You a VMware consultant for a large company, the current platform is running vSphere 4.0 platform.
The platform is based at 1 site , with a single 8 node ESX 4.0 cluster hosting 580 guest VMs .
The FC storage holds 50 datastores, with a total size of 6tb, the San is an active / passive solution.
You have been assigned accountability for the vSphere upgrade and to develop the platform for the next 3 years.
After a short design workshop with the business the following was noted,
- The CTO is looking to add another site for DR. Ideally using VMware SRM within 12 months.
- The development manager is concerned about performance with network performance between hosts a concern.
- The IT manager is looking to replace all servers. The current platform is supported to 5.1 due to physical server version. He prefers a single management interface.
- The business application manager has been disappointed with its current restore function, currently the platform is not backed up correctly and no documentation exists. The platform suffered a network error and all VMs on one host were powered off.
The procurement team have provided a pack of physical kit and contracts, the storage solution is end of life in 18 months, the network contract is 2 months in to a 5 year contract providing 100 mb links between sites.
The current hosts consists of 6 NICS and a separate dual port fibre card.
Tasks to complete
- Describe the Project vision
- Draw a conceptual diagram for the project.
- Draw a logical diagram.
- List the requirements, risks and constraints.
- Highlight the suspected issues and changes needed to avoid a host power down outage in future.
- From the issues draw two possible options for the management layer between the 2 sites, highlight the pros and cons of each option.
- Construct a high level implementation plan for the project to upgrade to 5.1 and then 5.5