docs.media.bitpipe.com io 10x io 109395 item 675311 virtualizing microsoft exchange server hb final
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Handbook
1EDITORS NOTE
2THE BENEFITSAND CHALLENGES
OF EXCHANGE
VIRTUALIZATION
3VIRTUALIZING EXCHANGE2010 ON vSPHERE?
HERES WHAT TO KNOW
4TWO BARRIERS TO
SUCCESSFUL EXCHANGE
VIRTUALIZATION
VIRTUALIZ
ATION
CLOUD
APPLICATI
ONDEVELOPMENT
NETWORKING
STORAGEARCHITECTURE
DATACENT
ERMANAGEMENT
BIAPPLICA
TIONS
DISASTER
RECOVERY/COMPLIANCE
SECURITY
Virtualizing MicrosoftExchange Server
While virtualizing Exchange Server can reduce operational
costs and simplify server management, choosing the best
path is no simple process. Youll need the right hypervisor,the right plan and the right skills to be sure your Exchange
virtualization project delivers on its promise.
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Editors Note
The Benefts
and Challenges
o Exchange
Virtualization
Virtualizing
Exchange 2010
on vSphere?
Heres What
to Know
Two Barriers
to Successul
Exchange
Virtualization
2 V I R T U A L I Z I N G M I C R O S O F T E X C H A N G E S E R V E R
1EDITORSNOTEExchange Virtualization:
An Appealing (and Scary) Idea
It can be difcult to warm up to the idea o breaking down an essential and
reliable piece o your IT inrastructure, but thats what youre doing when you
consider virtualizing your organizations Exchange Server. Even once you and
your companys decision makers become comortable with the idea, theres the
complex task o actually putting your particular Exchange deployment to work ona virtualization platorm. Its daunting enough to make even seasoned IT proes-
sionals wonder why they ever entertained the notion.
But while virtualizing Exchange is a complex task, its not an impossible one.
And, i done correctly, it has signifcant advantages in terms o cost savings and
more exible management.
This handbook will help you sort through the platorm options and plan or a
successul virtualization eort. Exchange MVP Andy Grogan discusses the ways
a typical physical Exchange deployment might beneft rom virtualization. He
explains how to evaluate your particular IT organization to determine how you
should go about selecting a hypervisor that fts, and he oers suggestions on how
to proceed depending on which version o Exchange you will be virtualizing.
Virtualization specialist David Davis oers guidance on how you might use
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Editors Note
The Benefts
and Challenges
o Exchange
Virtualization
Virtualizing
Exchange 2010
on vSphere?
Heres What
to Know
Two Barriers
to Successul
Exchange
Virtualization
3 V I R T U A L I Z I N G M I C R O S O F T E X C H A N G E S E R V E R
1EDITORSNOTEvSphere, the market-leading hypervisor platorm, to virtualize Exchange. Ex-
change expert Devin Ganger, meanwhile, details two specifc obstacles that could
derail a successul Exchange virtualization initiative.
We hope the guidance here will ease some o the concerns you might have
about virtualized Exchange, and provide some particular recommendations or
how to make the eort pay o. n
Phil Sweeney
Managing Editor, TechTargetData Center and Virtualization Group
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Editors Note
The Benefts
and Challenges
o Exchange
Virtualization
Virtualizing
Exchange 2010
on vSphere?
Heres What
to Know
Two Barriers
to Successul
Exchange
Virtualization
4 V I R T U A L I Z I N G M I C R O S O F T E X C H A N G E S E R V E R
2BENEFITS ANDCHALLENGESThe Benefts and Challenges
o Exchange Virtualization
Since Exchange 2007, Microsot has supportedwith caveatsthe virtual-
izing o Exchange Server on any hypervisor that is part o the Server Virtualiza-
tion Validation Program (SVVP). This was a popular decision with many Exchange
administrators, as it gave them the option to take
advantage o virtualizations many efciencies.Having the capability to virtualize Exchange,
however, does not mean it is simple to do so. The
complexity o the task depends on the eatures o
your chosen vendors hypervisor, the version o Ex-
change and the Exchange roles that an administrator
plans to use. Well look at those considerations and
discuss the ways an organization should think about
selecting a vendor and product that are appropriate
in terms o scale and cost.
