Windows Server Virtualization

Infrastructure Planning and Design Series

 What Is IPD?
Planning and design guidance that aims to clarify and streamline
the planning and design process for Microsoft® infrastructure
technologies

IPD:

Defines decision flow

Describes decisions to be made

Relates decisions and options for the business

Frames additional questions for business understanding

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 Getting Started

PLANNING FOR
VIRTUALIZATION

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 Why Use Virtualization?
Here are four virtualization scenarios:
Server Consolidation

Application Migration

Increase IT Agility

Software Development and Training

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 Purpose and Overview
Purpose:
To provide design guidance for Microsoft® Virtual Server
2005 R2 SP1 or Windows Server® 2008 Hyper-V™
Agenda
Determine Application Requirements
Design the Host Infrastructure

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 The Role of Server Virtualization in Infrastructure
Optimization

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 Decision Flow Diagram

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 Tips for the Planning Process
Use a spreadsheet or database to track
application and host server requirements
Involve the entire organization
Ensure management’s commitment to the
virtualization project
Gather requirements and business input
Validate all assumptions with business and
technical experts

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 Decision Tree Part 1:
Determine Application Requirements

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 Determine Virtualization Scope
Which part of the infrastructure will be virtualized?
Option 1: Enterprise

Option 2: Hub

Option 3: Satellite

Business Validation
Define virtualization goals/benefits

Define the scope and timeline for implementation

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 Create the List of Applications
Task 1: Determine Application Compatibility
Processor architecture requirements

Number of required processors

Memory requirements

Graphics adapter requirements

Special hardware requirements

Task 2: Verify Business Requirements

Task 3: Document Decisions

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 Determine Resource Requirements
Sources of performance data:
Real-world/Historical performance data

Specifications and requirements

Benchmark/Load-testing results
Object Counters or Criteria
Tasks:
CPU % Processor Time
Memory Committed Bytes
Disk Space and Performance
Network Bytes/sec, bandwidth
Backup Backup required?
Availability Determine method

Coexistence and Isolation Workload segregation

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 Select the Backup Approach
Application Backup Options:
Option 1: Per Application

Option 2: By Guest

Option 3: By Host

Considerations:
Performance

Downtime/availability

Storage capacity and limitations

Ease of recoverability

Complexity of implementation

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 Select a High-Availability Approach
Application Availability Options:
Option 1: Network Load Balancing
 Web servers (stateless)

Option 2: Application-Specific Clustering

 Microsoft Cluster Server (MSCS)-aware applications

Option 3: Host Clustering

 Last resort option (host in an MSCS cluster)

Characteristics:
Availability, manageability, interoperability

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 Summarize Application Requirements

Purpose: Determine complete requirements for the host

infrastructure

Tasks:
Task 1: Summarize Guest Hardware Resource Requirements
 CPU, memory, disk (performance and storage capacity), and network

Task 2: Group Applications

 Backup, co-existence, physical isolation, high-availability requirements

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 Decision Tree Part 2:
Design the Host Infrastructure

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 Select a Form Factor for the Hosts
Begin designing the host infrastructure

Options:
Option 1: Leverage existing hardware

Option 2: Purchase new hardware

Characteristics:
Cost

Performance

Availability/Reliability

Manageability

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 Determine Host Server Placement
Determine where servers should be placed based on:
Costs

Manageability

Security

Performance

Availability

Options:
Option 1: Data Centers (Centralized)

Option 2: Branch or Satellite Offices

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 Map Guests to Hosts
Goal: Determine the optimal allocation of workloads based on
application requirements

Tasks:
Task 1: Determine Target Host Resource Utilization Goals

Task 2: Draw a Host/Guest Plan

Task 3: Re-evaluate Infrastructure Capacity

Process will likely be iterative and can require trade-offs

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 Determine the Host Backup Approach
Option 1: Guest-Level Backups
• Treat virtual machines (VMs) as physical machines (use of backup
agents)

• Pros: Reduces storage requirements; more control over backups

• Cons: Requires guest operating system support; recovery can be

complex and time-consuming

Option 2: Host-Level Backups

• Back up entire VMs from the host file system

• Pros: Rapid recovery from failures; consistent backup method

• Cons: Can require third-party hardware and software; requires

large amounts of storage capacity

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 Design High Availability
Decisions will be based on application requirements
Option 1: Host Clustering Option 2: Other Clustering
Options

Protects against VM and Network clustering

hardware failures

Requires shared storage Guest clustering

Requires additional reserved Application-specific clustering

capacity for failovers

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 Design the Storage Infrastructure
Tasks:
Task 1: Design for Parallelism

Task 2: Evaluate Direct-attached Storage

Task 3: Evaluate Network-based Storage

 Network-attached Storage

 Storage Area Networks (SAN)

 iSCSI

Task 4: Evaluate Virtual Hard Disk Types

 Fixed-size versus dynamically expanding VHDs

 Undo disks and differencing disks

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 Design the Network Infrastructure
Translate guest requirements to host
Task Strategy
Determine VM Network • No connectivity
Requirements
• VM-only networks
• Guest-Host connections
• Physical network access
Host Bandwidth • Summarize VM bandwidth requirements
Requirements
• Public/Private/Internet network access

Plan for Reliability & • Network adapter teaming

Availability
• Switch and NIC redundancy
• Load balancing and automatic failover

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 Validate the Overall Approach
Goals:
Verify that all decisions are aligned with business requirements

Validate changes to initial requirements

Tasks:
Task 1: Validate Application Requirements

Task 2: Validate Host Infrastructure Design Decisions

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 What’s Next?
Implement your design

Quantify return on investment

Repeat as appropriate for:

Enterprise

Hub

Satellite

Provide feedback on the documentation to

[email protected]

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 Summary and Conclusion
Organizations should base the design of their Virtual Server
infrastructure on business and technical requirements

Considerations should include:

• The scope of virtualization

• Technical requirements and considerations

• Additional business requirements

• Designing a host infrastructure to meet those requirements

• Validating the overall approach

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 Find More Information
The Microsoft Solution Accelerators Web site
microsoft.com/technet/SolutionAccelerators

Contact the IPD team

[email protected]

Download the full document

http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=100915

Online resources:
The Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2 Home Page provides a central location for information
about the Virtual Server platform.
The Virtual Machine Technology FAQ provides answers to commonly asked questions about
Virtual Server functionality, licensing, and deployment options.
The Microsoft TechNet Server Virtualization Forum provides a location in which architects,
implementers, and end users can discuss issues related to designing and deploying Microsoft
Virtual Server.
The Technical White Paper, Improving IT Efficiency at Microsoft Using Virtual Server 2005,
provides details on how Microsoft has implemented a Virtual Server infrastructure. An
associated Webcast is also available.
Microsoft TechNet Radio: How Microsoft Does IT: The Future of Server Virtualization.

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