TSM Server in a VM

[rowl]

Curious if anyone has built a Linux VM to run TSM Server. I am about to get started on a project to do this and it would be nice to know of any pitfalls others may have run into. I shouldn't be resource constrained, I am able to get a dedicated ESX host to run my VM (26 cores, 128+ GB memory, all flash storage).

I talked with our IBM SE about this and was told it was supported, as long as one has sufficient resources. We are looking at 7.1.6 and using in-line dedup/compression, so I know based on the blueprints we need considerable compute, memory, and storage that can handle the I/O for the DB.

Thanks,
-Rowl

 

[moon-buddy]

Forget about it - your problem is I/O.

I tried running TSM 6.x in a VM on AIX and the results were terrible. Mind you, AIX environments are a lot faster than Intel base systems.

If you can dedicate I/O just for the TSM VM, then go ahead. Needless to say, you cannot practically put any VM on that ESXi host. An alternative is using blade servers if the intent is to save on footprint or "real-estate" space.

If the ESX will be dedicated just for the TSM VM as you mentioned, why then run on the ESXi? Just run it direct and no hypervisor to mess up with!

By the way, I run my TSM 7.1.5.2 Linux on blades with 48 cores and just 64 GB of RAM.

 

[rowl]

Buying a "server" requires an act of <some powerful entity> but getting an ESXi host for a VM sails right through the approval process with no questions asked. Seems like a bit of a mad science project to me, but that seems to be what I get assigned to do most of the time.

 

[marclant]

You are right, it is supported, however there are caveats:

source: http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21239546

 

[JCB]

Hello, whe had that implemented, it was very problematic. Lots of paint caused by perfrormance issue.

 

[anutorii]

I am working for a client with a large decentralized deployment of virtualized TSM servers on VMware and Xen (TSM running on SLES 11SP3). I/O will def be an issue you will have to consider.

I will post some I/O tests tomorrow. Any idea what your daily ingest will be?

Kind regards,
Tom Wise
Practice makes habit.