Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Conversely, if your experience is primarily with Linux, then deploying a Windows Server-
based application will require some learning and acclimation for you and/or your staff.
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The Linux-based virtual appliance comes preloaded with additional services like Auto
Deploy (covered in Chapter 2), Dynamic Host Coni guration Protocol (DHCP), Trivial
File Transfer Protocol (TFTP), and syslog. If you need these services on your net work, you
can provide them with a single deployment of the vCenter virtual appliance. With the
Windows Server-based version, these services are separate installations or possibly even
separate VMs (or, worse yet, separate physical servers!).
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Because the vCenter Server virtual appliance naturally runs only as a VM, you are con-
strained to that particular design decision. If you want or need to run vCenter Server on a
physical system, you cannot use the vCenter Server virtual appliance.
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As you can see, there are a number of considerations that will affect your decision to deploy
vCenter Server as a Windows Server-based installation or as a Linux-based virtual appliance.
Author Nick Marshall's View on the vCenter Virtual Appliance
Some of the early support limitations around the SuSE Linux-based vCenter Server virtual appli-
ance led people to believe that this solution was more appropriate for smaller installations. h is
may have been because the virtual appliance was certifi ed to support only 5 hosts and 50 VMs or
because deploying a virtual appliance that handles all the various services required would appeal
more to a smaller implementation. However, VMware has now certifi ed this solution to support
up to 100 hosts and/or 3000 VMs, so the former argument is no longer valid. h e way I see it, you
should always use the right tool for the job (with proper planning), and the vCenter Server virtual
appliance is the right tool for some jobs.
In the next section, we'll discuss some of the planning and design considerations that have to
be addressed if you plan to deploy the Windows Server-based version of vCenter Server. Most
of these issues apply to the Windows Server-based version of vCenter Server, but some may also
apply to the virtual appliance; we'll point those out where applicable.
Planning and Designing a vCenter Server Deployment
vCenter Server is a critical application for managing your virtual infrastructure. Its implementa-
tion should be carefully designed and executed to ensure availability and data protection. When
discussing the deployment of vCenter Server and its components, the following questions are
among the most common questions to ask:
How much hardware do I need to power vCenter Server?
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Which database server should I use with vCenter Server?
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How do I prepare vCenter Server for disaster recovery?
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Should I run vCenter Server in a VM?
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