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IMPLEMENTATION GUIDE
EMC VSPEX FOR VIRTUALIZED MICROSOFT
SQL SERVER 2012 WITH VMWARE VSPHERE
Enabled by EMC Next-Generation VNX and EMC Backup
EMC VSPEX
Abstract
This Implementation Guide describes the high-level steps required to deploy
Microsoft SQL Server 2012 on an EMC® VSPEX® Proven Infrastructure with VMware
vSphere enabled by EMC VNXe® or EMC Next-Generation VNX® , and EMC backup. The
guide provides information on SQL Server 2012 implementations.
October 2013
Copyright © 2013 EMC Corporation. All rights reserved. Published in the USA.
Published October 2013.
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EMC VSPEX for Virtualized Microsoft SQL Server 2012 with VMware vSphere
Enabled by EMC Next-Generation VNX and EMC Backup
Implementation Guide
Part Number H11883.1
2
EMC VSPEX for Virtualized Microsoft SQL Server 2012 with VMware vSphere
Enabled by EMC Next-Generation VNX and EMC Backup
Implementation Guide
Contents
Contents
Chapter 1
Introduction
11
Purpose of this guide ................................................................................................ 12
Business value ......................................................................................................... 12
Scope ....................................................................................................................... 13
Audience .................................................................................................................. 13
Terminology.............................................................................................................. 14
Chapter 2
Before You Start
17
Overview .................................................................................................................. 18
Pre-deployment tasks ............................................................................................... 18
Deployment workflow ............................................................................................... 19
Deployment prerequisites ........................................................................................ 19
Planning and sizing SQL Server 2012 ....................................................................... 22
Essential reading ...................................................................................................... 26
Design Guide ....................................................................................................... 26
Solution Overviews .............................................................................................. 26
Top Reasons ........................................................................................................ 26
VSPEX Proven Infrastructure................................................................................. 26
VSPEX with EMC backup and recovery guide ........................................................ 26
Chapter 3
Solution Overview
27
Overview .................................................................................................................. 28
Solution architecture ................................................................................................ 28
Key components ....................................................................................................... 29
Microsoft SQL Server 2012 .................................................................................. 30
EMC VSPEX Proven Infrastructure ......................................................................... 30
EMC Next-Generation VNX .................................................................................... 31
EMC VNXe ............................................................................................................ 35
EMC backup and recovery solutions..................................................................... 36
VMware vSphere 5.1 ............................................................................................ 36
EMC XtremSW Cache............................................................................................ 37
EMC PowerPath/VE .............................................................................................. 37
Chapter 4
Solution Implementation
39
Overview .................................................................................................................. 40
EMC VSPEX for Virtualized Microsoft SQL Server 2012 with VMware vSphere
Enabled by EMC Next-Generation VNX and EMC Backup
Implementation Guide
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Contents
Physical setup .......................................................................................................... 40
Overview of physical setup .................................................................................. 40
Network implementation .......................................................................................... 40
Overview of network implementation ................................................................... 40
Storage implementation ........................................................................................... 41
Overview of storage implementation .................................................................... 41
Setting up initial VNX or VNXe configuration ........................................................ 42
Provisioning storage for VMFS datastore .............................................................. 42
Provisioning storage for iSCSI datastore .............................................................. 43
Provisioning storage for application pool disks .................................................... 43
Example storage layouts ...................................................................................... 48
EMC XtremSW Cache configuration ...................................................................... 50
ESXi and vCenter implementation ............................................................................. 53
Overview of ESXi and vCenter implementation ..................................................... 53
Multipathing implementation ................................................................................... 55
Overview of multipathing implementation ........................................................... 55
PowerPath configuration for iSCSI storage ........................................................... 55
SQL Server 2012 virtualization implementation ........................................................ 56
Overview of SQL Server 2012 virtualization implementation ................................ 56
Creating SQL Server 2012 virtual machines ......................................................... 57
Installing guest OS............................................................................................... 57
Assigning an IP address ....................................................................................... 57
Creating SQL Server 2012 service accounts ......................................................... 57
Creating virtual disks for SQL Server 2012 ........................................................... 58
Application implementation ..................................................................................... 60
Overview of application implementation .............................................................. 60
Installing SQL Server 2012 instances ................................................................... 61
Deploying SQL Server 2012 OLTP system ............................................................. 66
Configuring SQL Server 2012 ............................................................................... 67
Backup and recovery implementation ....................................................................... 70
Chapter 5
Solution Verification
71
Baseline hardware verification ................................................................................. 72
Overview of baseline hardware verification .......................................................... 72
Verifying ESXi functionality .................................................................................. 72
Verifying solution components redundancy ......................................................... 72
Monitoring the solution’s health .......................................................................... 73
SQL Server 2012 OLTP performance verification ....................................................... 73
Overview of SQL Server 2012 performance verification ........................................ 73
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EMC VSPEX for Virtualized Microsoft SQL Server 2012 with VMware vSphere
Enabled by EMC Next-Generation VNX and EMC Backup
Implementation Guide
Contents
Baseline performance verification........................................................................ 74
FAST VP performance acceleration ....................................................................... 76
Backup and recovery verification .............................................................................. 78
Chapter 6
Reference Documentation
79
EMC documentation ................................................................................................. 80
Product documentation ............................................................................................ 80
Other documentation ............................................................................................... 80
Links ........................................................................................................................ 81
Appendix A Configuration Worksheet
83
Configuration worksheet for SQL Server 2012 ........................................................... 84
EMC VSPEX for Virtualized Microsoft SQL Server 2012 with VMware vSphere
Enabled by EMC Next-Generation VNX and EMC Backup
Implementation Guide
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Contents
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EMC VSPEX for Virtualized Microsoft SQL Server 2012 with VMware vSphere
Enabled by EMC Next-Generation VNX and EMC Backup
Implementation Guide
Contents
Figures
Figure 1.
Solution architecture ........................................................................... 29
Figure 2.
VSPEX Proven Infrastructure ................................................................ 30
Figure 3.
Next-Generation VNX with multicore optimization................................ 32
Figure 4.
Active/active processors increase performance, resiliency, and
efficiency ............................................................................................. 33
Figure 5.
Unisphere Management Suite ............................................................. 34
Figure 6.
SQL Server 2012 storage elements on VMware vSphere 5.1 platform .. 42
Figure 7.
Create pooled LUN wizard from Unisphere ........................................... 45
Figure 8.
Sample of Create Storage Pool wizard—FAST VP enabled .................... 47
Figure 9.
Storage Pool Properties—FAST Cache enabled ..................................... 48
Figure 10.
Example storage layout for VNX ........................................................... 49
Figure 11.
Example storage layout for VNXe ......................................................... 50
Figure 12.
EMC VSI XtremSW Cache management ................................................ 51
Figure 13.
VSI XtremSW Cache monitor ................................................................ 52
Figure 14.
Creating a new virtual disk................................................................... 59
Figure 15.
Formatting disk ................................................................................... 59
Figure 16.
SQL Server Installation Center ............................................................. 62
Figure 17.
SQL Server 2012 Setup Role in the installation wizard ......................... 63
Figure 18.
SQL Server 2012 Feature Selection in the installation wizard ............... 64
Figure 19.
SQL Server 2012 Instance Configuration in the installation wizard ...... 64
Figure 20.
SQL Server 2012 Database Engine Configuration ................................. 65
Figure 21.
SQL Server 2012 installation completed .............................................. 66
Figure 22.
Grant “Lock pages in memory” ............................................................ 67
Figure 23.
Grant “Perform volume maintenance tasks” ........................................ 68
Figure 24.
Set the maximum server memory ......................................................... 69
Figure 25.
Comparison between the baseline performance and the FAST VP
accelerated performance ..................................................................... 77
EMC VSPEX for Virtualized Microsoft SQL Server 2012 with VMware vSphere
Enabled by EMC Next-Generation VNX and EMC Backup
Implementation Guide
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Contents
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EMC VSPEX for Virtualized Microsoft SQL Server 2012 with VMware vSphere
Enabled by EMC Next-Generation VNX and EMC Backup
Implementation Guide
Contents
Tables
Table 1.
Terminology......................................................................................... 14
Table 2.
Tasks for pre-deployment .................................................................... 18
Table 3.
VSPEX for virtualized SQL Server deployment process ......................... 19
Table 4.
Deployment prerequisites checklist ..................................................... 20
Table 5.
Storage pools ...................................................................................... 22
Table 6.
Example of customer evaluation—250 GB user database .................... 23
Table 7.
Example of required resources: Medium-sized user database ............. 24
Table 8.
Example of storage recommendations—medium-sized user database . 25
Table 9.
VNXe software suites ........................................................................... 35
Table 10.
VNXe software packs ........................................................................... 36
Table 11.
Tasks for physical setup ...................................................................... 40
Table 12.
Tasks for switch and network configuration ......................................... 40
Table 13.
Tasks for storage configuration ............................................................ 41
Table 14.
Example of additional storage layout for virtual machine operating
system on VNX .................................................................................... 43
Table 15.
Example of additional storage layout for virtual machine operating
system on VNX .................................................................................... 43
Table 16.
Storage layout example on VNXe ......................................................... 44
Table 17.
Storage layout example on VNX ........................................................... 44
Table 18.
Steps for ESXi and vCenter installation and configuration .................... 53
Table 19.
SQL Server 2012 host virtual machine installation and configuration .. 56
Table 20.
SQL Server 2012 reference virtual machine ......................................... 57
Table 21.
Example of VMDK and virtual disk storage layout ................................ 58
Table 22.
Tasks to implement a SQL Server 2012 deployment ............................ 60
Table 23.
Tasks for verifying the VSPEX installation ............................................ 72
Table 24.
Tools to monitor the VSPEX for virtualized SQL Server 2012 solution ... 73
Table 25.
Example of key metrics in a SQL Server 2012 deployment ................... 74
Table 26.
SQL Server virtual machine profile ....................................................... 74
Table 27.
SQL Server 2012 LUN design ............................................................... 75
Table 28.
Key metrics for SQL Server 2012—250 GB ........................................... 75
Table 29.
FAST VP configuration .......................................................................... 76
Table 30.
Example of key metrics in a SQL Server deployment ............................ 76
Table 31.
Key metrics for SQL Server 2012 – 250 GB........................................... 77
Table 32.
Comparison between the baseline performance and the FAST VP
accelerated performance ..................................................................... 77
Table 33.
Common server information ................................................................ 84
Table 34.
ESXi server information ....................................................................... 84
Table 35.
Array information ................................................................................. 85
EMC VSPEX for Virtualized Microsoft SQL Server 2012 with VMware vSphere
Enabled by EMC Next-Generation VNX and EMC Backup
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Contents
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Table 36.
Network infrastructure information ...................................................... 85
Table 37.
VLAN information ................................................................................ 85
Table 38.
Service accounts ................................................................................. 86
EMC VSPEX for Virtualized Microsoft SQL Server 2012 with VMware vSphere
Enabled by EMC Next-Generation VNX and EMC Backup
Implementation Guide
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 1
Introduction
This chapter presents the following topics:
Purpose of this guide ............................................................................................. 12
Business value ...................................................................................................... 12
Scope .................................................................................................................... 13
Audience ............................................................................................................... 13
Terminology .......................................................................................................... 14
EMC VSPEX for Virtualized Microsoft SQL Server 2012 with VMware vSphere
Enabled by EMC Next-Generation VNX and EMC Backup
Implementation Guide
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Chapter 1: Introduction
Purpose of this guide
EMC® VSPEX® Proven Infrastructure is optimized for virtualizing business-critical
applications. VSPEX gives partners the ability to design and implement the virtual
resources necessary to satisfy the requirements for deploying Microsoft SQL Server
on any VSPEX Private Cloud.
EMC VSPEX for virtualized Microsoft SQL Server 2012 provides a validated system,
capable of hosting a virtualized SQL Server solution at a consistent performance
level. This Proven Infrastructure solution is layered on a VSPEX Private Cloud for
VMware vSphere architecture and uses the highly available EMC VNX® family of
storage systems.
All VSPEX solutions are sized and tested with EMC backup and recovery products.
EMC Avamar® and EMC Data Domain® enable complete infrastructure, application,
and email backup and recovery, including granular email recovery capabilities. The
compute and network components, while vendor-definable, are designed to be
redundant and are sufficiently powerful to handle the processing and data needs of
the virtual machine environment.
This Implementation Guide describes how to implement the virtual resources
necessary to satisfy the requirements for deploying Microsoft SQL Server 2012 on any
VSPEX Proven Infrastructure for VMware vSphere.
Business value
VSPEX enables customers to accelerate their IT transformation with faster
deployments, simplified management, backup, and storage provisioning. Customers
can realize greater efficiency with higher application availability, increased storage
utilization, and faster and leaner backups. In addition, VSPEX provides customers
with flexibility of choice when selecting a hypervisor, server, and network to address
the requirements of their SQL Server environments.
The designed methodology and best practices of EMC VSPEX are to:
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
Deploy faster saving time and effort with Proven solutions

