware VMFS - High-performance cluster file system
for storage virtualisation• VMware Virtual SMP - Multi-processor support for
virtual machines• VMware VirtualCentre - Centralised management,
automation and optimisation for IT infrastructure• VMware HA - Cost effective high availability for virtual
machines• VMware DRS - Dynamic balancing and allocation of
resources for virtual machines• VMware VMotion - Live migration of virtual machines
without service interruption
April 8, 2023 30
VMware Platforms and Options
• VMware Infrastructure 3 Starter NAS or local storage− No HA, DRS, VCB− Restrictions
• 4 processors• 8 GB RAM
• VMware Infrastructure 3 Standard− HA, DRS, VCB available as separate options
• VMware Infrastructure 3 Enterprise− Includes virtual SMP, VMFS, VMotion, HA, DRS,
Consolidated Backup
• VirtualCentre
April 8, 2023 31
VMware Sample Costs
Product Rough Cost Annual Software Subscription and
Support
Year 1 Total Year 2
VMware Infrastructure 3 Starter for 2 processors €781.25 €697.27 €1,478.52 €697.27
VMware Infrastructure 3 Standard for 2 processors
€2,929.69 €615.23 €3,544.92 €615.23
VMware Infrastructure 3 Enterprise for 2 processors
€4,492.19 €943.36 €5,435.55 €943.36
VMware VirtualCenter Management Server 2 €3,906.25 €625.00 €4,531.25 €625.00
VMWare Enterprise for two 2-processor servers and VirtualCentre
€12,890.63 €2,511.72 €15,402.34 €2,511.72
VMWare Enterprise for four 2-processor servers and VirtualCentre
€21,875.00 €4,398.44 €26,273.44 €4,398.44
VMWare Enterprise for four 4-processor servers and VirtualCentre
€39,843.75 €8,171.88 €48,015.63 €8,171.88
April 8, 2023 32
Sample Configurations
• Two ESX Servers, VirtualCentre, Backup to Disk, Tape Backup
• Two ESX Servers, VirtualCentre, Backup to Disk, Tape Backup, Virtualised DR Facility with Replication
• Very Large Scale Implementation
April 8, 2023 33
Two ESX Servers, VirtualCentre, Backup to Disk, Tape Backup
1. Two servers running ESX Server – provides resilience in the event of server failure
2. SAN to store data
3. VirtualCentre to administer and manage virtual infrastructure
4. Backup to disk using low cost disk
5. Tape backup unit
April 8, 2023 34
Two ESX Servers, VirtualCentre, Backup to Disk, Tape Backup
1. Primary SAN data copied to inexpensive disk – fast backup
2. Disk backup copied to tape/autoloader
April 8, 2023 35
Two ESX Servers, VirtualCentre, Backup to Disk, Tape Backup, Virtualised DR Facility with Replication
1. Two servers running ESX Server – provides resilience in the event of server failure
2. SAN to store data
3. VirtualCentre to administer and manage virtual infrastructure
4. Backup to disk using low cost disk
5. Tape backup unit
6. Link for data replication
7. Backup virtual infrastructure for recovery
April 8, 2023 36
Two ESX Servers, VirtualCentre, Backup to Disk, Tape Backup, Virtualised DR Facility with Replication
1. Primary SAN data copied to inexpensive disk – fast backup
2. Disk backup copied to tape/autoloader
3. Disk to disk copy to DR location
4. Move tapes to backup location
April 8, 2023 37
Two ESX Servers, VirtualCentre, Backup to Disk, Tape Backup, Virtualised DR Facility with Replication
April 8, 2023 38
Very Large Scale Implementation
April 8, 2023 39
Very Large Scale Implementation
April 8, 2023 40
Cost Benefit Analysis
• Tangible savings− Server purchases− Operational costs− Administration costs− Power, HVAC− Deferred cost
• Intangible savings− Faster server provisioning− Better utilisation− Reduced floorspace− Improved business continuity and disaster recovery
April 8, 2023 41
Server Operation AssumptionsServer Environmental DetailsServer Watts/Hour 600UPS Watt/Hour 25Server BTU/Hour 2000Server Operational Hours 8760kWh Cost €0.10Total kWh/Server/Year 7227Total Electricity Cost (Server, UPS, HVAC) €722.70Maintenance/Server €350.00Operation Costs Per Server/Year €1,072.70
Server Tasks - Per Server Hours Before Virtualisation
Hours After Virtualisation
New Server Deployment 16 2Build / Installs 40 10Change / Upgrade 12 3Configuration Changes 2 0.1Problem Resolution 2 0.1Rebuilding Test Servers 2 0.1Installing Software 2 0.1Rebooting System 2 0.1Testing 10 0.5Recovery 8 1
April 8, 2023 42
Sample Project Costs and Savings 1
• 16 servers to be virtualised• Avoid 4 new servers a year
Virtualisation Project Initial Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 TotalSoftware €21,900.00 €6,100.00 €6,100.00 €6,100.00 €6,100.00Hardware €16,000.00Procurement €800.00Project Costs €25,000.00Server Operation €3,489.40 €3,489.40 €3,489.40Maintenance and Support
€12,000.00 €12,000.00 €12,000.00
Server Administration €573.73 €573.73 €573.73Total €63,700.00 €22,163.13 €22,163.13 €22,163.13 €130,189.38Saving €120,171.68
Existing Servers Initial Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 TotalNew Server Purchases €32,000.00 €32,000.00 €32,000.00Procurement €1,600.00 €1,600.00 €1,600.00Server Operation €22,798.00 €22,798.00 €22,798.00Server Administration €27,055.69 €27,055.69 €27,055.69Total €83,453.69 €83,453.69 €83,453.69 €250,361.06
