Based on my experience, 12 cores is plenty. On my project we have run MAP tool against about a thousand physical hosts, plus gathered months of SCOM data to determine our sizing. CPU tends to be the smallest problem. I would worry more about the 12x disks you have - my gut feel is that you need more
But, as mentioned earlier, what stats have you gathered on your existing environment? I would have run MAP or perfmon for a month to understand my existing load before even looking at quotes. With the facts, you can put out a better RFP Sent from my Windows Phone ________________________________ From: David Mazzaccaro Sent: 18/7/2012 4:39 AM To: NT System Admin Issues Subject: RE: moving to virtual This is the response I got from VMW when I asked if I could have each machine installed w/ 192GB. I guess he's telling me that that RAM will be fine, but I likely won't have enough CPU to go around: You can have 192 GB of RAM on each machine, the issue that you will run into if you were to move everything onto one host is the amount of CPU that you will have to allocate to the virtual machines within the environment. Again you have to remember that even though you have allocated "X" amount of vRAM to a virtual machine the virtual machine may not be utilizing all of that allocated vRAM. I hope that this helps answer your question. -----Original Message----- From: Paul Hutchings [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, July 17, 2012 1:07 PM To: NT System Admin Issues Subject: RE: moving to virtual By all means double check (I am now!!) but my understanding is that the entire point of the vRAM licensing is that it removes any physical restriction on the RAM in a machine, as per the PDF I linked to "No Limits on Physical Resources". So sure, you still need to have each processor licensed, but the vRAM allowance that comes with each processor license goes into a single pool and they wouldn't care if each individual host had 32gb or 512gb of physical RAM so long as your VM's weren't allocated more than 192gb of vRAM in total. The Essentials kits appear to limit you to 2 physical CPUs but the documentation states that the vRAM capacity is still pooled, so it's almost a mix of two licensing limits. ________________________________________ From: David Mazzaccaro [[email protected]] Sent: 17 July 2012 4:53 PM To: NT System Admin Issues Subject: RE: moving to virtual This is not what VMW told me on the phone. I will ask them to clarify, thx. In any case, for my environment I would still think 64GB per host would be plenty? -----Original Message----- From: Paul Hutchings [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, July 17, 2012 11:14 AM To: NT System Admin Issues Subject: RE: moving to virtual VMware don't care what physical RAM is in your servers any more. All they care about is that your vRAM is licensed. -----Original Message----- From: Kurt Buff [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: 17 July 2012 15:42 To: NT System Admin Issues Subject: Re: moving to virtual Read that a bit more carefully - the section titled Essentials Kits - no more than two procs per machine and no more than three hosts.They are pretty much enforcing a maximum of three machines, though you could do only one or two, but you're crippling yourself if you do. Kurt On Mon, Jul 16, 2012 at 11:51 PM, Paul Hutchings <[email protected]> wrote: > I don't think it is, it's pooled across your hosts hence vRAM entitlement. You need to have the right amount licensed but it doesn't care how it's spread across hosts. > > http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/vsphere_pricing.pdf > > -----Original Message----- > From: Kurt Buff [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: 16 July 2012 23:10 > To: NT System Admin Issues > Subject: Re: moving to virtual > > As I mentioned to ASB - he can't do that. Licensing for RAM is 64gb per host. > > On Mon, Jul 16, 2012 at 2:05 PM, Paul Hutchings <[email protected]> wrote: >> Get double that if you can. HP RAM is expensive, Kingston is cheap >> and works just fine. >> ________________________________ >> From: David Mazzaccaro [[email protected]] >> Sent: 16 July 2012 9:31 PM >> >> To: NT System Admin Issues >> Subject: RE: moving to virtual >> >> Yes, 64GB per server. >> >> >> >> >> >> From: Kramer, Jack [mailto:[email protected]] >> Sent: Monday, July 16, 2012 3:45 PM >> To: NT System Admin Issues >> Subject: Re: moving to virtual >> >> >> >> I think you'll be fine with 6-core processors. Make sure you have as >> much RAM as your licensing permits in your hosts-you'll use RAM a lot >> faster than CPU. >> >> >> >> ---- >> Jack Kramer >> Manager of Information Technology >> Communications and Brand Strategy >> >> Michigan State University >> >> w: 517-884-1231 / c: 248-635-4955 >> >> >> >> From: David Mazzaccaro <[email protected]> >> Reply-To: NT System Admin Issues >> <[email protected]> >> Date: Monday, July 16, 2012 3:36 PM >> To: NT System Admin Issues <[email protected]> >> Subject: moving to virtual >> >> >> >> Greetings, >> >> Getting very close to moving into the VM world,andhave acouple of >> questions... >> >> 1)I am trying to figure out if Ishould go with 8 core or 6 core >> processors in my3 hosts for myupcoming VMware environment. >> >> The price is about double. And I'm not sure I need 8 cores. >> >> The layoutthat has been quoted is as follows: >> >> 3 hosts connected to a PS4100XV SAN running VMware Essentials Plus Kit. >> >> Thehost serversI am looking at are either: >> >> HPDL360 G82x Intel(r) Xeon(r) E5-2640 (6 core, 2.50 GHz, 15MB, 95W) $5356 >> each >> >> HPDL360 G82x Intel(r) Xeon(r) E5-2690 (8 core, 2.90 GHz, 20MB, 135W) >> $10,061 each >> >> I currentlyhave8 physical servers(Win2003, E2003, Citrix 4.0)that we >> will be P2V'd. >> >> After I P2Vthe servers, the plan is to begincreating new Windows 2008 >> R2 VMs andmigrating each server's role(2008R2 domain, Exchange 2010, >> and Citrix XenApp 6.5). >> >> I wantenough power to be able to run my existing8 servers in a >> virtual environmentand migratethem to AD2008/E2010/XenApp as well as >> leave some room for testingand growth. >> >> 2of the vendors said 6 core is fine, another vendor is quoting 8 core >> processors. >> >> 2) The quotes I have for the"services" part of this are: >> >> $40,000 ($12k for AD/Exch, $8k for XenApp 20k for VMware) >> >> $38,000 (not itemized) >> >> $28,000 ($11k for AD/Ex,$6k XenApp, $11k for VM) >> >> Do these sound legit? I have ~190 users if that helps. >> >> I really think 28k iseither too aggressive or simply not realistic. >> This is the same vendor who quoted me(3) singleprocessorservers, so I >> have to go back to them and tell them I want dual proc. >> >> 3) For the SAN, I have 2 options: >> >> PS4100XV (12 600GB 15k SAS) $23,000 >> >> NetApp FAS2240 (12 600GB 10k SAS) $22,000 >> >> I have 2 vendors pushing the PS4100XV, and the other pushingthe NetApp. >> >> From what I have been told, I'llget better IOPS w/ the 15k drives in >> the Equalogic. And fuller feature set. >> >> Any one w/ experiences w/either of these models want to add their $.02? >> >> This is a completely new world for me, so any help is appreciated! >> >> >> . >> >> ~ 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 >> >> >> . >> >> ~ 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 >> >> ________________________________ >> MIRA Ltd >> >> Watling Street, Nuneaton, Warwickshire, CV10 0TU, England Registered >> in England and Wales No. 402570 VAT Registration GB 100 1464 84 >> >> The contents of this e-mail are confidential and are solely for the >> use of the intended recipient. 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