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The current situation is this:

1x ESXi 4.1 host with:
    1x VM: main win2k8 server (hostname: fs01)
    physical disk 1 (250GB) -> datastore 1 (200GB) -> vmdisk with OS of VM's
    physical disk 2 (250GB) -> datastore 2 (200GB) -> vmdisk with files
    physical disk 3 (500GB) -> datastore 3 (500GB) -> vmdisk with files
    physical disk 4 (  1TB) -> not configured yet

fs01 configuration:
    datastore 1 -> C:\ ( 40GB) -> OS
    datastore 2 -> D:\ (200GB) -> shares (\\fs01\users\public; \\fs01\users\%username%)
    datastore 3 -> E:\ (500GB) -> shares (\\fs01\media)

fs01 has file shares on datastore 2 and datastore 3.

What I wish is to have a fallback VM fs02 configured exactly like fs01 that uses the vmdisk images on datastore 2 and datastore 3 from fs01. So that if fs01 crashes or fails to start fs02 will boot up and make the file shares available to me.

I don't even know if ESXi can check whether or not fs01 has booted properly, but I'm guessing it does have a way of checking if it's on or not. And if not have ESXi startup fs02 automatically.

My clients have mappings to the shared folders of fs01, and I won't mind if the mappings aren't available because fs01 crashed. As long as I can have fs02 boot up automatically so the shared folders become available by directly addressing them. (like \\fs02\users\public; \\fs02\media)

So fs01 and fs02 share the disk images located in datastore 2 and datastore 3.

Questions:

  1. Can ESXi check if fs01 has started and if not start fs02?
  2. Can fs01 and fs02 share the same disk images from the datastores?
Andrew Schulman
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Denniz
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    Your home network scenario here represents something wholly contrived, in terms of the applicability to professional systems administration. Nobody would do this on a real business network. – Evan Anderson Nov 12 '14 at 07:56
  • I know Evan Anderson. But I've got to work with whatever I have lying around in the house ;). And although I'd rather build a 4+ core system with 32GB RAM, 8 SSD's, RAID 6, ESXi 5+, running 3 Win2012 servers, 2 Win7 VMs with RDP and a 8 slot tape backup... I have to make do with my AMD Athlon 64 3500+, 4GB RAM, and 4 disks. I'm just glad it can run one VM! It's not even build into a server case. Just a regular midi-tower. (which is a good thing, noise wise). But yeah no sysadmin would build something like this...ever! :p I just use it to familiarize myself with ESXi and VM's. – Denniz Nov 12 '14 at 08:07
  • No, this is craziness. It's not the way to do failover. If you're concerned about stability, buying better hardware is going to take you much farther than some horrible VMDK-sharing situation. – ewwhite Nov 12 '14 at 13:04

1 Answers1

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You can use VMWare FT, so that if fs01 fails, it automatically enables fs02. Might be worth reading this.

serverstackqns
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  • My reputation (less than 15) doesn't allow me to upvote this yet, but it's +1 just for being quick in coming up with useful info. – Denniz Nov 12 '14 at 08:08
  • VMWare FT requires a 2nd host machine, which I don't have unless I convert my desktop to be one. And I think the wife wouldn't be happy about it. But the item about multi-write was very helpful. Now my only concern is that running 2 VM's simultaneously on my ESXi machine might be a little too much for it, reducing performance in a way that the file shares become unavailable. I'm still trying to figure out how many VM's I could run simultaneously on this machine => AMD Athlon 64 3500+, 4GB RAM – Denniz Nov 12 '14 at 08:26
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    This answer is just wrong, too... Especially given the scenario the OP described. – ewwhite Nov 12 '14 at 13:04