Server Consolidation Wizard

Based upon a desired hardware configuration and the performance metrics gathered, this wizard generates results that describe how many host computers you will need to consolidate your servers using virtualization and the placement of current physical computers on the host computers. The wizard requires you to define the virtualization “candidate” computers, the Microsoft® virtualization technology you want to use, and a “model” server that will run your virtual machines.

Before you run the Server Consolidation Wizard, you should complete the following tasks:

1.       Identify the candidate servers for virtualization. The candidate servers are servers that you want to consolidate using virtualization.

2.       Identify the virtualization technology you want to use. There are three supported technologies: Windows Server® 2008 R2 SP1 Hyper-V™, Windows Server® 2008 R2 Hyper-V™, and Windows Server® 2008 Hyper-V.

3.       Create a text file containing the computer names that you want to import into the wizard.

4.       Run the Performance Metrics Wizard, using the text file created in the previous step, for a time duration that accurately captures the utilization of the server.

5.       Create a model host computer that you want to use to host your virtual machines by using the Hardware Library wizard or by creating a single use hardware configuration with the Server Consolidation Wizard.

6.       Run the Server Consolidation Wizard, import the text file containing the computer names, and configure the model server.

Review the assessment results in the console, adjust the model if required, and rerun the placement engine if the host model, performance data, or candidate server list has changed.