Intelhyper-v

Hyper-VisthebestvirtualizationsolutionforSQLServerSQLServerWhitePaperPublished:March2011Appliesto:SQLServer2008,SQLServer2008R2Summary:ManycustomersarelookingtoconsolidatetheirSQLServerdatabasesinordertooptimizehardwareusageandlicensing.
BothMicrosoftHyper-VandVMwarevSphereprovidehardwarevirtualizationsupportforSQLServerinproductionenvironment.
However,customersenjoymanyHyper-VadvantagesoverVMwareforSQLServerworkloads:Similarperformance:Hyper-VprovidesnearnativeperformancecharacteristicsforSQLServervirtualizationandiscomparablewithVMware.
Moreextensivehighavailability(HA):ForSQLServerFailoverClusteringscenario,customersretainfullHyper-VfunctionalitieswhereasVMwarerecommendsturningoffkeyfeaturessuchasvMotionforVMmobility,DRSfordynamicresourceallocation,andmemoryovercommit.
Superiormanagement:Hyper-VcombinedwithSystemCenterprovidesbothphysicalandvirtualizedmanagementaswellassupportforHyper-VandVMwarevirtualmachinesmanagement.
VMwareonlysupportsvirtualizedmanagementforVMwarevirtualmachines.
Moreextensivemonitoring:Hyper-VcombinedwithSystemCenterprovidescompletein-guestmonitoring(hardware,hypervisor,operatingsystem,andapplication).
VMwaredoesnotsupportapplicationmonitoring.
Lowercosts:Finally,Hyper-Vprovidesalowertotalcostofownership(TCO)thanVMwarevSphereforinitiallicensingandongoingoperations.
Insummary,Hyper-Vprovestobeacost-effectivesolutionthatmeetscustomers'needtovirtualizeSQLServerdatabaseswithequalperformancebutsubstantialsavingontheTCOandbetterfunctionalitiesinFailoverClusteringscenariocomparedwithVMware.
Hyper-VisthebestvirtualizationsolutionforSQLServer2ThefollowingtableshowsthecomparisonfromHyper-VandVMware;thesearecoveredinmoredetailinthispaper.
FeaturesMicrosoftHyper-VVMwareNearNativePerformanceFullsupportforSQLServerFailoverClusteringPhysicalandVirtualManagementforHyper-VandVMwarevirtualmachines1In-guestMonitoring1LowerTotalCostofOwnership(TCO)1MicrosoftHyper-VandSystemCenterManycustomersunderstandthebenefitsoutlinedinthesummaryandtableabove.
Torealizethosebenefits,theyhavechosentoruntheirSQLServerusingHyper-VorhaveswitchedtheirexistingSQLServertoHyper-VfromVMware.
Moredetailsontheirbenefitscanbeobtainedthroughthesecasestudies.
Hyper-VisthebestvirtualizationsolutionforSQLServer32011MicrosoftCorporation.
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Hyper-VisthebestvirtualizationsolutionforSQLServer4ContentsIntroductionandOverview4Performance4HighAvailabilityScenario.
5Management.
6Monitoring.
7TotalCostofOwnership.
7CustomerCaseStudies8Conclusion.
10IntroductionandOverviewCustomerscontinuouslyfindanewwaytooptimizetheirdatacenterusagethroughconsolidation.
Overthelastseveralyears,virtualizationisbecomingoneofthemostpopularwaystogetmoreoutofthehardwareresources.
Virtualizationalsoprovidesadditionalbenefitssuchastheabilitytoreducepowerconsumption,gainoperationalagility,andincreaseapplicationavailability.
MicrosoftHyper-VandVMwareprovidehypervisorstodohardwarevirtualization.
Hyper-VisanoptimalvirtualizationplatformtousefordeployingdemandingandmissioncriticalproductionapplicationsincludingMicrosoftSQLServerdatabaseworkloads.
SQLServerisacompletesetofenterprise-readytechnologiesandtoolsthathelpcustomersderivethemostvaluefrominformationatthelowesttotal-cost-of-ownership.
Infact,accordingtoIDC,SQLServeristhefastestgrowingdatabaseandbusinessintelligencevendorandshipsmoreunitsthanitscompetitorsOracleandIBMDB2.
MicrosoftsupportsSQLServerrunninginvirtualizedenvironmentforHyper-Vandnon-Microsofthypervisors.
ThispapershowsthebenefitsofSQLServeronHyper-VoverVMwarehypervisor.
PerformanceWithHyper-V,multiplevirtualinstancesrunningSQLServerOLTPandOLAPworkloadscanachieveessentiallythesamethroughputandperformanceasrunninginphysicalenvironment.
