In my SHARE user experiences presentation I usually warn people against even answering that question. Stephen has a good approach to an answer.
My boss thinks I'm a smart xxx when I turn it around and ask him "How many rocks can you carry?" Obviously, not all rocks are created equally. I've had 2 z9 IFLs running about 100 servers (test/dev). I've had 6 z10 IFLs running 12 servers (prod). The answer is probably between 2 and 50 (although now with a 196 it's probably more like between 2 and 150). Is that helpful? Yeah, I thought not. Marcy This message may contain confidential and/or privileged information. If you are not the addressee or authorized to receive this for the addressee, you must not use, copy, disclose, or take any action based on this message or any information herein. If you have received this message in error, please advise the sender immediately by reply e-mail and delete this message. Thank you for your cooperation. -----Original Message----- From: Linux on 390 Port [mailto:linux-...@vm.marist.edu] On Behalf Of Stephen Frazier Sent: Monday, December 06, 2010 9:56 AM To: LINUX-390@vm.marist.edu Subject: Re: [LINUX-390] How many virtual servers per IFL? If you are comparing VM and VMware, I would estimate that 1 IFL will support about the same load as 5-10 HP blades running ESX. How many virtual severs will VMware support? Depending on the workload sometimes only 1 sometimes 70 per ESX. How many will VM support? Between a few and a thousand per IFL. On 12/6/2010 11:07 AM, John Cousins wrote: > Here we go again! > Without success, we've been trying to get the IT department here to adopt > z/Linux since 2003! > > Our zVM licence has been recently cancelled, and I have just had a request > from our Enterprise Architects for some costing for z/Linux as they need to > compare server virtualisation costs with VMware! > > One problem of trying to get a cost per virtual server was always trying to > estimate how many servers an IFL will support. We had a 13 SuSe servers > defined in a z800 IFL but as they were hardly used we couldn't measure a > thing! > > So are there any rules of thumb out there on how many production virtual > servers would run on a Z10 IFL? Obviously it will depend on server > utilisation, guess that will need to be estimated as well? > > Another question is where do the bulk of the savings come from? From my > investigations over the years other success stories suggest most savings come > from software licensing, e.g Oracle, Tivoli etc. but also from networking > infra-structure by the use of virtual switches. Are there any other areas > that provide benefits? > > Any ideas or constructive suggestions would be gratefully received! > > Best regards > > John > > > > John Cousins > Senior IT Officer > Central Support Services ICT Division > Bristol City Council > Romney House > Romney Avenue > PO Box 1380 > Bristol BS7 9TB > > Tel : 0117 922 4705 > Fax: 0117 922 3983 > e-mail: john.cous...@bristol.gov.uk -- Stephen Frazier Information Technology Unit Oklahoma Department of Corrections 3400 Martin Luther King Oklahoma City, Ok, 73111-4298 Tel.: (405) 425-2549 Fax: (405) 425-2554 Pager: (405) 690-1828 email: stevef%doc.state.ok.us ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For LINUX-390 subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@vm.marist.edu with the message: INFO LINUX-390 or visit http://www.marist.edu/htbin/wlvindex?LINUX-390 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For more information on Linux on System z, visit http://wiki.linuxvm.org/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For LINUX-390 subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@vm.marist.edu with the message: INFO LINUX-390 or visit http://www.marist.edu/htbin/wlvindex?LINUX-390 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For more information on Linux on System z, visit http://wiki.linuxvm.org/
