ESX 4.0 D3/Linux 7.4.2 Options

[dandrews]

We have a server running vsphere 4.0 and have installed RH3.0/7.4.2 D3 in a VM. All is running excellent. We are using the typical raw disk D3 install after creating a new disk and telling D3 to use partition. Anyone using the same scenario or different?

Thanks a lot,
Dan

[TonyG]

Lots of companies are going virtual these days, even putting their databases into "the cloud". I've written a couple blogs on the topic of virtualization with VMware. Click here to go to the second and that links to the first. I'm still using the free Workstation v1.0.4 for my purposes - I don't trust v2.x yet.

The only thing that I would add is:

• My articles are outdated regarding memory - try to use as much as you can.
• There seems to be some chronic issues with ESX that may require repair. Then again there are a lot of sites running it with no problem. The bottom line here is that you need to cover your backside with something like hotbackup and similar Linux tools to ensure no data loss.
• TigerLogic doesn't officially support running D3 in a virtual environment but this seems to be changing for D3v9. Check with them about your v7.4 before running production users in this environment.

[dandrews]

Thanks for the info Tony,

In this environment we do nightly backups (pseudo) to a separate server as well as using Vizioncores vReplicator product which replicates every 30 minutes of both Linux and the D3 disk to a standby VM (on a separate server) which can be failed over to in the event of a server failure. The product incorporates CBT (changed block tracking) this will only replicate changed blocks on the disk to the standby VM.

Thanks,
Dan

Lots of companies are going virtual these days, even putting their databases into "the cloud". I've written a couple blogs on the topic of virtualization with VMware. Click here to go to the second and that links to the first. I'm still using the free Workstation v1.0.4 for my purposes - I don't trust v2.x yet.

The only thing that I would add is:

• My articles are outdated regarding memory - try to use as much as you can.
• There seems to be some chronic issues with ESX that may require repair. Then again there are a lot of sites running it with no problem. The bottom line here is that you need to cover your backside with something like hotbackup and similar Linux tools to ensure no data loss.
• TigerLogic doesn't officially support running D3 in a virtual environment but this seems to be changing for D3v9. Check with them about your v7.4 before running production users in this environment.