Best Practices: An Open Discussion

1. Best Practices: An Open Discussion Jason Campagna Virtualization Practice Director jason.campagna@wwt.com

2. Agenda World Wide Technology Overview Specifics Talking Points Open Discussion

3. Who we are & What we do Leading Edge Systems Integrator providing : IT Products and Solutions Supply Chain Services Professional Services Focused across three industry verticals... Public Sector Federal, State & Local Government Commercial Enterprise / Fortune 1000 Telecommunications Telcobuy Our Business is well diversified across these three sectors

4. WWT Success Factors • Relentless Focus on People, Process & Partnerships • Excellent Customer Service and Proven Methodology - driven by ISO 9001:2000 Quality processes • Nationwide Distribution & Support • Revenues approaching $3 Billion - over $1B in Cisco sales • Strong Credit Line - $450 Million Plus • 1,100+ Employees – with over 100 Cisco certified engineers and 500+ certifications • Minority Owned, Founded in 1990

5. Data Center Solutions Areas OPERATE IMPLEMENT DESIGN PLAN Servers and Blades Professional Services Storage and Backup Data Center Networking Virtualization Technology Facilities Infrastructure

6. Computational Fluid Dynamic Modeling of Data Centers

7. Virtualization Practice Introduction • Founded in 2002 • Originally focused on Enterprise Server Based Computing • Experienced positive growth every year from inception. • VMware Partner since 2003 • Acquired in August of 2009 by World Wide Technology

8. WWT Virtualization? • Bleeding edge – Market leading knowledge, especially with cloud technologies and desktop virtualization. • Deep knowledge of Server-Based Computing allows unparalleled understanding of complex deployments for VDI. • Creators of Intellectual Propertyfor VMware, Microsoft, and Kingston – In particular several VDI papers lead with “deployment considerations” • Thought leadersaround the use of Solid-State technology for VDI • The only partnerwith a single individual that sits on both the VMware and Citrix partner technical advisory boards. • Less than 1% of partners are on the PTAB/PTEC boards. • Beta software… or alpha. We have deep ties into for understanding new products around virtualization. Usually before other partners.

9. WWT Virtualization? • One of just a fewservice partners that have been on the floor at VMworld. (2004, 2008; as a Gold sponsor) • We had VDIon the floor of VMworld in 2005! • Involvement with VMworld labsfor several years running. • VAC contractor– but not just the “easy” engagements. One of the only subs for complex operational readiness assessments, virtual desktop assessments, and disaster recovery. • Citrix presence– we have 3 CCIA’s. There are only 170 worldwide, including internal Citrix employee (about 100 are internal) • Advisor to one of the largest Citrix deployments in the world – the 72,000 seats at AT&T.

10. WWT Virtualization Areas Desktop Server Consolidation Server Provisioning Backup and Recovery Capacity Planning Assessments Security Model Chargeback Virtual Infrastructure Methodology Server Grouping Virtualization Criteria ROI Analysis Organizational Assessments Health Checks Server Application Deployment Application Virtualization Workshop Application Virtualization Assessment Application Virtualization Design Application Virtualization Design Application Virtualization Training Application Desktops & Laptops Disaster Recovery Thin Clients Identification of Virtual Desktop Candidates Health Check Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Design & Planning VDI Feasibility Assessments VDI Proof of Concepts VDI Blueprint

11. Cloud Computing is Utility 2.0 Utility Computing Autonomic Computing WOA SOA IaaS BPM PaaS SaaS ITIL Virtualization Web 2.0 RAC Mesh Grid Data Mining Clustering HPC

13. Who we work with Some Past Clients…

14. WHY WWT? Some Specifics Why WWT?

15. BIOS Settings Latest BIOS Version Enable all populated sockets and enable all cores in each socket Enable “Turbo Mode” if supported Enable Hyper-Threading is supported Enable NUMA (disable Node Interleaving) Enable Virtualization Technology (VT-x, AMD-V, EPT, RVI) Disable Serial/USB ports for the ESX host if not used (COM Ports, LPT Ports, USB Controllers, Floppy Drives) Don’t Forget the Basics

