best practices guide - microsoft exchange solutions on vmware_best practices

8/7/2019 Best Practices Guide - Microsoft Exchange Solutions on VMware_Best Practices

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Best Practices Guide:Microsoft Exchange Solutions on VMware


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BestPracticesGuide:

MicrosoftExchangeSolutionsonVMware

Contents

1.Introduction........................................................................................................................ 3

1.1.Overview............................................................................................................................................ 3

1.2.Purpose............................................................................................................................................... 3

1.3.TargetAudience................................................................................................................................. 3

1.4.Scope.................................................................................................................................................. 4

2.VMwareInfrastructureBestPracticesforExchange............................................................ 5

2.1.PhysicalandVirtualCPUs................................................................................................................... 5

2.2.MemoryConfigurationGuidelines..................................................................................................... 6

2.3.StorageVirtualization......................................................................................................................... 9

2.4.Networking

Best

Practices

................................................................................................................

13

3.ExchangeServer2007Performance................................................................................... 16

3.1.Overview.......................................................................................................................................... 16

3.2.KeyPerformanceConsiderations..................................................................................................... 17

3.3.PerformanceTesting........................................................................................................................ 17

3.4.OngoingPerformanceMonitoringandTuning................................................................................ 18

4.SampleExchangeServer2007SizingandConfigurationProcess........................................ 20

4.1.UnderstandingWorkloadRequirements......................................................................................... 20

4.2.Understanding

Microsoft

Sizing

Guidelines

.....................................................................................

20

4.3.ExchangeMailboxServerBuildingBlocks........................................................................................ 21

4.4.SampleBuildingBlockSizingAverageProfilefor4,000Users...................................................... 24

4.5.SizingPeripheralServerRoles.......................................................................................................... 29

4.6.PlanningGuestVirtualMachineConfigurations.............................................................................. 30

4.7.PlanningtheHostHardwareConfiguration..................................................................................... 31

4.8.VMwareESXHostArchitecture........................................................................................................ 33

4.9.LogicalArchitecture.......................................................................................................................... 34

5.DeploymentandOperations.............................................................................................. 35

5.1.VMwareInfrastructureDeploymentFeatures................................................................................. 35

5.2.VMwareVMotion,VMwareDRS,andVMwareHA......................................................................... 36

2008VMware,Inc.Allrightsreserved.

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1.Introduction

1.1.Overview

EmailhasbecomeoneofthemostcriticalapplicationsinanorganizationsITinfrastructure.

Organizationsincreasinglyrelyonmessagingtoolsforindividualandorganizationaleffectiveness.As

aresult,

messaging

administrators

face

aconstant

challenge

as

they

continually

seek

to

manage

the

conflictingdemandsofavailability,agility,andcost.

MicrosoftExchangeisthemostwidelyusedemailsystemintheworld.Itsoperationaland

performancecharacteristicsarewellunderstood,andbestpracticesfordesign,deployment,and

operationsarereadilyaccessible.Exchangecontinuestoevolvethroughenhancedfeaturesand

functionality,andthroughpreviouslimitationsaddressedwitheachsuccessivenewversion.

WithitsreleaseofExchangeServer2007,Microsofthasaddedmanyfeaturesthatimprove

messagingperformance,reliability,andscalability.Theseprovideamajorstepforward.However,

ExchangeServer2007isstillsubjecttomanyoftheshortcomingsinherentinmostapplications

runningdirectly

on

physical

hardware,

such

as

hardware

platform

dependence,

under

utilization

of

servercomputingresources,lackofflexibilitytorespondtochangingworkloads,andheavycosts

associatedwithmaintainingdisasterrecovery,test,anddevelopmentenvironments.The

architecturalimprovementsinExchangeServer2007andtheenhancementsenablingittorunon

the64bitWindowsarchitecturecannotfullyaddresstheselimitations.

TheidealplatformforExchangewouldadapteasilytochangingworkloads,provideflexibilityto

accommodatechangingdemandsonanorganizationsITinfrastructure,remainreliableandresilient

despitesystemoutages,andimprovebothstaffandinfrastructurehardwareeffectiveness.Anew

operationalplatformbasedonVMwareInfrastructurecanaccomplishthesegoals.

1.2.PurposeThiswhitepaperwillprovidebestpracticeguidelinesfordeployingExchangeServer2007on

VMwareInfrastructure.Therecommendationsinthisguidearenotspecifictoanyparticularsetof

hardwareortothesizeandscopeoftheExchangeimplementation.Theexamplesand

considerationsinthisdocumentprovideguidanceonlyanddonotrepresentstrictdesign

requirements,astheflexibilityofExchangeServer2007onVMwareInfrastructureallowsforawide

varietyofvalidconfigurations.

1.3.TargetAudience

ThisguideassumesabasicknowledgeandunderstandingofVMwareInfrastructureandExchange

Server2007.

Architecturalstaffcanreferencethisdocumenttogainanunderstandingofhowthesystemwill

workasawholeastheydesignandimplementvariouscomponents.Engineersandadministrators

canusethisdocumentasacatalogoftechnicalcapabilities.Messagingstaffcanreferencethis

documenttogainanunderstandingofhowExchangemightfitintoavirtualinfrastructure.

Managementstaffandprocessownerscanusethisdocumenttohelpmodelbusinessprocessesto

takeadvantageofthesavingsandoperationalefficienciesachievedwithvirtualization.


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1.4.Scope

Thescopeofthisdocumentislimitedtothefollowingtopics:

VMwareInfrastructureBestPracticesforExchangeThissectionprovidesbestpracticeguidelinesforensuringthattheVMwareInfrastructureplatformisproperlypreparedfor

runningExchangeServer2007.ThissectionincludesguidanceintheareasofCPU,memory,

storage,and

networking.

ExchangeServer2007PerformanceThissectionprovidesbackgroundinformationonExchangeServer2007performanceinavirtualmachine.Italsoprovidesinformationon

officialVMwarepartnertestingandguidelinesforconductingandmeasuringinternal

performancetests.

SampleExchangeServer2007SizingandConfigurationProcessSizingExchangetoruninavirtualmachinefollowsmanyofthesamebestpracticesassizingonphysicalservers.This

sectionwalksthereaderthroughsizingasampleconfiguration,startingwiththemailbox

servervirtualmachineandaddingtheperipheralserverrolesbasedonMicrosoftguidelines.

DeploymentandOperationsThissectionprovidesbestpracticeguidelinesfordeployinganExchangeServer2007environmentonVMwareInfrastructure,aswellasabrieflookat

operationalenhancements

made

available

by

VMware.

Thefollowingtopicsareoutofscopeforthisdocument,butmaybeaddressedinother

documentationinthisSolutionKit:

SizingandConfigurationSamplesThisinformationcanbefoundintheDesignandSizingExamplesdocumentincludedinthisSolutionKit.

AvailabilityandRecoveryOptionsAlthoughthisdocumentbrieflycoversVMwarefeaturesthatcanenhanceavailabilityandrecovery,amoreindepthdiscussionofthis

subjectiscoveredintheAvailabilityandRecoveryOptionsSolutionBriefincludedinthis

SolutionKit.

TacticalStepsforDeploymentDetaileddeploymentsteps,includingtemplatebaseddeploymentofExchangeServer2007virtualmachines,canbefoundintheDeploymentGuideincludedinthisSolutionKit.

ItisimportanttonotethatthisandotherguidesinthisSolutionKitarelimitedinfocustodeploying

ExchangeonVMwareInfrastructure.Exchangedeploymentscoverawidesubjectarea,and

ExchangespecificdesignprinciplesshouldalwaysfollowMicrosoftguidelinesforbestresults.


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2.VMwareInfrastructureBestPracticesforExchangeAsolidlydesignedVMwareInfrastructureplatformiscrucialtothesuccessfulimplementationof

enterpriseapplicationssuchasExchange.BeforeweaddressbestpracticesspecifictoExchange,the

followingsectionsoutlinegeneralbestpracticesfordesigningtheVMwareInfrastructure.

