SQL Server 2005 Virtualization in the Dell Scalable Enterprise
The Dell Scalable Enterprise vision involves industry-standard components to help simplify operations, improve resource utilization and scale cost-effectively. Virtualization technology is advancing IT infrastructure standards by abstracting software from hardware, which can facilitate deployment and management of software in the Scalable Enterprise. To demonstrate this, the Dell Scalable Enterprise Technology Center deployed Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2005 software in a virtualized environment. This paper provides an introduction to current virtualization products and SQL Server 2005 and examines techniques for managing SQL Server 2005 in a virtualized environment. It also includes best practices for managing a virtualized server farm, example usage scenarios for virtualization and SQL Server 2005, and basic performance results from testing SQL Server 2005 in a virtualized environment.