Topic: Usage of vmware on sme7.4 in a production environment ???

[femc]

I am having a small company ( + travel frequently ). I just love vmware2.x, this is working really super on my home set-up. I only use in the office what works at home in my test environment. At home and in my small company we do not have any UPS ( and defintely will not buy any on-line-ups, due to cost reasons ). vmware2.x is very stable on sme7.4 ( updated ), EXCEPT - when I simulate a power outage. When I simulate a power outage :

1) 'sometimes' one of the virtual nic does not come up

2) 'sometimes' a virtual server does not come up

3) sometimes I have to 'vmware-config-mui.pl' in order to get the management web interface up.

When I am traveling, the other people do not have the knowledge to do a complicated troubleshooting. vmware is a great + stable program, just love it, there is only the problem with the power outage. In case somebody is interested, I am running at home under sme7.4 / vmware : untangle, sme7.4 firewall, and a sme7.4 with fetchmail / spam tagger. Questions :

1) Would vmware be more stable ( after a power outage ) if it is run uner FC ? ( I looked into this possibility - looks much more complicated than installation under sme7.4 )

2) or should i wait for a new version for vmware ?

Maybe someone can give his thoughts on this .... ?

hdmueller
 

[Stefano]

you should not wait for any new version of VMWare.. if you suffer a power outage your FS could be corrupted so your data could be lost..

buy a ups.. it doesn't cost thousands euros/dollars..

Ciao
Stefano

[william_syd]

I've sometimes wondered if SME should be the host or the guest.

I think I would use a Centos 5.2/3 host with a SME guest.

Oh, I didn't think the mui was in VMware server 2.0.0 or 2.0.1

And yes, a UPS no matter what.

[femc]

I had during my life many power outages on file servers, and other servers - never lost a file ( however I do not dispute the fact about the possibility of file damages, and that a ups is actually necessary ). I used a ups before but when the batteries ran low, i rubbished it, and went without - it's ok.

BUT I had many cases that after a power outage the virtual servers did not start ( delayed starting ), or a nic need to be manually started up. That is my point.

hdmueller

[Stefano]

I had during my life many power outages on file servers, and other servers - never lost a file ( however I do not dispute the fact about the possibility of file damages, and that a ups is actually necessary ). I used a ups before but when the batteries ran low, i rubbished it, and went without - it's ok.

BUT I had many cases that after a power outage the virtual servers did not start ( delayed starting ), or a nic need to be manually started up. That is my point.

hdmueller

don't forget that VM are big files.. if they get corrupted, you've lost the entire VM.

so, before asking how to restart automagically a VM after a power outage, be sure you don't suffer for power outage

then, talking about data and the possibility of losing data, NEVER say NEVER murphy's laws are there, just around the corner

Ciao
Stefano

[Boris]

I've setup hundreds of servers during my career and not a single one went online in the production environment without UPS. Something like APC 650 for ~ $60 is all you need for a small server. Change battery every two years for ~$30-40 or buy a new UPS instead. If you haven't been dealing with file system recovery its just a statistical luck. I've dealt with it many times (even sometimes with UPS) and cost of UPS that save my time NOT having to do it, has paid for itself many times over.

[JoshuaR]

as everyone has said, UPS is a must. I bought a generic one for my home the other day that has linux drivers and cost $70AUD/$50USD.

I would also agree with william_syd.  If you are looking to run VMware server, I'd be inclined to run it off a 'lighter' distro like CentOS or maybe even FC, then run SME and your other VMs as guests.
(or even better, run ESX as the host if your serve hardware supports it...)

1) 'sometimes' one of the virtual nic does not come up

2) 'sometimes' a virtual server does not come up

3) sometimes I have to 'vmware-config-mui.pl' in order to get the management web interface up.

'Sometimes' is difficult to work with. Have you checked the VMware logs for errors corresponding in time to the outages?