[Info-vax] VMware

[Dave Froble]

On 12/9/2019 11:37 PM, Grant Taylor wrote:
> On 12/9/19 8:24 PM, Dave Froble wrote:
>> But, I have to ask, how do they run all those instances.  It seems to
>> me that it would be an operations nightmare.  I'm guessing they use
>> SANs so backup would not be such an issue.  But other operations?
>
> It really depends what those instances are.  I don't think it's
> difficult to get 100 VMs on a single host, assuming it's got enough
> resources and that the VMs are small enough.  10 such hosts in a cluster
> is not a problem.  That's 1,000 instances.  More such hosts and VMs is
> not difficult.
>
> SAN LUNs are not a backup any more than shadow disks are a backup.  Nor
> is RAID a backup.  Data corruption is a thing.  You need actual backups
> if you care about the data.

Yes, I understand all that.  But backing up a SAN is probably much 
easier than backing up 1000 stand alone systems.

> If the instances are Virtual Desktop Infrastructure that's accessed by
> end users, then chances are good that the VDI instances are almost
> cookie cutter installs and can be replaced at a moments notice.  End
> users are advised to save data in a location that's not part of the
> VDI's disk that can get replaced.
>
> Yes, there's operational headaches.  But there's quite a bit of
> automation to streamline that.  If a VDI instance fails automation,
> replace it with a new copy that passes automation.

But what are the applications that can exist in such an environment? 
That is where I get lost.

-- 
David Froble                       Tel: 724-529-0450
Dave Froble Enterprises, Inc.      E-Mail: davef at tsoft-inc.com
DFE Ultralights, Inc.
170 Grimplin Road
Vanderbilt, PA  15486