VMware vSphere virtualizes the underlying physical hardware resources across multiple systems and provides the virtual resources to the datacenter. These virtual resources are known as pools. Virtualization is the abstracted layer that separates the hard connection between physical hardware and operating system. Start by virtualizing a system and then expanding to the rest of your infrastructure. VMware vSphere can build an entire virtual infrastructure spanning compute resources and storage devices. The main benefits of virtualization are dynamic movement & allocation of resources based on processing and application needs at a point in time. Resources are not tied to an instantiation instead an instantiation is free to move within a cluster to resources that will allow it to complete tasks and maintain Quality-of-Service.
Dell works closely with VMware and has created many base virtualization solutions architectures that have undergone Dell engineering rigor. VMware also has a section on its site that is dedicated to Dell and VMware. Check out the Dell TechCenter blog, especially the Solutions by Engineers for Engineers entitled blogs for additional information around virtualization topics.
VMware® vSphere™ 4.1 is comprised of four component layers. These layers are Infrastructure Services; Application Services; vCenter™ Server; and Clients. Infrastructure Services is categorized into three distinct resource areas: vCompute, vStorage, and vNetwork. Application Services provides availability, security, and scalability in features such as high availability (HA) and Fault Tolerance (FT). vCenter Server expands on the one-to-many management role to include more access control, performance monitoring, and ease of configuration. Clients like vSphere Client and Web browsers can be used to access the vSphere data center.
Dell | VMware vMotion with Oracle RAC VMs - Dell and VMware showcases vMotion of Oracle RAC VM as it runs under the DVD Store loadDell | VMware Compatibility Matrix - Dell compatibility list for VMware.Updated Dell | VMware documents for Dell PowerEdge servers.
10-2010: VMware vSphere FT, HA, and Fail-Over Support with MD3000 . 10-2010: Dell PowerEdge Servers and VMware VMotion Compatibility Matrix white-paper attached as a pdf.How to Set Up VMware vSphere Fault Tolerance - A description of FT and a step-by-step page on enabling FT.VMware ESX 4.0 and PowerVault™ MD3000i - An example configuration.Steps to disable to the CTRL-ALT-DEL default behavior in vSphere 4.
201009-14-10 : VMworld 2010 Recap09-01-10 : Live at VMWorld08-24-10 : DellTechCenter & VMWorld07-13-10 : VMware vSphere 406-29-10 : Double Take Availability with VMware & MD3200i03-02-10 : Dell and VMware Study: Microsoft Exchange 2010 on VMware vSphere 02-23-10 : Dell and VMware Study: SAP on VMware vSphere 200910-06-09 : Discuss Virtualization with Ron Oglesby09-08-09 : VMworld Post-conference Highlights – Jeff Sullivan and Kong Yang 07-14-09 : Dell Business-Ready Configurations – Bala Chandrasekaran, Ryan Weldon, and Kong Yang07-07-09 : Microsoft® Exchange 2007 on VMware vSphere 4.0 – Todd Muirhead and Kong Yang06-30-09 : Dell iSCSI and Virtualization – Brian Sitton and Kong Yang06-25-09 : Dell EqualLogic™ PS4000 Series – Kong Yang06-16-09 : Dell and VMware vSphere 4.0 Performance – Josh Donelson, Dushyant Dwibedy, David Morse, Todd Muirhead, Kong Yang 06-02-09 : VMware vSphere – Kong Yang and Scott Hanson
Performance and Sizing of VMware – There has been a range of performance studies, including some competitive tests, performed by Dell over the last several years. Included are summaries of the findings and links to the full studies.
VMware Management – Covers key areas of Dell™ OpenManage™ suite integration and use of enterprise features to maintain VMware server farms. There are also links to scripts and VMware SDK programs. This section also contains a script to help you automate VMware ESX server patches.
VMware on PowerEdge™ Servers – Dell provides a set of tested and validated servers and storage that have been verified to work by engineering.
VMware Demonstrations – The Dell TechCenter team is proud to provide the following demonstrations for your use. Use these demos to introduce new concepts to your teams, or show the decision makers in your organization why these technologies are necessary.Microsoft Exchange Server on VMware - Dell engineers have worked with Microsoft Exchange to investigate how high-performance applications can be run in virtual machines.