VMWare VCPu Configuration

[Dantech_IT]

Hi Guys

We are installing a HP DL380 with an 8 core Xeon CPU. We plan to install VMware and run two VM’s both running Windows server 2012R2 with one acting as the DC/File/Print sever and the other as a dedicated application server.

When creating the VM's I'm not certain on how many VCPU's we should be looking to allocate each VM, I have read lots of articles online mentioning that you should not over provision the server as it can have a negative effect or performance.

This is the first server we are deploying using VMware so want to ensure we get it right.

[rcporto]

Try start using the minimum possible and monitor the vCPU utilization inside VM guest and if need you can add more vCPU later.

[IIIusion]

This is really depends on the size of your infrastructure (how busy is your file server and AD). However I would start with at least 2 vCPUs (Usual config: 2 vSockets x 1 vCore = 2 vCPU ) for the AD/File share server. For the application server I would start with 1 vCPU and enable hot plug feature in the settings of the VM. This will allow you to add more vCPU on the fly. 

[Dantech_IT]

Thanks for the tips guys, the application server will be dedicated for running SQL with an application dedicated for running reporting.

[IIIusion]

Then assign at least 4 cores and good chunk of memory - SQL is very resource greedy. Please mark the correct answer to give the points. Thanks.

[Dantech_IT]

Thanks Ray,

So would you suggest 2 vSockets x 4 vCore ?

[IIIusion]

No - please usually consider to use as much sockets as possible: 4 vSockets x 1 vCore for the further flexibility.