New cluster or new resource pool for Tier 1 apps?

[moogeboo]

Hi,

I have an existing 5 node Esxi HP blade cluster that I have established for resource pools that contain production and pre-production workloads.  Now, we want to accommodate Tier 1 apps (Oracle DBs, Weblogic servers and middleware VMs).  Is there a best practice in establishing Tier 1 workloads?  Should I just add more nodes to the cluster (until it reaches 8) and create a separate resource pool for Tier 1 apps, or should I establish a separate 3 node cluster (and build from that) totally dedicated to only Tier 1 workloads?  What are the pros/cons of each method?

Thanks for your feedback.

M

[logiboy123]

It depends.

1) Are you going to expand this cluster even more in the future, or after adding the hosts that you have in mind will that be the end of the work?

2) How risk adverse is your boss/client?

3) Do you run your environment oversubscribed?

4) Do you understand the fundamentals of Resource Pools?

Since I'm quite risk adverse I would be tempted to create a new cluster with 4 nodes, where each node is spread across at least 2 or 4 chassis. Resource Pools can address the problem of resource contention, but they add extra layer of complexity to an environment that is not always welcome and can make performance troubleshooting difficult.

Since you mention that you are running ESXi on blades please review the following article. I found it extremely informative in regards to N+1 redundancy issues with blade setups;

http://longwhiteclouds.com/2012/05/13/when-should-n1-not-equal-1-host-with-vmware-ha/

Regards,

Paul