Intellectual Property Statement n Copyright Timothy Antonowicz 2006

Intellectual Property Statement n Copyright Timothy Antonowicz, 2006. This work is the intellectual property of the author. Permission is granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided that this copyright statement appears on the reproduced materials and notice is given that the copying is by permission of the author. To disseminate otherwise or to republish requires written permission from the author.

Server Consolidation: Real People Saving Real Money Timothy Antonowicz Systems Administrator Bowdoin College

Background Bowdoin College n IT environment n Expanding Technology Requirements n New Resource Needs n

Spring 2004 Service Demands n Datacenter Resources n Projected Growth n

Service Demands n Test and Validation Infrastructure ¨ No standard test and validation environment ¨ No development arena n Ease of Management ¨ Increasing n demands, Static staffing Higher Availability ¨ Fault tolerance, Quicker response

Datacenter Resources n Space and Resources ¨ Floor and Rack Space Limited ¨ Power/UPS/AC Taxed ¨ KVM Capacity Stretched n Replace/Retire Old Servers ¨ Service costs exceeding replacement

Projected Growth n New Financial System ¨ MSSql/IIS based Application ¨ Terminal Services for Mac users ¨ HA/FT design requirement n Extensive List of Projects/Servers ¨ Projected 6 -8 new servers

Problem Statement n We need to find a solution to our space and resource problem. ¨ Address Hardware and Physical limitations ¨ Support our diverse systems environment ¨ Provide best use of staff resources ¨ Consolidate to better utilize server resources

Hardware Requirements High Density, Rack Mount n Console-KVM-Cabling n UPS-Power-AC n Redundancy-FT-HA n Industry Standard n

Hardware: HP Blades n High Density ¨ 40 servers in 36 U Rack ILO for KVM and media n Integrated Power Enclosure n ¨ Redundant n AC feeds and power supplies Integrated Switches no direct cabling ¨ Redundant network paths ¨

Software Requirements n Flexibility ¨ Multiple n OS support Management ¨ Ease of Use ¨ Rapid deployment Backup and Recovery n Industry Standard n

Software: VMWare ESX Server n “Bare Metal Install” ¨ Licensed per server, not per VM ¨ Each VM assigned the same virtual hardware ¨ VMs portable between different ESX servers Image and Deploy servers in minimal time n Multiple Drive States n ¨ Use n of “REDO” for changes VM is comprised of 2 files for backup

Task List Build ESX infrastructure on HP Blades n Create Testing infrastructure n Migrate/Retire older servers n Build new Financial System n Build for future growth n Change the mindset of IT at Bowdoin n

Task: Put ESX onto HP Blades n Build knowledgebase for both products ¨ Install ESX on older DL 380 s ¨ Install Windows and Linux on Blades Bring together both technologies n Integrate into Bowdoin’s infrastructure n ¨ Mount common NFS share ¨ ISO and binary storage ¨ Backups, both physical and virtual

Task: Create Testing Infrastructure n Build virtual servers as “sandboxes” ¨ Programmers and developers ¨ Application support and upgrades ¨ Standardization of platforms ¨ Backup and recovery ¨ Self-service option

Task: Migrate or retire old servers n Replace older hardware with virtual ¨ Application upgrades on VMs ¨ P 2 V migration for static servers n “Plan for Virtual, move to Physical” ¨ New upgrades or migrations are done to virtual servers first. If more resources are needed, it is moved to a blade at that time.

Task: Financial System Buildout n MSSQL-IIS Application base ¨ Mac users will need access ¨ Must be Highly Available at all phases ¨ Fault Tolerant ¨ Proven patches and updates ¨ Flexible, able to scale as needed

Financial System Solution n 16 servers, both physical and virtual ¨ 3 Blades, in an Activex 3 SQL cluster ¨ 2 VMs: NLB IIS cluster for Web access ¨ 2 VMs: NLB Term. Svc cluster for Mac users ¨ 1 VM: Application Management server ¨ 4 VMs: Staging servers: Sql, IIS, App, TS ¨ 4 VMs: Testing servers: Sql, IIS, App, TS

Task: Build for future growth n Create Server Images ¨ Gold Win 2 k 3 and Linux servers ¨ Scale ESX servers for growth n VM resource allocation ¨ Scale servers at a common base ¨ Increase disk, memory, CPU as needed ¨ “Added resources make happy customers”

Task: Change the mindset of IT n “Plan for Virtual, move to Physical” ¨ Projects begin with virtual servers ¨ Charge/spec for “Server Resources” n Prove patches and upgrades in VM ¨ Beat n up on a Clone Spread the wealth ¨ separate file, web, and databases for security

Bowdoin Systems Today 46 X 86 -based servers n 15 HP BL 20 Blades n 9 ESX servers on 8 Blades +1 Dell tower n 118 X 86 -based hosts n 66 of them are VMs, or 56% virtualized n

Savings n Cost of each Blade: $6, 250. 00 ¨ Includes n Disk, Memory, Dual Proc, etc. Number of additional servers: ¨ 66 virtual-9 ESX servers=57 n Cost to provide physical Servers n 57 x $6, 250= $356, 250. 00 n ** Bowdoin did not purchase servers in FY 05 -06

Conclusion Server Consolidation is here and now n Consolidation can be done by anyone with a little time, resources and determination n The benefits can be dramatic n Your boss will be happy n

Questions? HP Blades n VMWare n Bowdoin College n Red Sox starting rotation n

Thank you for attending n Tim Antonowicz Systems Administrator Bowdoin College 1 -207 -725 -3723 tantonow@bowdoin. edu