RedHat ENTERPRISE VIRTUALIZATION 3

Frequently asked questions

Question: What are the new feature highlights in RedHat Enterprise Virtualization 3.2?

Answer: The web admin is fully HTML based with integrated reporting, dashboards, and tasks Live snapshots of virtual machines (VMs) available Storage live migration of VM disk between storage domains available Storage integration with Red Hat Storage server and enhanced management capabilites within RHEV Manager provided Increased number of supported storage domains Improved scalability now with 160 virtual CPUs per VM and 2TB virtual RAM per VM Enhanced management capabilites with quotas for storage, CPU, and memory Disk management available with a new UI for managing internall and external (direct lun) disks Hot plug/unplug VMs network interface

Question: How is RedHat EnterpriseVirtualization packaged and priced?

Answer: The RedHat Enterprise Virtualization subscription is sold per managed hypervisor socket pair and costs $999/socket pair per year for business-hour (Standard) support or $1499/ socket pair per year for 24x7 (Premium) support. Included in the subscription fee is RedHat Enterprise Virtualization Manager (enterprise management system), the RedHat Enterprise Virtualization Hypervisor, all product features, and product support. Like all RedHat products, there is no up-front license fee. Rather, RedHat Enterprise Virtualization is sold on a subscription basis that costs the same each year and includes product access, support, updates, and patches. There is one offering of RedHat Enterprise Virtualization that comprises all product features, so there are no multiple editions, add-ons, or virtual RAM usage charges.

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Question: What sets RedHat EnterpriseVirtualization apart from its competitors?

Answer: Choice with no proprietary lock-in: RedHat Enterprise Virtualization is the only open source, enterprise-ready virtualization platform on the market today. Therefore, RedHat Enterprise Virtualization customers are not limited to what one company believes they need and are not forced into vendor lock-in.

Cost: Based on open source software and offered through a subscription model, the pricing of
RedHat Enterprise Virtualization is significantly less than other virtualization solutions. There are no complicated product editions nor costly add-ons. All features and components are included in one simplified subscription offering. Learn more at redhat.com/products/virtualization/server.

Scalability and performance: The RedHat Enterprise Virtualization Kernel-based Virtual

Machine (KVM) technology is an industry-leading platform based on independent, public SPECvirt benchmarks capable of supporting the highest possible virtual machine density, translating to fewer server hosts and lower infrastructure costs.

Enterprise management: RedHat Enterprise Virtualization offers a feature-rich server virtualization management system that provides advanced capabilities for hosts and guests, including high availability, live migration, storage management, system scheduler, and more.

Security: RedHat Enterprise Virtualization provides unmatched, military-grade security with the
hardened, kernel-level SELinux and sVirt security technologies, which were developed in conjunction with the United States Department of Defense and ensure isolation between VMs and between each machine and the RedHat Enterprise Virtualization Hypervisor. Integrated VDI: Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization integrates the features and functionality for deploying both virtualized servers and complete virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) within the same cluster, at no additional cost. Choose to deploy both Linux and Windows servers and/or desktops. Question: What guest operating systems does RedHat EnterpriseVirtualization support? Answer: RedHat Enterprise Linux 3 (32-bit and 64-bit)

RedHat Enterprise Linux 4 (32-bit and 64-bit) RedHat Enterprise Linux 5 (32-bit and 64-bit) RedHat Enterprise Linux 6 (32-bit and 64-bit) Windows XP Service Pack 3 and newer (32-bit) Windows 7 (32-bit and 64-bit) Windows 8 (32-bit and 64-bit) Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2 and newer (32-bit and 64-bit) Windows Server 2008 (32-bit and 64-bit) Windows Server 2008 R2 (64-bit) Windows 2012 (64-bit)

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FAQ Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization 3

Question: What are the scalability limits of RedHat Enterprise Virtualization 3?

Answer:

Up to 200 hypervisor hosts in one cluster Host supports up to 160 CPUs and 2TB of memory Guests support up to 160 vCPUs and 2TB memory

Question: Is RedHat Enterprise Virtualization fully open source?

