Sql – Run Sharepoint 2003 on VMWare

sharepointsql servervirtual machinevirtualizationvmware

Our production Sharepoint server serves around 800 users and runs together with its SQL Server on a physical dual-core machine.

The network guys now to put as much as possible on VMWare. The Sharepoint server and the SQL Server will be put on different servers.

Does anyone have experience of running a production-level Sharepoint server on a VM?

Best Answer

The sharepoint server: yes. The database server: I wouldn't.

Our organisation is backing away from virtual database servers and going towards large multi-node, multi-instance clusters.

Most of our app/web servers are virtual.

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VMWare Server: Best way to backup images

VMWare server includes the command line tool "vmware-cmd", which can be used to perform virtually any operation that can be performed through the console.

In this case you would simply add a "vmware-cmd susepend" to your script before starting your backup, and a "vmware-cmd start" after the backup is completed.

We use vmware-server as part of our build system to provide a known environment to run automated DB upgrades against, so we end up rolling back state as part of each build (driven by CruiseControl), and have found this interface to be rock solid.

Usage: /usr/bin/vmware-cmd <options> <vm-cfg-path> <vm-action> <arguments>
       /usr/bin/vmware-cmd -s <options> <server-action> <arguments>

  Options:
    Connection Options:
       -H <host>       specifies an alternative host (if set, -U and -P must also be set)
       -O <port>       specifies an alternative port
       -U <username>   specifies a user
       -P <password>   specifies a password
    General Options:
       -h More detailed help.
       -q Quiet. Minimal output
       -v Verbose.

  Server Operations:
    /usr/bin/vmware-cmd -l 
    /usr/bin/vmware-cmd -s register <config_file_path>
    /usr/bin/vmware-cmd -s unregister <config_file_path>
    /usr/bin/vmware-cmd -s getresource <variable>
    /usr/bin/vmware-cmd -s setresource <variable> <value>

  VM Operations:
    /usr/bin/vmware-cmd <cfg> getconnectedusers
    /usr/bin/vmware-cmd <cfg> getstate
    /usr/bin/vmware-cmd <cfg> start <powerop_mode>
    /usr/bin/vmware-cmd <cfg> stop <powerop_mode>
    /usr/bin/vmware-cmd <cfg> reset <powerop_mode>
    /usr/bin/vmware-cmd <cfg> suspend <powerop_mode>
    /usr/bin/vmware-cmd <cfg> setconfig <variable> <value>
    /usr/bin/vmware-cmd <cfg> getconfig <variable>
    /usr/bin/vmware-cmd <cfg> setguestinfo <variable> <value>
    /usr/bin/vmware-cmd <cfg> getguestinfo <variable>
    /usr/bin/vmware-cmd <cfg> getid
    /usr/bin/vmware-cmd <cfg> getpid
    /usr/bin/vmware-cmd <cfg> getproductinfo <prodinfo>
    /usr/bin/vmware-cmd <cfg> connectdevice <device_name>
    /usr/bin/vmware-cmd <cfg> disconnectdevice <device_name>
    /usr/bin/vmware-cmd <cfg> getconfigfile
    /usr/bin/vmware-cmd <cfg> getheartbeat
    /usr/bin/vmware-cmd <cfg> getuptime
    /usr/bin/vmware-cmd <cfg> getremoteconnections
    /usr/bin/vmware-cmd <cfg> gettoolslastactive
    /usr/bin/vmware-cmd <cfg> getresource <variable>
    /usr/bin/vmware-cmd <cfg> setresource <variable> <value>
    /usr/bin/vmware-cmd <cfg> setrunasuser <username> <password>
    /usr/bin/vmware-cmd <cfg> getrunasuser
    /usr/bin/vmware-cmd <cfg> getcapabilities
    /usr/bin/vmware-cmd <cfg> addredo <disk_device_name>
    /usr/bin/vmware-cmd <cfg> commit <disk_device_name> <level> <freeze> <wait>
    /usr/bin/vmware-cmd <cfg> answer

Running VMware in VMware

The technical limitation with running VMware inside VMware is that VMware, Virtual PC, etc takes advantage of the Virtualization features present in modern CPUs.

If you have two or more hypervisors are both trying to control Ring 0 then there will be problems, this is something that I've encountered while trying to run both VMware and Virtual PC simultaneously on my desktop - one will error out/crash.

If your hypervisor can interact with the 'parent' hypervisor, then you'll be OK. Alternatively if the child hypervisor doesn't try to use the CPU virtualization features, or entirely emulates the CPU (such as QEMU) then you should also be OK.

Basically old-style hypervisors on old CPUs use Full virtualization (slow) which would be capable of nesting with a heavy, heavy performance hit. modern Hypervisors/CPUs use hardware assisted virtualization (near native performance) and you'd be hard pressed to find a hypervisor that is designed or capable of nested virtual machines.

Finally, I'd really advise against running dev/test VMs on the same physical server that is running production VMs. There's just too much to go wrong and security implications - you need to manage the dev/test environment and it sounds like you shouldn't have access to production environment. Likewise you probably don't want the operations team messing about with your test environment.

UPDATE: ESXi 4 now supports virtualizing itself. See this article for more information

Best Answer

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Running VMware in VMware

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