There are a number o good reasons an organiza-
tion might turn to virtualization, though the primary rationale will all into one
or more o the ollowing categories:
Microsoft has sup-ported the virtual-izing of ExchangeServer on any hyper-visor that is partof the Server Virtu-
alization ValidationProgram.
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Editors Note
The Benefts
and Challenges
o Exchange
Virtualization
Virtualizing
Exchange 2010
on vSphere?
Heres What
to Know
Two Barriers
to Successul
Exchange
Virtualization
5 V I R T U A L I Z I N G M I C R O S O F T E X C H A N G E S E R V E R
2BENEFITS ANDCHALLENGES1.Cutting hardware and sotware expenditures.
2.Cutting data center costs (power, cooling, physical ootprint).
3.Reducing overall running expenses.
4.Simpliying server management.
5.Increasing uptime, decreasing downtime, shortening recovery time
and reducing data loss.
To illustrate these points, lets consider the simple Exchange 2010 SP3 physical
deployment shown in FIGURE 1.
FIGURE 1.A simple physical Exchange deployment
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Editors Note
The Benefts
and Challenges
o Exchange
Virtualization
Virtualizing
Exchange 2010
on vSphere?
Heres What
to Know
Two Barriers
to Successul
Exchange
Virtualization
6 V I R T U A L I Z I N G M I C R O S O F T E X C H A N G E S E R V E R
2BENEFITS ANDCHALLENGESFIGURE 1 provides an overview o the Exchange Servers and roles that might be
present within a typical Exchange 2010 physical deployment or a medium to
large enterprise. The setup and running costs or that environment, including
hardware, power, cooling, administration and operating system licensing, could be
signifcantly reduced through virtualization. Further savings in this example would
result rom using Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise Edition with Microsots
Hyper-V, which allows you to license each physical host with virtualization rights.
There are, o course, other hypervisors you
might want to use in the above scenario, such asthose rom Citrix and the ubiquitous VMware. The
main point is that you should be able to realize a
return on your virtualization investment, irrespec-
tive o the hypervisor platorm.
Alternatively, i you do not wish to go the virtu-
alization route, you could look at achieving similar
outcomes by migrating your messaging inrastruc-
ture to a hosted/cloud oering such as Ofce 365.
This eectively outsources responsibility or your mail system.
It is true that by adopting a cloud model you can leverage some o the same
benefts to virtualization in terms o cost and administrative savings. But there
are potential downsides to placing your mail system in the cloud.
You should be ableto realize a return on
your virtualizationinvestment, irrespec-tive of the hypervisorplatform.
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Editors Note
The Benefts
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o Exchange
Virtualization
Virtualizing
Exchange 2010
on vSphere?
Heres What
to Know
Two Barriers
to Successul
Exchange
Virtualization
7 V I R T U A L I Z I N G M I C R O S O F T E X C H A N G E S E R V E R
2BENEFITS ANDCHALLENGESMany organizations are still struggling with the idea that having their data in
the cloud means losing sight o their inormation assets. This eeling is heightened
when a mail system contains confdential data. Reluctance about the cloud also
stems rom concerns about maintaining uptime and connectivity. It can be wor-
risome to depend on a third partys inrastructure, and it might be discomorting
to realize that upgrades and patching are perormed on the third partys timetable
and not yours.
VIRTUALIZATION OPTIONS
There are a number o approved hypervisors on the SVVP list, but the market has
three main players.
nVMware (vSphere).VMware Inc. is frmly established in the virtualization mar-
ket and its hypervisor is considered by many to be the industry standard. With
a relatively small Linux ootprint on the host server and rich integration with a
number o hardware and storage platorms, it is seen as more mature and more
stable than its competitors. Those attributes make vSphere an attractive prospect
or virtualizing Exchange, though it is not the cheapest option and its enterprise
management eatures are not as integrated as those in products such as Microsot
Hyper-V.
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Editors Note
The Benefts
and Challenges
o Exchange
Virtualization
Virtualizing
Exchange 2010
on vSphere?