Increase performance and scalability out of the box

Reduce the customer’s backup storage requirements and costs

Meet backup windows

Enable fast disk-based recovery
EMC VSPEX for Virtualized Microsoft SQL Server 2012 with VMware vSphere
Enabled by EMC Next-Generation VNX and EMC Backup
Implementation Guide
Chapter 1: Introduction
Scope
This guide describes the high-level steps required to deploy SQL Server 2012 on a
VSPEX Private Cloud with VMware vSphere and EMC VNX or EMC VNXe® . This guide
assumes that a VSPEX Proven Infrastructure already exists in the customer
environment.
The examples used throughout this guide describe a deployment on an EMC
VNXe3150 or EMC VNX5800 array. The same principles and guidelines apply to
VNXe3300, VNX5400, and VNX5600 arrays.
EMC backup and recovery solutions for SQL Server 2012 data protection are
described in a separate document: EMC Backup and Recovery Options for VSPEX for
Virtualized Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Design and Implementation Guide.
Audience
This guide is intended for internal EMC personnel and qualified EMC VSPEX Partners.
The guide assumes that VSPEX Partners who intend to deploy this VSPEX Proven
Infrastructure for virtualized SQL Server are:

Qualified by Microsoft to sell and implement SQL Server solutions

Certified in SQL Server, ideally with one or more of the following Microsoft
certifications:

Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate (MCSA)

Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert (MCSE)

Microsoft Certified Solutions Master (MCSM)

Qualified by EMC to sell, install, and configure the VNX family of storage
systems

Certified to sell VSPEX Proven Infrastructures

Qualified to sell, install, and configure the network and server products
required for VSPEX Proven Infrastructures
Readers must also have the necessary technical training and background to install
and configure:

VMware vSphere virtualization platforms

Microsoft Windows Server 2012 operating systems (OS)

Microsoft SQL Server 2012

EMC backup and recovery products, including Avamar and Data Domain
This guide provides external references where applicable. EMC recommends that
readers are familiar with these documents. For details, see Essential reading and
Chapter 6: Reference Documentation.
EMC VSPEX for Virtualized Microsoft SQL Server 2012 with VMware vSphere
Enabled by EMC Next-Generation VNX and EMC Backup
Implementation Guide
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Chapter 1: Introduction
Terminology
Table 1 lists the terminology used in the guide.
Table 1.
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Terminology
Term
Definition
AD
Active Directory
CIFS
Common Internet File System
DBCC
Database consistency check
DNS
Domain Name System
DRS
Distributed Resource Scheduler
eMLC
Enterprise multilevel cell
FAST Cache
A feature on EMC VNX series storage
systems that enables you to use the lower
response time and better IOPS of flash
drives for specific applications
FAST™ VP
Fully Automated Storage Tiering for Virtual
Pools
File group
SQL Server database objects and files
group
IOPS
Input/output operations per second
LSN
Log sequence number
MCx™
Multicore Code Path Optimization
NIC
Network interface card
NTP
Network Time Protocol
OLTP
Online transaction processing. Typical
applications of Online transaction
processing include data entry and retrieval
transaction processing.
Reference virtual machine
Representation of a unit of measure for a
single virtual machine to quantify the
compute resources in a VSPEX Proven
Infrastructure
rpm
Revolutions per minute
RTM
Release to manufacturing
tempdb
A system database used by Microsoft SQL
Server as a temporary working area during
processing.
TPS
Transactions per second
EMC VSPEX for Virtualized Microsoft SQL Server 2012 with VMware vSphere
Enabled by EMC Next-Generation VNX and EMC Backup
Implementation Guide
Chapter 1: Introduction
Term
Definition
VDM
Virtual Data Mover
VMDK
VMware Virtual Machine Disk
VMFS
VMware Virtual Machine File System
VSS
Volume Shadow Copy Service
EMC VSPEX for Virtualized Microsoft SQL Server 2012 with VMware vSphere
Enabled by EMC Next-Generation VNX and EMC Backup
Implementation Guide
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Chapter 1: Introduction
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EMC VSPEX for Virtualized Microsoft SQL Server 2012 with VMware vSphere
Enabled by EMC Next-Generation VNX and EMC Backup
Implementation Guide
Chapter 2: Before You Start
Chapter 2
Before You Start
This chapter presents the following topics:
Overview ............................................................................................................... 18
Pre-deployment tasks ............................................................................................ 18
Deployment workflow ............................................................................................ 19
Deployment prerequisites ...................................................................................... 19
Planning and sizing SQL Server 2012..................................................................... 22
Essential reading ................................................................................................... 26
EMC VSPEX for Virtualized Microsoft SQL Server 2012 with VMware vSphere
Enabled by EMC Next-Generation VNX and EMC Backup
Implementation Guide
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Chapter 2: Before You Start
Overview
This chapter provides an overview of important information you need to be aware of,
documents you need to be familiar with, and tasks you need to perform before you
start implementing your VSPEX for virtualized SQL Server solution.
The Design Guide for this solution—VSPEX for Virtualized SQL Server 2012—describes
how to size and design your solution and how to select the right VSPEX Proven
Infrastructure on which to layer SQL Server. The deployment examples in this
Implementation Guide are based on the recommendations and examples in the
Design Guide.
Before you deploy SQL Server on a VSPEX Proven Infrastructure, EMC recommends
that you complete the pre-deployment tasks described in Table 2.
Pre-deployment tasks
Pre-deployment tasks include procedures that do not directly relate to environment
installation and configuration, but whose results are needed during installation.
Examples of pre-deployment tasks include the collection of hostnames, IP addresses,
VLAN IDs, license keys, installation media, and so on. These tasks should be
performed before a customer visit to decrease the time required on site.
Table 2 describes the pre-deployment tasks for this solution.
Table 2.
Tasks for pre-deployment
Task
Description
Reference
Gathering
documents
Gather the related documents
listed in Essential reading.
Essential reading
These are referred to
throughout this document to
provide details on set-up
procedures and deployment
best practices for the various
components of the solution.
18
Gathering tools
Gather the required and
optional tools for the
deployment. Use Table 4 to
confirm that all equipment,
software, and appropriate
licenses are available before
the deployment process.
Deployment prerequisites
Gathering data
Collect the customer-specific
configuration data for
networking, naming, and
required accounts. Enter this
information into the
Configuration worksheet for
reference during the
deployment process.
Configuration worksheet for
SQL Server
EMC VSPEX for Virtualized Microsoft SQL Server 2012 with VMware vSphere
Enabled by EMC Next-Generation VNX and EMC Backup
Implementation Guide
Chapter 2: Before You Start
Deployment workflow
EMC recommends that you refer to the process flow in Table 31 to design and
implement your VSPEX Proven Infrastructure for SQL Server.
Table 3.
VSPEX for virtualized SQL Server deployment process
Step
Action
1
Use the VSPEX for SQL Server qualification worksheet to collect user
requirements. The qualification worksheet is in the Design Guide.
2
Use the VSPEX Sizing Tool to determine the recommended the VSPEX Proven
Infrastructure for virtualized SQL Server 2012, based on the user
requirements collected in Step 1.
For more information about the VSPEX Sizing Tool, refer to the EMC VSPEX
Sizing Tool portal.
Note: If the VSPEX Sizing Tool is not available, you can manually size SQL
Server using the sizing guidelines in Appendix B of the Design Guide.
3
Determine the final design for the VSPEX Proven Infrastructure for virtualized
SQL Server 2012. Refer to the Design Guide for guidance.
Note: Ensure that all application requirements are considered, not just this
application.
4
Select and order the right solution. Refer to the appropriate VSPEX Proven
Infrastructure document in Essential reading for guidance.
5
Deploy and test your VSPEX solution. Refer to this Implementation Guide.
Note: This guide describes how to implement the solution. If you already
have a VSPEX Proven Infrastructure environment, you can skip the sections
for the implementation steps already completed.
Deployment prerequisites
This guide applies to VSPEX Proven Infrastructures for virtualized SQL Server 2012
solutions with VMware on the EMC VNX family of storage systems. The example
provided and carried through this guide is for a deployment on a VNX5800. The same
principles and guidance applies to all other models that VSPEX Proven Infrastructure
supports.
Table 4 itemizes the hardware, software, and license requirements to configure the
solution. For additional information, refer to the hardware and software tables in the
appropriate VSPEX Proven Infrastructure document listed in Essential reading.
If your solution includes backup and recovery components, refer to EMC Backup and
Recovery Options for VSPEX for Virtualized Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Design and
Implementation Guide for backup and recovery sizing and implementation guidelines.
1
EMC VSPEX for Virtualized Microsoft SQL Server 2012 with VMware vSphere
Enabled by EMC Next-Generation VNX and EMC Backup
Implementation Guide
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Chapter 2: Before You Start
Note: If you already have a VSPEX Proven Infrastructure environment, you can skip this
section.
Table 4.
Requirement
Deployment prerequisites checklist
Description
Version
Reference notes
Physical servers: Sufficient
physical server capacity to host
the required number of virtual
machines as recommended by
the Design Guide and VSPEX
Sizing Tool.

EMC VSPEX Private Cloud
VMware vSphere 5.1 for up
to 100 Virtual Machines

EMC VSPEX Private Cloud
VMware vSphere 5.1 for up
to 1,000 Virtual Machines
VMware vSphere 5.1 servers to
host virtual infrastructure
servers.
Hardware
Note: This requirement may be
covered in the existing
infrastructure.
Networking: Switch port
capacity and capabilities as
required by the virtual server
infrastructure.
VNX or VNXe: Multiprotocol
storage array with the required
disk layout.
Note: The storage should be
sufficient to support the total
reference virtual machines
required and the additional
storage layout for applications.
Software
20
VNX Operating Environment
(OE) for file
Will fill in the
version
information when
GA version
releases
VNX OE for block
Will fill in the
version
information when
GA version
releases
EMC Unisphere® for VNX
Will fill in the
version
information when
GA version
releases
EMC Unisphere for VNXe
1.8.1.10050
EMC Online Support
EMC VSPEX for Virtualized Microsoft SQL Server 2012 with VMware vSphere
Enabled by EMC Next-Generation VNX and EMC Backup
Implementation Guide
Chapter 2: Before You Start
Requirement
Licenses
Description
Version
EMC VSI for VMware vSphere:
Unified Storage Management
5.1
EMC VSI for VMware vSphere:
Storage Viewer
5.1
EMC vStorage API for Array
Integration plug-in
Release for
vSphere 5.1
EMC PowerPath® /VE (optional)
5.7
VMware ESXi
5.1
VMware vCenter Server
5.1
Microsoft Windows Server (for
SQL Server)
Microsoft
Windows Server
2012 Standard (or
higher) with latest
update
Microsoft SQL Server
2012 Enterprise
edition Service
Pack (SP1) with
latest update;
2012 Standard (or
higher) edition
SP1 with latest
update
Microsoft Windows Server
license keys
2012 Standard (or
higher)
Reference notes
VMware website
Note: This requirement may be
covered by an existing Software
Assurance agreement and may
be found on an existing
customer Microsoft Key
Management Server (KMS) (if
applicable).
Microsoft SQL Server license
key
2012
Note: This requirement may be
covered by existing
infrastructure.
EMC VSPEX for Virtualized Microsoft SQL Server 2012 with VMware vSphere
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Chapter 2: Before You Start
Requirement
Description
Version
Reference notes
VMware vSphere license keys
5.1
VMware website
Note: This may covered in the
VSPEX Proven Infrastructure
EMC FAST Cache enabler
N/A
EMC FAST enabler
N/A
Thin provisioning enabler
N/A
Planning and sizing SQL Server 2012
To plan and size your SQL Server 2012 instances, follow the recommendations and
VSPEX Sizing Tool proposals introduced in the Design Guide.
In this VSPEX for virtualized SQL Server 2012 solution, we2 used the following storage
pool configuration as detailed in Table 5.
Table 5.
Storage pools
Pool name
Purpose
VSPEX private cloud
pool
This is the pool where all the virtual machine operating system
volumes reside.
SQL Server 2012 user
database data pool
This is the pool where the online transaction processing (OLTP)
database data resides.
SQL Server 2012 log
and tempdb
database pool
This is the pool where user database log and tempdb database
reside.
The example used in this guide is the medium-sized example described in the Design
Guide—Example 2: Medium-sized SQL Server 2012 OLTP instance with single user
database. A customer wants to create a business-critical SQL Server 2012 user
database on a VSPEX Proven Infrastructure. Complete the evaluation as shown in
Table 6.
2
22
In this guide, “we” refers to the EMC Solutions engineering team that validated the solution.
EMC VSPEX for Virtualized Microsoft SQL Server 2012 with VMware vSphere
Enabled by EMC Next-Generation VNX and EMC Backup
Implementation Guide
Chapter 2: Before You Start
Table 6.
Example of customer evaluation—250 GB user database
Question
Example answer
Do you have an existing SQL Server 2012
database that you would like to size for in
the environment?
Yes
How many databases do you want to deploy?
1
What is the size of the user database?
250 GB
What is the estimated annual growth rate
(%)?
10
Do you intend to use FAST VP?
Yes
What is the maximum number of
input/output operations per second (IOPS)
the system should support?
4,000
What is the expected transactions per
second (TPS) at peak loads (optional
question)?
1,400
What is the required tempdb size (optional
question)?
N/A
After you have received a completed qualification worksheet from the customer, and
entered those answers into the VSPEX Sizing Tool, you will see results similar to those
shown below:

