Specifications

Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2 Reviewer’s Guide 87
Intelligent Placement
System Center VMM uses a smart, holistic approach to placement called Intelligent Placement, which
differentiates the solution from alternative products. Intelligent Placement works with both Microsoft and
VMware virtualization platforms. When choosing physical hosts for virtual machines, IT administrators
need to pay special attention to small details, such as the processor and memory specifications of host
servers. Additionally, the performance of servers is constantly fluctuating based on usage trends, so IT
administrators need some way of tracking ongoing requirements and historical performance data.
Consequently, placement is one of the most complicated aspects of virtualization. VMM provides
administrators with a toolset to handle this task.
The Intelligent Placement tool in VMM uses data from the Windows Server System to help
administrators achieve specific goals. VMM selects appropriate hosts based on these four factors:
 The workload’s resource consumption characteristics
 Minimum CPU, disk, RAM, and network capacity requirements
 Performance data from virtual machine hosts
An Intelligent Placement report is shown below in Figure 67.
VMM incorporates these considerations into algorithms that IT administrators can fine tune to maximize
resource utilization or balance workloads among hosts. Also, after a virtual machine is deployed, VMM
continues to analyze performance data and resource requirements for both the workload and the host
so that administrators can have an opportunity to further optimize their resources. IT administrators can
add more virtual machines by repeating the same process.