Heres What
to Know
Two Barriers
to Successul
Exchange
Virtualization
8 V I R T U A L I Z I N G M I C R O S O F T E X C H A N G E S E R V E R
2BENEFITS ANDCHALLENGESnCitrix (XenServer).XenServer by Citrix Systems Inc., which is now in Version
6.1, is maturing rapidly into a viable alternative to products rom VMware and
Microsot. It is deployed as a Linux-based hypervisor on the XenServer host ma-
chine, and is considered less costly to run than vSphere. Even so, it has struggled
to gain traction because its earlier versions were light on the types o eatures that
had been established long ago in VMware.
nMicrosoft (Hyper-V).At Version 3.0, Microsot Hyper-V is a relative newcomer
to the virtualization market. It has quickly matured since its debut and can be runon top o a ull Windows graphical user interace or on Windows Server Core.
Naturally, Hyper-V integrates well with Windows platorms and has a wealth o
amiliar management tools in the orm o Microsot System Center and the tra-
ditional Microsot Management Console (MMC).
With Hyper-V being a core part o the Windows OS, it has a compelling licens-
ing model over that o both VMware and XenServer. For example,i you purchasethe Datacenter edition o Windows 2012 you get Hyper-V and can run an unlim-
ited number o Windows-based guests on that host.
Despite its licensing advantages and improving technology, Hyper-V still does
not have the pedigree o products like vSphere and it remains to be seen i Version
3.0 (released with Windows Server 2012) can make a noticeable dent in VMwares
market lead.
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Editors Note
The Benefts
and Challenges
o Exchange
Virtualization
Virtualizing
Exchange 2010
on vSphere?
Heres What
to Know
Two Barriers
to Successul
Exchange
Virtualization
9 V I R T U A L I Z I N G M I C R O S O F T E X C H A N G E S E R V E R
2BENEFITS ANDCHALLENGESPLATFORM SELECTION
In small to medium-sized deployments, there is little dierence unctionally
among the three main players. Distinctions become sharper, however, when build-
ing large, high-perorming, highly available virtualization inrastructures. Because
o their high-end scalability eatures, vSphere and Hyper-V will make more sense
in those situations.
Beyond the scale o deployment and cost, consider other criteria when con-
templating platorm options:
nReputation. Youll need to determine how important it is to you or your business
that you select a product thats considered a market leader or that comes rom a
avorite vendor.
nSupport. Assess how well a vendor supports its products. You do not want to be
let on your own ater making a purchase.
nInternal skill sets. Figure out i the skills within your organization are aligned
to a particular virtualization platorm. This might inuence which vendor you
standardize on.
nSimplicity.I your organization does not require all the high-end unctionality
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Editors Note
The Benefts
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o Exchange
Virtualization
Virtualizing
Exchange 2010
on vSphere?
Heres What
to Know
Two Barriers
to Successul
Exchange
Virtualization
10 V I R T U A L I Z I N G M I C R O S O F T E X C H A N G E S E R V E R
2BENEFITS ANDCHALLENGESin the VMware and Microsot products, does XenServer become more attractive?
From a specifcation point o view, TABLE 1 summarizes some o the metrics
worth considering when selecting a hypervisor. Look at which virtualization ea-
tures are supported by the Exchange version that you will be using. Check to see
TABLE 1.Quick features comparison table
HYPER-V (2012) XENSERVER (6.0) VSPHERE ENT+
Logical Processors (Cores) 320 64 160
Physical Memory 4 TB 1 TB 2 TB
vCPUs per Host 2048 160 2048
vCPUs per VM 64 16 32
RAM per VM 1 TB 128 GB 1 TB
Active VMs per Host 1024 130 512
Maximum VMs 4000 960 3000
Nodes per Cluster 64 16 32
Maximum Virtual Disk Size 64 TB VHDX 2 TB 2 TB VMDK
Port Mirroring Yes Yes Yes
HA Migration Yes Yes Yes
Live Storage Migration Yes No Yes
Network Virtualization Yes No Third-party
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Editors Note
The Benefts
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o Exchange
Virtualization
Virtualizing
Exchange 2010
on vSphere?
