Virtualizing Microsoft Business Critical Applications On Vmware Vsphere

Best practices, guidance, and tips for virtualizing Microsoft® business critical applications on the VMware vSphere® platform By virtualizing Microsoft’s enterprise applications on vSphere, you can drive down costs while migrating toward flexible, low-cost private cloud architectures. This unique guidebook bridges the gap between the Microsoft and VMware worlds, bringing together the deep knowledge, cutting-edge best practices, and practical techniques you need to succeed. Leading experts Matt Liebowitz and Alex Fontana present end-to-end coverage of virtualizing Windows Server 2012 AD domain controllers and failover clusters, Exchange Server 2013, SQL Server 2012, and SharePoint Server 2013. They offer indispensable advice on sizing, architecture, performance, availability, monitoring, and metrics. Throughout, the authors share valuable tips, tricks, and insights from their own experiences. For each Microsoft application, they provide "proof of concept" sample configurations and clearly explain how new features impact virtualization. You’ll also find authoritative, up-to-date guidance on licensing and other issues related to ensuring full support from both Microsoft and VMware. Coverage includes • Evaluating the benefits, risks, and challenges of virtualizing Microsoft business critical applications • Identifying strategies for success associated with people, processes, and technology • Reviewing VMware vSphere features most important to virtualizing business-critical applications • Taking advantage of new virtualization-aware features built in to Windows Server 2012 domain controllers • Designing and configuring vSphere High Availability (vSphere HA) clusters to run Windows enterprise applications • Reflecting Exchange Server 2013’s new architecture to maximize its performance in virtualized environments • Leveraging new SQL Server 2012 features to simplify the delivery of high availability on virtual servers • Reducing SQL Server 2012 licensing costs through virtualization • Planning, designing, and deploying virtualized SharePoint Server 2013 environments

Virtualize mission-critical Microsoft applications How do you safely deploy Tier 1 apps in virtual environments? In this in-depth guide, VMware insiders Charles A. Windom, Hemant Gaidhani, and Alex Fontana show you how. Focusing on Microsoft applications, they guide you step by step through a Proof of Concept for virtualizing Windows Server, Active Directory, Internet Information Services, Exchange Server, SQL Server, SharePoint Server, and Remote Desktop Services—all on the VMware vSphere 4 platform. You'll find out what to consider for each application before you virtualize it, and learn how to perform VM backup using VMware Data Recovery, Windows patch management using VMware Update Manager, application performance monitoring using VMware Appspeed, and more. Topics include: A Thorough Overview of VMware vSphere 4 Infrastructure Services Application Services Management Services (part of VMware vCenter Server) Virtualizing Windows Server 2008 Choose virtual hardware and learn how to add sufficient CPU and memory Run Microsoft Windows Server 2008 as a guest inside the vSphere environment Protect your applications and data and deliver high availability using Failover Clustering and Windows Network Load Balancing Virtualizing Other Microsoft Applications Active Directory Internet Information Services 7.0 Exchange Server 2007 and 2010 SQL Server 2005 and 2008 SharePoint Server 2007 Remote Desktop Services 2008 R2

Working with VMware vSphere, this book shows you how to virtualize Microsoft applications that require high CPU and high I/O and/or are critical applications for business operations—“Tier 1”applications. With authors who are not only insiders at VMware but who also have developed best practices for multi-tier applications for VMware environments, this book will guide you step-by-step in virtualizing the latest versions of Exchange Server, SQL Server, SharePoint Server, Active Directory, Windows Server, Internet Information Server, and Remote Desktop Services. The authors cover critical topics: reasons why to virtualize the application, considerations to be made when virtualizing the application, setting up a Proof-of-Concept of the application, storage, high availability, and monitoring. Material is organized such that readers can choose which chapters to read, depending on which applications they are considering to virtualize.

The start-to-finish guide to virtualizing business-critical SQL Server databases on VMware vSphere 5 By virtualizing business-critical databases, enterprises can drive far more value from existing IT infrastructure. But squeezing maximum performance out of a virtualized database instance is an art as much as a science. This indispensable start-to-finish guide brings together all the techniques, tips, and insights you need to succeed. Drawing on unsurpassed personal experience, three leading experts share complete best practices for deploying business-critical database servers in virtualized vSphere 5 environments. They cover the entire project lifecycle, bridging technical and communications gaps between SQL Server and VMware professionals that often make database virtualization more difficult than it needs to be. You’ll find specific guidance for architects and administrators responsible for systems, storage, databases, applications, or VMware virtualization. The authors also present detailed, start-to-finish coverage of performance baselining and testing: all you need to make your virtualized databases as fast as they are cost effective. Although this book focuses on SQL, the authors’ proven guidance for enhancing performance can be leveraged by any IT professional virtualizing a demanding Tier 1 application. Coverage includes • Business cases for database virtualization: consolidation, Database as a Service (DaaS), efficiency, and “SLAs on steroids” • Using the redundancy inherent in virtualization to improve availability • Constructing a careful, conservative implementation plan • Balancing disk, CPU, memory, and network for superior performance • Mastering the five key principles of database storage design • Leveraging memory: SQL MAX, page locking, NUMA, reservations, swapping, large memory pages, and more • Ensuring responsiveness by providing a fast, reliable, low-latency network • Supporting advanced AlwaysOn Failover Cluster Instances and Availability Groups • Baselining physical systems and properly determining resource requirements • Configuring performance tests from beginning to end • Migrating existing SQL Server databases onto a vSphere platform • Avoiding traps and pitfalls in virtualizing production databases • Managing and monitoring virtualized database instances and resources

Covering the latest VMware vSphere software, an essential book aimed at solving vSphere performance problems before they happen VMware vSphere is the industry's most widely deployed virtualization solution. However, if you improperly deploy vSphere, performance problems occur. Aimed at VMware administrators and engineers and written by a team of VMware experts, this resource provides guidance on common CPU, memory, storage, and network-related problems. Plus, step-by-step instructions walk you through techniques for solving problems and shed light on possible causes behind the problems. Divulges troubleshooting methodologies, performance monitoring tools, and techniques and tools for isolating performance problems Details the necessary steps for handling CPU, memory, storage, and network-related problems Offers understanding on the interactions between VMware vSphere and CPU, memory, storage, and network VMware vSphere Performance is the resource you need to diagnose and handle VMware vSphere performance problems, and avoid them in the future.

