Virtualizing Solarwinds Orion Network Performance Monitor and Netflow Traffic Analyzer

Question

Hi All,

I would like to ask if it is possible or advisable to install Solarwinds Orion NPM and NTA on virtual machine server like VMware.

The Scenario is that we're going to install Solarwinds Orion NPM and NTA on one virtual machine and then its SQL database server on another virtual machine.

As per Solarwinds recommendation, Solarwinds Orion and its database should be installed on different servers. I'm thinking if it is possible to install Solarwinds and its database server on the scenario that is stated above.

Thanks!

wbrown · Answer

Based upon experience with support, I'd recommend against putting anything on a VM.

Despite exceeding recommended resources (cpu, mem, storage,...), support had a tendency to blame the configuration or performance of the VMs when dealing with any issues.
Now that we have all components (DB, app, pollers) on physical machines we've been able to eliminate that noise and press for resolution (or bug documentation) on issues.

kevin2me · Answer

Hi Kristan,

Installing Orion on VM is fine, just be sure CPU and RAM meets our min specs and that its dedicated CPU & Memory.

As for SQL Server, we would not support NPM\Netflow on a SQL Server with a VM.

Here is best practice for SQL Server:
2 x Raid 1 disk   (Mirroring) For operating system
2 x Raid 1 disk   (Mirroring) Place pagefile here and also can be used for applications and ad hoc Stuff
4 x RAID 1 +0 Stripping and mirroring for database files (2 partitions 1 for Data File and 1 for Log File)

Also the following pdf is a great resource for SQL sizing and performance tuning:
http://www.solarwinds.com/support/Orion/docs/Orionperformance.pdf

We do not recommend:
1 SANs depending on setup.
2 Slow Disks 10K 
3 RAID 5/6 (Especially with Netflow)
4 SQL Servers on Virtual Machines
5 SQL Server Installed on Same Server as Orion with NETFLOW.  Tips and Tricks for Improving SQL Performance

SQL   Server performance is a hot topic these days, especially if you're leveraging   your SQL Server for a high performance NMS.

This   can become even more critical when you add applications like NetFlow which   tend to carry a significant I/O burden.

In   some organizations you can rely on the DBA team to own/maintain/optimize the   database servers for you.

Unfortunately,   for many of us this isn't an option either because we dont' have a DBA team   or because it's such a political mess trying to work with them.

This   causes us to have to implement and maintain our own database servers to   support our apps.

The   thing is, most of us network engineers don't know diddly about database   servers.

So,   with that in mind, here are a few tips for optimizing your SQL Server:

Head   Geek's Top 5 Tips for Improving SQL Performance

#5 -   Add more RAM. Doesn't really matter how much you have, adding more will   almost always help.

Be sure that your SQL instance and OS are capable of consuming the additional   RAM and if not make it so.

#4   - Just say "no" to RAID 5. It's great for application servers   but horrible for database servers where I/O performance is important.

#3 -   Place the data and log files (.mdf and .ldf) on separate logical drives and   separate channels or controllers.

#2 -   Unless your SAN is optimized for high I/O vs. large I/O stick with a locally   attached disk array.

#1 -   Buy disk controllers with battery backed-up write-back cache. The more the   better, but at least 256MB.