Required resources table that lists the number of virtual machines and their
characteristics.

Storage recommendations table that lists the additional storage hardware that
is required to run the OLTP workload—this is in addition to the VSPEX private
cloud pool.
EMC VSPEX for Virtualized Microsoft SQL Server 2012 with VMware vSphere
Enabled by EMC Next-Generation VNX and EMC Backup
Implementation Guide
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Chapter 2: Before You Start
Table 7 and Table 8 are examples based on the customer information provided in
Table 6. In this guide, we used the resources shown in these tables. The suggested
storage layout is in addition to the VSPEX private cloud pool.
Table 7.
Example of required resources: Medium-sized user database
SQL Server 2012
vCPU
Memory
OS
volume
capacity
OS
volume
IOPS
SQL
Server
2012
Resource
requirement
4
16 GB
100 GB
Less
than 25
Equivalent
reference
virtual
machines
4
8
1
1
No. of virtual
machines
1
Total reference
virtual
machines
8
For details on how the total number of reference virtual machine is calculated, refer to
the Design Guide.
In this guide, we used the resources shown in Table 7 for the medium-sized SQL
Server 2012 user database.
The values of individual resources (CPU, memory, capacity, and IOPS) are rounded up
to the closest whole number, to determine the equivalent reference virtual machines
required for each SQL Server 2012 instance.
For example, the SQL Server 2012 instance for the medium-sized user database
requires four vCPUs, 16 GB of memory, 100 GB of storage, and 25 IOPS. This
translates to:

Four reference virtual machines for the CPU requirement

Eight reference virtual machines for the memory requirement

One reference virtual machine for the capacity requirement

One reference virtual machine for the IOPS requirement
We should use the maximum reference virtual machines to support the performance
requirement, therefore the recommended reference virtual machine number should
be eight for the designed SQL Server 2012 instance, multiplied by the number of
virtual machines needed (one in this example), which results in eight reference virtual
machines in total.
For more details about how to determine the equivalent reference virtual machines,
refer to the appropriate document in Essential reading.
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Chapter 2: Before You Start
Table 8.
Example of storage recommendations—medium-sized user database
Recommended additional storage layout for SQL Server 2012
Pool name
SQL Server 2012 user
database data pool
SQL Server 2012 user database
log and tempdb pool
RAID type
Disk type
Disk capacity
Number
of disks
RAID 5
SAS disks 15,000
revolutions per minute
(rpm)
300 GB
10
RAID 10
FAST VP Solid State
Drives (SSDs)
100 GB
2
RAID 10
SAS disks 15,000 rpm
300 GB
4
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Chapter 2: Before You Start
Essential reading
EMC recommends that you read the following documents, which are available from
the VSPEX space in the EMC Community Network or from EMC.com or the VSPEX
Proven Infrastructure partner portal.
Design Guide
Refer to the Design Guide:

Solution
Overviews
Top Reasons
VSPEX Proven
Infrastructure
EMC VSPEX for Virtualized Microsoft SQL Server 2012
Refer to the following Solution Overviews:

EMC VSPEX Server Virtualization for Midmarket Businesses

EMC VSPEX Server Virtualization for Small and Medium Businesses
Refer to the following Top Reasons documents:

Top Reasons Customers Virtualize with VSPEX

Top Reasons Why Customers Virtualize Their Servers with EMC VSPEX
Refer to the following VSPEX Proven Infrastructure documents:

EMC VSPEX Private Cloud VMware vSphere 5.1 for up to 100 Virtual Machines

EMC VSPEX Private Cloud VMware vSphere 5.1 for up to 1,000 Virtual Machines
Refer to the following VSPEX with EMC backup and recovery guide:
VSPEX with EMC
backup and recovery
 EMC Backup and Recovery Options for VSPEX for Virtualized Microsoft SQL
guide
Server 2012 Design and Implementation Guide
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Chapter 3: Solution Overview
Chapter 3
Solution Overview
This chapter presents the following topics:
Overview ............................................................................................................... 28
Solution architecture ............................................................................................. 28
Key components .................................................................................................... 29
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Chapter 3: Solution Overview
Overview
This chapter provides an overview of the VSPEX Proven Infrastructure for virtualized
Microsoft SQL Server 2012 and the key technologies used in this solution. This VSPEX
for virtualized SQL Server 2012 solution supports all VSPEX virtualization offerings for
SQL Server 2012 on VMware. This guide uses EMC VSPEX Proven Infrastructure for up
to 1,000 virtual machines as the working example.
This VSPEX for virtualized SQL Server 2012 solution was validated using VNX and
VMware virtualized Windows server platforms to provide storage and server hardware
consolidation.
The solution described in this guide includes servers, storage, network, backup and
recovery, and SQL Server 2012 components that are focused on midrange
environments. The solution enables customers to quickly and consistently deploy
and protect a virtualized SQL Server 2012 instance in a VSPEX Proven Infrastructure.
The VNX and VNXe storage arrays are multiprotocol platforms that can support the
Internet Small Computer Systems Interface (iSCSI), Network file system (NFS), and
Common Internet File System (CIFS) protocols depending on the customer’s specific
needs. The solution was validated using iSCSI for data storage.
This solution requires the presence of Active Directory (AD) and Domain Name System
(DNS). The implementation of these services is beyond the scope of this guide, but
these are prerequisites for a successful deployment.
EMC backup and recovery solutions provide essential SQL Server 2012 data
protection and are described in a separate document, EMC Backup and Recovery
Options for VSPEX for Virtualized Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Design and
Implementation Guide
Solution architecture
Figure 1 shows an example of the architecture that characterizes the validated
infrastructure for the support of a SQL Server 2012 platform on a VSPEX Proven
Infrastructure.
In this solution, all SQL Server 2012 instances are deployed as virtual machines on
vSphere clusters. VMware vCenter Server requires a database service to store
configuration and monitoring details. VNX or VNXe is used to provide the back-end
storage functionality, but you can use any model that has been validated as part of
the VSPEX Proven Infrastructures.
The optional backup and recovery components of the solution provide SQL Server
2012 data protection, ranging from the entire SQL Server 2012 to various object
levels.
Note: This solution applies to all VSPEX offerings on VMware.
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Figure 1.
Solution architecture
For more details, refer to the appropriate document in Essential reading.
Key components
This section provides an overview of the following key technologies used in this
solution:

Microsoft SQL Server 2012

EMC VSPEX Proven Infrastructure

EMC Next-Generation VNX

EMC VNXe

EMC backup and recovery solutions

VMware vSphere 5.1

EMC XtremSW™ Cache

EMC PowerPath/VE
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Chapter 3: Solution Overview
Microsoft SQL
Server 2012
SQL Server 2012 is Microsoft’s database management and analysis system for
e-commerce, line-of-business, and data warehousing solutions. SQL Server 2012 is
widely used to store, retrieve, and manage application data. Because it is used with a
range of applications and each application has different requirements for
performance, sizing, availability, recoverability, manageability, it is important to fully
understand these factors and plan accordingly when deploying SQL Server 2012.
EMC VSPEX Proven EMC has joined forces with the industry’s leading providers of IT infrastructure to
create a complete virtualization solution that accelerates deployment of a private
Infrastructure
cloud. VSPEX enables faster deployment, more simplicity, greater choice, higher
efficiency, and lower risk. Validation by EMC ensures predictable performance and
enables customers to select technology that uses their existing IT infrastructure while
eliminating planning, sizing, and, configuration burdens. VSPEX provides a virtual
infrastructure for customers looking to gain simplicity that is characteristic of truly
converged infrastructures while at the same time gaining more choice in individual
stack components.
VSPEX solutions are proven by EMC and packaged and sold exclusively by EMC
channel partners. VSPEX provides channel partners more opportunity, faster sales
cycle, and end-to-end enablement. By working closely together, EMC and its channel
partners can now deliver an infrastructure that accelerates the journey to the cloud
for even more customers.
VSPEX Proven Infrastructures, as shown in Figure 2, are modular virtualized
infrastructures validated by EMC and delivered by EMC’s VSPEX partners. VSPEX
includes a virtualization layer, server and network layers, and EMC storage and
backup, designed by EMC to deliver reliable and predictable performance.
Figure 2.
VSPEX Proven Infrastructure
VSPEX provides the flexibility to choose network, server, and virtualization
technologies that fit a customer’s environment to create a complete virtualization
solution. VSPEX delivers faster deployment for EMC partner customers, with greater
simplicity and efficiency, more choice, and lower risk to a customer’s business.
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Application-based solutions such as SQL Server 2012 can be deployed on VSPEX
Proven Infrastructures. The VSPEX for virtualized SQL Server 2012 was validated
using VNX and vSphere 5.1 virtualized server platforms to provide storage and server
hardware consolidation. The virtualized infrastructure is centrally managed, and
enables you to efficiently deploy and management of a scalable number of virtual
machines and associated shared storage.
EMC NextGeneration VNX
Features and enhancements
The EMC VNX flash-optimized unified storage platform delivers innovation and
enterprise capabilities for file, block, and object storage in a single, scalable, and
easy-to-use solution. Ideal for mixed workloads in physical or virtual environments,
VNX combines powerful and flexible hardware with advanced efficiency,
management, and protection software to meet the demanding needs of today’s
virtualized application environments.
VNX includes many features and enhancements designed and built upon the first
generation’s success. These features and enhancements include:

More capacity with multicore optimization with Multicore Cache, Multicore
RAID, and Multicore FAST Cache (MCx)

Greater efficiency with a flash-optimized hybrid array

Better protection by increasing application availability with active/active array
service processors

