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VMware ESX on integrated servers
IBM i integration with BladeCenter® and System x™ allows businesses to operate heterogeneous environments that include Intel®-compatible servers running VMware® ESX Server in addition to core business applications on the IBM i platform.
VMware ESX Server is the host server for abstracting processor, memory, storage and networking resources of a physical server into multiple virtual machines. The ESX Server is part of the VMware Infrastructure. To learn more about the VMware Infrastructure, see http://www.vmware.com.
IBM i 5.4 or i 6.1 is required in order to run VMware ESX Server on BladeCenter blade or System x models that are attached to the IBM i platform via an iSCSI host bus adapter (iSCSI HBA).
- For IBM i 5.4, IBM® has made PTFs available to enable running VMware ESX Server on iSCSI attached servers. See IBM i PTFs for the latest list of PTFs that are required.
- For IBM i 6.1, support is included in the base i5/OS products.
For IBM i 6.1, a new IBM i infrastructure for VMware ESX on integrated servers is provided.
Attention: A one-time migration of VMware ESX servers that were created on i 5.4 is required after upgrading IBM i to i 6.1. See the Migrating VMware ESX servers from i 5.4 to i 6.1 page for details.
What is provided
- Updates to the IBM i Install Linux® Server command (INSLNXSVR) for installing VMware ESX Server 3.0.1 or 3.0.2 for use with Virtual Infrastructure 3, Standard or Enterprise editions.
- Access to IBM i virtual disk storage.
- Post install and update functions.
- Ability to shutdown the ESX server by varying off the associated Network Server Description (NWSD).
- For i 6.1: Shared storage is supported. Therefore, VMware VMotion, VMware HA and VMware DRS are supported.
Limitations
- For i 5.4: Shared storage is not supported. Therefore, VMware VMotion, VMware HA and VMware DRS are not supported.
- Dynamic unlinking of disk storage from an active server is not supported.
- IBM i virtual tape and virtual optical devices are not supported on integrated servers running VMware ESX Server.
- IBM i virtual Ethernet is not supported with VMware ESX Server.
- For this IBM i iSCSI solution, System x PCIe iSCSI HBAs are not supported for use with VMware ESX. See the iSCSI host bus adapter (iSCSI HBA) page for PCI-X iSCSI HBAs that are supported for use with VMware ESX.
For details on planning and installation, see:
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