Answer: Yes, RedHat Enterprise Virtualization is the only open source, enterprise-ready virtualization platform on the market today. Both the hypervisor and enterprise management software of RedHat Enterprise Virtualization are fully open. In addition to the KVM hypervisor and Linux kernel, both of which are open source projects, RedHat has donated its RedHat Enterprise Virtualization Manager source code to the oVirt project to develop future versions of RedHat Enterprise Virtualization. This is a fully open source project, with participation from individuals around the globe as well as companies such as Cisco, Intel, NetApp, IBM, SuSE, and Canonical that are committed to an open virtualization alternative.

Question: Is there a demo or evaluation version?

Answer: Yes, there is a free 30- or 60-day downloadable evaluation available for RedHat Enterprise Virtualization 3. Get system requirements, step-by-step evaluation labs, documentation, and access to the RedHat Customer Portal community with tips and guidance for a successful evaluation at redhat.com/promo/rhev3. Answer: Yes, RedHat offers a four-day course, RedHat Enterprise Virtualization (RH318), that explores RedHat Enterprise Virtualization features. Students acquire the skills and knowledge to effectively create, deploy, manage, and migrate Linux and Microsoft Windows VMs. Students who successfully complete this course are also prepared to take the RedHat Enterprise Virtualization Certification Exam (EX318) and earn the RedHat Certified Virtualization Administrator (RHCVA) certification. Answer: Yes, since RedHat Enterprise Virtualization was released in 2009, there has been very strong customer adoption. Customers around the world who rely on RedHat to build their missioncritical infrastructures are moving to the RedHat Enterprise Virtualization platform and have seen improved performance, scalability, and security while cutting costs. These customers come from all industry areas and include many enterprises you know, including DreamWorks, Qualcomm, and IBM. Learn more at redhat.com/customersuccess. Answer: To effectively administer an environment, customers that virtualize more than one server or a cluster of servers will need the enterprise management capabilities of high availability, live migration, and workload balancing, which are included in the RedHat Enterprise Virtualization subscription. The KVM hypervisor is included in the RedHat Enterprise Linux operating system and is enabled outofthebox to support a RedHat Enterprise Linux/KVM virtualized environment. This works well for a single hypervisor as long as there is available Linux expertise who can build and manage the environment using the LibVirt tool kit.

Question: Does RedHat offer training and certifications for RedHat Enterprise Virtualization?

Question: Are customers using RedHat Enterprise Virtualization to support their business-critical applications?

Question: I understand that my RedHat Enterprise Linux subscription includes the KVM hypervisor. Can I just use this subscription and not purchase RedHat Enterprise Virtualization?

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FAQ Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization 3

Question: What applications are certified to run on RedHat Enterprise Virtualization?

Answer: Any application that is certified for RedHat Enterprise Linux is certified on RedHat Enterprise Virtualization. There are always a handful of vendors that have their own separate certification tracks, but the RedHat certification program for RedHat Enterprise Linux ISVs includes the KVM certification, this means that all applications that have been certified to run on RedHat Enterprise Linux are certified to run on RedHat Enterprise Virtualization. Answer: Linux experience is not required to install and deploy RedHat Enterprise Virtualization. The RedHat Enterprise Virtualization Manager enterprise management system uses a web-based graphical interface with context-sensitive help. System administrators can manage their virtual infrastructures from this single console with no Linux knowledge. However, the setup and installation of RedHat Enterprise Virtualization will require that the RedHat Enterprise Virtualization Manager server is installed on a server running RedHat Enterprise Linux 6 and that the hypervisor hosts are installed with the KVM hypervisor included in RedHat Enterprise Linux. Both of these activities are well documented and occur only during initial installation. Answer: A recommended minimum configuration includes: Management server: Quad-core or multiple dual-core processor 16GB RAM 50GB writeable disk space 1 NIC with minimum bandwidth of 1Gbps RedHat Enterprise Linux 6 x86_64 subscription (not included) Hypervisor host servers: Quad core or multiple dual-core processors Intel VT or AMD-V extensions 26GB RAM plus 1GB per VM 12GB+ internal storage Multiple NICs with minimum bandwidth of 1Gbps RedHat Enterprise Virtualization Hypervisor (included) or the RedHat Enterprise Linux 6 subscription (purchased separately)

Question: I do not have any Linux experience. Would I be able to install and deploy RedHat EnterpriseVirtualization, or do I need to learn Linux first?

Question: What is needed to run RedHat Enterprise Virtualization?

