Important Considerations, Physical Machine and Virtual Machine Restrictions
Last Modified: 06/20/2014 at 8:55 | Release:Important Considerations
| Feature | Comment |
|---|---|
| Avance System Disk | Physical Machines must be configured with a minimum of - One logical volume protected by RAID1, RAID 5, RAID 6, or RAID 10 OR - Two non-RAID or RAID 0 volumes. Multiple volumes per RAID set is not supported |
| USB Support | Direct attach USB devices are not supported. Network-attached USB devices such as these three options are recommended:
This enables the USB device to be seen by both physical machines, thus access is not lost as a result of failovers. |
| USB CD/DVD Drive | USB CD/DVD drives are supported on all platforms for Avance install |
| Add-in Server Management | The Dell DRAC4 and DRAC5 add-in cards are not supported. Do not install either of these add-in management cards to your system |
| Direct Attach Tape Drives | Direct attach tape drives are not supported and therefore not recommended for an HA solution as there is no ability to fail-over the connection to most drives. Stratus recommends utilizing cost effective network attach tape drives. |
| Direct Attach VGA | Console Connectivity is not supported. The host OS/Virtualization layer is closed to ensure the highest levels of security and availability. |
| SSD Support | Avance supports Solid State Drives according to the storage controller vendor specifications |
| Blacklisted firmware | Avance only blacklists firmware that is incompatible with Avance. Older firmware versions might run with Avance but it is always recommended to run the latest tested firmware to avoid issues. A firmware matrix listing the latest tested versions of firmware is available on the Avance support portal. Versions newer than the latest tested version may also work with Avance and will typically be validated within one quarter of the firmware release. |
Physical Machine Restrictions
| Physical Device | Minimum | Maximum Tested | Architected | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number CPU Sockets per Physical Machine | 1 | 2 | No Practical limit | |
| Number of Cores per CPU Socket | 2 | 10 | No Practical limit | |
| Physical Memory | 2 GBytes | 192 GBytes | 192 GBytes | |
| Internal Disk Count per Physical Machine | 2 | 24 | No Limit | A minimum of two drives per PM is required for mirroring of the Avance system disk. VM disks/volumes are not mirrored locally; they are mirrored across nodes. |
| Internal Disk Speed | 7.2k RPM | 15k RPM | No Limit | Slower/lower quality drives are not supported or recommended for HA environments |
| Logical Volume Size(Avance Boot Volumes) | 5TB | No Limit | ||
| Logical Data Volume Size(Non- Boot Volumes) | 5TB | No Limit | ||
| Private Link ENET Ports | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| Sync Link ENET Ports | 0 | 2 | 2 | 10 Gigabit Ethernet NICS are supported for data synchronization between nodes only. |
| Business ENET Ports | 1 | 20 | 24 | 10G connections are not supported for business links. Larger port counts can be tested upon request. |
| Storage Controllers | 1 | see Notes | see Notes | Multiple storage controllers are only supported for tested HP configurations. Refer to the compatibility matrix for HP to determine the supported controllers. |
Virtual Machine Per VM Restrictions[1]
| VM Operating System |
Memory (RAM) Minimum/ Maximum |
Boot Disk Minimum/ Maximum |
Data Disk Minimum/ Maximum |
Maximum Virtual CPU |
Maximum Virtual Networks |
Maximum Drive Count |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 12.04 (32 bit) |
2GB/ 16GB |
40GB/ 2TB |
8GB/ Specified by OS |
8 | 7 | 4 including CD drive |
| Ubuntu 12.04 (64 bit) |
2GB/ 128GB |
40GB/ 2TB |