Heres What
to Know
Two Barriers
to Successul
Exchange
Virtualization
1 1 V I R T U A L I Z I N G M I C R O S O F T E X C H A N G E S E R V E R
2BENEFITS ANDCHALLENGESi those eatures are within any one o the hypervisors in the table, how much you
intend to scale the environment over the next fve years and how much money you
have available to spend.
When you consider virtualizing Microsot Exchange, it is tempting to think it
makes more sense to use Microsots Hyper-V to do the job. Thats not necessarily
the case. Exchange will virtualize well on almost any
hypervisor as long as the underlying platorm has
been well architected. Since the chosen hypervisor
is only one part o the equation, you need to seethe entire landscape. That means looking at hosts,
storage, networking and hypervisor to see how well
they will work together.
It is true you can leverage some compelling
licensing and platorm unifcation by going the
Hyper-V route with Exchange. From a techni-
cal perspective, though, you will not go wrong virtualizing Exchange on either
vSphere or XenServer.
SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS
Depending on the version o Exchange you are using, there are a number o
You can leveragesome compellinglicensing and plat-form unication by
going the Hyper-Vroute with Exchange.
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Editors Note
The Benefts
and Challenges
o Exchange
Virtualization
Virtualizing
Exchange 2010
on vSphere?
Heres What
to Know
Two Barriers
to Successul
Exchange
Virtualization
12 V I R T U A L I Z I N G M I C R O S O F T E X C H A N G E S E R V E R
2BENEFITS ANDCHALLENGESvariables youll need to take into account to ensure that any environment you
build remains supported by Microsot. Some o these considerations will dictate
which eatures o the hypervisor platorm you can use and the type o storage
confgurations you can put in place.
nExchange 2007.Exchange Server 2007 is supported in production using hard-
ware virtualization, but only when the chosen hypervisor is on the SVVP list.
Also, the Exchange guests must run Exchange 2007 SP1 or higher, and the Unifed
Messaging server role cannot be virtualized.You must also ensure that the storage used by the Exchange guests or Exchange
data (databases, transaction logs, queues, etc.) is block-level storage. Exchange
does not support using technologies such as network-attached storage (NAS).
It is important to note that Exchange does not support dynamically expanding
virtual disks, nor should you snapshot data disks or virtual machines within the
hypervisor. To remain supported operationally, you should not install sotware
other than antivirus, backup or virtualization management tools within the Ex-
change virtual guests. I you plan to use cluster continuous replication (CCR) and
single copy clusters (SCC), you can only do so when the native hypervisor high
availability (HA) is not used.
nExchange 2010.For Exchange 2010 RTM, the support policy or virtualization
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Editors Note
The Benefts
and Challenges
o Exchange
Virtualization
Virtualizing
Exchange 2010
on vSphere?
Heres What
to Know
Two Barriers
to Successul
Exchange
Virtualization
13 V I R T U A L I Z I N G M I C R O S O F T E X C H A N G E S E R V E R
2BENEFITS ANDCHALLENGESis pretty much the same as or Exchange 2007. However, with 2010 Service Pack
1, Microsots support stance changed so that now all Exchange 2010 server roles,
including Unifed Messaging, are supported as a guest. Also, database availability
groups (DAGs) can be used in conjunction with hypervisor HA eatures as long
as the virtual machines are confgured to shut down and cold boot or an online
migration (such as live migration or VMware vMotion) is used.
nExchange 2013.The virtualization support stance or Exchange 2013 is almost
identical to Exchange 2010 Service Pack 1. To dive deeper, Microsots TechNethas detailed notes on the supported virtualization confgurations.
HYPERVISOR PERFORMANCE
In considering a platorm, there are many actors to examine. The hardware being
used, the storage inrastructure, the networking and storage interconnects, and
other virtual workloads within the same virtualized cluster can all play a part in
how well the overall system perorms.
There can be a valid discussion about which platorm scales best according to
how your organizations needs change over time. In the case o medium to large
enterprises looking to run internal and external services within their inrastruc-
tures, perhaps your best options are Hyper-V and vSphere.
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Editors Note
The Benefts
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o Exchange
Virtualization
Virtualizing
Exchange 2010
on vSphere?
