Thinking Virtual

[Manny Ramirez]

There seems to be a lot fuss about using virtualization these days. Yes, there are many benefits of using a machine to host several OSes (they are really just a bunch of files sitting on your machine put in very simplistic terms - and then moving the files from one computer to another for offline data redundancy. But before thinking about virtualizing your whole environment concider the points below:

Use Mac to virtualize Windows (due to virus infections ) save your time. Windows is Windows whether you're running it on a virtual machine or a bare metal system.

Snapshots are a great way to go back and start over. Make sure that you know how to apply snapshots. Also, don’t forget to get rid of them when no longer in use. You might need the extra space.

You need lot of system resources. Virtualization comes at a price. Make sure that the machine hosting other OSes has not just “ good” but "execellent” resources. Make sure you add plenty of memory ... again plenty of memory

You need to know how networking works in a virtual environment. It's not just about connecting a cable to a switch. Learn about how to use virtual switches and assigning them to another NIC - just in case your current NIC connecting to the external network fails. Go the extra mile and buy good NICs

Do not use virtual disks that grow dynamically. Always commit your data space (MS Hyper-V calls them Pass-Through disks). This can impact system performance and it is a "NO" for database servers with lots of transactions.

Don't forget to install the virtualization tools. They were made to optimize your virtual environment

Virtualizing Ubuntu? I love Ubuntu myself. This post was made with an Ubuntu machine. But don't just think about how well you think you know Ubuntu; but also how well your staff or your tech guru knows it. Some technicians charge more for Ubuntu support and they want an extra TIP if it's running in a virtual machine. I do

Mixing platforms can lead to confusions and complexity. Keep it simple. You may be able to enjoy your weekends

Know the limitation of your virtual environment. There may be thing that cannot be possible in a virtual machine.

Virtualization in the corporate world is really about business continuity and data redundancy. The free version ( as well as the workstation versions of some hyper-visor ) are not optimized for high data availability as it is more for personal use and software developers.

MS Hyper-V is free In the R2 version you can even enable failover clustering. Couple that with two cheap Ebay Dell PowerEdge servers ( umm.. I am thinking about the Edge 2950 for about $400 bucks each) and a cluster aware NAS and bang! You can have live or quick migration ( I love pinging the server while is moving from one server to another in the cluster " for those who want high availability" ).

If you want a cheap iSCSI NAS, Install MS Standard. Pack it with a nice raid 5 volume of say 1TB and chuck it up to heart content. Download the free Micorosoft iSCSI target software and badabing badaboom. You have one clustered aware solutions. Microsoft though about adding some Facebook Fan to their list by giving away the iSCSI target software. Here is the link for those who like getting good deals http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/libr ... 72367.aspx. Wow, almost like having your private cloud solution.

Disclosure: NO, I DONT WORK FOR MICROSOFT

That is it all for now. I hope this post can find the heart of someone who dreams about visualization. Feel free to add more to the list. Peace Out !

[Justin Shafer]

Hey Manny... Do you live in South America?? Did you used to live in DFW?

Virtual Servers are cool, I have used Hyper-V Cluster and Vmware ESX and HA, Linux Heartbeat with (insert service here, mysql or vmware).. But I just don't do it for dental offices. Don't know why. I think its easier on Open Dental tech support to not virtualize. Also makes it harder to mount a different filesystem in windows if one wants to copy the data off the server in case it goes down. It would be better to use ESX or Linux, or just have some disaster recovery software. Of couse, if the server died in the middle of the die, I would want that data that was created after the backup, but before the server crashed.

[Manny Ramirez]

I've always lived South but in Florida I used to work for large dental group down here and got to experiment a lot with Citrix (Version 4/5 and WinNT/2K/2K3) and Dentrix Enterprise before going solo. In these type of situations (multi-location) remote access is highly desirable. So we used to rent rack spaces -at a data center,- hook up a bunch blade servers with FB enclosures capable of up to 1TB (we though that was a lot in those days). Wow, we killed lots of tree
But time have change and so has technology!