2.1.Physicaland

Virtual

CPUs

VMwareusesthetermsvirtualCPU(vCPU)andphysicalCPUtodistinguishbetweentheprocessors

withinthevirtualmachineandtheunderlyingphysicalx86basedprocessors.Virtualmachineswith

morethanonevirtualCPUarealsocalledSMP(symmetricmultiprocessing)virtualmachines.The

virtualmachinemonitor(VMM)isresponsibleforvirtualizingtheCPUs.Whenavirtualmachine

startsrunning,controltransferstotheVMM,whichbeginsexecutinginstructionsfromthevirtual

machine.

2.1.1.VirtualSMP

VMwareVirtualSMPenhancesvirtualmachineperformancebyenablingasinglevirtual

machine

to

use

multiple

physical

processors

simultaneously.

The

biggest

advantage

of

an

SMP

systemistheabilitytousemultipleprocessorstoexecutemultipletasksconcurrently,thereby

increasingthroughput(forexample,thenumberoftransactionspersecond).Onlyworkloads

thatsupportparallelization(includingmultipleprocessesormultiplethreadsthatcanrunin

parallel)canbenefitfromSMP.

ThevirtualprocessorsfromSMPenabledvirtualmachinesarecoscheduled.Thatis,ifphysical

processorsareavailable,thevirtualprocessorsaremappedonetooneontophysicalprocessors

andarethenrunsimultaneously.Inotherwords,ifonevCPUinthevirtualmachineisrunning,a

secondvCPUiscoscheduledsothattheyexecutenearlysynchronously.Thefollowingpoints

shouldbeconsideredwhenusingmultiplevCPUs:

Ifmultiple,idlephysicalCPUsarenotavailablewhenthevirtualmachinewantstorun,thevirtualmachinewillremaininaspecialwaitstate.Thetimeavirtualmachinespends

inthiswaitstateiscalledreadytime.

Evenidleprocessorsperformalimitedamountofworkinanoperatingsystem.Inadditiontothisminimalamount,VMwareESXServermanagestheseidleprocessors,

resultinginsomeadditionalworkbythehypervisor.TheselowutilizationvCPUs

competewithothervCPUsforsystemresources.

Consequently,VMwarerecommendsthefollowingpractices:

OnlyallocatemultiplevCPUstoavirtualmachineiftheanticipatedExchangeworkloadcan

truly

take

advantage

of

all

the

vCPUs.

Iftheexactworkloadisnotknown,sizethevirtualmachinewithasmallernumberofvCPUsinitiallyandincreasethenumberlaterifnecessary.

ForperformancecriticalExchangevirtualmachines(i.e.productionsystems),trytoensurethetotalnumberofvCPUsassignedtoallthevirtualmachinesisequaltoorless

thanthetotalnumberofcoresontheVMwareESXServerhostmachine.


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2.1.2.ServiceConsole

TheVMwareESXServerserviceconsoleprovidesanexecutionenvironmenttomonitorand

administertheentireVMwareESXServerhost.Theserviceconsoleoperatingsystem(COS)isa

reducedversionofRedHatEnterpriseLinux.TheCOSisscheduledonCPU0forVMwareESX

Serverversion3.0.x.UnderhighloadstheCOSwillcompetewithvirtualmachinesthatare

scheduledonCPU0.VMwarerecommendsyouavoidrunningprogramsintheCOS.The

eliminationof

COS

in

VMware

ESX

Server

3i

removes

this

contention.

2.2.MemoryConfigurationGuidelines

ThissectionprovidesguidelinesforconfiguringthememoryrequirementsofmultipleExchange

virtualmachinesonasingleservertomaximizeperformance.Theguidelinesoutlinedheretakeinto

accountVMwareESXServermemoryoverheadandthevirtualmachinememorysettings.

VMwareESXServervirtualizesguestphysicalmemorybyaddinganextralevelofaddress

translation.Shadowpagetablesmakeitpossibletoprovidethisadditionaltranslationwithlittleor

nooverhead.Managingmemoryinthehypervisorenablesthefollowing:

Memorysharingacrossvirtualmachinesthathavesimilardata(i.e.sameguestoperatingsystems);

Memoryovercommitment,whichmeansallocatingmorememorytovirtualmachinesthanisphysicallyavailableontheVMwareESXServerhost;

Amemoryballoontechniquewherebyvirtualmachinesthatdonotneedallthememorytheyhavebeenallocatedgivememorytovirtualmachinesthatrequireadditionalallocated

memory.

FormoredetailsonVMwareESXServermemorymanagementconcepts,consulttheVMware

ResourceManagementGuide(http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi3_301_201_resource_mgmt.pdf).

2.2.1.MemoryOverhead

VMwareESXServerrequiresthreeareasofmemoryoverhead:

Afixed,systemwideoverheadfortheserviceconsole(about272MBforVMwareESX3.x).

Afixed,systemwideoverheadfortheVMkernel,whichdependsonthenumberandsizeofdevicedrivers.

Additionaloverheadforeachvirtualmachine,sincethevirtualmachinemonitorforeachvirtualmachinerequiressomememoryforitscodeanddata.

Youcanviewthefixed,systemwideoverheadforanyVMwareESXServerinstanceinthe

VMwareInfrastructure

Client.

Select

the

Configuration

tab

under

Memory

Settings.


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Theoverheadforeachvirtualmachine,notedinthetablebelow,dependsonthenumberof

vCPUs,theamountofmemoryallocatedtothevirtualmachine,andwhetherthevirtual

machineis32bitor64bit.

VirtualMachineMemoryOverhead1

2.2.2.VirtualMachineMemorySettings

TheVMwareESXServermemorysettingsforavirtualmachineincludethefollowing

parameters:

Theconfiguredsize,whichisthememorysizespecifiedatcreationofthevirtualmachine.

Thereservation,whichisaguaranteedlowerboundontheamountofmemorythatthehostreservesforthevirtualmachine,andcannotbereclaimedbyVMwareESXServer

forothervirtualmachines.

1(Source:VMwareResourceManagementGuide.NotesecondcolumnreferstomemoryallocatedtoVM.)


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Thefigurebelowillustratesthememorysettingsforavirtualmachine:

VirtualMachineMemorySettings

Configuredmemory=memorysizeofvirtualmachineassignedatcreation. Touchedmemory=memoryactuallyusedbythevirtualmachine.VMwareESXServer

onlyallocatesguestmemoryondemand.

Swappable=virtualmachinememorythatcanbereclaimedbytheballoondriverorbyVMwareESXServerswapping.BallooningwilloccurbeforeVMwareESXServer

swapping.Ifthismemoryisinusebythevirtualmachine(i.e.touchedandinuse)the

balloondriverwillcausetheguestoperatingsystemtoswap.Also,thisvalueisthesize

ofthe

per

virtual

machine

swap

file

that

is

created

on

the

VMware

Virtual

Machine

File

System(VMFS)filesystem(.vswpfile).

Iftheballoondriverisunabletoreclaimmemoryquicklyenough,orisdisabledornotinstalled,VMwareESXServerwillforciblyreclaimmemoryfromthevirtualmachine

usingtheVMkernelswapfile.

2.2.3.SizingMemoryofMultipleExchangeVirtualMachines

Basedonthememoryoverheaddefinedabove,theavailablememoryforExchangeapplications

(andtheguestoperatingsystems)invirtualmachinesisequaltothetotalVMwareESXServer

hostphysicalmemoryminussystemwidememoryoverhead,virtualmachinememory

overhead,andauserdefinedmemorybuffer.

Note:ThememorybufferisnotaVMwareparameterbutauserdefinedvaluedesignedto

provideheadroomandflexibilitytomanagemorevirtualmachinesthantheinitialestimate

(i.e.virtualmachinesmigratedusingVMwareVMotionontothesystemfromanother

VMwareESXServerhostmachine).Thiswilldependoncustomerspecificdesign

requirements.

