System Virtualization of Restaurant Chain

Summary
 

This report focuses on the system virtualization of a restaurant chain “Barney’s incorporated”.  As the administrator in charge I have outlined the necessity of virtualization, the cost of virtualization and its configuration. Except for the Web Servers all the other servers would be virtualized. This separation is done because of security reasons. Barney’s currently operates 7 restaurants. The virtualization process is done taking future expansion of the company into account. Virtualizing “Barney’s” system would attain them a significantly resilient and rigid system. In the long term the virtualization would server them many purposes such as cost saving, increased system performance and overall efficiency.

Summary of Existing system

Head Quarters

2x Web Servers:

OS: Sever LAMP
CPU: Core i7
Memory: 8GB
Storage: 1TB

1x ordering Server:

OS: Sever LAMP
CPU: Core i7
Memory: 8GB
Storage: 1TB

1x Email Server:

OS:  Microsoft Windows 10
CPU: Core i7
Memory: 8GB
Storage: 1TB

10x User PC’s:

OS:  Microsoft Windows 10
CPU: Intel Core i7
Memory: 8GB
Storage: 1TB

1x Sahrepoint Server:

OS: Microsoft Windows 10
CPU: Intel Core i7
Memory: 16GB
Storage: 8GB

1 Backup Server

 

 

 

 

 

Restaurants

2 x Cash Registers:

OS: Microsoft Windows 7
CPU:  Intel Core i5
Memory: 8GB
Storage: 256GB

1 x Display Computer:

OS: Microsoft Windows 7
CPU:  Intel Core i5
Memory: 8GB
Storage: 256GB

1 x Web Server (Used for Local Store Promo’s):

1 x Managers Computer:

OS: Microsoft Windows 7
CPU:  Intel Core i5
Memory: 8GB
Storage: 256GB

1 x Ordering Computers:

OS: Microsoft Windows 7
CPU:  Intel Core i5
Memory: 8GB
Storage: 256GB

OS: Sever LAMP
CPU:  Intel Core i7
Memory: 8GB
Storage: 256GB

From the current system specification of Barney’s Incorporated we can see that, they have separate servers for different purposes, while this causes a lot of space wastage it also means more monitoring and maintenance is required for all the servers. Virtualization of servers will reduce these short comings dramatically and bring resiliency to the system. In terms of Personal Computers, they seem to be well equipped to run the daily operation for a restaurant chain.

New Hardware, Software, Licenses Requirement

Routers & Switches

It is to be noted that no new routers and switches are to be purchased. Assuming the previous network infrastructure already has sufficient routers and switches in place.

Server

The new server where all the physical servers will be virtualized is HPE ProLiant DL580 Gen10 5120.
It is a 4 socket server which provides high performance, scalability and reliability.

Product Name / Model	HPE ProLiant DL580 Gen10 5120
Processor	Intel® Xeon® 5120 (14-Core, 2.2GHz, 105W )
Memory	64 GB (4x16GB Registered DIMMs)
Network Controller	1 Gb 4-port 331FLR Adapter
Power Supply	4x 800W
Warranty	3-Year Parts, 3-Year Labor, 3-Year Onsite support with next business day response

It has to be noted that 24 DIMM slots available with this selected model giving it a total potential storage of 64*24=1536 GB, which would be useful in case of future expansion.

Thin Client

The Thin client selected for new system is “HP T630 Thin Client”. It equips the business with the powerful, highly configurable and long life cycle Thin Clients. Below is a short specification of this hardware:

Product Name /Model	HP T630 Thin Client (X4X19AA)
Operating system	Windows Embedded Standard 7E 32
Memory	4 GB DDR4L-2400 SDRAM (1 x 4 GB)
Storage Type	SSD
Internal Storage	32GB Flash Memory
Processor	AMD GX-430 GI SoC with Radeon r7E Graphics  (2 GHz up to 2.2 GHz, 2MB cache, 4 cores)
Network Interface	Realtek GbE
Warranty	3-year (3-3-0) limited warranty and service offering includes 3 year of unit exchange with no on-site repair

Storage

SAN

HPE MSA 2042 SAN Storage	Capacity	Storage Host Interface	Compatible Operating Systems	Form Factor
	637 TB SFF / 768 TB LFF maximum raw capacity	8 Gb/16 Gb Fibre Channel 1 GbE/10 GbE iSCSI 6 Gb/12 Gb SAS	Microsoft® Windows Server® 2012 Microsoft Windows Hyper-V Red Hat® Linux® VMware® ESXi™ 5.x VMware ESXi 6.x MAC OSX etc.	Rack

Hard Drives

The storage for the servers would be the “HPE 4TB 6G SATA”. HPE SATA drivers complements the chosen SAN Storage. This drive is economical without compromising on performance for storage, backups and archival applications.

