Best practices for deploying Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization

Linda Knippers, HP Distinguished Technologist 

© Copyright 2012 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. 

The information contained herein is subject to change without notice.

Deploying RHEV 

on ProLiant 

Best practices for deploying Red Hat Enterprise 

Virtualization 3.0 on HP ProLiant servers 

Linda Knippers 

June 2012 



Agenda 

Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization (RHEV) overview 

RHEV deployment components 

Deployment considerations 

Environment and software 

Servers, storage, and networking 

Example configuration 

Tuning and troubleshooting tips 

Additional resources 

3 



Red Hat Enterprise 

Virtualization Overview 



Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization 

Overview 

RHEV 3.0 

• Enterprise grade, centralized management and 

hypervisor for server and desktop virtualization 

• Industry leading performance, scalability and 

security infrastructure 

6 

• HP ProLiant servers demonstrate industry 

leading performance and scalability on 2, 4 

and 8 socket servers with SPECvirt 

• Sold and supported by HP in partnership with Red 

Hat 




RHEV Hypervisor 

RHEV-H standalone hypervisor 

Customized spin of RHEL with KVM 

• Small footprint 

• Just enough RHEL to run virtual machines 

• Security hardened image 

• Runs on all RHEL-certified HP servers with Intel 

VT/AMD-V CPUs 

− Requires in-distro drivers 

Easy to install, configure and upgrade 

• PXE boot, USB boot, CD, iLO Virtual Media or Hard 

drive 

7 




RHEV Manager 

RHEV-M User Interface 

Search driven UI makes 

managing thousands of 

objects easy 

• Bookmarks, dynamic filters 

and other advanced GUI 

functions 

• Cross-correlate information 

across users, VMs, hosts, 

applications, status etc. 

Can manage 

virtualization on 

RHEV-H and RHEL 6.2 

hosts 

8 



RHEV Manager Architecture 

9 



RHEV Data Centers 

RHEV manages multiple Data Centers 

Highest level container for all 

physical and logical resources 

Data center owns all other 

resources: 

• Clusters 

• Logical Networks 

• Storage Domains 

• Hosts 

• Virtual Machines 

12 



RHEV Clusters 

Data Centers can have multiple clusters 

Clusters have hosts with one type 

of CPU 

• Intel or AMD 

Virtual machines can migrate to 

hosts within a cluster 

• All hosts within a cluster must be on the 

same logical networks 

• All hosts must have connectivity to the 

storage 

• Power, memory optimization and resiliency 

policies are per-cluster 

13 



RHEV Logical Networks 

Defined per Data Center 

Logical networks usually defined 

by topology or function 

• Public vs. infrastructure 

Each cluster may have different 

logical networks 

• Must be associated with a NIC on each 

cluster host to be active 

• NICs can be VirtualConnect NICs 

RHEV-M defines default logical 

network (rhevm) for data center 

management 

• Non-default networks can use VLANs 

14 



RHEV Storage Domains 

Defined per Data Center 

ISO domain for virtual machine 

installation media 

• Must be NFS 

Data domain for guest images, 

snapshots, templates 

• One type of data domain per data 

center 

− NFS, iSCSI, FC, local storage 

One host per data center 

manages its storage pools 

• Chosen by RHEV-M, fails over as 

necessary 

15 



RHEV Hosts 

All HP ProLiant and BladeSystem servers certified with RHEL6.2 

Runs on all HP ProLiant and BladeSystem servers 

certified with RHEL6.2 

• Requires Intel VT/AMD-V enabled CPUs 

• One processor type per cluster 

• Can be running RHEV-H or RHEL6.2 

Runs a VDSM agent for managing and monitoring host 

Hosts are assigned to a cluster within a data center 

• Registered and managed through RHEV-M 

16 



RHEV Virtual Machines 

Virtual Server or Virtual Desktop 

Associated with a Data Center and Cluster 

• Cores/sockets, memory and disk specified when VM is created 

• Multiple virtual disks, virtual NICs 

• VNC or Spice console 

• Configurable availability policies 

Virtual server operating systems: 

• RHEL 3.x, RHEL 4.x, RHEL 5.x, RHEL 6.x 

• Windows Server 2003 (R2), Windows Server 2008 (R2) 

Virtual Desktop operating systems: 

• Windows XP, Windows 7 (32 or 64 Bit) 

• RHEL 5.4, RHEL 5.5, RHEL 6 

17 



Deployment Considerations 



Environment Requirements 

For deployment and management 

Red Hat Network 

• RHEV uses RHN or local satellite server for provisioning RHEV-M and hypervisor hosts 

• Requires access to RHEV, JBOSS and RHEL supplementary channels 

Windows client with .NET Framework 4 for RHEV-M management interface 

• User portal can be Linux/Firefox 

• Management by Linux/Firefox is a technology preview in RHEV 3.0 

Static or consistent IP addresses for RHEV-M and hypervisor hosts 

• DHCP can be used for virtual machines 

• DNS service for forward and reverse address resolution 

Installation images and licenses or entitlements for virtual machines 

19 



Network Considerations 

Capacity and availability 

Determine logical network requirements 

• One (rhevm) is created the default 

• Others can be defined per usage/type (storage, VMs, display) 

