Examen : Virtualization

Semestre : 1 2

Session : Principale Rattrapage

Module : Virtualization
Enseignant(s) : Faouzi Kamoun & Ikram Dissem
Classe: 4NIDS
Documents autorisés : OUI NON Nombre de pages : 3
Date : 3/1/2017 Heure : 9:00 Durée : 1:30

ETUDIANT(e)
N° Carte : …………………………………………………………... Classe : ……………
Nom et Prénom : …………………………………………………. Salle : ………………

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This final exam is based on a case-study. Answer all questions and be brief
and to the point. Please properly label all your answers with the
corresponding question number.
You have been hired as a virtualization expert to help MHB, a major industry player in the
food industry, in migrating from a classical (legacy) data center (CDC) to a virtualized data
center (VDC).

1. Phase 1: The New Server (Hardware) Infrastructure (3 points)

The current classical data center consists of hardware (servers, storage, networks, power
supplies, et..) and applications software including SAP/ERP and database management
systems.

The servers consist of a group of old tower compute systems with significant floor space that
require complex cabling, and generate noise from cooling units.

Q1.1. What types of servers would you recommend for consolidating network equipment,
simplify network cabling, and reduce floor space use? Cost factors are not an issue at this
stage.

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Q1.2. MHB management would like you to explain in few sentences the Total Cost of
Ownership (TCO) of a data center, while paying special attention to potential “hidden” cost.
Make sure to include detailed examples of the TCO cost components.

Q1.3. MHB management seems confused about the difference between virtualization and
cloud computing. Your role is to clarify this point to them in ONE sentence.

2. Phase 2: Server Virtualization (3 points)

As a first step towards a virtualized data center, MHB decided to run its business applications
as virtual machines. Your role is to guide them towards migrating from a physical server
environment to a virtual one. To do so, you must accomplish the following tasks:

Q2.1. Highlight to MHB management three key advantages of server virtualization.

Q2.2. What type of hypervisor would you recommend for best performance and security?
Justify your answer. Assuming that MHB will go for a commercial hypervisor solution,
suggest a particular solution.

Q2.3. For the chosen hypervisor in Q2.2 above, suggest a corresponding Virtual
Infrastructure Manager (VIM) and highlight three of its main functionalities.

3. Phase 3: Storage Virtualization (3 points)

As a first step, for the storage systems, you have decided to adopt RAID storage technology
in which data is written in blocks across multiple disk drives.

Q3.1. List the three RAID techniques and the key advantage of each one.

Next, you decided to implement a Fibre Channel (FC) Storage Area Network (SAN) to connect
your RAID storage system with the servers, enabling these servers to access and share the
storage system.

Q3.2. Assuming two physical servers and one RAID storage system, sketch and label the
architecture of the SAN, ensuring redundancy (e.g. at the server, storage and networking (FC
switch levels).

For disaster recovery, you decided to replicate the VDC data to another storage system that
is located at a remote site and which also employs FC SAN. However, the two sites are
connected via an IP-based WAN that is provided by the local server provider.

Q3.3. What technology would you recommend to connect the two FC SANs over the IP-
based network? Draw a network diagram to illustrate your solution.

4. Phase 4: Desktop Virtualization (3 points)

You would like to convince MHB management to host and centrally manage the desktops of
all its employees. To do so, you must accomplish the following tasks:

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Q4.1. Articulate to MHB management four key advantages of desktop virtualization and two
limitations.

Q4.2. MHB management seems to have difficulties in differentiating between VDI and DaaS.
Your role is to clarify the difference in ONE sentence.

5. Phase 5. Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery (2 points)

MHB management is fully aware that VM replication is a critical requirement for successful
Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery in the future VDC. At the server level, they
mentioned the role of VM cloning, snapshots and templates, but they seemed confused
about their meanings and differences.

Q5.1. Explain briefly the key difference between a VM snapshot and a VM template and
their applications.

6. Phase 6: Network Virtualization (2 points)

While discussing the requirements for virtualization at the network level, the concept of
Software Defined Networking (SDN) came up front.

Q6.1. Using simple terms, explain to MHB management the concept of SDN. Illustrate your
description with a diagram, and highlight 2 advantages of SDN.

7. Phase 7: Security (4 points)

The CIO of MHB is concerned about attacks that may compromise the security of the
virtualized servers.

Q7.1. You have been asked to explain to the CIO what they can do to secure their virtualized
servers against common attacks and vulnerabilities. Your explanation should be brief and
concise.