Badges

gestaltitbadge

follow-me-twitter

Subscribe to me on FriendFeed

Comments / DISQUS
Tag Cloud
backup blades citrix esx esx esxi events free how to hp hyper-v ibm infosmack issues linux microsoft news P2V partner patch planning podcast replication SAN storage twitter ubuntu vcb vdi veeam virtualbox virtualcenter virtualization virtumania vmetc vmetc.com vmware vmware converter vmworld vmworld2007 vmworld2008 vmworld2009 vmworld 2009 vSphere windows
Feedjit.com
«
»

Real Thin Provisioning And Over Allocation – The VI Admin

PostDateIcon November 4th, 2009 | PostAuthorIcon Author: Rich Brambley

I’ve already mentioned (and posted) about the vSphere Blog Contest current topic of thin provisioning, but I’ve been thinking about another “product” that has always functioned thin provisioned – The VI administrator. That’s right, I’m talking about the guys and gals that manage all the hypervisor hosts, the server and desktop virtual machines, the networking, and the storage.

Have you thought about the systems to administrator ratios we work under these days? Sure, server consolidation to virtual infrastructure has enabled doing more with less, but is there a better way to explain thin provisioning and over allocation than by looking at the small teams responsible for the virtualized data center? I say not!!

This is my small VM /ETC tribute to the ones who truly are “thin provisioned and over allocated”.

vmetc thin provisioned

Do me a favor, leave a comment letting everyone know how many administrators are on your team and how many VMs you are responsible for. I expect the numbers to be staggering!

Related Posts

PostCategoryIcon Posted in storage, virtualization, vmetc.com, vSphere | PostTagIcon Tags: , , , ,
«
»
Newer Comments →
  • Tom

    Like it :)
    1 admin (moi), started with 1 host and local storage, now 3 hosts, 1 SAN, 15-20 VMs maybe by end of next year, after hopefully successful clean install of ESX 4.0 and migrate over all the ESX 3.5 VMs.
    Reading/learning >> admin time since VMware is quite stable for us.
    No giant VMs etc. :)

  • Tom

    BTW you thin-provisioned 'Provsioning' in the title by leaving out one letter. LOL :)

  • http://vmetc.com rbrambley

    Tom,

    LOL. Actually, I De-duped the the word “provisioning” and saved an “i”. Thanks for pointing it out!

  • http://twitter.com/h0bbel Christian Mohn

    I'm the sole VMware Admin (and server/network/storage admin in general) in our organization, currently managing approx. 35VMs on two hosts. Combine that with 10 physical servers, one san with extended storage and the general networking for our HQ, branch offices and 22 vessels. The branch offices and vessels all have physical servers in their location as well. :)

  • ThatFridgeGuy

    Rich,
    Great shirt and great timing. My wife just reminded me last night that I need to give her and the kids a list of what I want for Christmas. Got my “Virtually Insane” sweatshirt for Christmas from them last year.

    1 primary admin (me) with 1 backup if I'm not around for 8 hosts and 125 guests in production.

  • Josh

    We are a team of 4 and are responsible for 2 vcenter servers, 200+ VMs and about 200 physical servers. We have a separte group for our storage and backups.

  • Pingback: Tweets that mention Real Thin Provisioning And Over Allocation – The VI Admin | VM /ETC -- Topsy.com

  • http://vmetc.com rbrambley

    You guys are all Ugly Green Heroes! Thanks for the comments and stats. Ratio is avg of 90 Systems to 1 admin so far.

  • Abe12345

    Heh.

    Here to screw up your stats – and I kid you not.

    1 Admin – me. 3 clusters. 19 Servers. 843 guests. And a partridge in a pear tree.

  • http://vmetc.com rbrambley

    Abe,

    I believe you are a very busy VI Administrator … WOW! Just curious, but did your company have a team of server admins before virtualizing?

  • william bishop

    5 of us. over 3000 guests, 113 hosts. 20 clusters

  • william bishop

    I should clarify, only 2 of us actually administer the environment to any degree, 5 members in the team build servers on the clusters (server admin team).

  • Abe12345

    They had me. I *used* to be a network engineer, but because I was someone who made the foolish mistake of rogering up to this 'new-fangled virtualization' stuff, I've now found myself here. We had three instructors who doubled as admins when the work was out of my reach – we're centered around a training environment, specifically information system security, so we're always tearing down and putting up new targets. When folks figured out how easy it was to do that in VI, the product portfolio grew. Then somebody got the wise idea of doing malware research. I wasn't about to let that happen on my production lab, so that turned into a development cluster, which then went production, and now we've got a 3rd cluster for development with a 4th in the works – and hopefully a new slot for a VI admin. I don't know how I'm going to be able to handle 4… :)

    Most of my day is spent researching targets and trying to prevent VM sprawl. Busy is definitely in my vocabulary. Tools like VESI and PowerCLI are god-sends to me (and the work of Alan Renouf – thanks man). If I didn't have those, I don't know how I'd handle the proper care and feeding of these labs.

    – abe

  • mgrennan

    At my current job we are 2 and have 40 VM systems. At hertz.com (I was layed off) they are 5 and have 200 Physical and 200 VM systems.

  • http://vmetc.com rbrambley

    William,

    5 members for all of those servers .. whether administering or not. I'm curious about your thoughts on VM Sprawl – like Abe too.

  • http://vmetc.com rbrambley

    Thanks

  • Anonymous

    At my current job we are 2 and 40 systems. At Hertz.com (I was layed off) they are 5 for 400.

  • maishsk

    1 VI Admin (guess who?) 11 Hosts 4 clusters 300 VM's
    And of course AD infrastructure which takes up a small part of my day :)

  • http://professionalvmware.com professionalvmware

    That shirt is full of awesome. I can't comment specifically on numbers, but the word “Lots” doesn't quite fit anymore.

  • http://vmetc.com rbrambley

    Cody,
    I am sure your VI is massive. If I only knew! Thanks!

Newer Comments →

Get My Podcast On iTunes!
Support VM /ETC
Support VMETC.com

Support VMETC.com

Free Business and Tech Magazines and eBooks
@rbrambley tweets
VMTN Roundtable Podcasts
Subscribe



Add to Google Reader or Homepage
Subscribe in NewsGator Online
Add to netvibes
Add to Plusmo

Facebook
VMETC
VMETC
Promote Your Page Too
License
Creative Commons License
www.vmetc.com by Richard Brambley is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License

Contact Us | Terms of Use | Trademarks | Privacy Statement
Copyright © 2009 VM /ETC. All Rights Reserved.

Powered by WordPress and WordPress Theme created with Artisteer.