• Must be assigned to a NIC on each node in the cluster 

− May be paired for HA and bandwidth 

• Consider VLAN configuration 

If using Virtual Connect, configure and allocate 

virtual NICs to servers 

• Manage availability through VC 

• Allocate VC resources to match workload requirements 

Consider network availability requirements for the entire infrastructure 

• Losing a connection to a logical network loses a host 

• Need HA at the switch level 

20 



Storage Considerations 

Defining storage domains 

ISO domain must be NFS 

• NFS server can be RHEV-M host, NFS server or NAS 

• ISO domain can be shared across data centers 

Each data center can only support one type of data 

domain 

• NAS using NFS 

− All objects are files 

• SAN - LUNs that may be accessed via FC or iSCSI 

− Managed by RHEV with LVM 

− Each virtual disk, template or snapshot is a logical volume 

• Local – Leverages the local disks of the hosts 

• Data domains cannot be shared across data centers 

21 



Storage Considerations 

Managing storage domains 

Consider resource provisioning options 

• Use pre-allocated storage for virtual machines with high I/O workloads 

• Over-provisioning with sparse allocation is useful for low I/O workloads 

Take advantage of HP storage capabilities 

• Thin provisioning provided by HP storage is recommended 

• Use RHEV thin provisioning when not available in storage backend 

Consider storage availability 

• Losing a NIC or HBA loses a host 

• HA at the switch, NAS server and array level recommended 

22 



Server Considerations 

Determine server or RH cluster for hosting RHEV-M 

components 

• Components can be deployed in virtual machines hosted on a RH cluster 

Determine server for RHEV Hosts 

• Determine type of host 

23 

− RHEV clusters must be of same CPU type 

• Intel separate from AMD 

• Evaluate RHEV recommended hardware configuration 

• Consider NIC count and PCI slots 

− Connectivity to logical networks and storage domains 

− Use VirtualConnect for configuration flexibility 



Choosing the Hypervisor Host 

RHEV-H or RHEL 6.2 with KVM 

RHEV-H 

Small footprint hypervisor 

• Easy to install, no add-ons required 

• No update, re-image instead 

• Included in RHEV subscription (up to 6 sockets) 

• Only supports platforms with in-distro drivers 

24 

− May be a delay in support on new platforms 

• Only runs RHEV vdsm agent 


The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. 

RHEL 6.2 with KVM 

Full RHEL release 

• Use hypervisor host option, add vdsm agent 

• Uses standard RHEL update process 

• RHEL subscription per host 

• Supports platforms with in-distro drivers or 

requiring additional drivers 

− Using driver update process 

• Supports standard SNMP agents and AMS 

• Requires root ssh access from RHEV-M host

Server Configuration 

25 



ProLiant platform configuration 

BIOS settings 

• Enable virtualization 

• Configure HP Dynamic power management 

Configure iLO account for host power 

management by RHEV 

• Choose the right iLO agent when adding a host 

Host deployment 

• Can use iLO Virtual Media, physical media or PXE 

Consider host monitoring choices

HP iLO Configuration 

Required for VM high availability 

Define when adding a ProLiant 

server through RHEV-M 

• Enable Power Management 

26 

− Power on/off management 

• Address is iLO IP address 

• User Name is authorized iLO account 

name 

• Password is for iLO account 

• Type: 

− “ilo” for iLO/iLO2 

− “ilo3” for iLO3/iLO4 

• Use Test button to verify setup 



Major internet media and content provider in Japan 

Gaming applications require dynamic resource management 

Adjust resources allocated to a game based on its popularity 

Reduced hardware and power costs by moving to HP BladeSystem 

Consolidated 900 servers and 100 VMs onto 400 servers and 400 VMs 

Reduced power consumption by 30% 

• BL465G7 for high core counts and large memory capacity 

• VirtualConnect for simplified wiring and fewer switches 

• Multiple C3000 enclosures to meet government power requirements 

− Ability to power off servers and VMs was key to power savings 

• P4500G2 SAN with HP 5820 switches 

Reduced software costs by moving from VMware to RHEV 

Socket-base subscription worked best with high core-count servers 

27 



Hardware configuration 

HP ProLiant BL465G7 

BladeSystem C-class Flex10 

28 

10G 

iSCSI 



HP A5820 

HP P4500G2 SAN 

HP ProLiant DL360G7

Tuning Tips 

Tuning 

If running RHEL/KVM hosts, consider kernel boot 

parameters used by RHEV-H 

• scheduler=elevator 

Monitor host and VM guests 

rhev-agentd on VM guests 

scheduler=noop on RHEL guests 

HP SIM for monitoring RHEL/KVM hosts 

30 



Troubleshooting Tips 

Check the logs 

RHEV-M GUI events log 

Most problems are clearly described 

Main RHEVM log: 

• /var/log/rhevm/rhevm.log 

• Timestamps will be in the timezone of the OS (eg localtime) 

Main Hypervisor logs: 

