MCITP:EA track virtualization questions

DaeleshThar

I have some virtualization questions related directly to doing the MCITP:EA track for a degree from WGU. Original, I know! Hoping to have some new questions or at least new takes on questions already asked.

I plan on using Hyper-V for my virtualization platform, though after I feel comfortable with it I may switch to VMware to get some time in with that. I currently have a 2.53ghz dual-core cpu (vt-d enabled), 8gb ram, 3 network cards, 320gb 5400 laptop drive, 640gb, 1tb hard drives. Also have a laptop that is my daily use system, so running Win 7 pro but can run Virtualbox or the like on top of it. I'll be going with a Technet subscription for all software needs.

1. SSDs--has anyone used an SSD in a labbing environment? I'm wondering if the performance of an SSD can allow 4-6 VMs to run off of it. To go with that, what size of VMs would I be looking at for the server setups for labbing? Trying to figure out if a 120gb SSD is worth it, since I only need enough space for the VMs and it'd be less heat, noise, power and potentially performance.

2. For lab purposes, is there much of a difference between a dual-core and quad-core system loaded with the # of VMs I'm looking at for these certs?

3. Are there any pros/cons for having two separate boxes using Hyper-V/VMware for labbing? I might leave the current box as is and build a second system and end up using both. Pros;could see the effects of various hardware while labbing (dual-core vs quad-core, SSD vs mechanical drives, running multiple types of virtualization products at once etc.

Thanks for any and all feedback that you have!

Jamie

MentholMoose

1. SSDs are great for labbing, you can really push the VMs without running out of performance, and just not worry about performance at all (at least for labbing purposes). With regular disks you have to be very careful not to have anything doing too much or performance will just fall off a cliff without notice.

As an example I have two lab machines, one desktop and one laptop. The desktop has 4 SATA drives in a RAID 10 array on a hardware RAID controller from LSI Logic, whereas the laptop has a single 120GB SSD. Both have 8GB RAM (desktop is DDR2, laptop is DDR3), and the desktop has a Core 2 Quad CPU while the laptop is an Core i5 (so dual core with hyperthreading). There is no comparison when it comes to performance, the desktop is just blown away (unfortunately I got the laptop somewhat recently, so I used the desktop for all my MCITP: EA studies).

On the desktop if I want to start, say, 10 VMs, to do a lab, I basically have to boot only one or two at a time, and do nothing else, or else I will have problems. The VMs will boot decently fast, but once all 10 are up, performance isn't that great, and I have to be careful not to do something intensive. If I want to lab WSUS, for example, I can't let more than 1 VM update itself at a time, and I certainly can't run any antivirus.

On the laptop, I can boot 10 VMs simultaneously, while still checking email, browsing, watching CBTs, and any other task, with NO noticeable performance degradation. Once they are up, the disk does not slow anything down at all. I can simultaneously run an AV scan on 5 VMs, update the others by WSUS, with WSUS and SQL Server running on VMs. I personally will only be using SSDs for labbing, if possible.

The main drawbacks with SSD are price and size. SSDs are 10x the cost per gigabyte compared to a regular SATA disk. To me the cost is acceptable since it saves me a lot of time, and I actually end up using my lab more (since it takes 1 minute to start any number of VMs I need). For space, to conserve I use linked clone functionality. Basically I build a VM, update it, install whatever it needs, then sysprep and prepare it to be a linked clone (varies by virtualization product). This can save several GB per VM (varies by OS), which is helpful. Even if you are running 4-6 VMs at once, you might have others not running, so it's nice to have some breathing room to store some extra VMs (and not have to delete/recreate them, or move them to other storage temporarily).

2. Dual core should be fine. Like I previously mentioned I'm using a Core i5 in my laptop, and it is fine even with a bunch of VMs running. Quad core CPUs are pretty cheap, though, at least for desktop machines. If I was building another desktop for labbing, I'd probably pay the extra few bucks on a quad core. For labbing I think cores will help more than speed, so I'd prefer a quad core with a slow clock speed versus a dual core with a fast one (and the price difference between these options is very minimal). Also AMD versus Intel is irrelevant, either are supported for virtualization. I kind of prefer AMD since you don't have to worry if it supports the necessary virtualization extensions... every AMD CPU from the last 5 years has them, whereas with Intel CPUs you have to check the CPU model (and in some cases even the stepping!).

3. With multiple hosts you can possibly run more VMs. Also you can use multiple virtualization platforms to build your experience. The bad thing will be cost, not just for buying the hardware (and possibly software), but also for your power bill. If you are running them as separate systems (i.e. not tying them together somehow), hardware differences aren't important.

For really learning about virtualization and studying for virtualization-specific certs, you should probably have multiple machines that are mostly identical. So for now you might just want to build one slightly beefy machine, and later on build a second identical one, if desired. It will depend on the platform, though. For learning VMware vSphere you can actually run everything you need as VMs, so one beefy machine would suffice. However, Microsoft Hyper-V won't function at all in a VM, so for that you'd need multiple physical machines.

Anyway, sorry for the long post. Hopefully you can wade through it to find the answers to your questions.

DaeleshThar

Thank you! That's exactly what I was looking for. It seemed like SSD would work really, really well for labbing and thanks for confirming it. I've got to finish up Project+, then it's time for the EA track.

I was thinking of going with the cheapest AMD x6 proc, being it is $180~. Put in 16gb of ram and an SSD to go with some mechanical drives to start. With the parts I already have, shouldn't hurt *too* much, heh.

Thanks again, now off to start planning a desktop build.

Jamie

ITVince

Ive got the AMD Phenom II @ 3.2 Ghz with 6 Cores with 12 GB Ram. I was running 3 DC's and 4 clients just fine, with just a single 1 TB 7200RPM internal. They are still pretty quick if you ask me. But I guess it depends on what you're trying to do. I'm just setting up and fiddling with AD/DNS stuff