VMwareESXServerpagesharingmakesmorephysicalmemoryavailable,butthisadditional

memoryisnotcountedheretoprovideamoreconservativeestimate.AsExchangeserversare

memoryintensiveandperformanceisoftenakeyfactor(e.g.inproductionenvironments),

VMwarerecommendsthefollowingpractices:

DonotovercommitmemoryontheVMwareESXServerhostuntilVMwareVirtualCenterreportsthatsteadystatememoryusageisbelowtheamountofmemory

ontheserver.

Setthememoryreservationtotheconfiguredsizeofthevirtualmachine,whichresultsinapervirtualmachineVMkernelswapfileofzerobytes.Theguestoperatingsystem

withinthevirtualmachinewillmaintainitsownseparateswap/pagefile.

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SizethememoryofeachvirtualmachinesothatthetotalconfiguredmemoryforallvirtualmachinesisequaltoorlessthanthememoryavailableforExchangeapplications

ascalculatedabove.

Tominimizeguestoperatingsystem(OS)swapping,theconfiguredmemorysizeofthevirtualmachineshouldbegreaterthantheaveragememoryusageofExchangerunning

intheguestOS.IftheExchangevirtualmachineneedsmorememorythanhasbeen

allocated,the

guest

OS

paging/swapping

mechanisms

will

be

invoked

as

in

normal,

nativeoperations.Memoryandswap/pagefileconfigurationforExchangevirtual

machinesfollowsthesameguidelinesasfornativeenvironments.Ingeneral,these

shouldbesettominimizeanyguestOSswapping.

Microsoftdocumentationandrecommendationsshouldbecloselyfollowed;keypointswillbeidentifiedinthefollowingsections.

2.3.StorageVirtualization

VMFSisaclusterfilesystemthatprovidesstoragevirtualizationoptimizedforvirtualmachines.Each

virtualmachineisencapsulatedinasmallsetoffilesandVMFSisthedefaultstoragesystemfor

thesefilesonphysicalSCSIdisksandpartitions.VMwaresupportsFibreChannel,iSCSI,andNAS

sharedstorage

protocols.

ItispreferabletodeployvirtualmachinesfilesonsharedstoragetotakeadvantageofVMware

VMotion,VMwareHighAvailability(HA),andVMwareDistributedResourceScheduler(DRS).Thisis

consideredabestpracticeformissioncriticalExchangedeployments,whichareofteninstalledon

thirdparty,sharedstoragemanagementsolutions.

VMwarestoragevirtualizationcanbecategorizedintothreelayersofstoragetechnology,as

illustratedinthefigurebelow.Thestoragearrayisthebottomlayer,consistingofphysicaldisks

presentedaslogicaldisks(storagearrayvolumesorLUNs)tothelayerabove,withthevirtual

environmentoccupiedbyVMwareESXServer.StoragearrayLUNsareformattedasVMFSvolumes

inwhichvirtualdiskscanbecreated.Virtualmachinesconsistofvirtualdisksthatarepresentedto

theguestoperatingsystemasdisksthatcanbepartitionedandusedinfilesystems.


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VMwareStorageVirtualizationStack

2.3.1.StorageMultipathing

VMwarerecommendsyousetupaminimumoffourpathsfromaVMwareESXServerhosttoa

storagearray,whichmeansthehostrequiresatleasttwoHBAports.

StorageMultipathingRequirementsforVMwareESXServer


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Thetermsusedinthefigureabovearedefinedhere:

HBA(HostBusAdapter)AdevicethatconnectsoneormoreperipheralunitstoacomputerandmanagesdatastorageandI/Oprocessing.

FC(FibreChannel)Agigabitspeednetworkingtechnologyusedtobuildstorageareanetworks(SANs)andtotransmitdata.

SP(StorageProcessor)ASANcomponentthatprocessesHBArequestsroutedthroughanFCswitchandhandlestheRAID/volumefunctionalityofthediskarray.

2.3.2. RawDeviceMapping

VMFSalsosupportsRawDeviceMapping(RDM).RDMallowsavirtualmachinetodirectly

accessavolumeonthephysicalstoragesubsystem,andcanonlybeusedwithFibreChannelor

iSCSI.RDMcanbethoughtofasprovidingasymboliclinkfromaVMFSvolumetoarawvolume.

ThemappingmakesvolumesappearasfilesinaVMFSvolume.Themappingfile,nottheraw

volume,isreferencedinthevirtualmachineconfiguration.

TherearenoconcreterecommendationsforusingVMFSorRDMinExchangedeployments,

althoughthe

following

table

summarizes

some

of

the

options

and

trade

offs.

For

amore

completediscussion,pleaseconsulttheVMwareSANSystemDesignandDeploymentGuide.

VMFSandRawDiskMappingTradeoffs

VMFS RDM

Volumecanhostmanyvirtualmachines(orcanbededicatedtoonevirtualmachine).

Increasesstorageutilization,providesbetterflexibility,easieradministration,and

management.

LargethirdpartyecosystemwithV2Pproducts

to

aid

in

certain

support

situations.

Doesnotsupportquorumdisksrequiredfor

thirdpartyclusteringsoftware.

FullysupportsVMwareSiteRecoveryManager.

MapsasingleLUNtoonevirtualmachinesoonlyonevirtualmachineispossibleper

LUN.

MoreLUNsarerequired,soitiseasiertoreachtheLUNlimitof256thatcanbe

presentedtoESXServer.

UsesRDMtoleveragearraylevelbackupandreplicationtoolsintegratedwithExchangedatabases.

Althoughnotrequired,RDMvolumescanhelpfacilitatemovingExchangedatafrom

virtualtostandbyphysicalboxesincertain

supportcircumstances.

Requiredforthirdpartyclusteringsoftware(e.g.MSCS).Clusterdataandquorumdisks

shouldbeconfiguredwithRDM.

SomecustomersuseRDMsforExchangedatabasesandlogsontheMBXserverrole

toguaranteethatnootherVMsare

provisionedto

those

LUNs.

ExperimentalsupportforVMwareSiteRecoveryManager.


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ItisalsopossibleandevenadvantageousinsomecircumstancestomixVMFSandRDMin

Exchangeenvironmentsunderthefollowingconditions:

Whereexistingsystemsalreadymakeuseofthirdpartystoragemanagementsoftware,RDMcanbeusedtoleveragepracticesbasedontheseproductssuchasstoragebased

backupstodisk.

RDMisrequiredwhenusingthirdpartyclusteringsoftware. RDMisusefulforenablingthedatabaseportabilityfeatureoftheExchangedatabase.

RunningthedatabaseonanRDMvolumegivesanadministratortheoptionofpointing

bothvirtualmachinesandphysicalserverstothesamestorage.Thiscanbeparticularly

usefulinsupportsituationsthatrequireproblemsbereproducedonaphysicalserver.

Deployingmultiple,nonproductionExchangesystemsonVMFSfacilitateseasiermanagementandadministrationoftemplatecloning,snapshots,andstorage

consolidation.

AmixedstorageconfigurationisviableforanExchangevirtualmachine.TheguestOSisinstalledonVMFSandtheExchangedatabaseandlogfilesonRDM.VMwaretemplate

cloningcanbeusedfortheguestOSanddatabasefilescanbemanagedbythirdparty

storage

management

software.

Itisimportanttonotethatthereareseveraldifferentsharedstorageoptionsavailable(iSCSI,

FiberChannel,NAS,etc.).Toseethemostrecentlistofcompatibilitiespleaseconsultthelatest

VMwareCompatibilityGuides.

2.3.3. NumberofVirtualMachinesperLUN

ThenumberofvirtualmachinesallocatedtoaVMFSLUNinfluencesthefinalarchitecture.The

figurebelowillustratestheconceptsandhighlightsthedifferencesbetweenaonetooneand

manytoonevirtualmachinetoLUNassignment.

OneversusManyVirtualMachinesinaLUN


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2.4.NetworkingBestPractices

Thissectioncoversdesignguidelinesforthevirtualnetworkingenvironmentandprovides

configurationexamplesattheVMwareESXServerhostlevelforExchangeServer2007installations.