Hyper-Vfeaturesareabletotakefulladvantageofadvancedvirtualizationtechnologiesonthelatestserverprocessorssuchashardwaresecondleveladdresstranslation(SLAT).
AMDdescribesitsSLATtechnologyasAMDVirtualization(AMD-V)RapidVirtualizationIndexing(RVI)ornestedpagingtables(NPT).
InteldescribestheirSLATtechnologyasIntelVirtualization-ExtendedPageTables(VT-EPT).
CurrentserversequippedwiththelatestprocessorsfromIntelorAMDnotonlyprovidehardwareassistedvirtualization;theyalsoperformvirtualmemorymanagementandotherfunctionsthatweretraditionallyfulfilledbythehypervisor.
Thiscapabilitysubstantiallybenefitstheworkloadbecauseitimprovesoverallsystemperformance.
Hyper-VHyper-VisthebestvirtualizationsolutionforSQLServer5takesfulladvantageofthesehardwarefeaturestoproduceclosetonativeperformanceofvirtualSQLServerinstances.
MoredetailsonSQLServerperformanceonHyper-Vcanbeobtainedthroughthesewhitepapers:HighPerformanceSQLServerWorkloadsonHyper-VandRunningSQLServer2008inHyper-VenvironmentBestPracticeandPerformance.
HighAvailabilityScenarioTosupport"24x7"availabilityoftheirmissioncriticalapplications,manycompaniesrequiretheirSQLServerdatabasetobeavailablevirtuallyallofthetime,withsystemdowntimekepttoanabsoluteminimum.
FailoverclusteringistheonlyapproachthatenablesanentireSQLServerinstancetobemadehighlyavailable–eitheratthelocaldatacenterorpossiblyataremotesiteordatacenter.
ASQLServerfailoverclusterreliesonthebroadlyadoptedWindowsServerClustertechnology.
SQLServercustomerspreferfailoverclusteringtomakesuredatabaseinstancesarehighlyavailableespeciallyformissioncriticalapplications.
MoreSQLServercustomersimplementedfailoverclusteringoverotherhighavailabilitytechnologiessuchasdatabasemirroring.
Becauseofitspopularityandhighpreference,thenextversionofSQLServercodename"Denali"willmakeuseofWindowsClusteringasthebasetechnologyforAlwaysOn,itsnewhighavailabilitysolutionthatisflexible,interoperable,andefficient.
VMwareplacedmanyrestrictionsonitsfeaturesforSQLServerfailoverclustering.
Thedetailsoftheserestrictionsareoutlinedinpage11and34ofVMwarewhitepaperSetupforFailoverClusteringandMicrosoftClusterServiceforthelatestversionsofVMwareESX4.
1,ESXi4.
1,andvCenterServer4.
1.
Page11ofVMwarepapermentionsalistoffunctionsthatarenotsupportedforMicrosoftClusterServices(MSCS).
ClusteringoniSCSI,FCoE,andNFSdisks.
Mixedenvironments,suchasconfigurationswhereoneclusternodeisrunningadifferentversionofESX/ESXithananotherclusternode.
UseofMSCSinconjunctionwithVMwareFaultTolerance.
MigrationwithvMotionofclusteredvirtualmachines.
N-PortIDVirtualization(NPIV)Withnativemultipathing(NMP),clusteringisnotsupportedwhenthepathpolicyissettoroundrobin.
Youmustusehardwareversion7withESX/ESXi4.
1.
Page34ofVMwarepaperrecommendsnottousememoryovercommit.
Hyper-VisthebestvirtualizationsolutionforSQLServer6Insummary,customerswhoareusingfailoverclusteringonVMwarewilllosethefollowing:NoVMmobilitybecausevMotionisnotsupported.
vMotionisaVMwaretechnologythatenablesvirtualmachinestobemigratedlivefromservertoserver.
Thisisasubstantialrestrictionasitisoneofthekeyreasonsandbenefitsofhardwarevirtualization.
NodynamicresourceallocationbecauseDynamicResourceScheduler(DRS)isnotsupported.
DRSisaVMwaretechnologythatmonitorresourcepoolutilizationandintelligentlyloadbalancevirtualmachinestoobtainoptimumresourcepoolusage.
NovirtualSANbecauseN-PortIDVirtualization(NPIV)isnotsupported.
NPIVallowsmultiplefiberchannelstooccupyasinglephysicalportinStorageAreaNetwork(SAN)storage.
NozerolossprotectionbecauseVMwareFaultToleranceisnotsupported.