Heres What
to Know
Two Barriers
to Successul
Exchange
Virtualization
14 V I R T U A L I Z I N G M I C R O S O F T E X C H A N G E S E R V E R
2BENEFITS ANDCHALLENGESSome in the business will insist that Hyper-V is not a valid deployment solu-
tion because it does not scale the way vSphere can. Others will argue that Mi-
crosot already provides services to hundreds o thousands o its users each day
based on systems running Hyper-V.
The message here is to do your own research. Dont let those with strong
opinions sway you toward a product that they preer but that might not be right
or the job at hand. Find out how your requirements, skill sets and budget align
with the available products.
Its important to evaluate each possible hypervisor and the underlying archi-tecture so that you select a platorm that will meet your organizations needs in
a cost-eective and efcient way. Andy Grogan
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Editors Note
The Benefts
and Challenges
o Exchange
Virtualization
Virtualizing
Exchange 2010
on vSphere?
Heres What
to Know
Two Barriers
to Successul
Exchange
Virtualization
15 V I R T U A L I Z I N G M I C R O S O F T E X C H A N G E S E R V E R
3vSPHEREVirtualizing Exchange 2010 on vSphere?
Heres What You Need to Know
Although virtualizing Exchange Server 2010 might seem like the end-
game, the process is rarely straightorward and optimal deployment strategies
arent always obvious. Administrators must take additional steps to optimize
perormance, correct resource shortages or troubleshoot problems that arise as a
consequence o Exchange 2010 virtualization.Many instances o virtualized Exchange 2010 run poorly because adminis-
trators didnt do enough planning. The primary reason or unsatisactory de-
ploymentsor outright ailuresis disregarding best practices. Heres what
administrators need to know:
n When allocating processors, assign only multiple virtual CPUs (vCPUs) i you
can determine that your Exchange virtual machines (VMs) can really take ad-
vantage o the additional processors; otherwise, youre wasting resources. Start
with the smallest number o vCPUs and work your way up as needed.
n Ensure that the total number o vCPUs assigned to all Exchange 2010 VMs is
equal to (or less than) the total number o cores on the ESX host machine. I you
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Editors Note
The Benefts
and Challenges
o Exchange
Virtualization
Virtualizing
Exchange 2010
on vSphere?
Heres What
to Know
Two Barriers
to Successul
Exchange
Virtualization
16 V I R T U A L I Z I N G M I C R O S O F T E X C H A N G E S E R V E R
3vSPHEREassign more vCPUs to mission-critical VMs than the physical host has avail-
able, you are overcommitting CPUs, and taking a chance that your Exchange
VMs wont have CPU cycles when theyre needed. Instead o a 1:1 mapping
o cores to vCPUs, use CPU reservations to protect those CPU resources or
Exchange VMs.
n Overcommitting memory with VMware vSphere is commonand even rec-
ommendedbut dont overcommit memory when virtualizing Exchange 2010.
I you do, youll have to deal with memory ballooning, compression and pag-ingall o which will diminish perormance.
n Use storage multi-pathing to ensure storage area network (SAN) availability.
VMware recommends providing a minimum o our paths rom a VMware ESX
host to a storage array, which means the host requires at least two host bus
adapter (HBA) ports, two Fibre Channel ports and two SAN ports.
n Allocate separate network adapters and networks or vMotion, VMware ault-
tolerant logging trafc and ESX console access management. Use at least two
network adapters or Exchange production trafc to leverage VMware network
interace card (NIC) teaming capabilities. Generally, at least our network
adapters are recommended per ESX host.
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Editors Note
The Benefts
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o Exchange
Virtualization
Virtualizing
Exchange 2010
on vSphere?
Heres What
to Know
Two Barriers
to Successul
Exchange
Virtualization
17 V I R T U A L I Z I N G M I C R O S O F T E X C H A N G E S E R V E R
3vSPHEREn Use the VMXNET3 virtual network adapter driver instead o the deault E1000.
