Determining Hardware Needs

[arkestler]

Hi,

I am evaluating how to implement virtualization for our orgainization. How can I figure out the requirements of a proxmox server/cluster based on the number/type of VM's to be running? I will be running approx 3-4 Windows Servers 2003 or 2008, approx 20 - 30 Win7 machines and an handful or so Debian vms.

Thanks,
Andrew

 

[tom]

Depends a lot on the load.

Most important question: where do you store your VM disks? do you need live-migration? do you need redundant storage with DRBD?

 

[arkestler]

I would like redundant shared storage with live migration available.

 

[udo]

I would like redundant shared storage with live migration available.

Hi,
whithout knowing the cpu + IO-load of your VMs (and storage needs) i would guess you need round 4 servers for that.
I have one cluster with 2 nodes, all drbd-filesystem and 32cores each - on this configuration i would only take an half of your VMs. But if your VM mainly idle - perhaps all.
But if one node fail - all VMs need to run on one node... this is why i think 4 servers (2 * 2) are better.
For DRBD (if you need performance) you need a fast interconnect. E.G. Dolphin-Nics, Infiniband or 10GB-Ethernet (has more latency).

Udo