Virtualizing Pervasive Database Servers

Orion can be installed in a virtualization environment. This is an excellent choice for many firms. However, careful planning should be done before deploying this scenario. Orion, like most database products, requires proper I/O throughput for acceptable speed. Since any I/O request inside a VM has to pass through a translation layer and then get passed to the physical hardware, it takes longer to perform each operation. This can be compounded by multiple VM’s running on the same host using the same physical drives. The same is true for network transmissions. As the database receives and responds to requests, all network traffic must pass through the hypervisor layer which can increase latency.

Troubleshooting can be much more difficult in a VM environment, as the interplay or problems from one VM to another running on the same physical machine get much more complicated.

Orion is fully supported in a virtual server with respect to functionality. This means that Orion will help you troubleshoot any issues due to crashing or other problems on virtual servers. However, we DO NOT guarantee performance in these environments. We can only guarantee performance using our recommended requirements of a separate, stand-alone server. If you chose to virtualize, please ensure that your hardware resources will meet or exceed the performance as listed in our recommended server requirements. At a minimum, Orion should be configured with its own dedicated NIC card and disk drives, we continue to recommend RAID 10 even in a virtual environment. Many firms continue to prefer Orion is installed in a virtual environment, just make sure you are aware we DO NOT recommend it for the best possible performance.

To learn more about virtualizing database applications, both the pros and cons, please review the attached article