8GB/ Specified by OS |
16 | 7 | 4 including CD drive |
| RHEL 4.6, 4.7, 4.8 (32-bit) |
750 MB/ 16 GB |
8 GB/ 2 TB |
8 GB/ Specified by OS |
16 | 7 | 7 |
| CentOS 4.6, 4.7, 4.8 (32-bit) |
750 MB/ 16 GB |
8 GB/ 2 TB |
8 GB/ Specified by OS |
16 | 7 | 7 |
| RHEL 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4, 5.5, 5.6, 5.7, 5.8 (32-/64-bit) |
750 MB/ 16 GB |
8 GB/ 2 TB |
8 GB/ Specified by OS |
16 | 7 | 7 |
| CentOS 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4, 5.5, 5.6, 5.7, 5.8 (32-/64-bit) |
750 MB/ 16 GB |
8 GB/ 2 TB |
8 GB/ Specified by OS |
16 | 7 | 7 |
| CentOS 6.1, 6.2 6.3 (32 bit) |
2 GB/ 16 GB |
40 GB/ 2 TB |
8 GB/ Specified by OS |
16 | 7 | 4 (including CD drive) |
| CentOS 6.1, 6.2 6.3 (64 bit) |
2 GB/ 128 GB |
40 GB/ 2 TB |
8 GB/ Specified by OS |
16 | 7 | 4 (including CD drive) |
| RHEL 6.1, 6.2 6.3 (32 bit) |
2 GB/ 16 GB |
40 GB/ 2 TB |
8 GB/ Specified by OS |
16 | 7 | 4 (including CD drive) |
| RHEL 6.1, 6.2 6.3 (64 bit) |
2 GB/ 128 GB |
40 GB/ 2 TB |
8 GB/ Specified by OS |
16 | 7 | 4 (including CD drive) |
| Windows XP SP3 (32 bit) |
750 MB/ Specified by OS |
8 GB/ 2 TB |
8 GB/ Specified by OS |
Specified by OS | 7 | 7 (including CD Drive) |
| Windows Server 2003 (32 bit) |
750 MB/ Specified by OS up to 128 GB |
20 GB/ 2 TB |
20 GB/ Specified by OS |
Specified by OS/ Maximum of 16 |
7 | 7 (including CD Drive) |
| Windows Server 2003 (64 bit) |
750 MB/ Specified by OS up to 128 GB |
20 GB/ 2 TB |
20 GB/ Specified by OS |
Specified by OS/ Maximum of 16 |
7 | 7 (including CD Drive) |
| Windows Server 2008 (32 bit) |
750 MB/ Specified by OS up to 128 GB |
40 GB/ 2 TB |
40 GB/ Specified by OS |
Specified by OS/ Maximum of 16 |
7 | 7 (including CD Drive) |
| Windows 2008 (64 bit) |
750 MB/ Specified by OS up to 128 GB |
40 GB/ 2 TB |
40 GB/ Specified by OS |
Specified by OS/ Maximum of 16 |
7 | 7 (including CD Drive) |
| Windows Server 2008 R2 (64 bit) |
750 MB/ Specified by OS up to 128 GB |
40 GB/ 2 TB |
40 GB/ Specified by OS |
Specified by OS/ Maximum of 16 |
7 | 7 (including CD Drive) |
| Windows 7 (32 bit) |
750 MB/ Specified by OS |
40 GB/ 2 TB |
40 GB/ Specified by OS |
Specified by OS/ Maximum of 16 |
7 | 7 (including CD Drive) |
| Windows Server 7 (64 bit) |
750 MB/ Specified by OS up to 128 GB |
40 GB/ 2 TB |
40 GB/ Specified by OS |
Specified by OS/ Maximum of 16 |
7 | 7 (including CD Drive) |
Combined Virtual Machine Restrictions[1]
| Virtual Device | Minimum | Maximum Tested | Architected |
|---|---|---|---|
| Combined Total Volumes and/or VCDs per Avance Unit | 62 | 62 | |
| Number of Virtual Machines per Avance Unit[2] | 1 | 20[1] | 24 |
| Combined Total Virtual Network Interfaces per Avance Unit | 20 | 64 | |
| Avance Foundation License– Maximum running VMs[3] | NA | 2 | 2 |
| Avance Foundation License – Maximum CPUs per system [4] | ‘NA | 8 | 8 |
| Avance Foundation License – Maximum total VCPUs used by all VMs | ‘NA | 6 | 6 |
| Avance Foundation License – Maximum memory per system[5] | NA | 16 GB | 16 GB |
| Avance Foundation License – Maximum memory for all VMs | NA | 16 GB | 16 GB |
[1] For systems with many VMs or large VMs, Avance should be configured with 10 Gb sync links, 4 VCPUs and 4096 GB. Refer to Help found on Preferences -> Systems Resources page in the Avance Management Console for instrcutions on setting the Avance resources to the maximum.
[2] The maximum number of VCPUs allocated to VMS should be less than (cores * hyperthreads/core) – 2 for optimal performance.
[3] Additional VMs may be created and stopped but VM creation is blocked if there are 2 VMs running already.
[4] Additional CPUs will not be utilized but Avance will still operate
[5] Additional memory will not be utilized but Avance will still operate
