The R640 vSAN Ready Node server includes the iDRAC module that aids customers with hardware-level deployment and overview.
Follow these steps:
When attached, the server reboots, and you have selected the boot process through the Lifecycle Controller.
Adding hosts to vCenter Server
When ESXi is installed and configured on all target hosts, add and configure hosts in vCenter Server.
After you add the hosts to the vCenter Client, enable vSAN while creating a cluster and adding a cluster name. When the vSAN is enabled, your hosts are in maintenance mode.
Figure 10. Configure the cluster
Figure 11. Configure the switch
Figure 12. Configure the switch
Figure 13. Assign a vLAN
Note: The autofill feature is useful to prevent errors and save time.
Figure 14. Configure IPs
Figure 15. Configure IPs using autofill
Figure 16. Claim disks
When the cluster is configured, it is available for deployment of volumes, VMs, and so on. Before creating volumes, we recommended that you create a policy or edit available policies that govern the deployment of volumes.
Figure 17. Select Policies and Profiles
Figure 18. Select VM Storage Policies
Figure 19. Create a VM storage policy
Note: We created a new storage policy for our operating system and backup drives.
Note: We selected Enable rules for “vSAN” storage.
Note: Select the type of rules carefully as they impact performance and space consumed significantly. For more information, see Volume layout.
Figure 20. Manage policy availability
Figure 21. Set advanced policy rules
You can apply the policy for any volumes created on the vSAN datastore.
Create VMs for running SQL Server. For information about how to create and manage VMs, see the VMware documentation.
Note: To simplify deployment of multiple SQL Server VMs, we used the VMware cloning feature. For information about the cloning feature, see Clone an Existing Virtual Machine.
After the VMs are created, install the Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system. For step-by-step instructions and for more information about the installation, see Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 installation tips and tricks.
SQL Server 2019 on Red Hat Enterprise Linux supports the XFS file system, which we used for our deployment. We also used kernel settings for high performance and the specific tuned-adm profile. For information about how to enable these features, see Performance best practices and configuration guidelines for SQL Server on Linux.