16. Install VMware Tools Think of all that relies on it! Did you try rebooting? Many “weird” ESX issues disappear with a reboot Remember that the CLI is case sensitive Remember, the SC it’s based on Linux Use local storage carefully for VMs and ISOs Can impact DRS, HA, etc Configure NTP Required for effective cluster operation Keep things Updated Use vCenter Update Manager to review latest patches Don’t Forget the Basics

17. VMware fully supports and recommends vCenter to be run as a VM! Best practices should be followed when building vCenter as a VM: Disable DRS at the machine level for the vCenter server VM. Run the vCenter VM on the first or second host of the cluster (due to HA). Set HA for the vCenter VM to be “High Priority” vCenter as a VM

18. Virtualization still requires backups Consider the impact of vCenter availability Configure vCenter alerts and notifications Configure HA restart priority Utilize VM HA monitoring with caution Keep in mind the limits of VMware HA when sizing/building clusters Max of 32 hosts per cluster. Think more like 16… Max of 1,280 VM’s per cluster. Max of 100 VM’s per host if cluster size is less than 8. Max of 40 VM’s per host if cluster size is greater than 8. System Availability

19. Networking Randoms • Consider just ONE virtual switch • Configure NICs to be active/standby based on portgroups

20. vSwitches should always have: Redundant uplink adapters Uplinks on separate bus architectures Uplinks connected to separate physical switches Utilize trunked (802.1q) ports for VM traffic Avoid using Link Aggregation (LACP) Maximum of 5 VM’s protected over a 1Gb FT vSwitch Separate vMotion, Service Console, NFS/iSCSI, FT, and VM traffic Set PortFast on physical port switch configurations to disable STP. ESX Networking – Standard vSwitches

21. ESX Networking – Nexus 1000v • Consider using a hybrid virtual switch layout • Use a standard virtual switch for: • Nexus 1000v Management/Packet/Control • ESX Service Console • vMotion • IP storage • VM traffic managed via Nexus 1000v dvSwitch • VSM Best Practices • Install VSM’s in pairs on separate ESX hosts. • Use affinity rules to keep VSM’s separate from one another. • Disable DRS for each of the VSM’s. • When putting ESX hosts in Maintenance Mode, be sure to always keep one VSM active and online.

22. Sample 1GB Diagram

23. Sample 10GB Diagram

24. FCoE? YES!

25. Storage Basics Size LUNs for VM storage to control disk contention Utilize Thin-Provisioned disks with caution Maintain a 20% free space on VMFS volumes to allow for snapshots and VM swap space Separate templates and ISO files from primary VM storage Utilize Round Robin as preferred fiber channel path management Name datastore same as LUN on storage system 2TB LUN in ESX 3.5 may not be the same as 2TB in ESX 4 (-512B) Storage Considerations

26. Architecture Consider the impact of vCenter availability for Composer Review HA and DR requirements Know the configuration maximums for large environments Start with a simple user/application group Use the View GPO template to optimize your desktops It’s not all about the workload Know your applications Can they be virtualized How do they perform with different protocols Do you really know your users? What are the hardware requirements How do they use their applications View Design Considerations

27. Virtual Desktop Design Considerations Maximize performance of you Virtual Desktops Most virtual desktops should be created with only a single vCPU Disable Power options on the virtual desktops Use multiple virtual network interfaces for better performance: One for View traffic One for client-server/file sharing One for connection to a streaming media server Disable unnecessary functions on the Virtual Desktops Use the latest version of RDP. Avoid using PCOIP over the WAN Secure Virtual Desktops as you would Physical Machines Prevent Unauthorized Removal or Connection of Devices Verify Proper File Permissions for Virtual Machine Files

28. Do not replicate AD, DNS, DHCP, etc Run active at remote site Lower BW utilization typically ESX and vCenter use DNS, vCenter uses AD authentication Store like VMs together on same datastore Minimize VMs using multiple datastores Read the SRA readme Configure multiple recovery plans (RP) 1 per application server set if possible SRM can support 3 simultaneous executing RPs SAN vendor may support fewer VMware tools required for speed and some functions Configure email alerts Remember that the default setting for a new VM is not protected SRM Considerations