Return on Investment 39 Months
April 8, 2023 43
Sample Project Costs and Savings 2
• 32 servers to be virtualised• Avoid 6 new servers a year
Virtualisation Project Initial Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 TotalSoftware €29,900.00 €8,300.00 €8,300.00 €8,300.00 €8,300.00Hardware €32,000.00Procurement €1,600.00Project Costs €50,000.00Server Operation €6,978.80 €6,978.80 €6,978.80Maintenance and Support
€20,000.00 €20,000.00 €20,000.00
Server Administration €1,147.45 €1,147.45 €1,147.45Total €113,500.00 €36,426.25 €36,426.25 €36,426.25 €222,778.75Saving €221,107.16
Existing Servers Initial Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 TotalNew Server Purchases €48,000.00 €48,000.00 €48,000.00Procurement €2,400.00 €2,400.00 €2,400.00Server Operation €43,450.60 €43,450.60 €43,450.60Server Administration €54,111.37 €54,111.37 €54,111.37Total €147,961.97 €147,961.97 €147,961.97 €443,885.92
Return on Investment 36 Months
April 8, 2023 44
Sample Project Costs and Savings 2
• 64 servers to be virtualised• Avoid 8 new servers a year
Virtualisation Project Initial Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 TotalSoftware €45,900.00 €12,700.00 €12,700.00 €12,700.00 €12,700.00Hardware €64,000.00Procurement €3,200.00Project Costs €75,000.00Server Operation €13,957.60 €13,957.60 €13,957.60Maintenance and Support
€25,000.00 €25,000.00 €25,000.00
Server Administration €2,294.90 €2,294.90 €2,294.90Total €188,100.00 €53,952.50 €53,952.50 €53,952.50 €349,957.51Saving €424,141.93
Existing Servers Initial Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 TotalNew Server Purchases €64,000.00 €64,000.00 €64,000.00Procurement €3,200.00 €3,200.00 €3,200.00Server Operation €82,610.40 €82,610.40 €82,610.40Server Administration €108,222.75 €108,222.75 €108,222.75Total €258,033.15 €258,033.15 €258,033.15 €774,099.44
Return on Investment 30 Months
April 8, 2023 45
Stage 3 - Physical to Virtual Migration
• Two principal Physical to Virtual Server conversion tools available− PlateSpin PowerConvert – this is a very functional tool but
it has a cost− VMware Converter Enterprise – this is a new product from
VMware. It is available at no additional cost to existing and new VirtualCentre Management Server customers who have valid support and subscription contracts
• The selected servers are migrated to the previously installed and configured server virtualisation platform
• Windows, Netware, Linux Sun, etc. servers can be migrated
• Migrations will be performed and tested incrementally
April 8, 2023 46
Testing
• Testing will consist of:
− User Acceptance Testing – to ensure that the application functionality is unaffected
− Operations Acceptance Testing – to ensure that the virtual platform can be operated and supported
April 8, 2023 47
Operations Acceptance Testing
• Stability / Robustness - Verification of continuous operation over extended period
• Resilience - Ensure the system will operate continuously through failure or controlled shutdown of individual components
− Ensure the system will have sufficient levels of redundancy to ensure committed availability targets are maintained
• Systems Monitoring - Ensure that error reporting / reactive alerting allows effective trouble shooting and problem diagnosis
• Performance Management / Service Level Reporting - Ensure that performance monitoring data allows detection of performance issues, and measurement against agreed service levels
• Systems Operations - Ensure that support and maintenance processes and procedures are operable
• Security Manageability - Ensure that the systems can be managed and administered and that correct procedures and training are in place
• Backup and Recovery - Ensure that reliable automated backup solution in place including failure notification
• Performance - Ensure that the observed performance matches what is expected and committed to
April 8, 2023 48
Operations Acceptance Testing – ITIL Checklist
Capacity Management Infrastructure has capacity to accommodate new serviceCapability to monitor capacity for service going forward proactively
Change Management Compliance with Change Management processesOwnership handover to ensure change is managed going forward
IT Service Continuity Management
Project compliance with Disaster Recovery Standards.
Backup and archiving sufficient to meet Business recovery and DR requirementsAvailability Management No single point of failure within the Production infrastructure to support high availability
All solutions function without operator or manual interventionService Delivery team has ability to monitor and measure service availability. This must include End to End Service availability, (including Hardware and Software components).No manual intervention should be required for batch processingComply with all Security policies and guidelines. Security processes to be operated by UAM are manageable.