The inside guide to the next generation of data storage technology VMware Software-Defined Storage, A Guide to the Policy Driven, Software-Defined Storage Era presents the most in-depth look at VMware's next-generation storage technology to help solutions architects and operational teams maximize quality storage design. Written by a double VMware Certified Design Expert, this book delves into the design factors and capabilities of Virtual SAN and Virtual Volumes to provide a uniquely detailed examination of the software-defined storage model. Storage-as-a-Service (STaaS) is discussed in terms of deployment through VMware technology, with insight into the provisioning of storage resources and operational management, while legacy storage and storage protocol concepts provide context and demonstrate how Virtual SAN and Virtual Volumes are meeting traditional challenges. The discussion on architecture emphasizes the economies of storage alongside specific design factors for next-generation VMware based storage solutions, and is followed by an example in which a solution is created based on the preferred option identified from a selection of cross-site design options. Storage hardware lifecycle management is an ongoing challenge for IT organizations and service providers. VMware is addressing these challenges through the software-defined storage model and Virtual SAN and Virtual Volumes technologies; this book provides unprecedented detail and expert guidance on the future of storage. Understand the architectural design factors of VMware-based storage Learn best practices for Virtual SAN stretched architecture implementation Deploy STaaS through vRealize Automation and vRealize Orchestrator Meet traditional storage challenges with next-generation storage technology Virtual SAN and Virtual Volumes are leading the way in efficiency, automation, and simplification, while maintaining enterprise-class features and performance. As organizations around the world are looking to cut costs without sacrificing performance, availability, or scalability, VMware-based next-generation storage solutions are the ideal platform for tomorrow's virtual infrastructure. VMware Software-Defined Storage provides detailed, practical guidance on the model that is set to transform all aspects of vSphere data center storage.

Use this expert guide to prepare for the VCA-DCV exam VCA-DCV VMware Certified Associate on vSphere Study Guide: VCAD-510 is a comprehensive study guide for the VMware Certified Associate – Data Center Virtualization exam. Hands-on examples, real-world scenarios, and expert review questions cover the full exam blueprint, and the companion website offers a suite of tools to help you prepare for the exam including practice exams, electronic flashcards, and a glossary of key terms. In addition, the website includes videos that demonstrate how to complete the more challenging tasks. Focused on practical skills, this study guide not only prepares you for the certification exam, but also for the duties expected of a VCA. The VMware Certified Associate-Data Center Virtualization certification targets those with limited virtualization and VMware data center technology experience, providing a springboard to the popular VMware Certified Professional-Data Center Virtualization certification. Virtualization has become a high priority among organizations, and credentialed professionals are in high demand. This guide helps you prove a certain level of foundational skill in basic virtualization technology, including the vSphere suite's Infrastructure Services, Application Services, and vCenter Server. Topics include: Explaining data center virtualization concepts Identifying the core components of vSphere Networking and storage planning/configuration with vSphere Correlating VMware solutions to common business challenges The VCA-DCV certification is the only one with no instructor-led training requirement, so a thorough study guide is an invaluable tool in you exam preparation. This book not only covers the full exam, but also provides practice designed to actually improve the skills used every day on the job. VCA-DCV VMware Certified Associate on vSphere Study Guide is more than just test prep—it's job prep.

The start-to-finish guide to virtualizing business-critical Oracle Software and Databases on VMware vSphere Virtualizing large-scale Oracle software and databases on vSphere can deliver powerful scalability, availability, and performance benefits. Recognizing this opportunity, thousands of organizations are moving to virtualize Oracle. However, reliable best practices have been difficult to find, and database and virtualization professionals often bring incompatible perspectives to the challenge. Virtualizing Oracle® Databases on vSphere® is the first authoritative, comprehensive, and best-practice guide to running Oracle on VMware platforms. Reflecting a deep understanding of both Oracle and vSphere, this guide is supported by extensive in-the-field experience with the full spectrum of database applications and environments. Both a detailed reference and a practical cookbook, it combines theory and practice, and offers up-to-date insights for the entire lifecycle, supported by case studies. Kannan Mani and Don Sullivan fully address architecture, performance, design, sizing, and high availability. Focusing on current versions of Oracle and vSphere, they highlight the differences between ESX/ESXi 4.x and 5.x wherever relevant. To deliver even more value, they provide extensive online resources, including easy-to-adapt scripts and expert how-to videos. Coverage includes: Understanding the DBA’s expanded role in virtualized environments, and the emergence of the vDBA, vRACDBA, and Cloud DBA Identifying your best opportunities to drive value from virtualizing Oracle Anticipating challenges associated with virtualizing Oracle-based Business Critical Applications on vSphere Using VMware to overcome ongoing database deployment and management problems Protecting your virtualized database environment with vSphere’s high-availability capabilities Designing databases to achieve scalability on demand, maximize availability, consolidate servers, and improve compliance Implementing best practices for memory, storage, and database layout Demystifying the impact of virtualization on Oracle support and licensing Using VMware Site Recovery Manager (SRM) to accelerate disaster recovery by seamlessly integrating VM and storage failover Streamlining provisioning and taking advantage of opportunities to automate