Note:TheexamplesdonotreflectdesignrequirementsanddonotcoverallpossibleExchange

networkdesignscenarios.

Thevirtualnetworkinglayerconsistsofthevirtualnetworkdevicesthroughwhichvirtualmachines

andtheserviceconsoleinterfacewiththerestofthenetworkandusers.Inaddition,VMwareESX

ServerhostsusethevirtualnetworkinglayertocommunicatewithiSCSISANsandNASstorage.

Thevirtualnetworkinglayerincludesvirtualnetworkadaptersandthevirtualswitches.Virtual

switchesarethekeynetworkingcomponentsinVMwareInfrastructure3.Theyarebuilttoorder

atruntimeandareimplementedinmuchthesamewayasamodernEthernetswitch,supporting

functionsequivalenttoVLANsbasedontheIEEE802.1Qprotocol.

2.4.1.VirtualNetworkingConcepts

2.4.1.1.VirtualSwitchesandPortGroups

VirtualswitchesworklikeEthernetswitchesandsupportVLANsegmentationattheport

level.VLANsinVMwareESXServerallowlogicalgroupingsofswitchportstocommunicate

asifallportswereonthesamephysicalLANsegment.VLANsrequiretaggingofEthernet

frameswiththe802.1Qtag(basedonIEEEprotocolstandards),andVMwareESXServer

enablesportbasedVLANtaggingbasedontheswitchports.TheVMwareVirtual

NetworkingConceptsdocument(availablefordownloadat

http://www.vmware.com/pdf/esx3_vlan_wp.pdf)discussesthreedifferentconfiguration

modestotag:

VirtualSwitchTagging(VSTmode):Virtualswitchportgroupaddsandremovestags. VirtualMachineGuestTagging(VGTmode):An802.1QVLANtrunkingdriveris

installedinthevirtualmachine.

ExternalSwitchTagging(ESTmode):ExternalswitchesperformVLANtaggingsothatEthernetframesmovinginandoutoftheVMwareESXServerhostarenot

taggedwithVLANIDs.

ThemostcommonconfigurationisVSTmode.VSTmoderequiresprovisioningoneport

grouponavirtualswitchforeachVLANandattachingthevirtualmachinesvirtualadapter

totheportgroupofthevirtualswitch.Thevirtualswitchportgrouptagsalloutbound

frames

and

removes

tags

for

all

inbound

frames.

It

also

ensures

that

frames

on

one

VLAN

areisolatedfromotherVLANs.VSTmoderequiresthatthephysicalswitchprovideatrunk

(trunkingisthetechnologythatallowsinformationfrommultipleVLANstobecarriedovera

singlelink).

PortgroupsinVMwareESXServeraretemplatesforcreatingvirtualportswithaparticular

setofspecifications.InVMwareESXServer,therearethreetypesofportgroup/virtual

switchconnections:


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Serviceconsoleportgroup:VMwareESXServermanagementinterface. VMkernelportgroup:VMwareVMotion,iSCSI,and/orNFS/NASnetworks. Virtualmachineportgroup:virtualmachinenetworks.

Morethanoneconnectiontypecanexistonasinglevirtualswitch,oreachconnectiontype

canexistonitsownvirtualswitch.

2.4.1.2.NICTeaming

Asinglevirtualswitchcanbeconnectedtomultiple,physicalEthernetadaptersusingthe

VMwareInfrastructurefeaturecalledNICteaming.Thisprovidesredundancyand/or

aggregation.

2.4.2.SampleExchangeVirtualNetworkConfiguration

ThefollowingfigureisanexampleofwhatanetworklayoutforanExchangeproduction

environmentmightlooklike:

ThisfigureillustrateshownetworkingishandledattheVMwareESXlevel.EachVMwareESX

Servermusthavevirtualswitchesarchitectedtohandlethetypeofnetworktrafficthatwillbe

assignedtoeachofthedifferentvirtualmachines.Thefigurerepresentsasampleconfiguration

wheretheproductionresourcepoolissplitbetweentwophysicalservers(toreflectredundancy

forHAconsiderations).Fromanetworkingperspective,youwillwanttomakesurethat

productionenvironmentnetworktrafficremainsseparatefromVMwareVMotionandAdmin

traffic.AneffectivewaytohandlethisisbyintroducingVLANtechnologytologicallyseparate

thetraffic.


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Eachvirtualmachineactsindependently,andremainsisolateduntilnetworkingisconfigured.

Whatmakestheenvironmentdifferentthanthatinthephysicalworldisthatitmusthavean

internalnetworkconfiguredtoestablishcommunicationbetweenvirtualmachinesresidingon

thesamephysicalVMwareESXserver.Thisnetworktrafficishandledthroughthevirtualswitch.

Eachphysical

NIC

can

be

configured

to

connect

directly

to

an

assigned

VLAN,

but

the

VMware

VMotionandAdminnetworksarenotusedheavilyasproductionnetworks.Onepracticeisto

teamalltheNICsontheVMwareESXserver,connectthemtotrunkportsontheswitch,anduse

VLANtaggingtodirectthetrafficattheswitchlevel.Thisallowsforbetterbandwidthutilization

andfreesupservercapacityforproductiontrafficwhentheVMwareVMotionandAdminVLANs

arenotinheavyuse.


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3.ExchangeServer2007Performance

3.1.Overview

VMwareanditspartnershaveusedtestingtosuccessfullydemonstratetheviabilityofrunning

Exchange2003onVMwareInfrastructure3.Thistestinghasbeenconfirmedbyorganizationsthat

havedeployedExchange2003invirtualizedproductionenvironmentsandnowbenefitfromits

operationaladvantages.SomehavevirtualizedtheirentireExchange2003environmentandhave

carefullydesignedtheirinfrastructuretoaccommodatethearchitecturalchallengespreviously

noted.OthershavesplittheirExchangeimplementations,limitingvirtualizationtoserverrolessuch

asbridgeheadservers,SMTPgateways,andinfrastructureservicessuchasdomaincontrollersand

globalcatalogueservers.

ExchangeServer2007,however,isprovingtobemucheasiertodeployandoperatethanits

predecessors.ThedynamicsofdeployingExchangeServer2007areshiftingdramaticallyinways

thatenhancethebenefitsofferedbytheVMwareInfrastructure3platform.Thisshiftisaresultof

advancementsinthreekeyareas:

1. ArchitecturalimprovementsofExchangeServer2007ona64bitplatformhavedrasticallyincreasedmemoryutilizationandreduceddiskI/Oloadby50percentormoreinmany

cases,addressingmanyoftheshortcomingsfoundinExchange2003.Withfullsupportfor

64bitWindowsvirtualmachines,thesesamebenefitsarerealizedwhendeploying

ExchangeServer2007onVMwareInfrastructure3.

2. Advancesinserverhardwaresuchasdualandquadcoreprocessors,highermemorydensity,andadvancesinstoragetechnologyarefaroutpacingtheperformance

requirementsfortodaysapplications,includingExchange.Virtualizationbecomesan

effectivewaytoleveragethefullpowerofthesesystems.Recentperformancestudieshave

shownunprecedentedperformanceandscalabilityofupto16,000usersonasingle64bit

physicalserver

when

Exchange

Server

2007

is

deployed

on

VMware

Infrastructure

3.

3. TheadvancesinExchangeServer2007andserverhardwaretechnologyhavecoincidedwithadvancesinVMwareInfrastructure3.Virtualmachinescannowsupportupto64GBRAM

andfourvCPUs,andarecapableofrunningeventhelargestExchangemailboxservers.

VMwareESXserverscannowtakeadvantageofupto256GBofphysicalRAM.Network

improvementssuchasJumboFramesandTCPSegmentOffloadhaveloweredoverallCPU

usage.TheseandotherenhancementsmakeVMwareInfrastructure3capableofmeeting

performancerequirementsforeventhemostdemandingExchangeworkloads.

