| General Questions |
| Q1. |
Which features are enabled by Virtual Machine Management Pack in HP Systems Insight Manager? |
| A1. |
The Virtual Machine Management Pack enables the association between the virtual machine and the physical host, all of the control functions for the VM (stop, start, pause, reset, copy, move, backup, create template, restore etc), displays the performance information on the VMs and the VM Hosts, enables automated actions on VM hosts, Failed Host Recovery situations, integration with other VM management consoles etc. |
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| Q2. |
What functionality is available for VM management in HP Systems Insight Manager without using Virtual Machine Management Pack? |
| A2. |
Without Virtual Machine Management Pack, HP Systems Insight Manager provides the capability to discover and display a virtual machine in the systems list. Upon installing Virtual Machine Management Pack, HP Systems Insight Manager will provide associations between the host server and the VMs and the other control functions like move, Fast Move, copy, create template, back up etc. for the VM itself. |
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| Q3. |
I use VMware VirtualCenter to manage my VMs. Why do I need VMM and HP SIM as well? |
| A3. |
VMM can also manage virtual servers from Microsoft and Citrix.
- HP SIM and VMM will monitor your VM host hardware and show all the associations between hosts and guests.
- VMM can initiate actions in VirtualCenter based on predictive hardware failure alerts.
- VMM allows many common virtualization tasks to be done from the same interface as your physical management to avoid constant switching between consoles.
- VMM can also manage Microsoft Virtual Servers
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| Q4. |
What happened to Server Migration Pack and Virtualization Management Software? |
| A4. |
Server Migration Pack, which used to be installed with VMM as part of HP Virtualization Management Software, has been separated from VMM and combined with Server Migration Pack – Physical to ProLiant Edition to form HP Server Migration Pack – Universal Edition. For more on SMP Universal, visit www.hp.com/go/migrate. |
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| Getting Started |
| Q1. |
How can I get a copy of the Virtual Machine Management Pack? |
| A1. |
The Virtual Machine Management Pack can be acquired through one of the following:
- Download from the Insight Control and ProLiant Essentials evaluation download center
- Download from the HP Software Depot home
- Order an Insight Control Management Software Media Kit
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| Q2. |
Can I get an evaluation license for the Virtual Machine Management Pack? |
| A2. |
60 day trial licenses for Virtual Machine Management Pack licenses to evaluate the product can be obtained from www.hp.com/go/tryinsightcontrol. |
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| Q3. |
How do I determine the number of Virtual Machine Management licenses I need to buy? |
| A3. |
HP Systems Insight Manager will easily identify the number of VM host servers in your environment. Virtual Machine Management Pack is licensed on a per VM-Host basis, therefore the number of licenses you will need for Virtual Machine Management Pack will be equal to the number for VM Hosts that you will have. |
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| Q4. |
What licensing options are available for Virtual Machine Management Pack? |
| A4. |
Several types of licenses are available: single license, Flexible Quantity License, Activation Key Agreements, and Electronic Licenses (Americas only). You can learn more by visiting Licensing Options page.
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| Q5. |
What are the pre-requisites for using Virtual Machine Management Pack 3.5? |
| A5. |
HP Systems Insight Manager 5.2 or greater is a pre-requisite for Virtual Machine Management Pack. HP SIM 5.2.1 is required for support of integrated hypervisors from HP. |
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| Functionality |
| Q1. |
What are the key features of the Virtual Machine Management Pack? |
| A1. |
- Unified physical and virtual server management - Provides associations between virtual machines and physical host and integration into HP Systems Insight Manager enables all tasks to be run from the Systems Insight Manager console, leveraging existing discovery, identification and notification processes already available in SIM.
- Remote control of virtual machines - Provides start, stop, pause, reset, move, copy, backup, create template and restore functions for VMs remotely from Systems Insight Manager.
- Performance monitoring - Make informed decisions on workload optimization with at a glance single view of virtual machine and associated host server performance. Set CPU usage threshold and proactively receive alert in SIM when threshold is exceeded and take corrective action.
- Automated actions – VMM can initiate relocation of VMs based on predictive failure alerts through HP SIM.
