Lots to comment on here, but one thing that stands out is that Datacenter licensing requires at least two physical CPUs.
"Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter is sold in a Processor / CAL. Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter Edition may only be run on servers with a minimum of two processors and requires a two-processor minimum purchase." See the guide at http://download.microsoft.com/download/0/D/9/0D9DDF52-A855-487B-9B74-5A09A9389551/Windows%20Server%20System%20Center%20and%20Forefront%20Pricing%20and%20Licensing%20Guide.pdf On Fri, Dec 2, 2011 at 1:07 PM, Ben Scott <[email protected]> wrote: > Sorry to interrupt the cell phone talk, but I've got a question > about NT system administration. ;-) > > I'd appreciate any input people have on this. Thoughts, > suggestions, recommendations, dopeslaps, etc. Pointers to references, > or FMs to R, are also welcome. > > SUMMARY > > * Spec'ing a server for small business virtualization > * Best hard drive config? > * Eight fast mid-sized disks in one big RAID 10? > * Larger slower mirrored disks, but some dedicated to workloads? > * Unsure as to RAM and CPU sizing > > BACKGROUND > > The Powers That Be here at %WORK% have finally agreed to let me > upgrade our server infrastructure (and there was much rejoicing). > We're a small shop, basically just two servers, with most everything > running on a single server. DC, file, print, Exchange, apps, etc., > all on the one box. Obviously far from ideal, but it wasn't > cost-effective to do anything else before. With virtualization now > being in our reach, my goal is to split that into dedicated VMs, and > move everything on to a single physical box. > > I've not found much capacity planning guidance for small businesses > who want to do virtualization on a single server. All the guides seem > to assume 1000s of users, and help one figure out how many servers to > buy for one's load. I'm trying to figure out how much of a server to > buy, for the varied VMs I want to put on it. > > CURRENT ENVIRONMENT > > * Single physical site, single domain, single AD site > * 100 MB NTDS, 285 MB SYSVOL > * 85 named users, plus a dozen or so shared role accounts > * 120 CALed PCs > * 370 GB plain old files on the file server > * 150 GB Exchange information store > * 130 GB other stuff (OS overhead, server software, OS images, WSUS, etc.) > * 25 network printers > * Win 2000 Server (I know, I know); Exchange 2003 > > MY PLAN SO FAR > > We're a Dell shop, so PowerEdge T710. Eight disk bays. Two CPU sockets. > > Win 2008 R2 Datacenter. Gotta love the unlimited VMs. > > Hyper-V, simple because it makes the support question less complicated. > > Budget isn't set in stone, but I'm shooting for the 8 - 12 kilobuck > range, including service contract, not including software. Obviously > we don't want to spend more than we have to, but if something is > cost-justified I can argue to get it. > > At least five VMs: DC/DHCP/DNS. Exchange. File server. Print > server (ill-behaved print drivers). And one catch-all -- WSUS, BES, > anti-virus server, license servers, a few tiny vendor-app databases. > Maybe split that last one up a bit more, maybe not. > > I think a SAN would be overkill for us right now. One nice thing > about virtualization is that we can easily migrate the VHDs to a SAN > when get to that point. > > DISK CONFIGURATION > > Traditional wisdom was to use dedicated spindle sets for things like > Exchange. Your dedicated Exchange server would have a small mirror > for OS and software, a small mirror for the transaction logs, and > however much you needed for the Information Store. Virtualization > makes the question more complicated. > > I could get eight mid-sized 15 KRPM disks, and put them in RAID 10 > (stripe of mirrors). Have most of it be a giant partition on the > host, containing all the VHDs. > > Or I could get larger, 7.2 KRPM disks, put them in mirrored pairs, > and dedicate mirrors to workloads. One mirror set for the Exchange > IS, another for the logs, a third for plain old files, and a fourth > for everything else. Or some variation on that theme. > > Thoughts on this? > > RAM AND CPU SIZING > > For such a small environment, am I okay oversubscribing the physical > cores/hyperthreads? For example, if I get a single six core processor > (leaving the second socket open for future expansion), will that be > okay? Does Exchange have to have multiple dedicated cores to run > well? > > Likewise, how much RAM do I really need to give the single-purpose > VMs? I'm thinking 1 GB for the print server. Will the DC be okay > with 1 GB? I'm thinking the more RAM I can give Exchange and the file > server, the better, so there's a trade-off here. > > > > > Thanks for reading. :) > > -- Ben > > ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ > ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ > > --- > To manage subscriptions click here: > http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ > or send an email to [email protected] > with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin > ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ --- To manage subscriptions click here: http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ or send an email to [email protected] with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin
