Server Consolidation and Business Continuity using VMware ESX and Network Appliance SnapMirror
Mike Gower Chris Fraser
Agenda
Introduction Company Profile – Imperial Parking Before Virtualization The Challenge, Drivers & Requirements The Solution Design & Benefits Disaster Recovery Failover Procedure & Summary Achieved Virtualization, Results & Summary Q&A
Introduction
Presenters Mike Gower - I.T. Blueprint Solutions Consulting Inc. Chris Fraser - Long View Systems Topic Server consolidation and business continuity using VMware ESX and Network Appliance (NetApp) SnapMirror technology
Company Profile
Imperial Parking Corporation Full suite of parking and transportation services to a wide variety of clients across North America Statistics 35 offices, 1,800 parking facilities, 425,000 spaces in Canada and the United States and 3,700 employees Web URL www.impark.com
Environment Before Virtualization
38 physical servers NT 4.0 & 2003 Active Directory mixed infrastructure. SQL, Oracle, Exchange, Citrix, Great Plains, and custom LOB Apps User requirements Business Continuity Support new company initiatives Limitations Success by heroic effort Complex environment Lack of Documentation Development environment
The Challenge
Mix of Hardware The “Desktop” server Specialty servers Old hardware Recoverability New projects Need to support new corporate initiatives Mixed environment and unfinished migrations/projects Both NT 4 and 2003 AD Power and Cooling Consumption and Cooling in current Data Center at capacity
Key Drivers and Requirements
Support growth New projects Corporate growth Reliable and Agile technology Manageability Time to implement new systems Governance model Revitalization of technology New infrastructure vs. using existing Business continuity Ability to recover all specified systems!
The Solution
Selection of Partner Long View Systems Technology Selection VMware ESX HP Proliant Servers Network Appliance Storage Implementation Provision new systems P2V existing systems Systems Management Vendor Support
Why Long View Systems?
Local presence Vancouver and Calgary Ability to support Impark operations continentally Offices also located in Edmonton, Denver and Houston North American coverage through VTN Expertise in products selected VAC & Premier VIP Enterprise Partner 30+ VCPs on staff NetApp Platinum Partner HP Platinum Partner Storage Management & Server Consolidation are 2 of our 8 core practices Our culture of flexibility and a “get it done” attitude Our people
Servers & Software
Virtual Infrastructure Starter Kit consisting 4 VIN nodes, Virtual Center & P2V starter kit. (Starter Kits no longer available) ESX Servers: 4 HP Proliant DL585s, each with 4-way AMD Opteron 2.4 GHz Dual Core processors & 32 GB PC3200 SDRAM, 8 NIC ports, 2 Qlogic HBAs Virtual Center Server: HP Proliant DL385, 2 way AMD Opteron 2.4 GHz Dual Core processor & 4 GB PC3200 SDRAM
Storage Technologies
Storage Network Appliance 3020HA storage configured with initial 2TB of storage with SnapMirror license HP StorageWorks (Backup) Snapshots Network Appliance Snapshot technology Replication NetApp SnapMirror Integrated feature that provides automated file system or LUN replication of a volume onto a remote filer
High Level Infrastructure Design
Additional Solution Components
Management tools HP Systems Insight Manager HP SNMP Agents & HP Advanced iLO (Lights-out) Altiris Server and Infrastructure Management solution Governance Model Introduction of governance model for Service Delivery and Service Support based on ITIL Co-Location site Implementation of a “warm” lights-out co-location environment
Consolidation Approach
Complete infrastructure refresh New virtual machines created for all key systems P2V migration of high risk or legacy systems
Design
Category Assignment Servers and Storage designated into a service level category (Gold, Silver, Bronze) Gold and Silver: Each VM is configured with its own Flex Volume Separate VMDKs created for Operating System and Data drives • VM Operating System Drive C – VMDK • App and Data Drive E – VMDK Special Case – Transactional Databases use an RDM and use an NTFS native format for the Data Drive instead of a VMDK file Bronze Shares common Flex Volume and LUN
Design Benefits
Granular Control Flexible Failover Single VM or entire Data Center Minimal Impart to Environment Only changes replicated across WAN Future Considerations Maximize Disk Storage
High Level Storage Breakdown
Detailed Design Silver & Bronze Example
VanWSS01 VanBES01
C:\
E:\
C:\
E:\
VanWSS01 _c.vmdk
VanWSS01 _e.vmdk
VanBES01 _c.vmdk
VanBES01 _e.vmdk
vmdk vmdk vmdk vmdk vmdk vmdk vmdk vmdk
silver_vmfs_VanWSS01 VMFS-2
silver_vmfs_VanBES01 VMFS-2
bronze_vmfs_all VMFS-2
Flex Volume on VANFAS02
Flex Volume on VANFAS02
Flex Volume on VANFAS02
Detailed Design Gold Example
VanMCS01 VanOra01 VanSQL01
C:\
E:\
C:\
E:\
E:\
C:\
VanMCS01 _c.vmdk
VanMCS01 _e.vmdk
VanOra01 _c.vmdk
gold_ntfs_VanOra01 NTFS
VanOra01 _e.vmdk
VanSQL01 _e.vmdk
gold_ntfs_VanSQL01 NTFS
VanSQL01 _c.vmdk
gold_vmfs_VanMCS01 VMFS-2
gold_vmfs_VanOra01 VMFS-2
gold_vmfs_VanRDM01 VMFS-2
gold_vmfs_VanSQL01 VMFS-2
Flex Volume on VANFAS01
Flex Volume on VANFAS01
Flex Volume on VANFAS01
Flex Volume on VANFAS01
Network Topology
Disaster Recovery Failover Procedure
Using VMware and Network Appliance SnapMirror technologies Demo of procedures to recover a single failed server to the Disaster Recovery site
Disaster Recovery Summary
Solution: Calgary setup as warm site Calgary configured as a separate network. Required routing added to allow all locations to access co-location network Calgary DNS server setup to act as a tertiary DNS server All branches DHCP scopes setup to include Calgary DNS server All branches VPN devices configured with 2nd VPN tunnel to Calgary All replicated VMs have static MAC addresses DHCP MAC reservations used When a VM comes up in Calgary, DNS is updated for clients Assumptions: - All locations use DNS for name resolution (Not I.P. Addresses) - No hard-coding of server I.P. information in applications
Achieved Virtualization
Virtual Environment (Production) 23 virtual servers (not included Development) Migrated services of 6 physical servers onto new core VMs P2V’d 9 physical servers 30+ virtual machines considered direct hardware replacements ($370K Cost avoidance) Production virtual infrastructure running: NT 4.0 & Windows 2000 (de-commissioning) Windows 2003 - File & Print, IIS, SQL, Oracle, DCs & Line of business applications, Citrix
Virtual Infrastructure 3
Early Q107 – pilot HA & upgrade VC Late Q107 – Migrate to VI3
Summary: Imperial Parking
Key Benefits $480,000+ in avoided costs and/or savings – ROI Year 1 Server Hardware Consolidation Business Continuity implemented Management and governance of systems Standardization of systems and processes Support new initiatives Full potential of savings yet to be realized “By virtualizing unsupported infrastructure, we’ve added a component of recoverability that we previously did not have.” Neal Boxrud, Network Manager, Imperial Parking
References
Network Appliance TR3393 Using Network Appliance Snapshot technology with VMware ESX Server TR3401 Using a Network Appliance SAN with VMware to Facilitate Storage and Server Consolidation TR3428 Network Appliance & VMware ESX Server Instantaneous Backup & Recovery with NetApp Snapshot Technology
Q&A
Presented by:
Mike Gower mike@itblueprint.ca
Chris Fraser chris.fraser@lvs1.com
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