Easier administration and deployment by increasing productivity with the new
Unisphere Management Suite
VSPEX is built with the next generation of VNX to deliver even greater efficiency,
performance, and scalability than ever before.
Flash-optimized hybrid array
VNX is a flash-optimized hybrid array that provides automated tiering to deliver the
best performance to your critical data, while intelligently moving less frequently
accessed data to lower cost disks.
In this hybrid approach, a small percentage of flash drives in the overall system can
provide a high percentage of the overall IOPS. The flash-optimized VNX takes full
advantage of the low latency of flash to deliver cost-saving optimization and high
performance scalability. The EMC Fully Automated Storage Tiering Suite (FAST Cache
and FAST VP) tiers both block and file data across heterogeneous drives and boosts
the most active data to cache, ensuring that customers never have to make
concessions for cost or performance.
Data generally is accessed most frequently at the time it is created, therefore new
data is first stored on flash drives to provide the best performance. As that data ages
and becomes less active over time, FAST VP tiers the data from high-performance to
high-capacity drives automatically, based on customer-defined policies. This
functionality has been enhanced with four times better granularity and with new FAST
VP SSDs based on enterprise multilevel cell (eMLC) technology to lower the cost per
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Chapter 3: Solution Overview
gigabyte. FAST Cache dynamically absorbs unpredicted spikes in system workloads.
All VSPEX use cases benefit from the increased efficiency.
VSPEX Proven Infrastructures deliver private cloud, end-user computing, and
virtualized application solutions. With VNX, customers can achieve an even greater
return on their investment. VNX provides out-of-band, block-based deduplication that
can dramatically lower the costs of the flash tier.
VNX Intel MCx Code Path Optimization
The advent of flash technology has been a catalyst in totally changing the
requirements of midrange storage systems. EMC redesigned the midrange storage
platform to efficiently optimize multicore CPUs to provide the highest performing
storage system at the lowest cost in the market.
MCx distributes all VNX data services across all cores (up to 32), as shown in Figure
3. The VNX series with MCx has dramatically improved the file performance for
transactional applications like databases or virtual machines over network-attached
storage (NAS).
Figure 3.
Next-Generation VNX with multicore optimization
Multicore cache
The cache is the most valuable asset in the storage subsystem; its efficient use is key
to the overall efficiency of the platform in handling variable and changing workloads.
The cache engine has been modularized to take advantage of all the cores available
in the system.
Multicore RAID
Another important part of the MCx redesign is the handling of I/O to the permanent
back-end storage—hard disk drives (HDDs) and SSDs. Greatly increased performance
improvements in VNX come from the modularization of the back-end data
management processing, which enables MCx to seamlessly scale across all
processors.
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VNX performance
Performance enhancements
VNX storage, enabled with the MCx architecture, is optimized for Flash 1st and
provides unprecedented overall performance, optimizing for transaction performance
(cost per IOPS), and bandwidth performance (cost per GB/s) with low latency, and
providing optimal capacity efficiency (cost per GB).
VNX provides the following performance improvements:

Up to four times more file transactions when compared with dual controller
arrays

Increased file performance for transactional applications by up to three times
with a 60 percent better response time

Up to four times more Oracle and Microsoft SQL Server OLTP transactions

Up to six more virtual machines
Active/active array service processors
The new VNX architecture provides active/active array service processors, as shown
in Figure 4. This eliminates application timeouts during path failover, since both
paths are actively serving I/O.
Figure 4.
Active/active processors increase performance, resiliency, and efficiency
Load balancing also has been improved and applications can achieve up to two times
improvement in performance. Active/active for block is ideal for applications that
require the highest levels of availability and performance, but do not require tiering or
efficiency services like compression, deduplication, or snapshot.
With this VNX release, VSPEX customers can use Virtual Data Movers (VDMs) and EMC
VNX Replicator to perform automated and high-speed file system migrations between
systems. This process migrates all snaps and settings automatically, and enables the
clients to continue operations during the migration.
Note: The active/active processors are only available for classic logical unit numbers (LUNs),
not for pool LUNs.
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Unisphere Management Suite
The Unisphere Management Suite extends Unisphere’s easy-to-use, interface to
include VNX Monitoring and Reporting for validating performance and anticipating
capacity requirements. As shown in Figure 5, the suite also includes Unisphere
Remote for centrally managing up to thousands of VNX and VNXe systems with
support for XtremSW Cache™.
Figure 5.
Unisphere Management Suite
Virtualization management
EMC Virtual Storage Integrator
Virtual Storage Integrator (VSI) is a no-charge plug-in for VMware vCenter that is
available to all VMware users with EMC storage. VSPEX customers can use VSI to
simplify management of virtualized storage. VMware administrators can gain visibility
into their VNX storage using the same familiar vCenter interface to which they are
accustomed.
With VSI, IT administrators can do more work in less time. VSI offers unmatched
access control that enables you to efficiently manage and delegate storage tasks with
confidence. VSI enables customer to perform daily management tasks with up 90
percent fewer clicks and up to 10 times higher productivity.
VMware vStorage APIs for Array Integration
VMware vStorage APIs for Array Integration (VAAI) offloads VMware storage-related
functions from the server to the storage system, enabling more efficient use of server
and network resources for increased performance and consolidation.
VMware vStorage APIs for Storage Awareness
VMware vStorage APIs for Storage Awareness (VASA) is a VMware-defined API that
displays storage information through vCenter. Integration between VASA technology
and VNX makes storage management in a virtualized environment a seamless
experience.
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EMC Storage Integrator
EMC Storage Integrator (ESI) is targeted toward the Windows and Windows
applications administrator. ESI is easy to use, delivers end-to end monitoring, and is
hypervisor agnostic. Administrators can provision in both virtual and physical
environments for a Windows platform, and troubleshoot by viewing the topology of an
application from the underlying hypervisor to the storage.
EMC VNXe
The VNXe series is optimized for virtual applications delivering industry-leading
innovation and enterprise capabilities for file, block, and object storage in a scalable,
easy-to-use solution. The VNXe series is designed for the IT manager in smaller
environments.
VNXe features
VNXe supports the following features:

Next-generation unified storage, optimized for virtualized applications

Capacity optimization features including compression, deduplication, thin
provisioning, and application-centric copies

High availability, designed to deliver five 9s availability

Multiprotocol support for file and block

Simplified management with EMC Unisphere for a single management interface
for all NAS, SAN, and replication needs
VNXe software suites
Table 9 lists the software suites that are available with VNXe.
Table 9.
VNXe software suites
Suite
Features
Local Protection Suite
Increases productivity with snapshots of production
data
Remote Protection Suite
Protects data against localized failures, outages, and
disasters
Application Protection Suite
Automates application copies and proves compliance
Security and Compliance Suite
Keeps data safe from changes, deletions, and malicious
activity
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Chapter 3: Solution Overview
VNXe software packs available
Table 10 lists the software packs that are available with VNXe.
Table 10. VNXe software packs
EMC backup and
recovery solutions
Pack
Features
VNXe3300 Total
Protection Pack
Includes the Local Protection Suite, Remote Protection Suite,
and Application Protection Suite
VNXe3150 Total Value
Pack
Includes the Remote Protection Suite, Application Protection
Suite, and the Security and Compliance Suite
EMC backup and recovery solutions—EMC Avamar and Data Domain—deliver the
protection confidence needed to accelerate deployment of virtualized SQL Server
2012.
Optimized for virtualized application environments, EMC backup and recovery
reduces backup times by 90 percent and increases recovery speeds by 30 times—
even offering instant virtual machine access—for worry-free protection. EMC backup
appliances add another layer of assurance with end-to-end verification and selfhealing for ensured recovery.
For SQL Server 2012, EMC backup delivers a full range of backup options to allow
customers to meet the demanding needs of SQL database administrator (DBA). EMC
backup provides SQL AlwaysOn Availability Groups backup support and flexible,
granular restores. In addition, EMC backup provides the ability for DBAs to set backup
policies within SQL Management Center Studio, enabling greater visibility and
control. In addition, features like auto-discovery and auto-configuration for backup
reduce complexity and save time while ensuring that critical data is always protected.
EMC backup and recovery solutions also deliver big savings. The deduplication
solutions reduce backup storage by 10-30 times, backup management time by 81
percent, and bandwidth by 99 percent for efficient offsite replication—delivering a
seven-month payback on average.
Furthermore, for VMware-based VSPEX deployments with up to 50 virtual machines,
VSPEX offers VMware vSphere Data Protection (VDP) Advanced for SQL Server. VDP
Advanced is powered by EMC Avamar technology, so you get the benefits of Avamar's
fast, efficient, image-level backup and recovery combined with a SQL-specific plugin
that simplifies protection of your SQL Server environment.
For full technical guidance, refer to EMC Backup and Recovery Options for VSPEX for
Virtualized Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Design and Implementation Guide. This guide
describes how to design, size, and implement EMC backup solutions for VSPEX
Proven Infrastructure for virtualized SQL Server 2012.
VMware vSphere
5.1
36
VMware vSphere 5.1 transforms a computer’s physical resources, by virtualizing the
CPU, RAM, hard disk, and network controller. This transformation creates fully
functional virtual machines that run isolated and encapsulated operating systems
and applications just like physical computers.
EMC VSPEX for Virtualized Microsoft SQL Server 2012 with VMware vSphere
Enabled by EMC Next-Generation VNX and EMC Backup
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Chapter 3: Solution Overview
The high-availability features of vSphere 5.1, such as vMotion and Storage vMotion,
enable seamless migration of virtual machines and stored files from one vSphere
server to another with minimal or no performance impact. Coupled with vSphere
Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS) and Storage DRS, virtual machines have access
to the appropriate resources at any point in time through load balancing of compute
and storage resources.
VMware Native Multipathing
VMware Native Multipathing (NMP) is the default module in vSphere used for
multipathing. NMP provides a default path selection algorithm based on the array
type. NMP associates a set of physical paths with a specific storage device, or LUN.
The specific details of handling path failover for a given storage array are delegated to
a Storage Array Type Plug-In (SATP). The specific details for determining which
physical path is used to issue an I/O request to a storage device are handled by a
Path Selection Plug-In (PSP). SATPs and PSPs are sub plug-ins within the NMP
module.
EMC XtremSW
Cache
If your customer has special performance requirements on SQL Server, consider using
EMC XtremSW Cache as a solution. EMC XtremSW Cache (formerly known as EMC
VFCache) is intelligent caching software that uses server-based flash technology to
reduce latency and accelerate throughput for dramatic application performance
improvement. XtremSW Cache accelerates reads and protects data by using a writethrough cache to the networked storage to deliver persistent high availability,
integrity, and disaster recovery. XtremSW Cache, coupled with array-based EMC FAST
software, creates the most efficient and intelligent I/O path from the application to
the data store. The result is a networked infrastructure that is dynamically optimized
for performance, intelligence, and protection for both physical and virtual
environments.
EMC PowerPath/VE EMC recommends installing PowerPath/VE on VMware ESXi hosts for advanced
multipathing functionality such as intelligent path testing and performance
optimization.
EMC PowerPath/VE provides intelligent, high-performance path management with
path failover and load balancing optimized for EMC and selected third-party storage
systems. PowerPath/VE supports multiple paths between a vSphere host and an
external storage device. Having multiple paths enables the vSphere host to access a
storage device, even if a specific path is unavailable. Multiple paths can also share
the I/O traffic to a storage device. PowerPath/VE is particularly beneficial in highly
available environments because it can prevent operational interruptions and
downtime. The PowerPath/VE path failover capability avoids host failure by
maintaining uninterrupted application support on the host if a path failure occurs (if
another path is available).
PowerPath/VE works with VMware ESXi as a Multipath Plug-in (MPP) that provides
path management to hosts. It is installed as a kernel module on the vSphere host. It
plugs in to the vSphere I/O stack framework to bring the advanced multipathing
capabilities of PowerPath/VE, including dynamic load balancing and automatic
failover, to the vSphere hosts.
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Chapter 4: Solution Implementation
Chapter 4
Solution Implementation
This chapter presents the following topics:
Overview ............................................................................................................... 40
Physical setup ....................................................................................................... 40
Network implementation ....................................................................................... 40
Storage implementation ........................................................................................ 41
ESXi and vCenter implementation .......................................................................... 53
Multipathing implementation ................................................................................ 55
SQL Server 2012 virtualization implementation ..................................................... 56
Application implementation ................................................................................... 60
Backup and recovery implementation .................................................................... 70
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Chapter 4: Solution Implementation
Overview
This guide describes how to implement the solution. If you already have a VSPEX
Proven Infrastructure environment, you can skip the sections for the implementation
steps already completed.
Physical setup
Overview of
physical setup
This section includes information about the preparation of the solution physical
components. After you complete the steps listed in Table 11, the new hardware
components will be racked, cabled, powered, and ready for network connection.
Table 11.
Tasks for physical setup
Task
Description
Reference
Preparing network
switches
Install switches in the rack
and connect them to power.
Vendor installation guide
Preparing servers
Install the servers in the rack
and connect them to power.
Vendor installation guide
Preparing VNX or
VNXe
Install the VNX or VNXe in the
rack and connect it to power.
 VNX Unified Installation
Guide
 VNXe Installation Guide
For details of the physical setup, refer to the appropriate document in Essential
reading.
Network implementation
Overview of
network
implementation
This section provides the requirements for network infrastructure needed to support
the solution architecture. Table 12 provides a summary of the tasks for switch and
network configuration and references for further information.
Table 12.
Tasks for switch and network configuration
Task
Description
Reference
Configuring
infrastructure
network
Configure storage array and
Windows host infrastructure
networking as specified in the
solution VSPEX Proven
Infrastructure.
Refer to the appropriate
document in VSPEX Proven
Infrastructure.
Completing
network cabling
Connect:
 Switch interconnect ports
 VNX or VNXe ports
 ESXi server ports
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Task
Description
Reference
Configuring
VLANs
Configure private and public VLANs
as required.
Vendor switch configuration
guide
For details of network implementation, refer to the appropriate document in VSPEX
Proven Infrastructure.
Storage implementation
Overview of
storage
implementation
This section describes how to configure the VNX/VNXe storage array. In this solution,
the VNX provides ISCSI data storage for the VMware hosts. Table 13 provides a
summary of the tasks for switch and network configuration and references for further
information.
Table 13.
Tasks for storage configuration
Task
Description
Setting up initial
VNX or VNXe
configuration
Configure the IP address
information and other key
parameters on the VNX or
VNXe.
Provisioning
storage for VMFS
datastores
Create VMFS datastores that
host the virtual server
operating system.
Provisioning
storage for
databases from
iSCSI storage
Create and provision iSCSI
LUNs for database and log
from VNX or VNXe.
Reference
 VNX/VNXe System
Installation Guide
 VNX File and Unified
Worksheet
Figure 6 demonstrates the high-level architecture with SQL Server 2012 components
and storage elements validated in the EMC VSPEX Proven Infrastructure for SQL
Server 2012 on a VMware vSphere virtualization platform and VNX storage array.
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Figure 6.
Setting up initial
VNX or VNXe
configuration
SQL Server 2012 storage elements on VMware vSphere 5.1 platform
Ensure that network interfaces, IP address information, and other key parameters
such as DNS and Network Time Protocol (NTP) are configured on the VNX or VNXe
before storage provisioning.
For more information on how to configure the VNX platform, refer to the appropriate
document listed in Table 13.
Provisioning
storage for VMFS
datastore
Before you provision the storage for the VMFS datastore, follow the recommendations
and VSPEX Sizing Tool proposals introduced in the Design Guide.
Before you start, refer to VSPEX Proven Infrastructure to provision VMFS storage for
virtual machine operating system on VNX or VNXe.
Table 14 shows an example of additional storage layout for SQL Server data in VNX,
additional to the VSPEX private cloud pool. For more information about the storage
layout recommendations and design, refer to the Design Guide.
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Table 14. Example of additional storage layout for virtual machine operating system on VNX
Storage pool name
RAID type
Disk type
Disk capacity
Number of
disks
VSPEX private cloud
pool
RAID 5
SAS disks
15,000 rpm
600 GB
5
RAID 1
Flash drive
100 GB
2
Refer to the following VSPEX Proven Infrastructure documents:
Provisioning
storage for iSCSI
datastore

