VMWare Support

Historian provides support for VMware ESXi server version 5.0 and later. The virtualization capability provided by VMware lets you run multiple virtual machines on a single physical machine, with each virtual machine sharing the resources of that one physical computer. Please be aware that while we have tested VMware ESXi 5.0 and above, issues with the VMware software or the virtualized environment are outside the scope of GE Digital's responsibility. You must use VMWare Compatibility Hardware and Software before installing Historian 7.0 or greater Data Archiver on a Virtual Machine. For the current release, the only supported type of Proficy licensing for use with VMware is keyless (software) licensing.
Note: VMware Player is not supported.
Important: Advanced features of the ESXi server (such as VMotion, High Availability, and Clustering support) have not been tested with Historian.

For information regarding VMware compatibility and its supported software and hardware environments, refer to http://www.vmware.com/resources/guides.html.

VMWare Best Practices and Limitations

Disk Growth
To prevent disk growth during run time, make sure you pre-allocate the hard disk in your VMware image.
Important: If the VMware disk needs to grow at runtime because of IHA growth or creation, the Data Archiver will be slowed. If there is not enough disk space on the host machine to grow the VMware disk, the archiver may lose data.
Suspended Images/Power Metered Images
ESXi servers have power meter functions and options as well as the ability to suspend images to conserve power. We do not recommend or support these functions due to the potential effects on the Guest operating system, specifically in regards to polling I/O and timely updates.
I/O Devices and Connections and VMware
There are a multitude of devices and methods of communications on the market. These devices may be used if you can successfully connect them from the virtual machine through the physical HOST, but we do not support the setup of that connection. Be aware that device drivers used to write to proprietary cards for the ESXi HOSTS as part of virtual device setup can cause issues.
USB Controller Limitations
The USB controller has these limitations when using Historian and VMware:
  • Minimum virtual hardware version 7 is required.
  • Only one USB controller of each type can be added to a virtual machine.
  • The USB arbitrator can monitor a maximum of 15 USB controllers. If your system includes an additional number of controllers and you connect USB devices to these controllers, the devices are not available to be passed through to a virtual machine.
  • You must add a USB controller to a virtual machine before you can add a USB device.
  • You must remove all USB devices from a virtual machine before you can remove the controller
USB Device Limitations
USB devices have these limitations when using Historian and VMware:
  • A virtual machine may have up to 20 USB devices attached to it; however, each unique USB device can only be attached to one virtual machine at a time.
  • Unsupported USB devices may not interact as expected with other ESXi features.
Additional VMware Notes
GE Digital cannot guarantee the performance of the Historian software in a virtualized environment due to the wide range of parameters associated with the hardware, configuration, memory settings, third-party software installations, and the number of virtual machines running; all of which can affect performance. Therefore, GE Digital cannot provide support related to the performance of the Historian software running on a virtual machine if it is determined that the issue is related to the virtual environment. Also, GE Digital does not provide support or troubleshoot a customer's virtual machine infrastructure.

It is the responsibility of you, the customer, to ensure that the performance of the Historian software and any third-party applications (especially those not recommended by GE Digital) are adequate to meet the needs of your run mode environment. GE Digital does not support issues related to functionality that is not available as a result of running in a virtual machine infrastructure. Examples include the functionality of card level drivers such as those for the Genius® family of drivers, the Allen-Bradley® DH/DH+ drivers, the Cyberlogic's MBX® Driver for the SA85 card, as well as functions requiring direct video access. Check with the vendor of your third-party application for support statements regarding that third-party product's ability to run in a virtualized environment.

For more detailed information regarding VMware specifications and requirements, visit the VMware web site: http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/search.php.