Lessflexibilityandperformancebecausememoryovercommitisnotrecommended.
MemoryovercommitisaVMwarefeaturethatcanidentifyidlememoryanddynamicallyreallocateunusedmemoryfromsomeVMstoothersthatneedmorememory.
Ontheotherhand,Hyper-VprovidesbetterfeaturescomparedtoVMwareforSQLServerrunninginfailoverclusteringscenarioandcustomersretainallHyper-Vadvancedfeatures:LiveMigration.
ItisaHyper-Vtechnologythatallowsaserveradministratortomovearunningvirtualmachineorapplicationbetweendifferentphysicalmachineswithoutdisconnectingtheclientorapplication.
Mixedguest/hostclusterconfiguration.
Itishavingbothphysicalandvirtualnodesinthesamecluster.
Dynamicmemory.
ItisaHyper-Vtechnologythatallowsthememoryassignedtoguestvirtualmachinestovaryaccordingtodemand.
N-PortIDVirtualization(NPIV)supportthroughSystemCenterVirtualMachineManager.
NPIVallowsmultiplefiberchannelstooccupyasinglephysicalportinStorageAreaNetwork(SAN)storage.
ManagementVirtualmachinesarenotsimplyobjectstomanipulate,butactualcomputerswithrealworkloads.
Itisimperativetomanagevirtualmachinesthesamewayasmanagingphysicalsystems.
SystemCenterManagementSuiteDatacenter(SMSD)providesacomprehensivesetofintegratedmanagementtoolsforphysicalandvirtualmachines.
Customerscankeepcomplexityataminimumandstreamlineoperationswithacommonmanagementenvironmentthatreducestraining,ensuresuniformpolicyapplication,andsimplifiesmaintenancebyutilizingexistingsoftware,personnel,andmostimportantly,existingITmanagementprocess.
MoredetailsonSystemCentermanagementcanbeobtainedthroughthissite.
Ontheotherhand,VMwaredoesnotprovidephysicalsystemmanagementasitonlyfocusesonvirtualizationmanagementonvirtualmachinesandhypervisorhost.
Hyper-VisthebestvirtualizationsolutionforSQLServer7MonitoringAsorganizationsincorporatevirtualizationintotheirITservicesinfrastructure,theyhaveaccesstonewcapabilitiesthatcanincreaseefficiency,flexibility,andapplicationuptime.
ITservicesinfrastructurecanbecategorizedintothefollowinglayers:hardware,hypervisor,operatingsystem,andapplication.
Thehardwarelayerincludesserver,networking,andstorage.
Thehypervisorlayerincludesevents,configuration,andperformancedatarelatedtohypervisorsuchasHyper-V.
TheoperatingsystemlayerincludesWindowsServerandotheroperatingsystems.
Andtheapplicationlayerincludesevents,configuration,andperformancedatarelatedtoapplicationslikeSQLServer,orlineofbusiness(LOB)applicationsbuiltonSQLServer.
Tofullybenefitfromthesenewcapabilities,customersrequiremonitoringsoftwarethatfullyintegratesvirtualizationcapabilitiesthatincludein-guestmonitoringcapabilities.
Monitoringsoftwarethatdoesnotcombineinformationabouthardware,hypervisor,operatingsystem,andapplicationsintoasingleconsole,orthatshowscausalrelationshipsbetweencomponents,willbelesseffectiveinhelpingITstaffbothrespondtoserviceinterruptionsquicklyandmaximizedatacenterefficiency.
Inparticular,monitoringandmanagementsoftwarethatdoesnothavedeepvisibilityintotheapplicationlayerwillbemissingvitalinformationthatcouldotherwisehelpmaximizeuptime.
Monitoringtoolsthatonlyinspecttheoperatingsystemandhypervisorlayerscanmissvitalapplication-layerwarningsthatcanquicklyescalateintoserviceoutagesthateffectusers.
SystemCenterin-guestmonitoringcombinesvisibilityintothehardware,hypervisor,operatingsystem,andapplicationslayerwithasingleconsoleinterfacethatillustratesrelationshipsbetweenlayersoftheITinfrastructure,alongwithinsightintoend-userexperiencesorsystem-relatedtransactions,tohelpITstaffmaximizebothuptimeanddatacenterefficiency.
Ontheotherhand,VMwarevCenterdoesnotprovidedeepvisibilityintotheapplicationsrunningwithinVMs.
VMware'smonitoringtoolvCenterlacksin-guestmonitoringcapabilities.
Instead,vCenterreliesonpacketinspectionofnetworkdatatoandfromapplicationsrunningwithinaVM.