Software & Licenses

There are various hypervisor available in the market for virtualization process. The Hypervisor selected for the new system is VMware vSphere Enterprise Plus edition. The enterprise Edition would give Barney’s incorporated a full range of vSphere features.   This include vital features such as, vMotion, High availability, Full Tolerance etc.

A broad list of features of VMware vSphere Enterprise Plus edition is presented below

Product Features	Availability
vMotion®
High availability
Full Tolerance
Storage motion
vShield Endpoint
vCenter Server Appliance Converge Tool	vCenter Server Standard
Virtual Machine Encryption
Integration with Third-Party Security Operations Tools
Orchestrated or Automated Responses to Security Threats
Automated Discovery of Application Assets, Intent, and Communication
Virtual Volumes™
Storage DRS™
Storage I/O Control
Network I/O Control
vSphere Persistent Memory
Proactive HA
Content Library
Storage APIs for Array Integration, Multipathing
Unstructured Data Analytics
Log Management
Machine Learning and Predictive Analytics

This features would enable the company to transform its existing system into a modern, rigid and secure system. 

Total Hardware & Software Cost

Product Name/ Model	Quantity	Price (approx.)
HPE ProLiant DL580 Gen10 5120	1	$57,150 (Router-switch.com, 2019)
HP T630 Thin Client (X4X19AA)	13	$700*15=$10500 (Lmc.com.au, 2019)
HPE MSA 2042 SAN Storage	1	$25,743 (I-tech.com.au, 2019)
HPE 4TB 6G SATA 7.2K	5	$ 563 x 5= $2815 (Seabourne, 2019)
VMware vSphere Enterprise Plus	1	$7314 (Store-au.vmware.com, 2019)
		Total Price= $103,522

Configuration of the new System

The main purpose of virtualization is to create increased agility, flexibility and scalability. In case of virtualizing Barney’s Incorporations existing system the web Servers should not be virtualized, since barney’s Incorporated is a restaurant chain, their customers would be accessing these servers to log into their account for various purposes like online ordering, redeeming deals etc. So, this server would be receiving lot of data traffic .This server hosts company’s website as well, so in case of a security breach all the other servers would be secured. Hence, it is best that the other servers are virtualized and the web servers are not.

Virtual Servers

The hostnames of virtual servers follows this pattern:

  “Location-virtual machine-server initials-xxxx”

This pattern makes it clear which location the servers are located in and which are virtualized.

Virtual Server	Host Name
Ordering Server	HQ-VM-OS-001
	HQ-VM-OS-002
Email Server	HQ-VM-ES-001
Sharepoint Server	HQ-VM-SP-001
Backup Server	HQ-VM-BS-001

N.B: The Web Server is not virtualized.

 User PC’s

The hostnames of Client PC’s follows this pattern:

  “Location-PC Initials-Thin Client-xxx”

This pattern like the server pattern allows clear distinction of location, which department the PC belongs to, if the PC is configured with Thin Client.

PC Name	Host Name
User PC 1	HQ-UP-TC-001
User PC 2	HQ-UP-TC-002
User PC 3	HQ-UP-TC-003
User PC 4	HQ-UP-TC-004
User PC 5	HQ-UP-TC-005
User PC 6	HQ-UP-TC-006
User PC 7	HQ-UP-TC-007
User PC 8	HQ-UP-TC-008
User PC 9	HQ-UP-TC-009
User PC 10	HQ-UP-TC-010
Ordering PC	R1-OP-TC-001
Manager PC	R1-MP-TC-001
Display Computer	R1-DC-TC-001
Cash Register 1	R1-CR-TC-001
Cash Register 2	R1-CR-TC-001

Here R1 refers to Restaurant 1. Since Barney’s Incorporated has 7 restaurants, the other restaurant can be R2, R3, and R4 and so on.

