Considerations for developing for a VM deployment

Question

I'm setting up a system that uses SQL Server 2005, several custom Windows Services, Web Services and a few IIS .NET applications. Getting the whole system setup is a somewhat tedious process.

I wondered whether it would be a good idea to settup the whole system in a VM. Could I then just drop the VM onto a new server and get a huge headstart on configuration?

What things should I be aware of if I pursue this approach? Is it a viable option? Is a VM a decent unit of deployment?

If the concept is feasible, I'd certainly appreciate specific suggestions about the VM setup.

Answer 1

I frequently use this approach. I'll set up a VM in VMware Workstation, configure it to my liking, and then use VMware Importer to import my virtual machine into an ESX environment. From there, I can turn the virtual machine into a template that I can use over and over again for deploying clones of my server or just as a starting point when creating new servers.

Answer 2

· Large quantity of virtual machines (one for each customer) · Less quantity of physical machines · VM's we are working on has to be up while the others can be down · Easy backups so, in case of issues we can start working on the same moment we shut down the vm, etc... · Physical machines has to configured with the last hardware or almost. · Depending on your develops, a physical machine can keep between 4 and 8 VM.