Virtualizing the Data Center: Blueprints from the Field Moving Toward a Fully Virtual Infrastructure Moving Toward a Fully Virtual Infrastructure Presented by Andrew Kutz Consultant akutz@lostcreations.com www.lostcreations.com Abstract This session presents blueprints for handling physical-to-virtual (P2V), virtual-to-virtual (V2V) and virtual-to-physical (V2P) migrations in largescale virtualization deployments. Use cases for all practical migration methods are demonstrated, along with scripts and best practices for preparing servers for migration.
What I Assume You Know Server and OS virtualization architectures General familiarity with virtualization platforms By The End Of The Session, You ll Know The Following Migration methodologies Migration show stoppers Migration best practices Migration Methods Several ways to complete the migration task Manual Hot Clone Offline Image Bare Metal Restore
Manual Migration Small, incremental migrations Manually install OS and applications in target VM Sync data by restoring from backup, replication, or manual copy Commonly used to virtualize multipurpose servers Hot Cloning Works 95% of the time Leostream Hot migrations can be scheduled PlateSpin the only vendor to support Linux (RHEL, SLES) Other vendors: VMware, Invirtus VMware Converter Converts Windows NT/2000/XP/2003 VMware ESX Server, VMware Server Converts the following image files to VMs Backup Exec System Recovery Norton Ghost 9 and higher Microsoft Virtual PC and Virtual Server virtual hard disks (VHDs) VMware Consolidated Backup (VCB) snapshot images Restores VCB backup images to running VMs
PlateSpin PowerConvert Converts Windows NT/2000/XP/2003, Red Hat Linux 7.3 and up, SLES 9 and up VMware ESX Server 2.1 and higher VMware Server Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2 XenSource 3.x Virtual Iron 3.x LeoStream P>V Direct Converts Windows NT/2000/XP/2003 VMware ESX Server 2.5 and higher VMware Server for Windows Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2 XenSource 3.x Invirtus Enterprise VM Converter Converts Windows 2000/XP/2003 VMware ESX Server 2.5 and higher (with manual copy, vmkfstools) VMware Server for Windows Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2 Virtual Iron 3.x
What Can Go Wrong With Hot Cloning? BSOD Surprise! Source system drivers copied to new VM May cause stop error when they attempt to load Conversion tools such as PlateSpin PowerConvert do a very good job of removing physical device drivers on the fly What Else Can Go Wrong? Backup of open files is crash consistent Databases, open files may not be readable on VM target Script support enables shutdown/quiesce of open files prior to clone Network errors Duplicate names Cloning tools should be set to keep VM disconnected from network after cloning completes Offline Imaging 1. Prepare source system a. Remove drivers b. Install generic HAL c. Use a third party imaging tool to upload source disk images to server 2. Create the new VM on target physical host 3. Boot VM and download image
Imaging Support Growing Many vendors that support crossserver image deployment promote P2V migration capabilities Acronis Symantec Portlock Acronis TrueImage Enterprise Server Supported Platforms Windows 2000/XP/2003 Red Hat 7.3 and up Novell SUSE 8.0 and up Mandriva 8.0 and up ASPLinux 9.2, 10 Virtuozzo 2.6.x Gentoo UnitedLinux 1.0 Ubuntu 6.06 TurboLinux 8.0, 10.0 Additional Imaging Products Backup Exec System Recovery Windows 2000 and higher Portlock Storage Manager NetWare 3.12 and higher Windows and Linux support on the way
V2V Imaging Third Party tools VMDK to VHD Converter www.vmtoolkit.com Windows OS prep Replace HAL and ntoskrnl with default versions Uninstall VMware tools and device drivers (vbscript available at chriswolf.com) Migration via Bare Metal Recovery 1. Perform a full system backup 2. Create new VM on physical host server and boot using BMR client 3. Perform bare metal restore Future: Backup software creates new virtual hard disk on the fly Migration Decision Points Target CPU utilization (60%) Virtual hard disk or Raw LUN? Local or SAN storage? Impact of VM failover on storage and network resources Physical host availability for failover and scheduled maintenance Impact on physical security and VLANs
Data Protection and Recovery No common virtual hard disk format or management standard Virtual disk data protection options are limited by the virtualization platform s feature set You did what? And it worked? Raw disks offer greater Hang on I protection options, but at the need to tell our cost of portability Marketing department. Many data protection ISVs are learning best practices and methodologies alongside you! Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes Backup schedule Scheduled maintenance Hardware Antivirus Defrag SAN Network and VLANs Migration Failures Exchange 2003 Server 2TB information store 400 users Citrix server Workstation imaging/file server Can I get a do-over?
Migration Roadmap 1. Plan (decide on platform, systems to virtualize, involve all necessary IT divisions) 2. Procure new hardware 3. Test and validate virtualization platform configuration and VMs 4. Back up source systems 5. Perform P2V clone 6. Test cloned VM 7. Disconnect source system and connect VM to the LAN 8. Continue to monitor new virtual environment Use At The Office http://downloads.chriswolf.com System prep scripts P2V Migration references Migration analysis tools Recommendations/Summary Over plan Use third party tools Test to differentiate features from marketing checkboxes Redundancy (server, network, storage) is a requirement
Questions? Audience Q&A akutz@lostcreations.com For More Information Virtualization: From the Desktop to the Enterprise www.chriswolf.com www.searchservervirtualization.com www.vmblog.com www.virtualization.info