Inaddition,vCenterdoesnotgatherinformationdirectlyfromapplications.
WhilevCenterdoesgatherinformationaboutcurrentapplicationperformance,throughput,andlatency,vCenterdoesnothavevisibilityintomanyin-guestconditionsthatultimatelyleadtoanapplicationoutage.
SystemCenterfullyintegratesvirtualizationmonitoringandmanagementintoexistingmonitoringcapabilities.
WithSystemCenter,organizationsgaintheabilitytofullyintegratevirtualizationasacorecapabilityinadynamic,self-managingITservicesinfrastructure.
MoredetailsonSystemCentermonitoringcanbeobtainedthroughthiswhitepaper:In-GuestMonitoringwithSystemCenter.
TotalCostofOwnershipUnderstandingthecostsoflicensingandongoingoperationalallowscustomerstomakeamoreinformeddecisionwhendecidingwhichhypervisorisbestfortheirorganization.
Therearesubstantialfunctionalityandpricedifferencesbetweenthesetwosolutions.
Ingeneral,VMwareHyper-VisthebestvirtualizationsolutionforSQLServer8approachesvirtualizationasanicheinfrastructureadditionwhileMicrosoftapproachesvirtualizationasanintegratedinfrastructurecommodity.
WhilebothMicrosoftandVMware'spricingstructurecausesoverallsolutionpricetoscalewiththenumberofserversused,VMware'spricingstructuresimplychargesmoreforlessoverallfunctionality.
ByvirtualizingwithMicrosoftsolutions,customerssaveuptoone-thirdthecostofacomparableVMwaresolution2.
WiththegreaterfunctionalityofSystemCenter,includingtheonlysolutionforin-guestmanagementandautomatedVMoptimizationusingin-guestknowledge,theMicrosoftsolutionprovidesmorevalueinscenariosfromfiveserversallthewaythroughtolargeenterprisedeploymentsof200serversormore.
ThismakesMicrosoftthebettervaluefororganizationsofanysize.
MoredetailsonlicensingcostcomparisonbetweenHyper-VandVMwarecanbeobtainedthroughthiswhitepaper:CuttingCostswithMicrosoftVirtualizationandthissite.
WhileMicrosoftprovidesbettervaluethanVMwareforinitiallicensingcost,researchalsoshowsthatcustomersrunningHyper-Vspend24%lessonITlabor,onanongoingbasis,thancustomersusingeitherVMwareESXorvSphere.
MoredetailsonongoingoperationcostcomparisonbetweenHyper-VandVMwarecanbeobtainedthroughthiswhitepaper:MicrosoftHyper-Vvs.
VMwareESX&vSphere:Operations&ManagementCostAnalysis.
CustomerCaseStudiesMicrosoftvirtualizationsavescustomerssignificantlymoremoneyandenablesgreateragilitythanVMware,whileprovidingthekeycapabilitiestheyneedandenablingthemtoutilizetheexpertisetheyalreadyhavefromusingotherMicrosoftproducts.
CompanieswithexistingVMwarewhoarestartingtolookfortangible,bottom-linebenefitsfromvirtualizationputcostatthetopoftheirlist.
That'swhy,whenorganizationswanttoexpandtheinitialvirtualizationenvironmentstheybuiltusingVMwareintolarger-scaleimplementations,manyofthemmovetoMicrosoft.
FollowingtableisasamplingofSQLServercustomersthathavechosenMicrosoftvirtualizationoverVMware.
CustomerIndustryLocationInTheirOwnWordsUniversityofWaterlooEducationCanada"We'renowcost-effectivelyoperatingwithinamorevirtualizedITenvironmentwithHyper-V–especiallywhencomparedtohowmuchweestimateitwouldhavecosttorunVMwareinthesamecapacity.
"Fpweb.
netSaaSUnitedStates"WithVMware,wewouldfaceanup-frontlicensingcostof$100,800,whichwouldforceustoincreaseourpricing.
Bycomparison,whenwelicensedWindowsServer2008Enterprise,Hyper-Vwasincludedforfree.
"AyalaProfessionalServicesPhilippines"EvenafterVMwarecutitscoststobemorecompetitive,wewerestillabletorealizeamorecost-effectivesolutionwithMicrosoftbyusingHyper-VisthebestvirtualizationsolutionforSQLServer9theWindowsServer2008Datacenteredition.
"1800GOTJUNKServicesCanada"We'vebeenhappywiththeoverallperformanceandreliabilityofHyper-VandthecostforHyper-Vserversismuchlessthanitisforphysicalhardware,whichhelpsourbottomline.
