On 01/29/2011 08:24 PM, Ross Walker wrote:
> On Jan 29, 2011, at 6:04 AM, carlopmart<carlopm...@gmail.com>  wrote:
>
>> On 01/28/2011 03:21 PM, Ross Walker wrote:
>>> On Jan 28, 2011, at 4:55 AM, carlopmart<carlopm...@gmail.com>  wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hi all,
>>>>
>>>>   I need to install a virtual machine acting as a virtual storage server 
>>>> under
>>>> CentOS 5.x (using kvm, xen, virtualbox or vmware). This virtual storage 
>>>> machine
>>>> needs to server storage to another ESXi server and at the same time to the 
>>>> host
>>>> where is installed.
>>>>
>>>>   This is due to the limitations of hardware I have available. Both hosts 
>>>> needs to
>>>> server several machines.
>>>>
>>>>   It is very important that the virtual machine consumes the least 
>>>> resources
>>>> possible (host has 5GB RAM and i need to run three virtual machines 
>>>> minimum,
>>>> including this storage server as a virtual machine).
>>>>
>>>>   What can be better solution: CentOS, NexentaStor, openfiler ...??
>>>
>>> For such a small setup, I recommend installing ESXi on both machines and 
>>> setting up a storage server on the ESXi box with all the storage.
>>>
>>> Use NFS for your storage server. Disable ESXi memory ballooning/over commit 
>>> for your storage VM otherwise you'll have memory contention between storage 
>>> producer and storage consumers.
>>>
>>> Your choice of OS depends on your experience level and needs. If your 
>>> comfortable with Redhat Linux use CentOS minimal install, otherwise use 
>>> OpenFiler. If data integrity is more important then performance use 
>>> Nexentastor (if performance is more important then consistency disable ZIL, 
>>> ZFS guarantees file system integrity, ZIL guarantees data consistency).
>>>
>>> -Ross
>>>
>>
>> Thanks Ross. I had been thought about this solution. But, there is a 
>> problem: I need
>> to run two more VMs on that server and only has 5GB of RAM. AFAIK, 
>> NexentaStor
>> requires a minimum of 4GB of RAM.
>>
>> But If I use nfs services to share disks: can I limit memory used by nfs 
>> process in
>> some manner??
>
> What OS are the VMs?

All OS will be UNix based: linux, BSD or Solaris ...

>
> If they are windows, then I'd just use Microsoft SBS and run all services off 
> one box then instead of multiple VMs.
>
> If they are Linux, think about using a container based solution like OpenVZ.

OpenVZ maybe a solution, but It isn't supported for RHEL or CentOS ... but I 
think 
it is supported under Ubuntu ..

>
> 5GB is only enough memory to run 1 or 2 VMs.

It depends ... but in my case you are correct ...

Thanks.

-- 
CL Martinez
carlopmart {at} gmail {d0t} com
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