EMC VSPEX Private Cloud VMware vSphere 5.1 for up to 100 Virtual Machines

EMC VSPEX Private Cloud VMware vSphere 5.1 for up to 1,000 Virtual Machines
Before you provision the storage for the iSCSI datastore, follow the recommendations
and VSPEX Sizing Tool proposals introduced in the Design Guide.
Before you start, refer to VSPEX Proven Infrastructure documents to configure iSCSI
connections and provision storage for virtual machine operating system on VNX or
VNXe.
Table 15 shows an example of additional storage layout for SQL Server 2012 data in
VNX, in additional to the VSPEX private cloud pool. For more information about the
storage layout recommendations and design, refer to the Design Guide.
Table 15.
Example of additional storage layout for virtual machine operating system on
VNX
Storage pool name
RAID type
Disk type
Disk capacity
Number of
disks
VSPEX private cloud
pool
RAID 5
SAS disks
15,000 rpm
600 GB
5
RAID 10
FAST VP SSD
100 GB
2
Refer to the following VSPEX Proven Infrastructure documents:
Provisioning
storage for
application pool
disks

EMC VSPEX Private Cloud VMware vSphere 5.1 for up to 100 Virtual Machines

EMC VSPEX Private Cloud VMware vSphere 5.1 for up to 1,000 Virtual Machines
Before you provision the storage for the iSCSI datastore, follow the recommendations
and VSPEX Sizing Tool proposals introduced in the Design Guide.
Before you start, refer to VSPEX Proven Infrastructure to configure iSCSI connections
and provision storage for virtual machine operating system on VNX or VNXe.
Provisioning iSCSI storage on VNXe
Table 16 shows an example of a storage layout according to the user profile VNX in
addition to the VSPEX private cloud pool. See the layout for this example in the
Example storage layouts section.
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For more information about the storage layout recommendations and design, refer to
the Design Guide.
Table 16.
Storage layout example on VNXe
Storage pool name
RAID type
Disk type
Disk capacity
Number of
disks
SQL Server 2012 user
database data pool
RAID 5
SAS 15,000 rpm
600 GB
10
SQL Server 2012 user
database log and
tempdb pool
RAID 10
SAS 15,000 rpm
600 GB
6
Configuring iSCSI servers on VNXe
To configure iSCSI servers that are used to store the SQL Server 2012 user database,
use these steps in Unisphere:
1.
Create a pool with the appropriate number of disks.
2.
Create an iSCSI server.
3.
Create a VMware storage resource.
4.
Unmask LUNs to the ESXi hosts. For detailed steps on iSCSI storage
provisioning, refer to EMC VNXe3150 System Installation Guide or EMC
VNXe3300 System Installation Guide.
For detailed configuration information and steps to configure iSCSI servers on VNXe,
refer to EMC VNXe Series Using a VNXe System with VMware NFS or VMware VMFS.
Provisioning iSCSI storage on VNX
Table 17 shows an example of storage pools for SQL Server 2012 on VNX. This
example also contains the FAST VP configuration for OLTP performance acceleration
and its configuration steps are introduced in the FAST VP configuration on VNX
section. See the layout for this example in the Example storage layouts section. For
more information about the storage layout recommendations and design, refer to the
Design Guide.
Table 17. Storage layout example on VNX
Storage pool name
RAID type
Disk type
Disk capacity
Number of
disks
SQL Server 2012 user
database data pool
RAID 5
SAS 15,000 rpm
300 GB
10
RAID 10
FAST VP SSD
100 GB
2
RAID 10
SAS 10,000 rpm
600 GB
4
SQL Server 2012 user
database LOG and
tempdb pool
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Chapter 4: Solution Implementation
To configure iSCSI network settings, storage pools, iSCSI LUNs, and storage groups
on the VNX array, use these steps in Unisphere:
1.
Select the VNX array that is used in this solution.
2.
Select Settings Network > Settings for Block.
3.
Configure the IP address for network ports used for iSCSI.
4.
Select Storage > Storage Configuration > Storage Pools.
5.
Click Pools, and then create the additional storage pools in VNX for SQL
Server 2012 user databases, transaction logs, and tempdb.
6.
Right-click on the storage pool and click Create LUN to provision the LUNs in
this pool.
7.
Select Thin and click Apply to create a pooled LUN. Thin LUN is created for
storage groups by default.
Figure 7.
Create pooled LUN wizard from Unisphere
8.
Select Host > Storage Groups.
9.
Create storage groups to unmask LUNs to the ESXi hosts:
EMC VSPEX for Virtualized Microsoft SQL Server 2012 with VMware vSphere
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Chapter 4: Solution Implementation
a.
Click Create and type a name for the storage group.
b.
Click Yes to finish the creation.
c.
In the prompt dialog box, click Yes to select LUNs or connect hosts.
d.
Click LUNs. In Available LUNs, select all the LUNs created in the previous
steps and click Add.
e.
Click Hosts. In Available Hosts, select the ESXi servers to be used and
add them into The Hosts to be Connected.
FAST VP configuration on VNX
FAST VP can increase efficiency of all disk drive resources and get better performance
for a lower cost. By adding additional FAST VP SSDs as extreme performance tier into
the SQL Server 2012 data pool, FAST VP can automatically adapt to changes with
business cycles.
In the VNX, FAST VP allows moving SQL Server data automatically between FAST VP
SSDs and SAS tiers with a slice granularity of 256 MB, which can help to dramatically
reduce the response time and boost SQL Server OLTP performance. In addition, with
FAST VP, database administrators can analyze the problem, design a new
configuration, implement it, and make it up to 80 percent faster than previously
possible.
Enabling FAST VP is a transparent operation to SQL Server 2012. No reconfiguration
or downtime is necessary. To make the best use of either of the FAST technologies,
EMC recommends that you first enable FAST VP on the user database storage pool.
For more details, refer to the Design Guide.
To create and configure FAST VP:
46
1.
For detailed steps about how to create FAST VP, refer to the appropriate
VSPEX Proven Infrastructure document listed in VSPEX Proven Infrastructure.
Figure 8 shows an example of the Create Storage Pool wizard.
2.
In the Create Strange Pool wizard, select the number of disks for each tier you
want to add to the storage pool.
EMC VSPEX for Virtualized Microsoft SQL Server 2012 with VMware vSphere
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Figure 8.
3.
Sample of Create Storage Pool wizard—FAST VP enabled
Click OK to complete the configuration.
EMC recommends that all the LUNs in the pool have the same tiering policy and use
the Start High and then Auto-Tier tiering policy for the SQL Server 2012 data pool. For
detailed steps about how to configure FAST VP at the LUN level, refer to VSPEX Proven
Infrastructure.
FAST Cache configuration on VNX
By using flash drivers in the array as an extended read-and-write cache, FAST Cache
increases IOPS and dramatically decreases database response times compared to a
high cost, all SAS configuration. EMC allows caches from SAS tiers or NL-SAS tiers to
FAST Cache SSDs at a page granularity of 64 KB.
Enabling FAST Cache is a transparent operation to SQL Server 2012 and no
reconfiguration or downtime is necessary. For more details, refer to the Design Guide.
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To create and configure FAST Cache on VNX, use these steps:
1.
For detailed steps about how to enable FAST Cache, refer to the VSPEX
Proven Infrastructure documents
2.
In Unisphere, after FAST Cache is created, click Storage and select Storage
Pool. Select SQL Server Data Pool, and then click Properties.
3.
In Storage Pool Properties, select Advanced. To enable FAST Cache, click
Enabled, as shown in Figure 9.
Figure 9.
4.
Storage Pool Properties—FAST Cache enabled
To complete the configuration, click OK.
Note: The FAST Cache feature on the VNX series array does not cause an instant performance
improvement. The system must collect data about access patterns and promote frequently
used information into the cache. This process can take a few hours, during which the
performance of the array steadily improves.
Example storage
layouts
Example 1: Storage layout on VNX
Figure 10 shows the example storage layout for VNX with FAST VP enabled. This is an
example only; the number of disks used in the VSPEX private cloud pool and SQL
Server 2012 pools may vary according to the customer’s requirements.
For more information about the storage layout recommendations and design, refer to
the Design Guide and VSPEX Proven Infrastructure.
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Figure 10.
Example storage layout for VNX
At this stage in the deployment process, the storage configuration required for the
solution is complete. For details about storage implementation, refer to the
appropriate documents in the VSPEX Proven Infrastructure section.
Example 2: Storage layout on VNXe
Figure 11 shows an example storage layout for VNXe.
Note this is only an example for both the infrastructure pool and SQL Server 2012
pools. The disk number used in the example for virtual infrastructure can be variable.
For more information about the storage layout recommendations and design, refer to
the Design Guide and VSPEX Proven Infrastructure.
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Figure 11.
Example storage layout for VNXe
At this stage in the deployment process, the storage configuration required for the
solution is complete. For details about storage implementation, refer to the
appropriate documents in VSPEX Proven Infrastructure.
EMC XtremSW
Cache
configuration
With EMC XtremSF (formerly known as EMC VFStore—the server based PCIe flash card
and EMC XtremSW Cache (formerly known as VFCache) - intelligent server flash
caching software, both read and write database operations are performed directly in
the server. While accelerating reads, XtremSW Cache can achieve dramatic decreases
in the latency and increase in the database throughput. Combined with networked
storage array, EMC XtremSW Cache can ensure persistent high availability, integrity,
reliability, and disaster recovery. XtremSW Cache provides a new option for users to
balance the cost of the additional hardware with the expected performance benefits.
In a VMware environment, the XtremSW Cache card resides on the ESXi server, while
XtremSW Cache software is installed on each of the virtual machines that are
accelerated by XtremSW Cache. The XtremSW Cache VSI plug-in, which resides on the
vCenter client, is used to manage XtremSW Cache. XtremSW Cache can accelerate
performance for either RDM or VMFS LUNs in a VMware environment.
The XtremSW Cache installation is distributed over various components of the
vSphere system. The XtremSW Cache components in a VMware environment are:
50