"LeeCompanyConstructionsUnitedStates"BydeployingHyper-VinsteadofVMware,wesavedabout$15,000inlicensingfees.
"UrbanLendingSolutionsBankingUnitedStates"Sure,itwasalotcheapertogowithHyper-V.
Butthatwasasidebenefit;wewentwithitbecauseit'sthebettervirtualizationsolution.
"LaDirectiondesDomainesdel'EtatGovernmentMorocco"ComparedwithothervirtualizationsuppliersinMorocco,Microsoftprovidesuswithpeaceofmind.
Wecanplanforthefutureanddeploynewapplicationsknowingthatoursystemswillexpandcost-effectivelytomeetdemand"FollowingtableisasamplingofSQLServercustomersthathaveswitchedfromVMwaretoMicrosoftvirtualization.
CustomerIndustryLocationInTheirOwnWordsCH2MHILLArchitecture,EngineeringUnitedStates"Thecompanywascuttingcostsacrosstheboard,andwewantedtopushforwardwithvirtualizingmoreservers,especiallyinourfieldoffices,butwejustcouldn'tdoitwithVMware.
"UnionPacificTransportation,LogisticsUnitedStates"WewouldnothavebeenabletoproceedasaggressivelywithvirtualizingourWindowsproductionworkloadswithoutthemovetoHyper-V.
"Apps4RentSaaSUnitedStates"WithHyper-V,Apps4Renthasacompetitiveadvantage.
UsingaMicrosoftvirtualizationsolution,wecanservemorecustomersmoreefficientlyandcosteffectivelythanweevercouldwithVMware"AvanadeITServicesUnitedStates"Hyper-Vwassignificantlymorecost-effectivethanthoseVMwarelicenseswehadusedforourtestanddevelopmentenvironment"CrutchfieldRetailUnitedStates"SincedeployingHyper-V,IThasshownanewlevelofagilityandresponsiveness.
ThankstoourMicrosoftvirtualizationsolution,wearemeetingtheneedsofthebusinesswhileminimizingcosts"UniversityofMiamiEducationUnitedStates"Microsoftvirtualizationsolutionscostus60percentlessthanVMware.
Theyhelpussavemoneytodaywhilegivingusthecapabilitiesneededtooperateevenmoreefficientlyandcost-effectivelyastimegoeson"Children'sHospitalHealthcareUnitedStates"[WithSystemCenterandHyper-V]wecandomorewithasmallerstaff;plus,we'vebeenabletoredeploystafftohigher-valueprojects.
"SwedishRedCrossNon-profitSweden"SavingmoneywascertainlypartoftheappealofWindowsServer2008,butwealsoknewthatwithapureMicrosoftsolution,wecouldHyper-VisthebestvirtualizationsolutionforSQLServer10manageourentireinfrastructureourselvesandgetridofexpensiveVMwareconsultants"Moredetailsonthecustomers'benefitsfromusingHyper-VoverVMwarecanbeobtainedthroughthesecasestudies.
ConclusionMicrosoftfullysupportsrunningSQLServerworkloadswithHyper-V.
MicrosoftHyper-VhasmanyadvantagesoverVMwareforSQLServerintheareaofperformance,fullsupportforFailoverClusteringscenario,holisticphysicalandvirtualmanagement,applicationmonitoring,fastertomarketwithappliance,andoveralllowerTCOforbothinitiallicensingandongoingmaintenancecosts.
Hyper-Visacost-effectivesolutionthatmeetscustomers'needtovirtualizeSQLServerdatabaseswithequalperformancebutsubstantialsavingonthelicensing/ongoingmaintenancecostsandbetterfunctionalitiesinFailoverClusteringscenariocomparedwithVMware.
ManycustomersunderstandthebenefitsofrunningSQLServerwithHyper-VbychoosingHyper-VormigratefromtheirexistingVMwareimplementation.
Moredetailsontheirbenefitscanbeobtainedthroughthesecasestudies.
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2BasedonaservervirtualizationcomparisonofMicrosoftSystemCenterServerManagementSuiteDatacenterwithVMware'svSphereEnterprisePluswithVMwarevCenterServer.
Costcomparisonsassumesafivehostconfiguration,2processorsoneachhost,2yearssupportcostsforbothproducts,andnooperatingsystemcostsincluded.
TheMicrosoftsolutioncanuseeitherthefreeMicrosoftHyper-VServer2008R2hypervisororanexistingWindowsServer2008R2hypervisor.
BasedonMicrosoftestimatedretailpricesandpublishedVMwarepricesasof08/01/2010forpurchasesintheUnitedStates.
Actualresellerpricesmayvary.