Administrator console with Microsoft Windows XP, 7 or Windows 2008/2008R2, Internet Explorer 9 or higher or Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, Firefox 17 or higher

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FAQ Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization 3

Question: How do I purchase the RedHat Enterprise Linux operating system to be deployed as a virtual guest in my RedHat Enterprise Virtualization environment? Question: What is the selfservice power user portal?

Answer: A RedHat Enterprise Linux subscription is required for any guest virtual server running in a virtualization environment and is sold separately from RedHat Enterprise Virtualization. RedHat offers several RedHat Enterprise Linux product SKUs for two-socket, four-socket, and eight-socket servers that entitles the customer to run one, four, or an unlimited number of RedHat Enterprise Linux virtual instances. For more information, visit redhat.com/store. Answer: The self-service power user portal is a cloud computing portal that is designed to provide self-provisioning capabilities to end users. Depending on permissions, the portal allows users access to perform tasks that were previously available only through the administrator console. The portal enables administrators to configure specific access and maintain control over both virtual and physical infrastructure resources to users or groups based on their self-service requirements or needs. Empowering users to create, run, and test environments on their own time with restricted access to the needed environments reduces IT and administrator requests. Answer: RedHat Enterprise Virtualization Manager collects extensive information about the virtualization environment that it stores into a Postgres database. With RedHat Enterprise Virtualization 3.0, a new reporting engine was included along with a number of pre-defined dashboards and reports that are accessible through a web interface. The user can use or customize the predefined reports or create new ones that can be rendered to screen, printed, or exported to a variety of formats, including PDF, Excel, CSV, Word, RTF, and other formats. Answer: The new RESTful API allows users to integrate RedHat Enterprise Virtualization Manager with their own applications. All management functions are exposed in the API interface. A Pythonbased command line interface allows for scripting and automation and has been developed with the upstream community. Answer: Hooks are a mechanism for customization so that administrators can define scripts to modify VM definitions or run system commands. For example, administrators can use these hooks to add extra options such as CPU pinning, watchdog devices, direct LUN access, and more. Sample hooks of common custom features are included as examples. Answer: With MLA, administrators are able to grant users as much or as little control over the environment as required. When permissions are granted over an object with children in the object hierarchy (e.g., clusters that have attached hosts), the user is granted permission over both the selected object and its children. This capability is very useful when empowering users for specific administrative capability through the self-service power user portal. Answer: Yes, RedHat Enterprise Virtualization 3 can now use the local storage of RedHat Enterprise Virtualization Hypervisor and RedHat Enterprise Linux hosts. Local storage uses a dedicated local filesystem for VMs and templates. This capability is particularly useful for supporting a proof of concept using the local hypervisor storage instead of a more expensive shared storage device.

Question: What is the historical reporting capability?

Question: What is the purpose of the RESTful API?

Question: What are hooks?

Question: What is the value of multi-level administration (MLA) support?

Question: Does RedHat Enterprise Virtualization support local storage?

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FAQ Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization 3

Question: How can I upgrade an earlier version of RedHat EnterpriseVirtualization to the latest release?

Answer: The migration tools that are available to assist in this process are documented in the RedHat Enterprise Virtualization installation guide. You can choose to update just RedHat Enterprise Virtualization Manager without updating and not the hypervisors or the host servers (e.g. they could continue to run the RedHat Enterprise Linux 5.x-based hypervisors in compatibility mode) you can also update both RedHat Enterprise Virtualization Manager and the hosts to the latest RedHat Enterprise Linux 6.x-based hypervisor technology. Migrating just RedHat Enterprise Virtualization Manager can be done without interrupting your hypervisors or VMs. However, if you need to upgrade your storage and hypervisors, you must bring down your VMs, export them, create new RedHat Enterprise Linux 6.x hypervisors, and import your virtual machines to the new hypervisors. Learn more at docs.redhat.com/docs/en-US/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Virtualization/.

Question: Are there migration tools to migrate virtual machines from ESX/ ESXi and Xen to RedHat Enterprise Virtualization?

