Good point Rick about not configuring your instance yet, especially if you
want to be able to connect the instances because if you clone those VM's
your unique id will be the same and it won't work.

I install the software on VM's, have all the mountpoints ready etc but be
sure not to clone with the instance configured, that will hurt if you ever
want to connect the server to server.

And like you said, they do take up a lot of resources and I think you
should not use the normal storage subsystem since that is what you are
protecting but taking these things into account it works really well.


On Fri, Jan 8, 2016 at 3:03 PM, Rick Adamson <RickAdamson AT segrocers DOT com>
wrote:

> I have to agree with Stefan, make sure you allocate the recommended
> resources as per IBM best practices and virtualized ISP servers will serve
> you well.
>
> All of my DR instances have been virtual for several years now, and in
> production I am preparing to virtual both backup and OC server(s).
>
> An additional benefit for me is I create a VM template with all the
> Spectrum Protect software loaded, but not configured. When needed it only
> takes a few minutes to stand up a new or replacement ISP VM.
>
> My only issue was after my virtual backup servers were built my VMWare
> admins went back and robbed them of CPU and memory resources claiming that
> the resources were excessive. When they came under full production
> performance was dismal.  As a part of agreeing to virtualize the production
> environment I made sure that management understood, and approved, the
> minimum system/instance requirements as documented in the IBM blueprints
> document.
>
>
> -Rick Adamson
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: ADSM: Dist Stor Manager [mailto:ADSM-L AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU] On Behalf 
> Of
> Stefan Folkerts
> Sent: Friday, January 08, 2016 3:19 AM
> To: ADSM-L AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU
> Subject: Re: [ADSM-L] VM Server for Monitoring/Reporting?
>
> I don't understand the need for real metal servers other than when you
> connect tape or need to do lan-free transport to tape (again, to have
> supported connection to tape).
> Tape libraries connected to VMware vSphere are not supported (don't know
> the current state) but the rest is just software running on an OS, why
> would Spectrum Protect need to run on dedicated metal when other software
> doesn't?
>
> In my lab setup I even run tape connected on VMware and that works fine
> since version 5.5 of VMware, but that isn't supported so don't try and do
> that, you can and probably will run into problems at some stage, I have
> seen purple screens of death and have seen entire vSphere hosts go down due
> to library issues on versions prior to 5.5 in my lab setup :-)
>
> I have implemented Spectrum Protect servers virtualized, it's supported
> and it runs fine, just make sure you give it enough resources, you can't
> treat it like some small VM and I do give it dedicated storage (both for
> metadata and for data capacity and I mean controllers and storage, not just
> disks) but then it runs just fine.
>
> The advantage is that you automatically have increased availability due to
> VMware HA and have super fast backups for the machines running on the same
> physical box.
>
> When it comes to reporting/monitor software I wouldn't think twice about
> it if it isn't stated that it is unsupported.
>
>
> On Thu, Jan 7, 2016 at 9:51 PM, Vandeventer, Harold [OITS] <
> Harold.Vandeventer AT ks DOT gov> wrote:
>
> > I fully understand the need for real metal for the TSM/Spectrum
> > Protect node-backup and Operation Center servers.
> >
> > Is anyone running something relatively benign like 7.1
> > Monitoring/Reporting on a VM?
> >
> > I've got an old physical box, but need to add RAM.
> >
> > My management is pushing the "why not VM" solution.
> >
> >
> >
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