Sketches of infrastructure of the platform

Physical Diagram

The diagram below depicts that all the servers except for Web Servers are virtualized. The PC’s in the Head Quarters and Restaurants are now Thin Client PC’s. The Storage Area Network is separately connected to the layer 3 switch.

Logical Diagram 

The logical diagram below shows that all the PC’s, both in the Head Quarters and Restaurant locations are connected to a Layer 3 switch via Fast Ethernet cables, and the switches are connected to the routers. The sites are connected via 1Gig WAN connection with 10G networking at the Head Quarters.

Instructions for configuration

In configuration first the Hypervisor (ESXi) which sits on the physical hardware will be installed. After that The “VMware vSphere” is configured and at the end the Virtualization conversion process is discussed.

(N.B. The screenshots provided below are taken during my practical sessions)

ESXi Installation

The installation of the ESXi will be done one the newly purchased server. Below is the step-by-step instructions for the installation.

1. Load VMware vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi ISO) image to an external hard drive/ USB and connect it to the server and select the installer              .

2. Press Enter in the the “Welcome to the VMware ESXi 6.5.0 Installation”  page

3. On the Accept the End-User License Agreement (EULA) step, press F11 to accept and continue.

 

4. On the Select a Disk to Install or Upgrade step, ensure that the local VMware virtual disk is selected and press the Enter key to continue.

5. On the Please select a keyboard layout step, select US Default and press the Enter key.

6. On the Enter a root password step, type “XXXXXXXXXX” in the Root password and Confirm password fields. Press the Enter key to continue.

7. When the Error(s)/Warning(s)  Found During System Scan message appears, press Enter to accept that the system does not support hardware virtualization.

8. On the Confirm Install step, press F11 to confirm the installation.

9. Here Installation is completed and press enter to reboot the system for host configuration

Configuring ESXi Hosts

1. After rebooting the system go to console and open DCUI.

2. Notice the Authentication required dialog box appears, enter root as the Login Name and vmware123 as the Password. Press Enter.

3. On the System Customization screen, ensure that the Configure Password option is selected and press Enter to change the nested host password

4. While in the sa-esxi-03 DCUI, use the down arrow to select Configure Management Network. Press Enter.

5. On the Configure Management Network screen, press the down arrow to select IPv4 Configuration. Press Enter.

6. On the Configure Management Network screen, use the down arrow to navigate to DNS Configuration and press Enter.

7. The ”Primary DNs Server” and “hostname” should be changed

8. Saving Changes

9. While in the sa-esxi-03 DCUI, on the System Customization screen, select Troubleshooting Options. Press Enter.

10. On the Troubleshooting Options screen, use the down arrow to select Enable SSH and press Enter to enable SSH, which would allow administrator to run commands on scripts on the ESXi host in a secure mode.

11. While in the sa-esxi-03 DCUI, on the System Customization screen, select View System Logs. Notice the options available on the right pane. Press 1 to display the host’s Syslog.

12.  When viewing the Syslog, press the down arrow or space bar to scroll through the Syslog content.

 

The ESXi Host Hypervisor is now installed on the Server.

(N.B. The screenshots provided above are taken during my practical sessions)

Deploying vCenter Server Appliance

The deployment of vCenter will be done one the newly installed hypervisor, ESXi. Below is the step-by-step instructions for the deployment.

1. Load “VMware-VCSA-all-6.5.0.iso” file on to a external Hard Drive/ USB.

2. Open the file for installation and press Install.

3. In the next step accept “End User Agreement”

4.  On the Select deployment type page, ensure that vCenter Server with an Embedded Platform Services Controller is selected and click Next.

5.  On the Appliance deployment target page, enter the following information into their appropriate text fields: a. ESXi host or vCenter Server name: sa-esxi-01.vclass.local

b. HTTPS port: 443

c. User name: root

d. Password: “xxxxxx”

e. Click Next.

6. Notice the Certificate Warning dialog box, review and click Yes to continue.

7. On the Set up appliance VM page, enter  IP address in the VM name field and enter “xxxxxxx”for both Root password and for Confirm root password text fields. Click Next.