• /var/log/vdsm/vdsm.log 

• /var/log/vdsm/libvirt.log 

• Timestamps will be in UTC 

Time difference between manager and hypervisor may need to be taken 

into account when following task flows from RHEVM to RHEVH 

31 



Troubleshooting Tips 

Storage 

Concentrate on the SPM host 

• Or host attempting to become SPM if problem relates to acquiring SPM 

• Current SPM host may not have been the SPM at the time of a reported problem: 

− Search rhevm.log for 'starting spm on' to find SPM at the time of the problem 

RHEV storage operations use standard RHEL commands 

Typical storage troubleshooting applies 

• Storage commands can be run from hypervisor command line 

− multipath, iscsiadm, showmount/mount/rpcinfo, cat /proc/scsi/scsi, cat /var/log/messages, etc 

• Storage domains on iSCSI/FC data centers are LVM volume groups / logical volumes so typical LVM 

troubleshooting applies: 

− vgscan, lvs, vgchange, cat /etc/lvm/{archive,backup}/, etc 

32 



Test Drive HP Insight Online 

Win 1 of 12 HP Envy 

Spectre Ultrabooks 

and Monster Beats 

headset 

Demo #563 

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY & PURCHASE WILL NOT INCREASE CHANCE OF WINNING. OPEN ONLY TO Discover 2012 – Las Vegas ATTENDEES; LEGAL RESIDENTS OF 50 UNITED STATES, & THE DC, 

18 YEARS OLD. Void in Puerto Rico, U.S. territories, possessions and where prohibited by law. Employees of Sponsor, its subsidiaries, affiliates, their immediate family and household members, as well as public 

sector employees, are not eligible. Entry constitutes agreement to rules & Sponsor’s decisions. Participants enter by submitting lead inquiry to HP’s booth. Winners chosen by random drawing daily on or about June 

4-6, 2012. One entry per person. Winners will be notified via email and may have to sign and return an eligibility affidavit & liability release, unless prohibited. If eligible winners fail to sign and return required 

documents, prize may be forfeited. Prizes: One (1) of twelve (12) HP Envy Spectre 14 and Dr. Dre Beats Headsets (ARV $1699.00 each). No substitution, cash redemption or transfer of prizes, except in Sponsor’s 

35 © Copyright 2012 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. 

discretion. Taxes are winners’ responsibility. Odds of winning depend on number of entries. Entrants release and hold harmless Sponsor, its subsidiaries, affiliates, and their officers, directors, employees, agents 


from any claim arising out of entry or prize receipt or use. Sponsor: Hewlett-Packard Company, Attn: HP 11445 Compaq Center Drive W, Houston, TX, USA 77070. Use this address for inquiries or requests for 

winner’s list.

Terms and Conditions 

36 

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY & PURCHASE WILL NOT INCREASE CHANCE OF WINNING. OPEN 

ONLY TO Discover 2012 – Las Vegas ATTENDEES; LEGAL RESIDENTS OF 50 UNITED STATES, & 

THE DC, 18 YEARS OLD. Void in Puerto Rico, U.S. territories, possessions and where prohibited by law. 

Employees of Sponsor, its subsidiaries, affiliates, their immediate family and household members, as well 

as public sector employees, are not eligible. Entry constitutes agreement to rules & Sponsor’s decisions. 

Participants enter by submitting lead inquiry to HP’s booth. Winners chosen by random drawing daily on 

June 4-6, 2012. One entry per person. Winners will be notified via email and may have to sign and return 

an eligibility affidavit & liability release, unless prohibited. If eligible winners fail to sign and return required 

documents, prize may be forfeited. Prizes: One (1) of twelve (12) HP Envy Spectre 14 and Dr. Dre Beats 

Headsets (ARV $1699.00 each). No substitution, cash redemption or transfer of prizes, except in 

Sponsor’s discretion. Taxes are winners’ responsibility. Odds of winning depend on number of entries. 

Entrants release and hold harmless Sponsor, its subsidiaries, affiliates, and their officers, directors, 

employees, agents from any claim arising out of entry or prize receipt or use. Sponsor: Hewlett-Packard 

Company, Attn: HP 11445 Compaq Center Drive W, Houston, TX, USA 77070. Use this address for 

inquiries or requests for winner’s list. 



37 



Download Now 

Get the Mobile App 

Download content from this session 

with the free Mobile App. 

Text the word “Discover” to 474747 

or 

m.hp.com/events

Find out more 

38 

Attend these sessions 

• HOL3093, Using HP’s 

Software Delivery 

Repository to manage 

your ProLiant Linux, 

Tues 11:00, Wed 11:00 

• TB3092, Why HP for Linux, Wed 4:00 



Visit these demos 

• TB2301, Building a private cloud: converged infrastructure 

with Red Hat and HP CloudSystem Matrix, Thur 11:15 

After the event 

• Red Hat Booth (410) • Contact your sales rep 

• Visit the website 

www.hp.com/go/proliantrhel 

www.hp.com/solutions/rhev 

Your feedback is important to us. Please take a few minutes to complete the session survey.

Thank you

Best practices for deploying Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?