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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

    and Challenges

    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

    and Challenges

    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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    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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    The Benefts

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    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

    and Challenges

    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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    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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    The Benefts

    and Challenges

    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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    The Benefts

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    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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    Editors Note

    The Benefts

    and Challenges

    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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    The Benefts

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    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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    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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    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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    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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    The Benefts

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    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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    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.

    Margie Semilof|Editorial Director

    Lauren Horwitz |Executive Editor

    Phil Sweeney |Managing Editor

    Eugene Demaitre | Associate Managing Editor

    Laura Aberle | AssociateFeatures Editor

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    Neva Maniscalco |Graphic Designer

    Rebecca Kitchens |[email protected]

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