XtremSW Cache driver for PCIe card

XtremSW Cache and agent software in the virtual machines hosted by ESXi
servers

XtremSW Cache VSI plug-in in the VMware vSphere client
EMC VSPEX for Virtualized Microsoft SQL Server 2012 with VMware vSphere
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Chapter 4: Solution Implementation
To configure the XtremSW Cache in a VMware environment, use these steps:
1.
Install the XtremSW Cache PCIe flash device.
2.
Install and configure the XtremSW Cache software in the Windows virtual
machine.
3.
Use the vfcmt command to enable or disable the XtremSW Cache cache
device.
4.
Use the vfcmt command to add or remove the source device.
Using VSI to create and configure XtremSW Cache
XtremSW Cache is integrated with VSI plug-ins to simplify XtremSW Cache
management and monitoring. To create and configure XtremSW Cache device through
VMware VSI plug-in, use these steps, as shown in Figure 12:
1.
Create an XtremSW Cache device by carving the space from the XtremSW
Cache data store.
2.
Add XtremSW Cache to a virtual machine.
3.
Add source devices from the virtual machine.
4.
Monitor XtremSW Cache usage and statistics through the VSI plug-in GUI.
Figure 12.
EMC VSI XtremSW Cache management
For more information, refer to EMC VFCache Installation Guide for VMware 1.5.1.
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Chapter 4: Solution Implementation
We monitored and observed how many IOPS were offloaded by the XtremSW Cache
card, as shown in Figure 13.
Figure 13.
VSI XtremSW Cache monitor
For more information, refer to EMC VFCache Installation and Administration Guide
1.5.1.
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Chapter 4: Solution Implementation
ESXi and vCenter implementation
Overview of ESXi
and vCenter
implementation
This section provides the requirements for the installation and configuration of the
ESXi hosts, vCenter configuration, and infrastructure servers required to support the
architecture. Table 18 describes the tasks that must be completed.
Table 18.
Steps for ESXi and vCenter installation and configuration
Task
Description
Reference
Installing ESXi
Install the ESXi 5.1 hypervisor on the
physical servers that are being deployed
for the solution.
vSphere Installation and Setup
Configuring ESXi
networking
Configure ESXi networking including
network interface card (NIC) trunking,
vmkernel port, virtual machine port
groups, and Jumbo Frames.
vSphere Networking
Installing
PowerPath/VE
Install multipathing software
PowerPath/VE on ESXi hosts
Multipathing implementation
Configuring ESXi
iSCSI adapters
Configure ESXi iSCSI adapters to
connect iSCSI disks to ESXi hosts
vSphere Storage
Connecting VMware
datastores
Connect the VMware datastore to the
ESXi hosts deployed for the solution.
vSphere Storage
Creating a virtual
machine for
Microsoft SQL
Server 2012
Create a virtual machine to host SQL
Server 2012 that will be used for the
vCenter Server database. Verify that the
virtual server meets the hardware and
software requirements.
Microsoft TechNet
Installing Microsoft
Windows on the
virtual machine
Install Microsoft Windows Server 2008
R2 Standard Edition on the virtual
machine that is created to host SQL
Server 2012.
Microsoft TechNet
Installing SQL
Server 2012
Install SQL Server 2012 on the virtual
machine designated for that purpose.
Microsoft TechNet
Creating the vCenter
host virtual machine
Create a virtual machine to be used for
the VMware vCenter Server.
vSphere Virtual Machine
Administration
Installing vCenter
guest OS
Install Windows Server 2008 R2
Standard Edition on the vCenter host
virtual machine.
N/A
Updating the virtual
machine
Install VMware Tools, enable hardware
acceleration, and enable remote
console access.
vSphere Virtual Machine
Administration
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Task
Description
Creating vCenter
ODBC connections
Create the 64-bit vCenter and 32-bit
vCenter Update Manager ODBC
connections.
Reference

