Книга: Mastering VMware® Infrastructure3

VirtualCenter Best Practices

VirtualCenter Best Practices

The configuration details regarding the virtual networking best practices shown here can be found in Chapters 5 and 8.

? Uninstall IIS prior to installing VirtualCenter Server.

? Use the Service applet in the Windows Control Panel to configure the VMware VirtualCenter Server Service for autorestart.

? Design a strong high availability solution for the VirtualCenter database server (i.e., Microsoft Clustering or consistent database backups).

? To install VirtualCenter 2.5 with a SQL Server 2005 back-end database requires a SQL Server authenticated user account with membership in the db_owner database role and ownership of the VirtualCenter database. Once the installation of VC 2.5 is complete, the db_owner database role membership can (and should) be removed.

? Carefully monitor the transaction logs of the VirtualCenter database. To eliminate transaction log growth, configure SQL Server databases in Simple Recovery mode. For maximum recoverability, configure SQL Server database in Full Recovery mode.

? Configure VirtualCenter in an active/passive server cluster with Microsoft Clustering Services for high availability, or install VirtualCenter into a virtual machine and perform a copy of the virtual machine at regular intervals.

? Create a VirtualCenter hierarchy to support your management model. If your organization manages resources by location, then create management objects (datacenters, clusters, folders) based on location. On the other hand, if your organization manages by department, then create objects accordingly. In most organizations the VirtualCenter hierarchy will reflect a hybrid approach that combines location, department, server function, server type, and so forth.

? Apply the principle of least privilege to permissions assignment policies in VirtualCenter. Employees who use VirtualCenter as a common management tool should be granted only the permissions required to perform their job.

? Use Windows groups in the VirtualCenter security model. Assigning Windows groups to a VirtualCenter role that is assigned privileges and permissions will facilitate the application of similar settings in the future. For example, create a Windows group called DomainControllerAdmins that is a member of the VC role called DCAdmins, which has the privilege to power on and power off and has been granted the permission on a folder containing all domain controller virtual machines. When a new user is hired to administer the domain controller virtual machines, the user can simply be added to the DomainControllerAdmins Windows group and will inherit all the necessary permissions.

? Identify a systematic approach to LUN creation and management. Identify either the adaptive or the predictive scheme as the LUN management process. Keep in mind that your overall storage management may involve a combination of larger LUNs with several virtual machine files and smaller LUNs for individual virtual machine files.

? Configure DRS to perform VMotion based on comfort level. Some VMotion will be necessary to ensure balance and fairness of resource allocation.

? Disable the automated VMotion for critical virtual machines that you do not wish to be VMotion candidates based on the DRS algorithm.

? If the DRS algorithm suggests a VMotion migration of four or five stars, it is in the best interest of the system to apply the recommendation. The algorithm takes into account many factors for offering recommendations that result in increased system performance.

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