29. WHY WWT? Let’s Talk Why WWT?

30. Conceptual Design, BEFORE getting into the weeds

31. Overview IT moving towards a "Private Cloud" where IT is modeled as a service Enterprise IT doubling in complexity and TCO every 5 years Need for a standardized, modular, and portable achitecture What is a Vblock? Integrated IT offerings from VMware, Cisco, and EMC Vblocks are pre-engineered, tested and validated units of IT infrastructure that have a defined performance, capacity, and availability Currently 2 packages available with a 3rd mid-year 2010 Vblock Overview

32. Vblock Features Production Ready SLA-driven Reduced risk and compliance Modular to expand capacity as required Storage Compute Non-disruptive expansion Substituting components not allows as it breaks the tested principle Datacenter becomes a collection of pooled Vblocks aggregated in Zones Ability to mix-and-match Vblocks to meet specific application needs Vblock Architecture

33. Vblock Architecture Components

34. Windows 7 Migration Discussion Which of the following challenges are the most significant when executing the deployment of a new desktop OS?” Source: Online survey of 150 IT decision-makers, conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of VMware, January, 2010

35. Windows 7 Migration Discussion As your organization prepares for deploying a new desktop operating system, please rate how much of a challenge each option is, where 1 = “It’s a major challenge” and 4 = “It’s not a challenge”. Base: All respondents Source: Online survey of 150 IT decision-makers, conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of VMware, January, 2010

36. 1 - Stages of Adoption and Maturity Context: Virtualization Journey • Virtualization Adoption evolved along two main axes: 2 - Product Stack Adoption IT Production Business Production IT as a Service 85% Automation 70% Desktop Advanced Management and Business Continuity 30% Application Development Quality and Efficiency 15% Core Platform + Management

37. Context: Virtualization Journey - Adoption Axis 2 - Product Stack Adoption + Value BUSINESS AGILITY Virt. Efficiency & IT Process Automation QUALITY OF SERVICE COST EFFICIENCY Desktop Security, Mobility and Support Efficiency • Higher Layers of Product Stack  Propel More Business Value Realization Cost Effective Availability & Disaster Recovery Application Development Quality & Efficiency Infrastructure Consolidation & Support Efficiency Core Virtualization Platform  Foundation for Cost Efficiency and Flexibility

38. Cloud Computing is Utility 2.0 Utility Computing Autonomic Computing WOA SOA IaaS BPM PaaS SaaS ITIL Virtualization Web 2.0 RAC Mesh Grid Data Mining Clustering HPC

39. Cloud Questions? Where do you think it is going? Core IT Services via Virtual Appliances SpringSource: Programming Model for the Cloud File/Print Directory Zimbra Redwood: Common Service Model for Infrastructure Clouds vCenter :Policy-based Management & Automation OtherPublicClouds vCloudSP’s View :Desktop Computing via Cloud vSphere:Platform for Cloud Infrastructure Enterprise Virtualized Public Cloud Private Cloud Public Cloud

40. Services Services

41. WWT Virtualization Methodology Plan, Design, Implement, Operate • Workshop / Health Check • Assessment • Design • Pilot • Train • Operations

42. What is a Workshop? An on-site 2 – 4 hour whiteboard session. This allows the engineering team from the WWT Virtualization practice to learn more about your goals with selected Virtualization solutions. We use this time to share our experiences and proven methodologies to help ensure your success with all of your IT projects. Types of Workshops that we offer: Desktop Virtualization Workshop Application Virtualization Workshop Disaster Recovery for Virtualization Workshop Server Virtualization Workshop Vendor-Agnostic Workshops

43. Assessments are critical and save money! Virtual Desktop Assessments Server Assessments, Capacity Modeling Application Assessments Process Assessments Design phase: Architect the house, before you buy materials Extremely detailed documentation, not onlytechnically but also around standard operating procedures, testing, etc. Architecting a Plan

44. What is an Operational Readiness Assessment? A extensive and detailed assessment of the current organizational operations current practices and capability around virtualization. Based on ITIL principles Each ITSM process area is reviewed along with interviews with key teams who affect the virtual infrastructure Operations – The Missing Piece • What do You Get? • Detailed report covering each ITSM process area • VMware Maturity Model (VMM) scores for each process area • A roadmap of next steps for each process area and the organization

45. Q&A Open Discussion Jason Campagna Virtualization Practice Director World Wide Technology, Inc. jason.campagna@wwt.com 314.504.5070

46. VMware Express – At Geek Day!