ThirdpartytestingofExchangeServer2007invirtualoperationhasbeencompletedwith

MicrosoftsJetStressandLoadGentools,thestandardtoolsforExchangeperformanceanalyses.

ThesetestsshowthatperformanceforavirtualizedExchangeserveriscomparabletoanon

virtualizedserver

running

on

the

same

hardware.

This

proved

to

be

true

for

all

Exchange

Server

2007serverroles,includingthemailboxserver.Withconcernsoverrelativeperformance

eliminated,manymoreExchangeadministratorsarefindingtheflexibility,enhancedavailability,and

lowercostsassociatedwithvirtualizationveryattractiveinsupportinganExchangeinfrastructure.


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3.2.KeyPerformanceConsiderations

AvarietyoffactorscanaffectExchangeServer2007performanceonVMwareInfrastructure3,

includingprocessorandmemoryallocationtotheguestvirtualmachine,storagelayout/design,

virtualmachineplacement,andapplicationclusteringmethods,tonameafew.Belowaresometips

forensuringthebestpossibleperformance:

FullyunderstandyourorganizationsbusinessandtechnicalrequirementsforimplementingExchange.

FullyunderstandtheExchangeworkloadrequirements;currentworkloadscanbemeasuredusingtheMicrosoftExchangeServerProfileAnalyzer.

SizeforI/Oandnotjustcapacity;dedicatingtheappropriatenumberofspindles(disks)cangreatlyaffectperformanceofanExchangevirtualmachine.

UseMicrosoftsizingandconfigurationguidelinesfortheExchangevirtualmachines. FollowthebestpracticesinSection2ofthisdocumenttoensurethattheVMware

InfrastructureenvironmentisoptimizedforenterpriseapplicationssuchasExchange.

3.3.PerformanceTesting

EveryExchangeenvironmentisdifferent,withvaryingbusinessandtechnicalrequirements,a

plethoraofserverandstorageoptions,andrequirementsforintegratingwiththirdpartysoftware

solutionssuchasantivirus,antispam,PDAmessaging,etc.Duetothemanyvariables,itishighly

recommendedthateachorganizationtestperformanceontheirparticularmixofserver,storage,

andsoftwaretodeterminethebestdesignfortheirExchangeenvironment.Inaddition,several

VMwareserverandstoragepartnershaveperformedtestingtovalidateExchangeperformanceon

VMwareInfrastructure.Bothoftheseoptionswillbediscussedinthissection.

3.3.1.InternalPerformanceTesting

MicrosoftprovidestoolstomeasuretheperformanceofMicrosoftExchangeServer

architectures.LoadSimisusedtomeasureExchangeServer2003performanceandLoadGenis

usedtomeasureExchangeServer2007performance.Forbothversionsastoragequalificationtool,JetStress,canbeusedtoevaluatethestorageconfiguration.

Becauseinguesttimeissubjecttominutefluctuationsbasedonsystemload,VMwarestrongly

discouragesexecutinganyperformanceanalysistoolinsideavirtualmachine.Accurate

measurementsarebestattainedbycreatingtoolsthatcanusethehosttimer,orbyusingtests

suchasLoadSimandLoadGenthatcontainclient/serverarchitectures.Forclientservertests,

theserverundertestmaybeonavirtualmachinewhiletheclientisonanativesystem.This

resultsinaccuratemeasurementsattheclient.

JetStress,however,doesnotprovideamechanismforusingnativetimingmeasurements.The

accuracyof

JetStress

measurements

is

subject

to

load

on

the

hypervisor,

and

has

been

known

to

displayapositivebiasof1020percent.ThismeansthatJetStressoftenreportsperformance

metricsthatoutperformnative.Conclusionsabouttheactualperformanceofthistoolinthe

virtualmachinearedifficulttofind,butitisbesttoconsiderJetStressresultsasbroadindicators

ofperformance.


Page17of38
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=8F575F60-BD80-44AA-858B-A1F721108FAD&displaylang=enhttp://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=8F575F60-BD80-44AA-858B-A1F721108FAD&displaylang=enhttp://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=8F575F60-BD80-44AA-858B-A1F721108FAD&displaylang=enhttp://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=8F575F60-BD80-44AA-858B-A1F721108FAD&displaylang=enhttp://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=8F575F60-BD80-44AA-858B-A1F721108FAD&displaylang=enhttp://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=8F575F60-BD80-44AA-858B-A1F721108FAD&displaylang=enhttp://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=8F575F60-BD80-44AA-858B-A1F721108FAD&displaylang=enhttp://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=8F575F60-BD80-44AA-858B-A1F721108FAD&displaylang=enhttp://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=8F575F60-BD80-44AA-858B-A1F721108FAD&displaylang=enhttp://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=8F575F60-BD80-44AA-858B-A1F721108FAD&displaylang=en


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4.SampleExchangeServer2007SizingandConfigurationProcess

4.1.UnderstandingWorkloadRequirements

AfundamentalcomponenttosuccessfullyconfiguringanExchangeServer2007infrastructureisto

understandtheworkloadrequirements.Thekeytoquantifyingthisworkloadistobreakdown

resourcedemandgenerationinExchangetoitsmostatomiclevel,theenduser.Microsoftprovides

guidanceoncategorizingenduserdemandgenerationinknowledgeworkerprofiles,orusage

profiles.ThefollowingtableshowstheusageprofilesusedtoplanExchangeServer2007

infrastructurerequirements.

UserProfilesforMicrosoftOutlook

Usertype(usageprofile) Sent/received perday(approximate50kilobyte(KB)messagesize)

Light 5sent/20received

Average 10sent/40received

Heavy 20sent/80received

Veryheavy 30sent/120received

(http://technet.microsoft.com/enus/library/aa998874(EXCHG.80).aspx)

Basedonthetableabovetherearethreekeymetricsnecessarytoclassifyyourorganizationsusage

profile:

Messagessentperuserperday; Messagesreceivedperuserperday; Averagemessagesize.

Thesemetrics,combinedwithanunderstandingoftheclientprotocolsusedtoaccessExchange

resources(MicrosoftOutlook,OutlookAnywhere,OutlookWebAccess,ActiveSync,andBlackBerry

devices,etc.),providethefoundationforplanningExchangeCPU,memory,storage,andnetwork

requirements.ThebenefitofprofilingExchangeusersinthiswayisthatitisplatformindependent.

ThesesamemetricscanbeusedforIBMLotusNotes,NovellGroupWise,oranyothermessaging

platformtoplanresourcerequirementsforanExchangeServer2007migration.

IfyourorganizationiscurrentlyrunninganolderversionofMicrosoftExchange,theserequirements

canbeeasilydeterminedusingtheMicrosoftExchangeServerProfileAnalyzer.Thistoolcanbe

installeddirectlyonanExchangeserveroronanadministratorsdesktoptocollectmailboxusage

statisticsacrosstheentireExchangeenvironment,specificExchangeservers,orindividualExchange

storagegroupsanddatabasesasarepresentativesampleoftheentireenvironment.

4.2.UnderstandingMicrosoftSizingGuidelines

TheMicrosoftsizingguidelinesarebrokendownintofourmajorcategoriesforthepurposeof

infrastructurecapacityplanning:

ProcessorConfiguration MemoryConfiguration StorageConfiguration ServerRolesRatios


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Page21of38

TheseguidelinesaredocumentedonMicrosoftTechNetinthePlanningYourServerandStorage

ArchitecturesectionoftheExchangeServer2007documentation.VMwarerecommendsthatyou

followMicrosoftsguidelinescombinedwithyourorganizationalstandardstomeetbothbusiness

andfunctionalrequirements.

EachExchange

Server

2007

server

role

(Mailbox,

Client

Access,

Hub

Transport,

Edge

Transport,

and

UnifiedMessaging)hasspecificguidelinesundereachoneofthesecategoriesforappropriately

planningthenecessaryresources.Thereisarelationshipbetweeneachresourcecomponentand

thevariousserverroles.Wehavebrokendownthisrelationshipintoasimpleworkflowtofollow

whenplanningyourExchangeServer2007resourcerequirementsonaVMwareInfrastructure.

ThesestepsareidenticaltoplanningtheExchangeServer2007resourcerequirementsonaphysical

serverinfrastructure.

4.3.ExchangeMailboxServerBuildingBlocks

ThebuildingblockapproachisarecommendedbestpracticeforcreatingavirtualizedExchange

environmentrunningonVMwareInfrastructure3usingpresizedvirtualmachineconfigurations.

Exchangeservers

that

have

been

broken

down

into

virtual

machine

building

blocks

(as

opposed

to

larger,monolithicExchangeservers)cansimplifyserversizingduringtheinitialdeploymentand

createahighlyscalablesolutionusingvirtualmachineswithpredictableperformancepatterns.

VMwareanditspartnershaveperformedtestingthatfocusesonfourprimarysizesformailbox

virtualmachinebuildingblocksconsistingof500,1000,2000,and4000users.Testinghasvalidated

performanceandsizingfortheseconfigurations,andeachhasknownperformanceprofilesthatcan

beleveragedforeasyserversizingaswellasforeasyscalability.

Thetablebelowpresentssomeguidelinesforsizingthemailboxserverroleinavirtualmachine

usingthebuildingblockapproachformailboxeswithaverageuserIOPSprofiles.Thesame

principlesareusedforsizingtheotherprofiles.

BuildingblockCPUandRAMSizingforMailboxeswithAverageProfiles

BuildingBlock 500 1000 2000 4000

Profile Average Average Average Average

vCPU 1 1 2 4

BaseRAM(GB) 2 2 2 2

Variable(MB/Mailbox) 3.5MB/Mailbox 3.5MB/Mailbox 3.5MB/Mailbox 3.5MB/Mailbox

Total(GB) 4 6 9 16

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/exchange/2007/plan/hardware.mspx
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb738142(EXCHG.80).aspxhttp://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb738142(EXCHG.80).aspxhttp://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb738142(EXCHG.80).aspxhttp://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb738142(EXCHG.80).aspxhttp://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb738142(EXCHG.80).aspxhttp://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb738142(EXCHG.80).aspxhttp://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb738142(EXCHG.80).aspxhttp://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb738142(EXCHG.80).aspxhttp://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb738142(EXCHG.80).aspxhttp://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb738142(EXCHG.80).aspxhttp://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb738142(EXCHG.80).aspxhttp://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/exchange/2007/plan/hardware.mspxhttp://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/exchange/2007/plan/hardware.mspxhttp://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/exchange/2007/plan/hardware.mspxhttp://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb738142(EXCHG.80).aspxhttp://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb738142(EXCHG.80).aspx


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BestPracticesGuide:


Forexample:CompanyXYZisgoingtodesigntheirmailboxserverenvironmentonVMware

Infrastructure3toaccommodatethe16,000mailboxesintheirorganization.TheITteamhas

decidedtosplitthemailboxesintofourseparatevirtualmachines.However,allfourvirtual

machineswillrunonthesameESXserver,whichcontains16coresand64GBRAM.Thefigure

belowillustrateshowfourmailboxserverscanbedeployedonasingleserver:

16,000userBuildingBlockConfigurationwithFourMailboxVirtualMachines

ESX server

16 core

64GB RAM

4 x Mailbox VM

2 vCPU

9GB RAM

Thebuildingblockapproachoffersthefollowingbenefits:

Reducedserverhardwareexpense:XYZCorpcanseparatetheirusersintofourmailboxservervirtualmachinesformaximumflexibilitybutwillonlyrequireasingleserver.Without

virtualization,thiskindofconfigurationwouldrequirefourseparateservers.

Betteruseofpowerful64bitservers:Todaysserversshipwithmulticoreprocessorsandincreasedmemorydensity.RunningmultipleExchangevirtualmachinesisoneofthebest

waystoavoidunderutilizationofCPUandRAMresourcesandunlockthefullvalueofthese

systems.

Reducedrisk:Anoutageonasinglemailboxvirtualmachinewillaffectfeweruserssincetheusersarespreadacrossfourseparatemailboxservers.

Improvedscalability:Addinganothermailboxservertotheenvironmentcanbeachievedinminutes.Matchuptherequirednumberofuserswiththeappropriatebuildingblock,

deployanewvirtualmachinefromthetemplate,andinstallandconfiguretheappropriate

Exchangeserverrole.

Improvedflexibility:EachmailboxservervirtualmachinecanbemovedontootherVMwareESX

servers

at

any

time

with

no

loss

of

service

using

VMware

VMotion.

Exchange

servers

are

nolongertiedtotheunderlyingphysicalserver,whichcreatesaflexibleExchange

environmentthatcaneasilychangetomeetchangingbusinessrequirements.

Memorypagesharing:UsingbuildingblocksforExchangepresentssomebenefitsinthewayphysicalmemoryisusedintheformofpagesharing.Runningmultiplevirtualmachines

onaVMwareESXServerwiththesameOSandExchangebinarieswillbenefitfrompage

sharingmemorywiththeVMwareESXServerarchitecture.Thisallowsformoreefficientuse

ofthephysicalmemoryonaserver.


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BestPracticesGuide:


MatchbuildingblockswithspecificServiceLevelAgreements(SLAs):HavingusersspreadacrossmultiplebuildingblocksallowsanorganizationtomeetdifferentSLAsfordifferent

groupsofusers.Inourexamplewith16,000usersacrossfourmailboxvirtualmachines

(supporting4,000userseach),eachvirtualmachinecanbematchedwithitsownbackup,

highavailability,disasterrecovery,andarchiveorothersolutionstomeetSLAs.

ThefigurebelowshowsthreemailboxvirtualmachinesonasingleVMwareESXserver,eachwithits

ownsetofrequirementsformeetingSLAs:

UsingVirtualMachineBuildingBlockstoMeetVaryingSLAs

Whenusingthebuildingblockapproachforsizingvirtualmachines,notethefollowing:

Smallervirtualmachines(CPUandRAM)canbemovedfasterwithVMwareVMotionthanlargervirtualmachines.Forexample,amailboxservervirtualmachinewith2vCPUand9GB

RAMcanmovetoanotherVMwareESXServerwithVMwareVMotionmuchquickerthana

virtualmachinewith4vCPUand32GBRAM.Althoughlargervirtualmachinescansupport


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BestPracticesGuide:



Page25of38

Example:

Yourorganizationplanstosupport16,000userswith4,000mailboxesperExchangeServer2007mailbox

serveranda500MBmailboxquota.YouhaveusedtheExchangeServerProfileAnalyzertodetermine

thatyourusersaverage10messagessentand40messagesreceivedperday,withanaveragemessage

sizeof50KB.Thistranslatestoanaverageusageprofile.

16,000mailboxes/4,000mailboxesperserver=4mailboxservers 4000mailboxesperserver/1,000 averageuserspercore=4processorcoresperserver 4mailboxserversx4processorcoresperserver=16processorcores

4.4.2.BuildingBlockMemoryRequirements(4,000Users)

Basedonyourorganization'susageprofile,Microsoftprovidesguidancetoestimatetheamount

ofRAMtosupportyourorganizationsExchangeworkload.Thecurrentguidelinesareshownin

thefollowingtable:

MailboxServer

Memory

Recommendations

Usertype Mailboxservermemoryrecommendation

Light 2GBplus2MBpermailbox

Average 2GBplus3.5MBpermailbox

Heavy 2GBplus5MBpermailbox

Example:

Givenourpreviousexampleof16,000mailboxeswith4,000averageprofilemailboxesperserver:

2GB+(3.5MBx4,000mailboxes)=16GBRAM(roundedtothenearestGB). 16GBperserverx4servers=64GBRAM

4.4.3.PlanningMailboxServerStorageRequirements

EachExchangeserverrolehasuniquestoragerequirementswithrespecttothroughput(IO)and

capacity.MicrosofthasdetailedguidelinesavailableonTechNetinthePlanningStorage

ConfigurationssectionoftheExchangeServer2007documentation.Microsoftalsoprovidesthe

ExchangeServer2007MailboxServerRoleStorageRequirementsCalculatortoassistinplanning

thestoragedesignoftheMailboxserverrole.VMwarerecommendsthatyoufollowMicrosofts

bestpracticesalongwithyourstoragevendorsbestpracticestoachieveanoptimalstorage

configurationforExchangeServer2007.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb124518(EXCHG.80).aspxhttp://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb124518(EXCHG.80).aspxhttp://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb124518(EXCHG.80).aspxhttp://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb124518(EXCHG.80).aspxhttp://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb124518(EXCHG.80).aspxhttp://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2007/01/15/432207.aspxhttp://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2007/01/15/432207.aspxhttp://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2007/01/15/432207.aspxhttp://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2007/01/15/432207.aspxhttp://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2007/01/15/432207.aspxhttp://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2007/01/15/432207.aspxhttp://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2007/01/15/432207.aspxhttp://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2007/01/15/432207.aspxhttp://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2007/01/15/432207.aspxhttp://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2007/01/15/432207.aspxhttp://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2007/01/15/432207.aspxhttp://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2007/01/15/432207.aspxhttp://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2007/01/15/432207.aspxhttp://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2007/01/15/432207.aspxhttp://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2007/01/15/432207.aspxhttp://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2007/01/15/432207.aspxhttp://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2007/01/15/432207.aspxhttp://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2007/01/15/432207.aspxhttp://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb124518(EXCHG.80).aspxhttp://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb124518(EXCHG.80).aspx


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BestPracticesGuide:


MailboxServerRoleStorageRequirementsCalculatorv14.7Inputs

Input Value

ExchangeServer2007version SP1+

NumberofExchangemailboxservers 4

Highavailabilitymodel None2

NumberofSCRtargets/sourceserver 0

Userecommendedmaximumdatabasesizes? Yes

Totalnumberoftier1usermailboxes 16,000

Send/receivecapability/mailbox/day 10sent/40received

Averagemessagesize(KB) 50

Tier1usermailboxsizelimit(MB) 500

Backupmethodology SoftwareVSSbackup/restore

Backupfrequency Weeklyfull/dailyincremental

UsingtheExchangeServer2007MailboxServerRoleStorageRequirementsCalculatorversion14.7and

theabovevariables,ourMailboxserverrolestorageconfigurationissummarizedasfollows:

Mailbox

Server

Role

Storage

Requirements

Calculator

v14.7

outputs

Output Value

Database/logconfiguration(perserver) 21databasesperserver

120GBdatabasesize+overhead

11GBlogsize+overhead

StoragegroupLUNdesign(perserver) 7databasesperLUN

SG1SG7:1101GBDBLUN/96GBLogLUN



RAIDconfiguration(perserver) Databasesperserver

20x400GB10,000RPMFC/SCSI/SAS3.5"

Logsperserver


RAIDconfiguration

(total)

Databases

(4

servers)


Logs(4servers)


2Thehighavailabilitymodelshouldbechosentomeetyourorganizationsspecificbusinessandservice

levelrequirements.VMwaresupportsallofthecurrentapplicationawarehighavailabilitymodelsfor

MicrosoftExchangeServer2007,includingCCRclustering,SCCclustering,andLCR.VMwareprovides

VMwareHAandVMwareVMotionasadditionallevelsofprotection,regardlessoftheExchangemailbox

servermodel.


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BestPracticesGuide:


4.4.4.BuildingBlockSummary(4,000UserAverageProfile)

Thefollowingtablesummarizestheresourcerequirementsforour4,000userbuildingblock;

4,000UserAverageProfileBuildingRequirements

ExchangeRole PhysicalResources(perserver)

Mailbox

server

CPU: 4

coresMemory:16GB

OSandApplicationFileStorage:

16GB(OS&applicationfiles)

DatabaseStorage:


LogStorage:

4x300GB15,000RPMFC/SCSI/SAS3.5"(logs)

Network:1Gbps

4.4.5.GuestVirtualMachineConfiguration

Theresource

requirements

for

Exchange

are

translated

below

into

the

virtual

machine

configurationforour4,000usermailboxserverbuildingblock.

ExchangeVirtualMachineConfiguration

ExchangeRole VirtualHardware(perVM)

MailboxServer CPU: 4vCPU

Memory:16GB

Storage:SCSIController0

HDD1:16GB(OS&applicationfiles)

HDD2:1101GB(SG1SG7databases)



HDD

5:

96

GB

(SG1

SG7

logs)

HDD6:96GB(SG8SG14logs)


Network:NIC1


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BestPracticesGuide:


4.4.6.GuestVirtualMachineStorageInteraction

Thefigurebelowdemonstratesvisuallyhowthebuildingblockvirtualmachinewillinteractwith

thesharedstorage.


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BestPracticesGuide:


4.6.PlanningGuestVirtualMachineConfigurations

Withanyapplication,youshouldplanitsresourcerequirementsfirst,andthentheunderlying

infrastructurerequirementstomeettheapplicationsneeds.

4.6.1.ResourceRequirementsbyServerRole

Example:

Givenourpreviousexampleof16,000mailboxeswith4,000averageprofilemailboxesper

server:

ExampleExchangeServerRoleResourceRequirements

ExchangeRole PhysicalResources(perserver)

MailboxServer(4servers) CPU

4cores

Memory

16GB

Storage

16GB(OS&Applicationfiles)


(Databases)

4x300GB15,000RPMFC/SCSI/SAS3.5"(logs)

Network

1Gbps

ClientAccessServer(2servers) CPU

2cores

Memory

4GB

Storage

16GB(OS&applicationfiles)

Network

1Gbps

HubTransport

Server

(2

servers)

CPU2cores

Memory

2GB

Storage

16GB(OS,application,&logfiles)

32GB(DB,protocol/trackinglogs,&tempfiles)

Network

1Gbps

4.6.2.GuestVirtualMachineConfiguration

Thenext

step

is

to

plan

the

individual

virtual

machine

configuration

based

on

the

required

resourcesforeachExchangeserverrole.

ExampleExchangeVirtualMachineConfiguration

ExchangeRole VirtualHardware(perVM)

MailboxServer(4VMs) CPU

4vCPU

Memory


Page30of38


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BestPracticesGuide:


16GB

Storage

SCSIController0





HDD5:

96

GB

(SG1

SG7

logs)



Network

NIC1

ClientAccessServer(2VMs) CPU

2vCPU

Memory

4GB

Storage

SCSIController0


Network

NIC1

HubTransportServer(2VMs) CPU

2vCPU

Memory

2GB

Storage

SCSIController0


HDD2:32GB(DB,protocol/trackinglogs,&temp

files)

Network

NIC1

4.7.PlanningtheHostHardwareConfiguration

4.7.1.VirtualMachineDistribution

Nowthatweunderstandthephysicalresourcerequirementsandassociatedvirtualhardware

configuration,wecanplanphysicalVMwareESXhosthardwaretomeetthoserequirements.To

buildinfrastructureavailabilityintothearchitecture,wewilldistributethe8totalVMsacross2

physicalVMwareESXhostservers.