vSphere Installation and
Setup

Installing and
Administering VMware
vSphere Update
Manager
Installing vCenter
Server
Install vCenter Server software.
vSphere Installation and Setup
Installing vCenter
Update Manager
Install vCenter Update Manager
software.
Installing and Administering
VMware vSphere Update
Manager
Creating a virtual
data center
Create a virtual data center.
vCenter Server and Host
Management
Applying vSphere
license keys
Type the vSphere license keys in the
vCenter licensing menu.
vSphere Installation and Setup
Adding ESXi hosts
Connect vCenter to ESXi hosts.
vCenter Server and Host
Management
Configuring vSphere
clustering
Create a vSphere cluster and move the
ESXi hosts into it.
vSphere Resource Management
Performing array
ESXi host discovery
Perform ESXi host discovery within the
Unisphere console.
Using EMC VNX Storage with
VMware vSphere TechBook
Enabling VMware
High Availability
(HA), DRS, and
vMotion
functionality
Once you enable DRS, EMC recommends
you use VMware vSphere DRS Affinity
and Anti-Affinity rules for specific groups
of virtual machines, for example, groups
of multiple SQL Server 2012 instances,
which should never reside on the same
host.
vSphere Availability
Installing the
vCenter Update
Manager plug-in
Install the vCenter Update Manager
plug-in on the administration console.
Installing and Administering
VMware vSphere Update
Manager
Installing the EMC
VNX UEM (Unified
Element Manager)
CLI
Install the VNX UEM command line
interface (CLI) on the administration
console.
EMC VSI for VMware vSphere:
Unified Storage Management
Product Guide
Installing the EMC
VSI plug-in
Install the EMC VSI plug-in on the
administration console.
EMC VSI for VMware vSphere:
Unified Storage Management
Product Guide
For details of ESXi and vCenter, refer to the appropriate documents in VSPEX Proven
Infrastructure.
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Chapter 4: Solution Implementation
Multipathing implementation
Overview of
multipathing
implementation
EMC PowerPath/VE software optimized multipathing through load-balancing
algorithms. Port load balancing equalizes the I/O workload across all available
channels.
EMC recommends installing PowerPath/VE on VMware ESXi hosts for load balancing,
path management, and I/O path failure detection.
PowerPath
configuration for
iSCSI storage
To configure multiple paths in a VMware environment for iSCSI storage on VNX or
VNXe, use these steps:
1.
Configure the vmkernel for iSCSI. You can configure iSCSI multipathing for
storage by enabling multiple NICs.
2.
Enable multiple storage processor ports on VNX or VNXe and configure the IP
address to communicate with the ESXi hosts. Ensure vmkernel is enabled for
iSCSI.
3.
Install PowerPath/VE on the ESXi servers and configure the license.
PowerPath/VE installation
You can install PowerPath/VE by using remote vCLI, VMware Update Manager, or Auto
Deploy. Complete the following steps to install PowerPath/VE by using remote vCLI:
1.
Download the PowerPath/VE software distribution from Powerlink.
2.
Make the offline package available for use on the local vSphere host.
3.
Use the scp (secure copy) command to copy the PowerPath/VE ZIP offline
package to the vSphere host. Alternatively, copy the PowerPath/VE ZIP offline
package to the local vCenter data store using vSphere client.
4.
On the remote host running vCLI, type the following commands to install the
PowerPath/VE package:
# esxcli -s <vSphere server IP address or hostname>
software vib install -d <absolute path to PowerPath
package>
5.
Bring the vSphere host into Maintenance mode.
6.
Reboot the vSphere host onto which you are installing.
7.
Bring vSphere host out of Maintenance mode.
For PowerPath/VE installation and configuration for vSphere, refer to EMC
PowerPath/VE installation and Administration Guide. For iSCSI multipathing
configuration, refer to vSphere Storage ESXi 5.1, vCenter Server 5.1.
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Chapter 4: Solution Implementation
SQL Server 2012 virtualization implementation
This section provides the requirements for the installation and configuration of the
virtual machines. Table 19 describes the tasks that must be completed.
Overview of SQL
Server 2012
virtualization
implementation
Table 19.
SQL Server 2012 host virtual machine installation and configuration
Task
Description
Creating the SQL
Server 2012 virtual
machines
Create virtual machines to be used for the
SQL Server 2012 OLTP instance.
Installing SQL
Server 2012 guest
OS
Install Windows Server 2012 Data Center
Edition on the SQL Server 2012 host
virtual machines.
Installing or
upgrade
integration
services
Install a software package for supported
guest operating systems that improves
integration between the physical computer
and the virtual machine.
Assigning IP
address
Assign the IP address for all the networks
in all virtual machines.
Reference
Install the guest OS
Join all the SQL Server 2012 virtual
machines to the domain.
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Creating user
account
Create a SQL Server 2012 administrative
account in the domain.
Creating virtual
disk for SQL server
2012
Create a virtual disk to hold SQL Server
user databases.
EMC VSPEX for Virtualized Microsoft SQL Server 2012 with VMware vSphere
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Configure Windows Service
Accounts and Permissions.
Chapter 4: Solution Implementation
Create a virtual machine on the ESXi server with the customer’s guest OS
Creating SQL
Server 2012 virtual configuration. You can calculate the memory and processor requirements for the SQL
Server 2012 virtual machine by using the VSPEX Sizing Tool and following the
machines
recommendations in the Design Guide. Table 20 lists an example of the memory and
processor equivalent reference virtual machine requirement for different SQL Server
2012 in this VSPEX solution.
Table 20.
SQL Server 2012 reference virtual machine
OS
volume
capacity
OS
volume
IOPS
Number of
virtual
machines
Total
reference
virtual
machine
1
8
SQL Server 2012 virtual machine
vCPU
Memory
SQL Server
2012
Resource
requirement
4
16 GB
Less than
100 GB
Less
than 25
Equivalent
reference virtual
machines
4
8
1
1
Refer to Table 7 for how the reference virtual machine requirement is calculated.
Installing guest OS Install Windows Server 2012 on the SQL Server 2012 virtual machine by selecting the
appropriate network and time, and applying the latest update.
Assigning an IP
address
Assign an IP address for each network adapter in all the SQL Server 2012 virtual
machines, according to what you have planned for the IP address reservation for each
server. Then join every Windows Server virtual machine to the existing domain.
For more information, refer to Configuration worksheet for SQL Server.
Creating SQL
Server 2012
service accounts
To install the SQL Server 2012 database engine, EMC recommends that you provide
dedicated accounts that can be configured to start SQL Server 2012 services. You can
create the accounts in your domain.
For more detailed information about how to configure Windows service accounts and
permissions for SQL Server 2012, refer to the Microsoft TechNet topic Configure
Windows Service Accounts and Permissions.
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Creating virtual
disks for SQL
Server 2012
You can calculate the virtual disk layouts with back-end VMware Virtual Machine Disk
(VMDX) topologies by using the VSPEX Sizing Tool and following the
recommendations in the Design Guide. In this VSPEX solution, Table 21 details an
example of the storage layout for VMDK and virtual disks.
Table 21.
SQL Server
2012
components
SQL Server
2012 user
database
Tempdb
Example of VMDK and virtual disk storage layout
iSCSI or
Fibre
Channel
(FC)
Volume
size
VMDK folder name
In virtual machine mount point
User database
data
400 GB
\SQLServer\data
C:\mountpoint\250DB_DATA250
DB_DATA
SQL Server
2012 user
database
data pool
User database log
100 GB
\SQLServer\log
C:\mountpoint\250DB_LOG
Log and
tempdb
pool
SQL Server
tempdb
20 GB
\SQLServer\tempdb
C:\mountpoint\tempdb
Log and
tempdb
pool
Volume name
Adding a virtual disk
To add a virtual disk, use these steps:
58
1.
In vSphere vCenter, right-click the SQL Server 2012 virtual machine and select
Edit Settings.
2.
Click Add, select Add Hardware, and then select Hard Disk.
3.
Select Create a new virtual disk and specify Disk Size and Location. Do not
change the remaining default settings, as shown in Figure 14.
EMC VSPEX for Virtualized Microsoft SQL Server 2012 with VMware vSphere
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Chapter 4: Solution Implementation
Figure 14.
4.
In the virtual machine, these disks appear as normal block SCSI devices.
Format it with a 64 KB allocation unit size, as shown in Figure 15.
Figure 15.
5.
Creating a new virtual disk
Formatting disk
Click OK.
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Chapter 4: Solution Implementation
Application implementation
Overview of
application
implementation
This section includes information about how to implement SQL Server in the VSPEX
Proven Infrastructure. After you complete the tasks in Table 22, the new SQL Server
instance is ready to be verified and tested.
Before you implement SQL Server 2012, plan the SQL Server database, based on
business needs. Refer to the Design Guide for guidance.
Table 22.
60
Tasks to implement a SQL Server 2012 deployment
Task
Description
Reference
Installing SQL Server 2012
instances
Install SQL Server 2012 instances
on the SQL Server virtual
machines and verify the
installation.
Planning a SQL Server
Installation
Install SQL Server 2012
from the Installation
Wizard (Setup)
Validate a SQL Server
Installation
Designing and deploy SQL
Server 2012 OLTP system
Design and deploy SQL Server
OLTP applications and databases
based on the business needs.
Online Transaction
Processing (OLTP)---a
Technical Reference
Guide for Designing
Mission-Critical OLTP
Solutions
Configuring SQL Server
2012
Configure SQL Server 2012
database engine based on the
best practices.
Enable the Lock Pages in
Memory Option
(Windows)
Add Data or Log Files to
a Database
EMC VSPEX for Virtualized Microsoft SQL Server 2012 with VMware vSphere
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Installing SQL
Server 2012
instances
This section outlines the steps for installing Server 2012 instances. After you
complete these steps, the new SQL Server instance should be installed successfully
on the virtual machine.
Installing .Net Framework and the latest update
.NET Framework 3.5 SP1 and .Net Framework 4.0 are requirements for SQL Server
2012 installation. When you run the SQL Server installation wizard on a computer
with the Windows Server 2012 OS, NET Framework 3.5 SP1 and 4.0 are automatically
downloaded and installed. This process requires Internet access.
1.
Download and install .Net Framework 3.5 SP1, 4.0, and its latest update, on
the SQL Server 2012 virtual machine.
2.
Review installation requirements.
3.
Install SQL Server 2012 from the installation wizard.
4.
Verify the SQL Server 2012 Installation.
If there is no Internet access, EMC recommends that you download and install .NET
Framework 3.5 SP1 and 4.0 on a computer with Internet access. Copy the
downloaded installation files to the computer without Internet access, and then
install .NET Framework 3. SP1 and 4.0 before you run Setup.exe to install the SQL
Server 2012 components.
For more detailed information, refer to the MSDN Library topic Microsoft .NET
Framework 3.5 Deployment Considerations.
Reviewing installation requirements
Before you start to install SQL Server 2012, EMC recommends that you review all the
installation requirements, system and network configuration, and security checks. For
more information, refer to the MSDN Library topic Planning a SQL Server Installation.
Installing SQL Server 2012 from the installation wizard
The SQL Server installation wizard provides a single feature tree for installation of all
SQL Server components, so you do not need to install them individually. You can use
the SQL Server installation wizard to install SQL Server 2012 instances on the virtual
machine.
To install SQL Server 2012, use these steps:
1.
For local installation, log in as a local administrator and launch the
installation wizard. If you install the SQL Server instance from a remote share,
use a domain account that has read and execute permissions on the remote
share.
2.
To launch the SQL Server 2012 installation wizard, insert the SQL Server
installation media. From the root folder, double-click Setup.exe and follow the
wizard to install SQL Server 2012.
3.
In this solution, we installed a new instance in the SQL Server virtual machine.
To create a new instance of SQL Server, click Installation in the left-hand
navigation pane, and then click New SQL Server stand-alone installation or
add features to an existing installation, as shown in Figure 16.
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Figure 16. SQL Server Installation Center
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4.
Follow the wizard to run the System Configuration Checker, input the product
keys for SQL Server 2012, and check the latest update.
5.
In the Setup Role dialog box, select SQL Server Feature Installation (see Figure
17), and then click Next to go to the Feature Selection dialog box.
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Figure 17. SQL Server 2012 Setup Role in the installation wizard
6.
In the Feature Selection dialog box, select the components for your
installation. In this solution, we selected the Database Engine Services
component for the OLTP workload. You can select the components based on
your business requirements. Specify the location to install all the features
and components.
The prerequisites for the selected features are displayed, as shown in Figure
18. During the installation process, SQL Server 2012 Setup installs the
prerequisites that are not already installed.
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Figure 18. SQL Server 2012 Feature Selection in the installation wizard
7.
In the Instance Configuration dialog box, specify whether to install a default
instance or a named instance. In this solution, we used the default instance
for the SQL Server 2012 OLTP workload, as shown in Figure 19.
Figure 19. SQL Server 2012 Instance Configuration in the installation wizard
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8.
In the Server Configuration dialog box, depending on the features that you
choose to install, use the service accounts created in the Creating SQL Server
2012 service accounts section to specify login accounts for the SQL Server
services that are configured.
9.
In the Database Engine Configuration dialog box, specify the authentication
mode and administrators for the database engine. In this solution, we used
Windows authentication mode for the OLTP workload, as shown in Figure 20.
You can select your own authentication mode based on the application
requirements and business needs.
Figure 20. SQL Server 2012 Database Engine Configuration
10. Follow the wizard to run the System Configuration Checker again based on
installation configuration rules.
11. In the Ready to Install dialog box, click Install to start SQL Server 2012
installation.
When the installation is complete, you can view summary information and the
SQL Server 2012 installation status, as shown in Figure 21.
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Figure 21. SQL Server 2012 installation completed
12. Click Close to close the wizard. You may need to restart the SQL Server 2012
virtual machine.
For detailed information on installing other SQL Server 2012 components, refer to the
MSDN Library topic Install SQL Server 2012 from the Installation Wizard (Setup).
Verifying a SQL Server 2012 installation
After the installation is complete, EMC recommends that you use Installed SQL Server
features discovery report to verify the SQL Server 2012 installation. This displays a
report of SQL Server 2012 products and features that are installed on the local server.
For detailed steps, refer to the MSDN Library topic Validate a SQL Server Installation.
Deploying SQL
Server 2012 OLTP
system
After installing the SQL Server 2012 instances, you can design and deploy your own
SQL Server OLTP applications and databases on the VSPEX Proven Infrastructure.
For more information about how to design SQL Server OLTP solutions with the best
performance, refer to the Microsoft TechNet Library topic Online Transaction
Processing (OLTP)–a Technical Reference Guide for Designing Mission-Critical OLTP
Solutions.
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Configuring SQL
Server 2012
In this VSPEX solution, we followed the best practices in the Design Guide to
configure SQL Server 2012 for better performance. The following are some best
practices for configuring SQL Server 2012.
Granting the “Lock pages in memory” privilege to the SQL Server 2012 startup
account
To grant the “Lock Pages in Memory” privilege to the SQL Server startup account, use
these steps:
1.
Run secpol.msc on the server.
2.
Expand Security Settings in the left navigation pane, and select Local Policies
> User Rights Assignment.
3.
Under Policy in the right-hand list view, double-click Lock pages in memory,
as shown in Figure 22.
Figure 22. Grant “Lock pages in memory”
4.
On the Local Security Setting tab, select Add User or Group.
5.
From Select Users, Computers, or Group:
6.
a.
Select Locations and choose either your local computer name (for local
groups/standalone) or your domain (for domain groups/clusters).
b.
Select Object Types and select Groups.
c.
From Enter the object names to select, enter your SQL Server group name
created by the SQL Server Setup program (standalone) or your cluster
domain group (for clusters).
d.
Click OK.
Restart the SQL Server instance.
For more detailed steps, refer to the MSDN Library topic Enable the Lock Pages in
Memory Option (Windows).
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Granting the “Perform volume maintenance tasks” privilege to SQL Server 2012
startup account
To grant the “Perform volume maintenance tasks” privilege to the SQL Server 2012
startup account, use these steps:
1.
Run secpol.msc on the server.
2.
Under Security Settings, select Local Policies > User Rights Assignment.
3.
Under Policy, navigate to and double-click Perform volume maintenance
tasks, as shown in Figure 23.
Figure 23.
4.
Click Local Security Setting, then click Add User or Group.
5.
From Select Users, Computers, or Group:
6.
68
Grant “Perform volume maintenance tasks”
a.
Select Locations and choose either the local computer name (for local
groups or standalone) or the domain (for domain groups or clusters).
b.
Select Object Types and select Groups.
c.
In Enter the object names to select, enter the SQL Server group name that
you created in the SQL Server Setup program (standalone) or your cluster
domain group (for clusters).
d.
Click OK.
Restart the SQL Server instance.
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Setting the maximum server memory
To set the maximum server memory, use these steps:
1.
Open the SQL Server Management Studio and connect to the SQL Server
instance.
2.
Right-click the SQL Server instance and select Server Properties. Then select
Memory in the left pane.
3.
Set the maximum server memory (in MB), as shown in Figure 24.
Figure 24. Set the maximum server memory
4.
Restart the SQL Server instance.
Creating multiple data files for SQL Server 2012 databases
EMC recommends that you create multiple data files for large SQL Server databases.
For more detailed steps, refer to the MSDN Library topic Add Data or Log Files to a
Database.
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Backup and recovery implementation
All VSPEX solutions are sized and tested with EMC backup and recovery products,
including EMC Avamar and EMC Data Domain. If your solution includes backup and
recovery components, refer to EMC Backup and Recovery Options for VSPEX for
Virtualized Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Design and Implementation Guide for detailed
information on implementing your backup and recovery solution.
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Chapter 5: Solution Verification
Chapter 5
Solution Verification
This chapter presents the following topics:
Baseline hardware verification ............................................................................... 72
SQL Server 2012 OLTP performance verification ..................................................... 73
Backup and recovery verification ........................................................................... 78
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Baseline hardware verification
Overview of
baseline hardware
verification
This section provides a list of items that you need to review after you configure the
VSPEX solution. The goal of this section is to verify the configuration and functionality
of specific aspects of the solution, and to ensure that the configuration supports core
availability requirements. Table 23 describes the required verification tasks that you
must complete.
Table 23.
Tasks for verifying the VSPEX installation
Task
Description
Reference
Verifying ESXi
functionality
Verify the basic ESXi functionality of
the solution with a post-installation
checklist.
Using EMC VNX storage with
VMware vSphere
Verifying solution
components
redundancy
Verify the redundancy of the solution
components:
Vendor documentation
 Storage
 ESXi host
 Network switch
Monitoring the health
of solution
Verifying ESXi
functionality
Use tools to monitor the health of
solution, as shown in Table 24.
EMC recommends that you verify the ESXi configurations before deployment to
production on each ESXi server.
For more detailed information, refer to appropriate documents in VSPEX Proven
Infrastructure.
Verifying solution
components
redundancy
To ensure that the various components of the solution maintain availability
requirements, it is important that you test specific scenarios related to maintenance
or hardware failure. EMC recommends that you verify redundancy of the solution
components including storage, ESXi hosts, and network switches.
For details, refer to the appropriate documents in VSPEX Proven Infrastructure.
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Monitoring the
solution’s health
Health monitoring is a simplified measurement that reflects the reliability, stability,
and performance of the entire VSPEX solution. Table 24 lists some tools for you to
monitor and troubleshoot your VSPEX solution.
Table 24.
Tools to monitor the VSPEX for virtualized SQL Server 2012 solution
Tools
Description
esxtop
The esxtop tool provides a real-time view (updated every five
seconds, by default) of ESXi hypervisor performance metrics, such
as CPU. It is important that you understand the performance for
hypervisor in order to measure or troubleshoot the SQL Server
performance-related issues.
Unisphere Analyzer
Unisphere Analyzer software is preloaded on all VNX storage
systems with the FLARE or block bundles (or later). It is an easy to
monitor, collect, and analyze the all aspects of storage related data
from it.
perfmon
Performance Monitor tool in the Windows operating system,
commonly referred to as perfmon. It is beneficial to collect this
data from deployed applications at regular intervals to analyze
trends and to have baseline measurements, which can be useful in
investigating problems that are related to I/O performance.
Event Viewer
Event Viewer is a Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-in. It
lets you browse and manage event logs. It is a handy tool for
troubleshooting problems. You can filter for specific events across
multiple logs, and reuse useful event filters as custom views.
EMC recommends that you use the test tools to verify the performance for the entire
SQL Server environment. For details about performance verification and test
methodology, refer to the Design Guide.
SQL Server 2012 OLTP performance verification
Overview of SQL
Server 2012
performance
verification
This section provides an example of a SQL Server environment in this solution. The
purpose is to measure the performance of SQL Server to ensure the VSPEX solution
meets your business requirements.
Before you verify your own solution, to understand test methodology better, refer to
the Design Guide.
Test scenario and configuration
The test objectives are:

Baseline performance: To verify that the current SQL Server environment can
satisfy the business requirement in the baseline test without FAST VP
engagement.