Answer: Yes, moving from one hypervisor to another requires a conversion, but there are virtualto-virtual (V2V) migration tools that will do this work for Xen and VMware images, including the Virt-v2v tool. This tool can automatically export the VM image, pull out the disk image, and complete modifications to that image (e.g., move from the VMware vmdk format to a native KVM format, pull out VMware drivers or Xen drivers, insert the KVM drivers, remove VMware tools, and insert RedHat Enterprise Virtualization tools). There are also V2V migration tools available from some of RedHats partners, including Acronis. Answer: RedHat Enterprise Virtualization uses a centralized storage system that can be NFS, Red Hat Storage Server, IBM GPFS, iSCSI, or Fibre Channel storage protocols. And as far as physical storage, any of the storage systems that are supported on RedHat Enterprise Linux are supported by RedHat Enterprise Virtualization. Answer: Visit redhat.com/virtualization. Technical and installation documentation can be found at access.redhat.com/knowledge/docs/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Virtualization.

Question: What are the back-end storage requirements?

Question: Where can I learn more about RedHat?

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FAQ Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization 3

Virtualized DESKTOPS

Question: What desktoprelated features are included in Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization?

Answer: Key features include: Integrated connection broker to connect users to their desktops, whether for new desktops or existing ones Power user portal that provides self-publishing functionality to designated users to create, access, and manage virtual resources (VMs, templates, snapshots, storage, and more) based on configured privileges Support for SmartCard authentication into the Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization user portal, as well as virtual desktop Copy and paste support between guest VMs and the client Support for Windows and Linux virtual desktops from Windows or Linux clients (connect with any combination) SPICE remote-rendering protocol that provides a user experience comparable to a local desktop Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization Manager provides automated policies and features for desktop pooling, templates, thin provisioning, user access, pre-starting VMs, and much more

Question: Can I run desktop operating systems on RedHat Enterprise Virtualization?

Answer: Yes, RedHat Enterprise Virtualization is a complete virtualization management solution for server and desktop virtualization, allowing you to manage both virtual servers and virtual desktops in the same virtualization and management infrastructure. RedHat Enterprise Virtualization provides support for Windows and Linux desktop operating systems as virtual guests and support for desktop management functionality. Answer: SPICE is a high-performing, dynamic, and adaptive remote rendering protocol, able to deliver an end-user experience that is nearly indistinguishable from that of a physical desktop PC. Specifically designed and created for the purpose of remotely accessing virtualized desktops, SPICE is the protocol used to connect a user to a virtualized desktop when using Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization. Answer: The power user portal provides self-publishing capabilities to end users. Administrators can specify users and groups to be granted access privileges to the portal. More precisely, administrators can configure specific usability options over both virtual and physical infrastructure resources to each user or group, based on his/her self-service requirements or needs. Empowering users to create, run, and test environments on their own time, with restricted access to the needed environments, reduces IT and administrator requests. For example, administrators can grant the development team privileges to create new VMs based on the templates they allow them to use. Granular control policies can allow them to create and start new VMs, but they cannot stop VMs. Additionally, users can be restricted with quotas around quantities of resources used (e.g., VMs started, maximum percentage of memory utilized by that user, etc.).

Question: What is the SPICE protocol?

Question: What is the power user portal?

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FAQ Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization 3

FAQ Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization 3

Question: What sets the desktop VDI capabilities apart from competing VDI solutions?

Answer: Cost: Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization is significantly less expensive than VMware View and Citrix XenDesktop. Additionally, Red Hat includes all virtualization components in one simplified offering: Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization. This includes the hypervisor, the management system, the user portal, and technical support. VMware View and Citrix XenDesktop break each of these components out into separate products with separate costs. Heterogenous guests: Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization supports both Windows and Linux desktops as guest VMs. VMware View and Citrix XenDesktop only support Windows. Servers and desktops: Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization includes full functionality for both server and desktop virtualization on the same infrastructure, under one simple subscription, based on a per socket-pair, per year model. This means that a Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization subscription entitles customers to run unlimited quantities of server and/or desktop VMs (Windows and Linux) on their entitled servers. However, VMware View and Citrix XenDesktop restrict you to Windows desktop operating systems and charge their licenses on a per-desktop model. User experience: Unlike competing protocols, the SPICE remote rendering protocol has been designed explicitly for remote virtual desktop usage, and provides an incredible user experience comparable to that of a physical or local PC. Scalability and performance: Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization is built using Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) technology. Based on independent public benchmarks, such as the SPECvirt benchmark, this hypervisor has proven to be an industry-leading platform, beating out the market leaders in both scalability and performance. Ultimately, these attributes result in the highest possible VM density, which translates to fewer server hosts required to maintain an environment and lower infrastructure costs for the customer.

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