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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 is supported on BladeCenter and System x models that are attached to the IBM i platform via an iSCSI network.
VMware ESX Server is one of the leading virtualization products for x86 processor based servers. It enables the reduction of the number of physical servers through virtualization by supporting multiple virtual machines, each with an installed operating system, running on a single server. VMware ESX supports Windows®, Linux®, NetWare®, and Solaris® virtual machines. This support enables IBM i customers to install ESX server on an iSCSI attached BladeCenter or System x server and use the IBM i disks for all of the storage for the ESX server, extending the value of the IBM i storage management.
The ESX server is part of the VMware vSphere infrastructure. To learn more, see VMware vSphere Documentation (link resides outside of ibm.com).
VMware ESX operating system versions supported
The specific VMware ESX Server operating system versions supported depend on the integrated server model and the IBM i release level that is being used. See the Blade server models and System x server models sections in the IBM i iSCSI Solution Guide.
What is provided
- Ability to start or shut down the ESX server by varying on or off the associated IBM i network server description (NWSD).
- Access to IBM i virtual storage.
- For i 7.1 and i 6.1: Shared storage is supported. Therefore, VMware VMotion, VMware HA and VMware DRS are supported.
- Ability to back up ESX storage spaces from IBM i.
- See the iSCSI solution capabilities section in the IBM i iSCSI Solution Guide for additional items.
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.
- All ESX servers attached to i 7.1 and ESXi 4 and later servers attached to i 6.1 require a separate iSCSI-attached Windows server to provide management functions such as shut down. See section 7.8 in the IBM i iSCSI Solution Guide and Knowledge Base article 625063424 for more information.
Documentation
- IBM i iSCSI Solution Guide, which includes the following information:
- VMware ESX Server operating system versions that are supported on each server model.
- VMware ESX Server installation information.
- VMware ESX migration and upgrade scenarios.
- Additional VMware ESX integration capabilities provided by the IBM i iSCSI solution.
- Many more topics.
- IBM i integration with BladeCenter and System x topic in the IBM i 7.1 Information Center.
- iSCSI-attached System x and blade systems topic in the IBM i 6.1 Information Center.
- VMware VI3 on BladeCenter and System x Integrated with System i Redbook for i 6.1.
- VMware ESX Server on iSCSI attached integrated servers for i5/OS V5R4 (PDF, 146KB)
