Oracle VM Implementation and Administration Guide

My notes from Oracle VM Implementation and Administration Guide:

Chapter 5: Planning and Sizing the Enterprise VM Server Farm

All-in-One Configuration

The All-in-One configuration is the most straightforward configuration. This configuration is made up of the server pool master, utility server, and VM Server all residing on the same VM Server. This configuration functions well for either the VM Server farm where there is only a single or a few servers or the configuration where many virtual machines are managed, but there are very few changes.

Whalen, Edward (2011-07-13). Oracle VM Implementation and Administration Guide (p. 71). McGraw-Hill. Kindle Edition.

This will be my preferred configuration.

Chapter 6: Installing the Oracle VM Server

Installing the VM Server is a very straightforward process. Mostly this is because Oracle VM Server for x86 only supports the bare metal installation method, which means that Oracle VM is installed directly onto the hardware as you would with Linux or Windows. The idea is to install the VM Server system without very many options or customizations and then configure it later.

Whalen, Edward (2011-07-13). Oracle VM Implementation and Administration Guide (p. 91). McGraw-Hill. Kindle Edition.

I did this as documented in 01 Install VM Server.

Chapter 7: Installing and Configuring Oracle VM Manager

The VM Manager can very easily be hosted as a virtual machine. The hardware and software requirements are well within the parameters of what a virtual machine can provide. From a purely technical standpoint, running the VM Manager on a virtual machine makes a lot of sense. This argument holds true for OEM Grid Control as well. The most efficient way to host the Grid Control server is via a virtual machine.

Whalen, Edward (2011-07-13). Oracle VM Implementation and Administration Guide (p. 109). McGraw-Hill. Kindle Edition.

I plan to put both the VM Manager and the Grid Control onto VMs running on the VICTORIA cluster.

Chapter 9: Installing and Configuring the Oracle VM CLI

The OVM CLI is a front-end interface to the Oracle VM Manager. The VM Manager, rather than the Oracle VM Management Pack, must be configured as the management device for the VM Servers. The OVM CLI does not work with the Management Pack plug-in for OEM Grid Control.

Whalen, Edward (2011-07-13). Oracle VM Implementation and Administration Guide (p. 146). McGraw-Hill. Kindle Edition.

My initial plan is to install the CLI as I will be hosting the Grid Control on the same VM cluster as the VM Manager. My understanding is that I could get the VM Manager going from DOM0, and then use the CLI to manage other VMs if I am unable to get the Grid Control VM going.

Chapter 10: Configuring the VM Server Network

Consider the Xen bridge to be a switch between the virtual machine world and the outside world. If the virtual machine is configured on the correct subnet, then the switch allows traffic to flow outside of the VM Server; if a different subnet is used, traffic can only communicate within the Xen bridge. In this manner, several subnets can use this switch. However, the bridge is not a router; therefore, it does not translate from one subnet to another.

Whalen, Edward (2011-07-13). Oracle VM Implementation and Administration Guide (p. 164). McGraw-Hill. Kindle Edition.

My plan is to reserve the 192.168.3.0/24 subnet for the VM cluster.

You can configure the Xen bridges in a number of different ways, including bridged, NAT, and routed. Although all of these network types can be configured and will work, only the bridged network is supported by Oracle.

Whalen, Edward (2011-07-13). Oracle VM Implementation and Administration Guide (p. 165). McGraw-Hill. Kindle Edition.

Noted for implementation.

Static networking is recommended, rather than DHCP-assigned IP addresses. Even though it is an option, IPV6 can be safely disabled.

Whalen, Edward (2011-07-13). Oracle VM Implementation and Administration Guide (p. 166). McGraw-Hill. Kindle Edition.

As noted above, IP addresses will be allocated manually from the 192.168.3.0/24 subnet.

Configuring the bridged network is done by editing the /etc/xen/xend-config.sxp file. In order to enable bridged networking, make sure the following line is uncommented:

(network-script network-bridge) (vif-script vif-bridge)

Whalen, Edward (2011-07-13). Oracle VM Implementation and Administration Guide (p. 168). McGraw-Hill. Kindle Edition.

Noted. But I am not clear about the instruction.

Chapter 11: Configuring the VM Server Storage

Disk storage for the virtual environment is referred to as the storage repository. The storage repository is the home for the virtual machines, the ISO images, virtual machine templates, shared virtual disks, and so on. The top-level directory for the storage repository is /OVS.

Whalen, Edward (2011-07-13). Oracle VM Implementation and Administration Guide (p. 179). McGraw-Hill. Kindle Edition.

The running_pool directory contains all of the virtual machine images and configuration files.

Whalen, Edward (2011-07-13). Oracle VM Implementation and Administration Guide (p. 179). McGraw-Hill. Kindle Edition.

The seed_pool directory is where the virtual machine templates are stored.

Whalen, Edward (2011-07-13). Oracle VM Implementation and Administration Guide (p. 179). McGraw-Hill. Kindle Edition.

This iso_pool directory is where the ISO images are stored.

Whalen, Edward (2011-07-13). Oracle VM Implementation and Administration Guide (p. 179). McGraw-Hill. Kindle Edition.

The clustered server pool is defined as a set of VM Servers that use the same shared storage.

Whalen, Edward (2011-07-13). Oracle VM Implementation and Administration Guide (p. 179). McGraw-Hill. Kindle Edition.

The publish pool directory contains virtual machines that have been deployed as public.

Whalen, Edward (2011-07-13). Oracle VM Implementation and Administration Guide (p. 180). McGraw-Hill. Kindle Edition.

The SharedDisk directory contains the shared disks that have been created for creating virtual clusters.

Whalen, Edward (2011-07-13). Oracle VM Implementation and Administration Guide (p. 180). McGraw-Hill. Kindle Edition.

Chapter 13: Configuring Server Resources

Shared disks are used to support applications that require a disk to be available (read and write simultaneously) from multiple systems.

Whalen, Edward (2011-07-13). Oracle VM Implementation and Administration Guide (p. 243). McGraw-Hill. Kindle Edition.

This would seem to be the basis for building RACs in the VM cluster. Will need to do more study.

Chapter 14: Monitoring and Tuning the Virtual Machine Server

There really isn’t a lot that you have to tune in the VM Server system. In fact, as you will see, tuning the VM Server system actually involves monitoring and adjusting the resources, rather than tweaking parameters and settings.

Whalen, Edward (2011-07-13). Oracle VM Implementation and Administration Guide (p. 267). McGraw-Hill. Kindle Edition.

Noted.