In mission-critical VMs like Exchange 2010, the paravirtualized VMXNET3
will result in better perormance. Also, ensure that VMware Tools is installed
on each VM as the VMXNET3 virtual NIC driver.
n Dont skimp on host server hardware. No amount o virtualization eatures can
fx old or slow hardware.
n When virtualizing Exchange 2010, make sure youre up-to-date with the latestservice pack.
n Use vSphere High Availability (HA) to automatically restart your Exchange
VMs in the event o a host ailure.
IMPROVE VIRTUALIZED EXCHANGE 2010 RESOURCE UTILIZATION
Virtualization is all about maximizing the resources o each physical server. But
you never want to over-maximize your resources by skimping on CPU, memory
and I/O allocation. Thats a recipe or poor application perormance and end-user
complaints.
First, use resource pools and reservations. Reservations involve individual
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Editors Note
The Benefts
and Challenges
o Exchange
Virtualization
Virtualizing
Exchange 2010
on vSphere?
Heres What
to Know
Two Barriers
to Successul
Exchange
Virtualization
18 V I R T U A L I Z I N G M I C R O S O F T E X C H A N G E S E R V E R
3vSPHEREVMs, and resource pools create reservations or multiple VMs in the pool. These
tactics allow you to protect your Exchange 2010 VMs CPU and memory resources
rom other less-critical VMs with variable resource needs in the same inrastruc-
ture cluster.
For example, by creating a pool called Exchange2010, and putting all Exchange
VMs inside and setting CPU and memory reservations on that pool, you are en-
suring solid Exchange perormance (at least or CPU and memory).
Next, use the VMware Distributed Resource
Scheduler (DRS), which monitors VMs in a cluster,to ensure theyre receiving the CPU and memory
they are confgured or on a particular ESXi host. I
the VMs arent getting the resources needed, DRS
automatically moves the VMs to another ESXi host.
Lastly, employ the Storage Distributed Resource
Scheduler (SDRS). The vSphere 5 SDRS does or
storage what DRS does or CPU and memory. I
Exchange VM virtual disks are experiencing high
latency in their current data store, or i the data store is about to run out o space,
SDRS will use Storage vMotion to move those VM virtual disks to another,
better-perorming or spacious data store without downtime to end users and
applications.
If the VMs arentgetting the resourcesneeded, DRS auto-matically movesthe VMs to another
ESXi host.
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Editors Note
The Benefts
and Challenges
o Exchange
Virtualization
Virtualizing
Exchange 2010
on vSphere?
Heres What
to Know
Two Barriers
to Successul
Exchange
Virtualization
19 V I R T U A L I Z I N G M I C R O S O F T E X C H A N G E S E R V E R
3vSPHERECOMMON PROBLEMS WITH VIRTUALIZED EXCHANGE 2010 PERFORMANCE
Even a well-planned and well-executed Exchange 2010 virtualization project is
likely to run into problems. These troubles typically involve resources and storage:
nYou determine that an Exchange VM is performing poorly. Investigate each
VMs perormance and compare it to the perormance monitored with the previ-
ous physical deployment. Youll probably fnd that the aicted VMs are short o
computing resources, so allocate additional resources to boost perormance or use
vMotion to move the Exchange VM to another host.
nYou determine that storage capacity for mailboxes is running short. Its pos-
sible to deploy an archiving or purging system to control data growth, but this is a
separate project. Instead, use virtualization tools to dynamically expand VM disks
or add more virtual disks to a VM.
You might also need to add more physical disks or deploy other data-reduction
tactics, such as data deduplication. Its also important to use capacity planning
techniques to ensure adequate storage over time.
nYou determine that storage performance is inadequate. Storage perormance
monitoring will reveal unexpected latency between the Exchange VMs and
the SAN. Use SDRS to move the virtual disk to another data store. As a more
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The Benefts
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o Exchange
Virtualization
Virtualizing
Exchange 2010
on vSphere?
Heres What
to Know
Two Barriers
to Successul
Exchange
Virtualization
20 V I R T U A L I Z I N G M I C R O S O F T E X C H A N G E S E R V E R
3vSPHEREpermanent fx, you could address the underlying latency issue in the architecture.
