6.7 How are Server Pools Created?

A server pool consists of at least one, but usually multiple Oracle VM Servers. All Oracle VM Servers in a server pool should have CPUs in the same CPU family and of the same type. If they are not in the same CPU family and type, some operations such as live migration may fail. Though the CPUs should be in the same CPU family, they may have differing configurations, such as different number of cores. Other hardware components on the host computer may also differ, such as the amount of RAM, the number and size of disk drives, and so on.

Although the host computers may have differing configurations, Oracle recommends that all Oracle VM Servers in a server pool are identical. Oracle VM Manager contains rules for processor compatibility groups. If live migration is attempted between incompatible processors, an error message is displayed.

Before creating a server pool, you must have:

IP addresses or hostnames for the Oracle VM Servers.
IP address to use as the virtual IP address that is used to facilitate communication between Oracle VM Manager and the server pool via the designated Master server.
Password to access the Oracle VM Agent installed on the Oracle VM Server(s).
Note
The Oracle VM Agent password should be the same on each Oracle VM Server in a server pool. Once an Oracle VM Server is under the ownership of an Oracle VM Manager instance, password authentication is replaced with certificate-based authentication to improve the security of the Oracle VM Agent.

A clustered server pool must have a dedicated file system (either a NAS export, or a LUN) to use as the server pool's file system. Oracle recommends that you create this storage with a size of at least 10 GB. If you are creating a SPARC-based server pool, only an NFS file system is supported for the server pool file system.

The Create Server Pool Create Server Pool icon icon is available on the Servers and VMs tab within the Oracle VM Manager Web Interface and is used to open the Create Server Pool wizard that guides you through the server pool creation process.

For information on creating a server pool, see Create Server Pool in the Oracle VM Manager User's Guide.