I recently configured this Hyper-V fabric (the bear metal version) Set-up goes like this:
1)Dell Power Edge 2850 (Domain Controller) One Single Dual Core 2.8 GHZ /2GB RAM / RAID Five 146 GB / 3 NICS Win2K8 STD
2)Dell Power Edge 2950 ( both MS Hyper-V bare metal) Two Quad Core 3.2 GHZ /24 GB RAM /RAID Five with 146GB /Three NICS (MS Hyper-V bare metal)
1) Dell Power Edge 2900 "Tower" Two Dual Core Processors 3.0 GHZ / 8GB RAM / Raid Five "One 2TB LUN split in two disks" one for the OS the rest data. 3 NICS MS Win2K8 R2 STD. All for under 5 K Ebay baby, Ebay

Explanation:
Use 2850 as normal DC. No need of a super machine since is only a DC
The two 2950 run MS Hyper V Hosts will be able to host VMS but you can have one in stand by and the other as your work horse; so to speak. CPU and RAM is what matters here
The 2900 is an iSCSI SAN and it is the shared storage and it can be accessed by both server. Highly recommended a nice RAID controller of course. Luckily, this server have perc6 raid controller straight from Dell.

I know that this an over kill for a dental office but I know a lot doctors out there would like to have a spare server always standing by. Well this is the answer. I still need to figure how to move the VMs without any intervention when the main server dies. This a feature is availble with Citrix XenServer and VMWare for a premium.
Up until Hyper-V R2, Live motion and Quick Migration were features that had to be purchased with the other Hyper visors.
You can take advantage of Hyper-V shadow-copy to backup your vms while on line. Nice !!!

Lastly, in this scenario. You can carve a piece of the LUN and reserve it to store your Open Dental Data and Images. The VM will see it like a local disk. That is known as Pass-Through disk. The application will enjoy all of the benefit of your RAID Five configuration and the speed of your SAS drives.

OK that is all for now.

And don't forget folks. " Care To Share "

[Justin Shafer]

Yep.. you can do it with 4 boxes, if two are acting like a redundant san. I did that with Open Filer once, and it worked well. Glad to meet you.

What do you think about the cloud vs hosting it ourselves? I like hosting it ourselves.. I have used steel-eye.. it actually worked well in my tests.. I like the idea of ms using 2 for a cluster and a file-share witness with the hyper-v and steel-eye.. Pricey though!

[Manny Ramirez]

In essence Hyper-V, VMWare, Citrix Xen are the core infrastructure for the Cloud. You can own and operate it you own private Cloud or you can pay to host it. I guess the decision is up to you. If the person knows how to configure one and operate it, it is a plus. To make it available remotely, make sure you have good links to the Internet and have a backup plan for HI availability and redundancy. I've used T1 and cable modem as well as DynDNS for redundant name services to handle name resolution problems just in case the T1 goes down. The other solutions is collocate your servers in a data center. Your remote sites also need a good Internet connections. T1s are becoming more affordable for small companies these days. I work with a local carrier who sells them for $375 per month. That includes 6 lines, local and long distance calls and Internet access as well. So it is a bundle solution.
The advantage of Cloud Based are: Quick to deploy since you don't need to spend money to front the hardware. No knowledge of Visualization. No need to maintain the hardware since is included in the monthly service. So if you are one man show and have the CASH go for it. The Con is that overtime you would have paid 10 time more than having you own solution.
I've been looking into Amazon Web Services. You can get a free account at AWS. They include a basic package so you can start using their system and play . You can create a mini instance of Linux and up to 5G of Amazon S3 storage at no charge. Check it out. Maybe Open Dental will one day create an Amazon EC2 Instant ready to deploy The only caveat is figuring out how much is the cost of running an Open Dental in Amazon AWS.
We currently use Amazon S3 for cloud storage and backups. We backup all our VMs there. Currently S3 storage is 12c per Gigabyte

"Care to Share"