Planning the Installation

Standard System Requirements

This section outlines the minimum requirements for a standard VDI 3 configuration. We recommend that you read the following pages for more information about supported software and VDI deployment options:

  • Release Notes
  • Supported Configurations
  • Deployment Guide



    Sun VirtualBox Virtualization Platform

    A standard (minimum) VDI/VirtualBox setup for a production environment requires three VDI hosts, one VirtualBox host, and one storage host. The Sun VDI 3.0 Software is installed on the VDI hosts, and Sun VirtualBox for VDI is installed on the VirtualBox host. The storage host is used to store the virtual disks of the desktops which run on the VDI host.
    You can use any x86 host (even your laptop) to create a VirtualBox virtual machine which will be used by Sun VDI as a template for the desktops. Templates must be created in VirtualBox for VDI, which is available on the VDI download page.

    Requirements for two desktops with 512 MB memory and a 10 GB disk each:

    Host CPU Memory Disk space
    Three VDI hosts all x86 or all SPARC CPU 2 GB 1 GB
    VirtualBox host x86 CPU 2 GB 1 GB
    Storage host x86 CPU 1 GB 32 GB

    Review the Supported Software below!



VMware Infrastructure Virtualization Platform

A standard (minimum) VDI/vCenter setup for a production environment requires at least three VDI hosts, one VMware vCenter host, and one VMware ESX host. Most VDI deployments will probably require and additional storage host. All required VDI components (VDI Core) are installed on the VDI hosts. The VMware vCenter host and the VMware ESX host are used to maintain the virtual machines.

Requirements for 2 desktops with 512 MB memory and a 10 GB disk each:

Host CPU Memory Disk space
Three VDI hosts all x86 or all SPARC CPU 2 GB 1 GB
VMware vCenter host x86 CPU 2 GB 1 GB
VMware ESX host x86 CPU 2 GB 32 GB

Review the Supported Software below!

Supported Software

This section includes support tables for VDI Core host operating systems, virtualization platforms, storage servers, desktop guest systems. For more about VDI Support, see Supported Configurations.

VDI Core Host Operating Systems

Software VDI 3
Solaris 10 Update 6 SPARC and x86 (64-bit) X
Solaris 10 Update 7 SPARC and x86 (64-bit) X

Virtualization Platforms

Software VirtualBox Virtualization Platform VMware Infrastructure Virtualization Platform Not Supported
Sun VirtualBox for VDI (VirtualBox 2.0.10) X    
Sun VirtualBox for VDI (VirtualBox 2.0.8) X    
All other VirtualBox Versions     X
VMware VirtualCenter 2.5 (Update 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)   X  
VMware ESX server 3.5 (Update 1, 2, 3, 4)   X  
VMware vSphere (ESX server 4.0)   X  

Storage Servers

Software VirtualBox Virtualization Platform VMware Infrastructure Virtualization Platform Not Supported
Solaris 10 Update 7 X    
OpenSolaris 2008.11 X    
OpenSolaris 2009.06 X    
Sun Unified Storage 7000 Series 2009.Q3.2.0     X*
Sun Unified Storage 7000 Series 2009.Q3.1.0     X*
Sun Unified Storage 7000 Series 2009.Q3.0.0     X*
Sun Unified Storage 7000 Series 2009.Q2.5.1 X    
Sun Unified Storage 7000 Series 2009.Q2.5.0 X    
Sun Unified Storage 7000 Series 2009.Q2.4.0 X    
Sun Unified Storage 7000 Series 2009.Q2.3.1 X    
Sun Unified Storage 7000 Series 2009.Q2.3.0     X
Sun Unified Storage 7000 Series 2009.Q2.2.1     X
Sun Unified Storage 7000 Series 2009.Q2.2.0     X
Sun Unified Storage 7000 Series 2009.Q2.1.1 X    
Sun Unified Storage 7000 Series 2009.Q2.1.0 X    
Sun Unified Storage 7000 Series 2009.Q2.0.0 X    
Sun Unified Storage 7000 Series 2008.Q4.2.3     X
Sun Unified Storage 7000 Series 2008.Q4.2.2     X
Sun Unified Storage 7000 Series 2008.Q4.2.1 X    
Sun Unified Storage 7000 Series 2008.Q4.2.0 X    
Sun Unified Storage 7000 Series 2008.Q4.1.1 X    
Sun Unified Storage 7000 Series 2008.Q4.1.0 X    
Sun Unified Storage 7000 Series 2008.Q4.0.1     X
Sun Unified Storage 7000 Series 2008.Q4.0.0     X
Qualified by VMware   X  

* With the 2009.Q3.0.0 release a new iSCSI stack (COMSTAR) has been introduced to the Unified Storage 7000 Series which is incompatible with VDI 3.0 and the upcoming VDI 3.1 releases. COMSTAR will be supported by VDI 3.1.1 which will be released ASAP after the 3.1 release.

Tip
For more information about the Sun Unified Storage 7000 Series, see the Fishworks Documentation.

Desktop Guest Systems

Software VirtualBox Virtualization Platform VMware Infrastructure Virtualization Platform Not Supported
Windows XP SP2 and higher X X  
Windows Vista Enterprise X X  
Windows 2000 X    
Ubuntu 8.10 X    
OpenSolaris 2008.11 X    
SLED 11 X    

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