Managing SQL Server on VMware

If you’re frustrated with performance or manageability of SQL Server on VMware, you’re not alone.  Here’s what you need to know to get started, and I recommend reading ‘em in this order:

Why Your Sysadmin Wants to Virtualize Your SQL Servers – explains the advantages they get with virtual boxes.

Why You Should Virtualize SQL Server – the pros of virtualization, followed by Why You Shouldn’t Virtualize SQL Server.

Top 10 Keys to Deploying SQL Server on VMware – you can get away with not doing all of these, but…

How to Set SQL Server Max Memory for VMware – do you need to get a reservation? Find out here.

VMware HA Is Not Database High Availability – we love VMware HA, but it’s missing a few key features that some (but not all) database servers require.

Getting Read-Only Permissions to VMware – your virtualization project will be much more successful if everybody’s on the same page.  Hand this article to your VMware sysadmins so they understand how to get you the read-only access you need.

SQL P2V: What Really Killed the Dinosaurs – I’m a big fan of virtualization, and it’s a great tool for database administrators when they need to make an archaic server disappear as fast as possible.

Big Changes for Big SQL VMs in vSphere 5 – SQL Server is one of the few NUMA-aware applications that get hurt when running under virtualization, but there’s great news in vSphere 5.