Starwind Hardware Design

[mmoyle]

Hi All,

I am in the process of virtualizing one of my client's computing environment and I am looking for some advice on a hardware design to fit my solution. We are going to virtualize the following services/applications:

(2) Domain Controllers that also serve as file and print servers
(1) Exchange 2007 Server
(1) Financial Application Server
(1) Citrix XenApp Server
(1) SharePoint Server (WFE Only)
(1) Custom Incident Management Application
(1) Cisco ACS Server

The above environment supports roughly 50 users with some applications being internet facing (public website, sharepoint project sites,etc). The new virtualization solution will need to support (2) locations. One main computer room and a DR facility that will be connected via a 1GB fiber link between the 2 sites. My plan is setup a starwind ISCSI SAN in the main computer room that would host all 8 VMs listed above and replicate all the VMs to the DR facility over the 1GB fiber link. My inital design for the hardware to support the above is as follows:

PROD VMWARE HOSTs
1 R710 64GB RAM Intel 56xx 2 socket processor
1 2950 64GB RAM Intel 2 socket processor (used in case of host failure)
VMWare Vsphere 4.1

PROD ISCSI SAN
1 R710 8GB RAM Intel 56xx 1 socket processor (we already have this server and would not have to purchase it)
1 MD3200 - dual controller with 5 600GB SAS Disks
1 Starwind ISCSI SAN Software (configured with replication)

DR VMWARE HOSTs
1 2950 64GB RAM Intel 2 socket processor (used in case of host failure)
VMWare Vsphere 4.1

DR ISCSI SAN
1 2950 8GB RAM 1 socket processor (we already have this server and would not have to purchase it)
5 600GB 3.5 SAS disks (local storage)
1 Starwind ISCSI SAN Software (configured replication with PROD)

Do you feel that the SAN portion of the hardware configuration above is a typical configuration for my needs? Looking for some feedback on what other companies are doing for similar configurations. Any feedback is appreciated.

Thanks
Mike

[Max (staff)]

Hello Mike,
From the first glance it all looks pretty well, but I would like to know what bandwidth do you have between those hosts and Primary-DR link. Having a bottleneck in the DR site link should be avoided, so let's just double-check that)