ExampleExchangeVirtualMachineDistribution

ESXHost VM(s)

ESXHost

1

ExchangeMailbox

VM

1(4

vCPU/16GB

RAM)

ExchangeMailboxVM2(4vCPU/16GBRAM)

ExchangeClientAccessVM1(2vCPU/4GBRAM)

ExchangeHubTransportVM1(2vCPU/2GBRAM)

ESXHost2 ExchangeMailboxVM3(4vCPU/16GBRAM)

ExchangeMailboxVM4(4vCPU/16GBRAM)

ExchangeClientAccessVM2(2vCPU/4GBRAM)

ExchangeHubTransportVM2(2vCPU/2GBRAM)


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BestPracticesGuide:


4.7.2.HostSpecifications

EachVMwareESXhostservershouldprovideenoughphysicalhardwareresourcesto

accommodatetheplannedworkloadandprovidesomeheadroomintheeventofaVMwareHA

failoverorplannedVMwareVMotionmigrationoflivevirtualmachinesforhosthardware

maintenance.The

following

table

summarizes

the

VMware

ESX

host

hardware

configuration

basedonourexamplearchitecture:

ExampleESXHostHardwareConfigurationTable

ESXHost VM(s)

ESXHost1 16cores(4x4)

48GBRAM

2FiberChannelHBAs

4Gigabitnetworkadapters

ESXHost2 16cores(4x4)

48GBRAM

2FiberChannelHBAs

4Gigabit

network

adapters


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4.8.VMwareESXHostArchitecture

Basedontheabovedesigndecisions,eachVMwareESXhostwouldruntwoMailboxServervirtual

machines,oneHubTransportvirtualmachine,andoneClientAccessServervirtualmachine.The

diagrambelowillustrateshowtheVMwareESXHostandeachvirtualmachineinteractswiththe

underlyingstorage:

VMwareESXHostArchitectureforExchangeServer2007onVMwareInfrastructure


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4.9.LogicalArchitecture

Thelogicalarchitectureisabasicsinglesite,singledomaindesign,illustratedinthefigurebelow.

EachExchangeMailboxServervirtualmachineisequippedtohandle4,000mailboxes.Theentire

solutionisdesignedtosupport16,000totalusers.

Logical

Architecture

for

Exchange

Server

2007

on

VMware

Infrastructure


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5.DeploymentandOperationsYoucanleverageVMwareInfrastructuretoprovidesignificantbenefitsinavirtualizedExchange

datacenter,including:

Increasedoperationalflexibilityandefficiency:Rapidsoftwareapplicationsandservicesdeployment

in

shorter

time

frames.

Efficientchangemanagement:increasedproductivitywhentestingthelatestExchangesoftwarepatchesandupgrades.

MinimizedriskandenhancedITservicelevels:Zerodowntimemaintenancecapabilities,rapidrecoverytimesforhighavailability,andstreamlineddisasterrecoveryacrossthedatacenter.

5.1.VMwareInfrastructureDeploymentFeatures

5.1.1.Templates

VMware

template

cloning

can

increase

productivity

of

system

administration

and

testing

in

Exchangeenvironments.AVMwaretemplateisagoldenimageofavirtualmachinethatcan

beusedasamastercopytocreateandprovisionnewvirtualmachines.Itincludestheguest

operatingsystemandExchangeapplicationdata.Youcanusevirtualmachinetemplatesto

provisionanewpreconfiguredExchangesystem.Innativeenvironments,thisprocesscan

consumesignificanttime,requiringyoutoprocurehardwareandinstalltheoperatingsystem.

Cloningensuresacontrolledvirtualmachineconfigurationsodeploymentislesserrorprone

andlesstimeconsuming.

5.1.2.VMwareStageManager

VMwareStageManagercanstreamlinethetestinganddeploymentofconfigurationchanges,

patches,orupgradestoyourExchangeinfrastructure.Whenyouneedtomakechangestothe

productionExchangesystems,StageManagerallowsyoutotakeasnapshotofthecurrent

Exchangeserviceconfigurationintoanarchive.

ArchivingisanexplicitfunctioninVMwareStageManager.Itisalsoveryeasytorestoreservice

configurationsfromthearchive,whichishelpfulifyouneedtorestorehistoricalsnapshotsfor

anauditwhenhardwareconfigurations,applications,ordatabaseschemashavechanged.You

canthencloneaproductionsystem,deployitinapreproductionresourcepool,applyyour

patches,andtransitionthepatchedsystemthroughthediscretestagesofarelease

managementcycle.Ifthepatchistestedsuccessfully,youcaneitherpromotethepatched

systemintoproduction,replacingthepreviouscopy,orapplythepatchesdirectlytothecurrent

productionsystem.

TheserviceconfigurationcloneisanexactreplicaoftheExchangeproductionsystem,including

allnetworksettings,hostnames,andIPaddresses.VMwareStageManagerdeploystheclonein

afencednetworktopreventnetworkcollisions.Thefencednetworkingfeatureallows

simultaneousdeploymentofmultipleinstancesoftheexactsameExchangeservice

configuration,whichallowsmultipleteamstoworkinparallelwithoutinterruptingorconflicting

withoneanother.


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VMwareStageManager

5.2.VMwareVMotion,VMwareDRS,andVMwareHA

VMwareVMotiontechnologyenablesthemigrationofvirtualmachinesfromonephysicalserverto

anotherwithoutserviceinterruptionthismigrationallowsyoutomoveExchangevirtualmachines

fromaheavilyloadedservertoonethatislightlyloaded,ortooffloadthemtoallowforhardware

maintenancewithoutanydowntime.

VMwareDistributedResourceScheduler(DRS)takestheVMwareVMotioncapabilityastepfurther

by

adding

an

intelligent

scheduler.

DRS

allows

you

to

set

resource

assignment

policies

that

reflect

businessneeds.VMwareDRSdoesthecalculationsandautomaticallyhandlesthedetailsofphysical

resourceassignments.Itdynamicallymonitorstheworkloadoftherunningvirtualmachinesandthe

resourceutilizationofthephysicalserverswithinacluster.

VMwareVMotionandVMwareDRSperformbestunderthefollowingconditions:

ThesourceandtargetVMwareESXServerhostsmustbeconnectedtothesamegigabitnetworkandthesamesharedstorage.

AdedicatedgigabitnetworkforVMwareVMotionisrecommended. Thedestinationhostmusthaveenoughresources. ThevirtualmachinemustnotusephysicaldeviceslikeCDROMorfloppy. ThesourceanddestinationhostsmusthavecompatibleCPUmodels,ormigrationwith

VMwareVMotionwillfail.ForalistingofserverswithcompatibleCPUs,consultVMware

VMotioncompatibilityguidesfromspecifichardwarevendors.

Tominimizenetworktrafficitisbesttokeepvirtualmachinesthatcommunicatewitheachothertogether(e.g.ExchangeMailboxandGlobalCatalogServers)onthesame

hostmachine.

Virtualmachineswithsmallermemorysizesarebettercandidatesformigrationthanlargerones.


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NOTE:VMwaredoesnotcurrentlysupportVMwareVMotionorVMwareDRSforMicrosoftClusternodes;however,acoldmigrationispossibleoncetheguestOSis

shutdownproperly.

WithVMwareHighAvailability(HA),ExchangevirtualmachinesonafailedVMwareESXServerhost

canberestartedonanotherVMwareESXServerhost.Thisfeatureprovidesacosteffectivefailover

alternativeto

expensive

third

party

clustering

and

replication

solutions.

If

you

use

VMware

HA,

be

awarethat:

VMwareHAhandlesVMwareESXServerhosthardwarefailureanddoesnotmonitorthestatusoftheExchangeservicesthesemustbemonitoredseparately.

ProperDNShostnameresolutionisrequiredforeachVMwareESXServerhostinaVMwareHAcluster.

VMwareHAheartbeatissentviatheVMwareESXServerserviceconsolenetworksoredundancyinthisnetworkisrecommended.


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VMware, Inc. 3401 Hillview Ave Palo Alto CA 94304 USA Tel 877-486-9273 Fax 650-427-5001 www.vmware.com

Copyright 2008 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved. Protected by one or more of U.S. Patent Nos. 6,961,806, 6,961,941,

6,880,022, 6,397,242, 6,496,847, 6,704,925, 6,496,847, 6,711,672, 6,725,289, 6,735,601, 6,785,886, 6,789,156, 6,795,966,

6,944,699, 7,069,413, 7,082,598, 7,089,377, 7,111,086, 7,111,145, 7,117,481, 7,149,843, 7,155,558, 7,222,221, 7,260,815,

7,260,820, 7,268,683, 7,275,136, 7,277,998, 7,277,999, 7,278,030, 7,281,102, 7,290,253; patents pending.

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