In the end, the key to success when virtualizing Exchange 2010 is proper plan-
ning and education and the implementation o best practices. Exchange 2010
virtualization is proven, and advanced virtualization eatures will make Exchange
more reliable and improve uptime, while making the administrators lie easier.
David Davis
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Editors Note
The Benefts
and Challenges
o Exchange
Virtualization
Virtualizing
Exchange 2010
on vSphere?
Heres What
to Know
Two Barriers
to Successul
Exchange
Virtualization
21 V I R T U A L I Z I N G M I C R O S O F T E X C H A N G E S E R V E R
4BARRIERSTwo Barriers to Successul
Exchange Virtualization
With the various advances in hypervisor technology, deploying Exchange
Server in a virtual environment has become more attractive than ever. However,
certain actors stand in the way o successul virtualized Exchange deployments
some o which admins may not have considered.
Virtualizing Exchange Server is an enticing option. Ater all, increased CPU andmemory capacity allow virtual Exchange machines to scale beyond the limitations
the previous generations o hypervisors imposed,
thereby reducing the number o virtual machines
needed or large deployments. Also, the parity gap
between virtual and physical Exchange environ-
ments has never been smaller.
On paper, virtualizing Exchange looks like a
smart decision. With any virtual Exchange deploy-
ment, however, youll always be bringing more com-
plexity to the table.
No matter how efcient the hypervisor, or how scalable your VMs can be, the
underlying assumption o virtualizationthat applications dont need to know
The parity gapbetween virtual andphysical Exchange
environments hasnever been smaller.
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Editors Note
The Benefts
and Challengeso Exchange
Virtualization
Virtualizing
Exchange 2010
on vSphere?
Heres What
to Know
Two Barriers
to Successul
Exchange
Virtualization
22 V I R T U A L I Z I N G M I C R O S O F T E X C H A N G E S E R V E R
4BARRIERSabout the actual hardware theyre running on i the hypervisor provides a good
enough emulationdoesnt actually apply to Exchange Server.
Exchange Server goes to great measures to ensure that your messaging data is
always as sae as it can possibly be. Think o it this way: Anything that potentially
disrupts Exchanges knowledge o the hardware is a potential data risk. This is
the same reason storage products that use fle-level storage at any level between
Exchange and the physical disk blocks are not supported; fle-level behavior here
is not the same as what the Exchange inormation store is expecting.
BARRIER #1: NETWORK DELAYS
Introducing network delays is the frst way virtualization can destabilize Exchange
Server. These delays can potentially disrupt the delicately timed cluster heartbeat
communications between members o an Exchange database availability group
(DAG). There are our common reasons or network delays:
1.Mismatching network drivers and irmware. Hosts, patches, updates
and upgraded network drivers are sure to be applied over the lietime o
the hypervisor. Many administrators orget that the VM network drivers
should also be upgraded to keep all the components o the network stack
synchronized.
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Editors Note
The Benefts
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Virtualization
Virtualizing
Exchange 2010
on vSphere?
Heres What
to Know
Two Barriers
to Successul
Exchange
Virtualization
23 V I R T U A L I Z I N G M I C R O S O F T E X C H A N G E S E R V E R
4BARRIERS2.Overloading virtual network switches. A shared virtual network switch
canon overloaded hypervisor hosts or clustersintroduce network latency
or dropped packets. Exchange servers dont require separate dedicated virtual
network switches, but be careul about what other trafc passes through those
switches.
3.Moving live Exchange VMs between hosts. Although the ability to move live
VMs is an ot-touted hypervisor eature, it produces a small but measurable
loss o network connectivity. This is oten enough to make a DAG member(which is unaware o the act that it is moving rom one hypervisor host to
another) momentarily drop out o the cluster. This orces an unplanned ailover
o all active databases, and sometimes even causes the replication service to
ail. This doesnt result in data loss, but it can reduce the number o available
replicas, thereby reducing the overall level o redundancy.
4.Associating dierent types o trafc to the same host interaces. The typi-
cal hypervisor host will have two or three sets o host interaces: management,
storage and client trafc. For an Exchange VM that is also a DAG member, these
might not be enough. Associating the VMs replication network interace to
any o these physical host interace groups can inject network instability, caus-
ing hard-to-troubleshoot cluster membership dropouts and database ailovers.