Service Level Management All Business service level requirements and support responsibilities are agreed and are compliant with standards and guidelines.SLA documented and agreedAny new roles and responsibilities of the Customer relationship manager are agreedPerformance management mechanism is provided, including measurement of end to end performanceBenchmark applications for performance.Required SLA, Business and PSS Support Reports are in place and automated.
Release Management Demonstrate readiness to enter OATComplete OATPilot capability providedRequirements and constraints agreed for initial pilot.Adhere to Release Management standards and guidelines.Ensure Software Release Levels meet standards
Incident Management Alerting in place to notify application or infrastructure incidents.Procedures are documented for any operator control intervention.User error notification built in to notify of service outages.Support Model documented and agreedConformance to Incident Management standards and guidelines
Configuration Management Asset Management database is updated.Test room and computer room facilities requirements agreedOAT environment provided to match production.Server management tools in place
Service Desk Service Desk Take-on checklist completeDevelop a training plan for support areas.
Financial Management for IT Services
Financial Impact signed off
Problem Management Management of Discrepancy Notices / Risks into production
April 8, 2023 49
Stage 4 - Backup and Recovery
• Hot backups, restores and disaster recovery of the virtual servers can be performed over the LAN or WAN
• Consolidated backup− No agents on virtual servers
• Server replication− Virtual machine replication using third-party products such as
VizionCore− Virtual server replication using third-party products such as
DoubleTake, WANSync, Replistor• Disaster Recovery• Business Continuity• Two options (not mutually exclusive)
− Existing (virtual) server backup • NetBackup• Tivoli Storage Manager• Data Protector• CommVault
− Virtual server consolidated backup• Third-party tool - esxRanger
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Option 1 – Existing Backup Tool
• Each virtual server is just another Windows server instance and it can be backed-up using existing backup and recovery tools
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Option 2 – Consolidated Backup
• Protection of virtual is based on three separate technologies that are integrated− VMware
Consolidated Backup
− esxRanger Professional with VCB Plugin
− Backup software
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Stage 5 - Reporting and Monitoring
• Reporting options− VirtualCentre− VirtualCentre SQL database reporting− Third-party tool – VizionCore esxCharter, PlateSpin
PowerRecon
• Monitoring− Virtual servers− Underlying physical hardware
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VMware VirtualCentre
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VMware VirtualCentre
• Performance Charts− CPU Usage− Memory Usage− Disk I/O Usage− Network I/O Usage− System Usage
• System Mapping− Global Maps − Inventory Maps − VMotion Resource Maps
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esxCharter
• esxCharter is a real-time management and reporting tool that provides key information for managing VMware ESX Server systems
• esxCharter rolls up key performance metrics to a root level spreadsheet type view
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esxCharter
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Monitoring
• Monitoring will arise in two areas− Monitoring virtual servers (and their applications)− Monitoring underlying hardware
• Tools such as HP Systems Insight Manager and Dell OpenManage run in the virtual server− Cannot provide hardware alerts in a virtual
environment
• Can use monitoring tools such as Microsoft Systems Center Operations Manger (SCOM) or HP OpenView− Monitor entire environment
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SCOM VMware Management Pack Integration
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SCOM for Virtual Infrastructure Monitoring
• VMware integration via SCOM Management Pack− eXc VMWare
Management Pack− Quest Management
eXtensions for SCOM − nWorks VMWare
Events MP for SCOM
• nWorks VMWare Events MP for SCOM is the best
• SCOM also monitors virtual servers
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MOM and nWorks Management Pack
• nworks Collector is referred to as VEM (Virtual Enterprise Monitor)
• The VEM server can be a virtual server to reduce cost
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Server Patching
• Patching issues arise in two areas:− VMware Software Patching – the VMware software
platform must be patched− Virtual Server Patching – the underlying virtual
servers must be patched as normal
• VMware patching− Esxupdate tool to apply software patches - a version
of RPM (RedHat Patch Manager)− Esxupdate is a single update mechanism for both
software upgrades, drivers and patches
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VMware Software Patching
• Upgrades and patches are distributed as bundles. Bundles are classified as security, critical or general
• You must subscribe to receive VMware patches. They are distributed monthly
• Esxupdate allows patches to be installed from a centralised server
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Virtual Server Patching
• Windows (and other) servers will be required to be patched as normal
• VMware can assist in a server patching strategy− Allow server
snapshots to be taken before patching takes place
− Reduce the testing effort by allowing an element of “implicit” testing where, unless problems occur, the patches remain applied
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Stage 6 - Server Virtualisation Processes
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Stage 6 - Policy-Based Virtual Service Life Cycle Management
• Policies for− Archiving unused test and development
environments− Quiescing enduring test environments− Server patching
• Implicit UAT/OAT
− Reacting to requests for new servers− Adding physical capacity− Monitoring compliance with SLA− Reporting performance
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Project Implementation Process
• Structured process to deliver operational solution that meets requirements and that delivers on commitments