Can you run VMware on a Cisco MCS 7845?

nellocon

Hi Folks,
I have got 4 x Cisco MCS 7845 servers going spare as we now on UCS environement. My plan is to use these for a CCIE lab. I will need 5 servers. So my question is, can I install some version of VMware to run on these so that I can run multiple VMs?

If so, which VMware product can I use - VMware vSphere, ESXi etc? (sorry I am a bit clueless here...)

Each server has 2Mb of RAM

Thanks.

aaron0011

Yes, 7845 will run ESXi. You will need more memory though to run multiple apps on the same server. 2 GB per CUCM, 4GB for Unity Connection, 2GB for CUP, 4GB for UCCX.

ESXi is the hypervisor OS you will install on the servers. Download the OVA templates from Cisco for each UC app you are installing as a VM. Load these templates into ESXi using vSphere to build the VMs, mount your ISOs to boot from and your all set ready to install. The vSphere client is the software used to config and administer your ESXi hosts.

nellocon

Aaron, thank you very much that's excellent. Do you know which type of Ram I need to purchase that will work in these servers?

aaron0011

Not sure on the RAM, pull out the DIMMs from three of the servers and put into one for 8 GB. That'll be enough to run two CUCM (pub and sub) and CUP. Get the specs off the chips to buy memory to put into a second server for CUC and UCCX.