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Editors Note
The Benefts
and Challengeso Exchange
Virtualization
Virtualizing
Exchange 2010
on vSphere?
Heres What
to Know
Two Barriers
to Successul
Exchange
Virtualization
24 V I R T U A L I Z I N G M I C R O S O F T E X C H A N G E S E R V E R
4BARRIERSOver time, network issues can have a signifcant impact on the reliability and
perceived stability o the DAG.
BARRIER #2: BUILT-IN SAFETY MECHANISMS
Allowing hypervisors and/or administrators to circumvent Exchanges built-in
data saety mechanisms is the other major way virtualization can destabilize Ex-
change Server.
Consider these acts:
n Exchange never permits two replicas o the same database to be created on the
same server. However, i two DAG member VMs are put on the same physical
host, thats exactly what you can end up with.
n Even i two Exchange VMs on the same host dont share database replica cop-
ies, that host becomes a potential source o risk or the health o the DAG i
theyre members o the same DAG. A DAG that ails because o bugs and pro-
cedural errors can take out an entire hypervisor cluster.
n Many inter-role transactions in an Exchange system exhibit dierent behaviors
depending on how the Exchange roles are colocated. Exchange has no way to
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Editors Note
The Benefts
and Challengeso Exchange
Virtualization
Virtualizing
Exchange 2010
on vSphere?
Heres What
to Know
Two Barriers
to Successul
Exchange
Virtualization
25 V I R T U A L I Z I N G M I C R O S O F T E X C H A N G E S E R V E R
4BARRIERSdetect situations where the mailbox and hub transport roles, or two hub trans-
port roles, are on the same physical host. In these cases, a host-level ailure can
result in the loss o the transport dumpster or shadow redundancy inorma-
tion, thereore resulting in the loss o messaging data.
Careul consideration o potential VM placement under all conditions is the
key to preventing these types o issues. Some organizations end up deploying
Exchange across more hypervisor hosts than they had originally planneda situ-
ation that reduces the level o consolidation and increases overall cost. In manycases, changes to deault VM confguration and to standard operations procedures
are necessary to ensure appropriate VM constraints are observed.
Its certainly possible to build a reliable Exchange deployment in a virtualized
environment. The secret is to know what actors to consider, plan or and test in
order to ensure that the virtualization confguration is not also increasing the risk
o a service outage or data loss.
Careully evaluate your plans to make sure that the additional costs and changes
are worth the actual level o consolidation you will likely achieve. That evaluation
might lead you to decide that virtualizing Exchange right now might not pay o.
Devin Ganger
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Editors Note
The Benefts
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Virtualization
Virtualizing
Exchange 2010
on vSphere?
Heres What
to Know
Two Barriers
to Successul
Exchange
Virtualization
26 V I R T U A L I Z I N G M I C R O S O F T E X C H A N G E S E R V E R
AUTHOR
BIOSANDY GROGAN, an Exchange MVP based in the
U.K., has worked in the IT industry for 14 years
primarily with Microsoft, HP and IBM technolo-
gies. His main passion is Exchange Server, buthe also specializes in Active Directory, SQL Server
and storage tools. Grogan works for a large coun-
cil in West London as the networks and operations
manager supporting 6,000 customers on more
than 240 sites. You can visit his website at
www.telnetport25.com.
DAVID DAVIS is the author of the best-selling
VMware vSphere video training library from
TrainSignal. He has written hundreds of virtu-
alization articles on the Web, is a vExpert, VCP,
VCAP-DCA, and CCIE #9369 with more than 18
years of enterprise IT experience. His website is
VMwareVideos.com.
DEVIN GANGER is a messaging architect and tech-
nical writer with more than 15 years of experiencein administering messaging systems, Windows,
Unix and TCP/IP networks. Today, he works pri-
marily with Exchange Server, Windows Active
Directory and related Microsoft and third-party
technologies. Ganger was recognized as a Micro-
soft MVP for Exchange Server from 2007 to 2011.
Virtualizing Microsoft Exchange Server is aSearchExchange.com e-publication.
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