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| Q2. |
How is Failed Host Recovery enabled in Virtual Machine Management Pack? |
| A2. |
The user designates an alternate host for the VMs using the "Set Alternate Host" menu item. If the host server fails, the VMs can be quickly restarted on the alternate host using the 'Failed Host Recovery' menu item. When the original host is brought back on-line, it is ensured that the original VMs are unregistered so that there are no conflicts between the two VMs. |
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| Q3. |
Does use of Virtual Machine Management Pack require purchase VMware's VirtualCenter product or Microsoft's Virtual Server management product? |
| A3. |
No, there is no need to purchase either VMware's or Microsoft's management tools to manage virtual machines from VMware or Microsoft. However in the case of VMware, customers will need to have Virtual Center/VMotion technology if they want to enable certain features, such as move 'live' VMs, automatic relocation of VMs based on HP SIM alerts, etc. |
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| Q4. |
What are the new features of the Virtual Machine Management Pack 3.5? |
| A4. |
VMM 3.5 provides support for the new integrated hypervisors from HP, including VMware ESX 3i and Citrix XenServer.
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| Complimentary Products |
| Q1. |
How closely are HP and VMware partnered in the virtualization market? |
| A1. |
VMware is the market leader in the X86 virtualization-layer-provider market and a key partner for HP to drive ProLiant server, StorageWorks and Services sales. HP leads the industry standard server market with its ProLiant brand of servers and is a key partner for VMware to drive VMware software sales. VMware and HP have been working closely on many fronts to establish considerable value for customers in their deployment of VMware software on HP ProLiant servers. |
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| Q2. |
How does VMotion technology from VMware and SAN-based fast moves from HP VMM complement each other? |
| A2. |
Different move scenarios are enabled by these 2 features. For customers that require the ability to move virtual machines without any service interruption, VMotion technology provides a really good solution. Use of VMotion technology however does require a high degree of processor and memory consistency between source and target systems. For customers who require the flexibility to execute fast moves between dissimilar hosts, the SAN-based fast moves in Virtual Machine Management Pack provides a really good solution. Use of VMM's SAN-based fast moves however does require that the virtual machine be stopped prior to initiating the move. |
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| Q3. |
What other management products should I consider when using Virtual Machines? |
| A3. |
Consider these options for a complete management solution:
- Server Migration Pack – Universal Edition – Migrates Physical to Virtual (P2V), Virtual to Virtual (V2V), Virtual to ProLiant (V2ProLiant) as well as Physical to ProLiant (P2ProLiant) from one interface. Runs standalone or integrates with HP SIM.
- Rapid Deployment Pack - Deploy OS and application images into virtual machines as well as physical servers
- Performance Management Pack - Identify physical servers that can be virtualized and provides historical trending for virtual machine hosts and guests (now available only as part of HP Insight Control. Requires VMM for data collection on virtual hosts and guests.)
- Vulnerability and Patch Management Pack - Identify and remediate operating system and application security vulnerabilities irrespective of whether the OS resides on the physical server or in a virtual machine (now available only as part of HP Insight Control.)
- Management solutions from HP Software, including Operations Center and Change and Configuration Center solutions available at www.hp.com/go/software.
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| Service & Support |
| Q1. |
How do I get support for the HP Virtual Machine Management Pack? |
| A1. |
Starting in July of 2007, Virtual Machine Management Pack will include one year of 24 x 7 HP Software Technical Support and Update Service. This service provides access to HP technical resources for assistance in resolving software implementation or operations problems. The service also provides access to software updates and reference manuals either in electronic form or on physical media as they are made available from HP. With this service, customers will benefit from expedited problem resolution as well as proactive management and delivery of VMM updates.
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| Q2. |
What is HP Software Technical Support and Update Service? |
| A2. |
Starting in July of 2007, HP Insight Control Environment suites and ProLiant Essentials will include one year of 24 x 7 HP Software Technical Support and Update Service. This service provides access to HP technical resources for assistance in resolving software implementation or operations problems. The service also provides access to software updates and reference manuals either in electronic form or on physical media as they are made available from HP. With this service, customers will benefit from expedited problem resolution as well as proactive management and delivery of product updates.
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| Q3. |
How do I extend my support contract following the first year of 24 x 7 Software Technical Support and Update Service? |
| A3. |
Customers that register their Software Technical Support and Update Service with HP will be contacted prior to service contract expiration with a reminder to extend their service contract. While customers are not required to extend their contract, continued access to software updates will not be possible once the first year of support and update service expires.
Note: customers that purchase Insight Control software directly from HP will automatically be registered for the Software Technical Support and Update Service. Customers that purchase software through an HP partner can
register online. |
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