FAST VP performance acceleration: To verify that the VSPEX solution can satisfy
the business requirement in the performance promotion test with FAST VP
engagement.
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Baseline
performance
verification
The baseline performance verification built a SQL Server data pool, log and tempdb
pool on the SAS 10k rpm disk, without FAST VP enabled on the data pool.
Key metrics
After you identify whether or not to use FAST VP, and the business requirements can
be satisfied, you need to know which SQL Server testing key metrics to capture and
what thresholds must be met for each metric when running the SQL Server
verification tests.
To identify the SQL Server key performance metrics, as shown in Table 25, refer to the
VSPEX Sizing Tool.
Table 25.
Example of key metrics in a SQL Server 2012 deployment
Metrics
Thresholds
Average CPU utilization (%)
Less than 85%
The average disk latency
Less than 20 ms
The SQL Server virtual machine profile shown in Table 26 was used to verify the
compute and storage infrastructure that can satisfy the performance requirement.
Table 26.
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SQL Server virtual machine profile
Profile
Value
Total SQL Server database capacity
250 GB
Number of SQL Server instances
1
Number of user database per instance
1
Number of virtual machines
1
Type of datastore
VMDK
SQL Server virtual machine configuration
Four virtual processors (vCPUs) with 16 GB
memory (no over-commitment), reserved
14 GB to SQL Server buffer pool
Concurrent users
Mixed workloads
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Table 27 shows the SQL Server LUN design for above profile. The design follows these
best practices:

Distribute the data and logs to different LUNs on the shared thin pools.

Use separate file groups for large databases.
Table 27.
SQL Server 2012 LUN design
Item
Component
LUN capacity
(GB)
RAID type
Quantity
Total capacity
(GB)
SQL
Server
Tempdb
50
RAID 10
1
50
Data File
400
RAID 5
1
400
Log File
100
RAID 10
1
100
Test results
After obtaining the test results, you need to interpret your results based on the key
metrics. In the example shown in Table 28, all the key metrics have been achieved,
which means the current SQL Server environment could meet the business
requirements.
Table 28.
Key metrics for SQL Server 2012—250 GB
Performance metric
Baseline
performance
results
Thresholds
Host CPU
35%
Less than 85%
ESXi CPU
23%
Less than 85%
Host IOPS
1,613
N/A
Data LUN Latency (ms)
(read/write/transfer)
19/3/18
Less than 20 ms
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FAST VP
performance
acceleration
The FAST VP performance acceleration verification used the same data, log, and
tempdb pool as shown in the baseline performance verification, with FAST VP
enabled on the data pool only.
Table 29 shows the FAST VP configuration for the verification test. In this test, two
flash disks with 183 GB of usable space in total were configured.
Table 29.
FAST VP configuration
Component
Disk number
RAW disk size (GB)
RAID
Usable size (GB)
FAST VP
2
200
RAID 10
183
When you consider using FAST VP to accelerate the SQL Server performance, the
preferred application workloads are:

Small-block random I/O application and high frequency of access to the same
data

Avoid enabling FAST VP when the primary workload is sequential
Note: For more FAST VP best practices, refer to the Design Guide.
The primary I/O of the log LUN is sequential, and the OLTP-like application has
minimal requirements of the tempdb, so we excluded the log and tempdb LUN from
the FAST VP verification.
Key metrics
After enabling FAST VP on the existing database, the following performance
improvement is expected:

Reduction of the I/O access latency in milliseconds

IOPS and TPS increments
To identify the SQL Server key performance metrics, as shown in Table 30, refer to the
EMC VSPEX Sizing Tool.
Table 30.
Example of key metrics in a SQL Server deployment
Metrics
Thresholds
Average CPU Utilization (%)
Less than 85%
The average disk latency
Less than 20 milliseconds
Test results
After you get the test results, you need to interpret the results based on the key
metrics. In the example shown in Table 31, all the key metrics have been achieved,
which means the current SQL Server environment could meet the business
requirements.
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Table 31.
Key metrics for SQL Server 2012 – 250 GB
Performance
FAST VP
performance
Thresholds
Host CPU
84.7%
Less than 85%
ESXi CPU
67%
Less than 85%
Host IOPS
8,352
N/A
Data LUN Latency (ms)
(read/write/transfer)
1/2/2
Less than 20 ms
Performance comparison before and after using FAST VP for SQL Server 2012
This section compared the performance before and after FAST VP was enabled to
verify the performance acceleration by FAST VP. Compared to the baseline
performance results as shown in Table 32, adding two 100 GB flash disks to the VNX
array, the SQL Server data LUN IOPS increased from 1,613 to 8,352, while disk
latency reduced from 18 ms to 2 ms.
Table 32.
Comparison between the baseline performance and the FAST VP accelerated
performance
Performance
Baseline performance
FAST VP performance
SQL Server data LUN IOPS
1,613
8,352
Average Data LUN Latency (ms)
18
2
9000
8000
18
20
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
8352
7000
IOPS
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
1613
2
1000
0
Baseline performance
SQL Server data LUN IOPS
Figure 25.
Latency (ms)
Figure 25 shows the comparison between the baseline performance and the FAST VP
accelerated performance.
FAST VP performance
Average Data LUN Latency (ms)
Comparison between the baseline performance and the FAST VP accelerated
performance
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Backup and recovery verification
All VSPEX solutions are sized and tested with EMC backup and recovery products,
including EMC Avamar and EMC Data Domain. If your solution includes backup and
recovery components, refer to EMC Backup and Recovery Options for VSPEX for
Virtualized Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Design and Implementation Guide for detailed
information on verifying the functionality and performance of your backup and
recovery solution.
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Chapter 6: Reference Documentation
Chapter 6
Reference Documentation
This chapter presents the following topics:
EMC documentation ............................................................................................... 80
Product documentation.......................................................................................... 80
Other documentation ............................................................................................. 80
Links ..................................................................................................................... 81
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Chapter 6: Reference Documentation
EMC documentation
The following documents, available from the EMC Online Support or EMC.com
websites, provide additional and relevant information. If you do not have access to a
document, contact your EMC representative.

VNX Installation Guide

VNX3150 System Installation Guide

VNXe Series Installation Worksheet

EMC VNXe Series Using a VNXe System with NFS Shared Folders

VNX File and Unified Worksheet

Using EMC VNX Storage with VMware vSphere TechBook

EMC Avamar 6.1 Administration Guide

EMC Avamar 6.1 for SQL Server User Guide

EMC Avamar 6.1 for VMware User Guide

EMC FAST VP for Unified Storage Systems

Top Reasons Customers Virtualize with VSPEX

Top Reasons Why Customers Virtualize Their Servers with EMC VSPEX

EMC VNXe Series Using a VNXe System with VMware NFS or VMware VMFS

EMC Backup and Recovery Options for VSPEX for Virtualized Microsoft SQL
Server 2012 Design and Implementation Guide

VSPEX with EMC Backup and Recovery for Private Cloud and End User
Computing solutions Design and Implementation Guide
Product documentation
For additional information, see the product documentation listed below.

EMC VSI for VMware vSphere: Storage Viewer Product Guide

EMC VSI for VMware vSphere: Unified Storage Management Product Guide

EMC VNX Host Connectivity Guide for VMware ESX Server

VNX Operating Environment for File Release Notes Version

EMC VSPEX Private Cloud VMware vSphere 5.1 for up to 100 Virtual Machines

EMC VSPEX Private Cloud VMware vSphere 5.1 for up to 1,000 Virtual
Machines
Other documentation
For documentation on Microsoft SQL Server 2012, refer to the Microsoft website.
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Links
Note: The links provided were working correctly at the time of publication.
MSDN Library
Refer to the following topics in the MSDN Library:

Add Data or Log Files to a Database

Administering Servers by Using Policy-Based Management

Basic Navigation in Database Engine Tuning Advisor

Basic Navigation in SQL Server Management Studio

Books Online for SQL Server 2012

Change Server Authentication Mode

Client Network Configuration

Configure Database Engine Instances

Configure Windows Service Accounts and Permissions

Connecting to the Database Engine

Database Engine Service Startup Options

Database Properties (Files Page)

Diagnostic Connection for Database Administrators

Enable the Lock Pages in Memory Option (Windows)

Install SQL Server 2012

Install SQL Server 2012 from the Installation Wizard (Setup)

Log File Viewer

Manage the Database Engine Services

Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 Deployment Considerations

Online Transaction Processing (OLTP)—a Technical Reference Guide for
Designing Mission-Critical OLTP Solutions

Optimizing tempdb Performance

Planning a SQL Server Installation

Resource Governor Enhancements (Database Engine)

Scalability and Performance Enhancements (Database Engine)

Security Requirements for Managing Services

Server Configuration Options (SQL Server)

Server Network Configuration

SQL Server Monitor Overview
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
Troubleshooting Performance Problems in SQL Server 2008

Using Database Engine Tuning Advisor

Validate a SQL Server Installation

View or Change Server Properties
Microsoft TechNet
Refer to the following topic on the Microsoft TechNet website:

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Install the guest operating system
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Appendix A: Configuration Worksheet
Appendix A
Configuration Worksheet
This appendix presents the following topic:
Configuration worksheet for SQL Server 2012 ........................................................ 84
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Appendix A: Configuration Worksheet
Configuration worksheet for SQL Server 2012
Before configuring SQL Server for this solution, you need to gather some customerspecific configuration information such as IP addresses, hostnames, and so on.
The following tables provide a worksheet that you can use to record the information.
You can also print and use the worksheet as a customer “leave behind” document for
future reference.
To confirm the customer information, cross-reference with the relevant array
configuration worksheet: EMC VNXe Series Configuration Worksheet or VNX File and
Unified Worksheets.
Table 33.
Common server information
Server name
Purpose
Primary IP address
Domain Controller
DNS Primary
DNS Secondary
DHCP
NTP
SMTP
SNMP
SQL Server
Table 34.
Server name
ESXi server information
Purpose
Primary IP address
Private net (storage) addresses
ESXi Host 1
ESXi Host 2
ESXi Host 3
ESXi Host 4
…
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Table 35.
Array information
Object
Description
Array name
Array type
Admin account
Management IP
iSCSI Server IP
SPA IP address
SPB IP address
VSPEX private cloud pool
name
Infrastructure datastore
name
SQL Server user databases
storage pool name
SQL Server user databases
datastore name
SQL Server user databases
log and tempdb storage
pool name
SQL Server user databases
log and tempdb datastore
name
Table 36.
Name
Network infrastructure information
Purpose
IP address
Subnet mask
Default gateway
Ethernet Switch 1
Ethernet Switch 2
…
Table 37.
Name
VLAN information
Network purpose
VLAN ID
Allowed subnets
Virtual machine networking
management
iSCSI storage network
vMotion
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Appendix A: Configuration Worksheet
Table 38.
Account
Service accounts
Purpose
Windows Server
administrator
Array administrator
SQL Server administrator
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Password (optional, secure
appropriately)