8. On the Select deployment size page, accept the default Tiny and click Next.

9. On the Select datastore page, select the deployment datastore and check Enable Thin Disk Mode. Click Next.

10. On the Configure network settings page, configure the following: a. Network: VM Network

b. IP version: IPv4

c. IP assignment: static

d. System name: same IP as vmName

e. IP address: same IP as vmName

f. Subnet mask or prefix: 255.255.255.0

g. Default gateway: same naetwork as vmName

h. DNS servers: same naetwork as vmName

i. Click Next

11. It might take approximately 20 minutes or more for the completion of installation.

 

(N.B. The screenshots provided above are taken during my practical sessions)

Creation of Virtual Machines from Physical Machines

For this step VMware vCenter converter Standalone can be used, which automates the process of converting physical machines and other virtual machines formats to virtual machines. One of its main features is, it requires no downtime while the physical to virtual conversion is in progress. In case of Barney’s Incorporation where a number of servers is to be virtualized, VMware vCenter converter offers the option of simultaneous conversions.

Below is a short description of its configuration: (Sophos Community, 2019)

1. Download installation file from http://www.vmware.com/products/converter/
2. Install VMware vCenter converter Standalone (V. 6.2)
3. Right click on the file and Run as Administrator
4. Click Convert machine
5. Select “source type”  as “Powered on” and click next
6. Change “Select destination type” to “VMWare Workstation” or other “VMware virtual machine”
7. Change “Select VMware product” to” VMware Workstation 10.x”
8. Create a name for the VM and select a location to save the VM.
9. In the next step, On the Options screen, under Data to copy, click Edit.
10. Ensure that only disk is selected, change destination size to Min size.
11.  Allocate Memory
12.  Click “Next” and then click “Finish” to start the conversion process

Comparison of competing products

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reference:

• Store-au.vmware.com. (2019). VMware vSphere Enterprise Plus. [online] Available at: https://store-au.vmware.com/vmware-vsphere-enterprise-plus-284281000.html [Accessed 11 May 2019].
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• Router-switch.com. (2019). 869845-B21 Price – HPE ProLiant DL580 Gen9/10 Servers. [online] Available at: https://www.router-switch.com/869845-b21.html [Accessed 17 May 2019].
• Router-switch.com. (2019). 869845-B21 Price – HPE ProLiant DL580 Gen9/10 Servers. [online] Available at: https://www.router-switch.com/869845-b21.html [Accessed 17 May 2019].
• Seabourne. (2019). 872491-B21 872772-001 | HPE 4TB 6G SATA 7.2K LFF 3.5 SC HDD Gen10 Buy new hard drive @ Seabourne. [online] Available at: https://www.seabourne.store/hpe-4tb-6g-sata-7.2k-lff-3.5-sc-ds-hdd-gen10?gclid=Cj0KEQjw3PLnBRCpo8PCoaGM99MBEiQAppRuC4j9sjR1rTfuWgtk8VPFdvoZb3C-mkprrV27QCq1GBIaAlbC8P8HAQ [Accessed 25 May 2019].
• Lmc.com.au. (2019). HP T630 Thin Client [X4X19AA] – Desktop Computers and Workstations – Landmark Computers. [online] Available at: https://www.lmc.com.au/products/Desktop_Computers_and_Workstations/HP/593079/HP_T630_Thin_Client__X4X19AA_?gclid=Cj0KEQjw3PLnBRCpo8PCoaGM99MBEiQAppRuC_Lgh06XuLLNjLoUI3JRfeKclQAcKobKfDxxY9B7FBsaAih08P8HAQ [Accessed 22 May 2019].
• I-tech.com.au. (2019). Hpe Msa 2042 Sas Dc Sff Storage Q0f08a. [online] Available at: https://www.i-tech.com.au/hpe-msa-2042-sas-dc-sff-storage-q0f08a.html?gclid=Cj0KEQjw3PLnBRCpo8PCoaGM99MBEiQAppRuC7W_dhlW7a_MhL3jZFxc5IS4aiHtDuGNDXYzwWABxa0aAmcO8P8HAQ [Accessed 18 May 2019].
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• My.vmware.com. (2019). Download Center for VMware Products. [online] Available at: https://my.vmware.com/en/web/vmware/info/slug/infrastructure_operations_management/vmware_vcenter_converter_standalone/6_2_0 [Accessed 6 Jun. 2019].