Virtualise Exchange on an Apple xserver?

Agent0range · 25 Jul 2009 at 10:15

Hi guys,

We've got an xserver at work in our server room. This server is easily the most powerful bit of kit in the rack, and at the moment it is running our print server on Windows Server 2003 through parallels. Clearly this isn't taking up anywhere near as much load as it can potentially handle.

I work in a school in Birmingham, and our email is handled centrally through the Local Authority. To be perfectly honest, the interface they use is rubbish and there are constant calls for being able to share calendars etc so Exchange is the only true option.

I'd be keen to install a new virtual machine running Server 2003 and Exchange in Parallels on the xserver but was a bit concerned about performance and how a virtual machine would run an email server. We would probably be hosting around 200 inboxes, it is not a service we will be extending to pupils. All staff and Governors will be offered Exchange.

Has anyone had any experience running Exchange virtually before? In my mind, it seems like a perfect option as our other servers are dedicated on other mission critical tasks.

Any advice would be appreciated.

SMN · 25 Jul 2009 at 11:45

I'd be hesitant when virtualising Exchange as it is very memory hungry, how much RAM does the xserver have?

the_jetsetwilly · 25 Jul 2009 at 12:06

Have you got exchange skills in house to look after your exchange system?

ethos · 25 Jul 2009 at 12:33

How much ram and what sort of disk setup?

iaind · 25 Jul 2009 at 20:29

Theres nothing inherently wrong with virtualising exchange, i've done it several times (including in schools with 400+ mailboxes)

Really depends on the spec of the server.

Unfortunately there's no support for ESX or ESXi so you're stuck with a fisher price virtualisation platform, but it should still be doable if the spec is up to it.

Why on earth would anyone buy one of these things? They're so damn expensive and if its just running a windows print server, what's the point? If they wanted a shiny silver server they should have bought a Sun Fire box

Agent0range · 27 Jul 2009 at 09:49

iaind said:
Why on earth would anyone buy one of these things? They're so damn expensive and if its just running a windows print server, what's the point? If they wanted a shiny silver server they should have bought a Sun Fire box

Lord only knows, its hardly performing any function and cost them a lot when it was first purchased. That's why I was thinking about putting it to more use and making it earn its bread.

Don't get me started on shiny expensive equipment that's hosting nothing. They had two Mac Pro's (Quad cores with 4Gb RAM) running Server 2003 and hosting our Management Information System and its web interface. Such a gargantuan waste of resources and equipment.

In terms of the spec on the X Server, I've just had a quick look on it at its got a 2 x 2.8GHz Quad Core Xeon, 4Gb RAM and a 67Gb HDD. Being unfamiliar with the Apple UI, as far as I can tell its just a single Hard Drive in there.

iaind · 27 Jul 2009 at 11:36

Chuck another 4gb RAM in there and you should be ok, might want to look at the disk config though in terms of capacity and redundancy.

A server with one disk? lol...