Document summary

This document provides guidelines for deploying AVEVA System Platform in virtualized environments using VMware vSphere and Microsoft Hyper-V, as well as for using Amazon Web Services (AWS) as the framework for a virtualized System Platform environment.

Adequate planning, including resource allocation and implementing redundancy, are needed to ensure optimal performance, scalability, and reliability in virtualized environments for AVEVA System Platform.

Purpose of Virtualization

Virtualization abstracts hardware resources, enabling scalability, resource optimization, redundancy, and disaster recovery. ​

Top Considerations

• Allocate dedicated resources (CPU, RAM, storage) for critical nodes. ​

• Avoid over-committing resources and ensure failover scenarios are accounted for. ​

• Implement robust security and backup policies, and disaster recovery plans. ​

Virtualization Architectures

• Single Host Configuration: Suitable for development/test systems but not recommended for production due to lack of hardware redundancy. ​

• Distributed Hosts: Ideal for large-scale or high-availability deployments, offering hardware redundancy and scalability. ​

• Cluster Configuration: Enhances high availability, load balancing, and resource sharing using tools like VMware vSphere HA and Microsoft Failover Clustering. ​

Resource Allocation

Guidelines for processor, memory, and storage allocation for Hyper-V and vSphere:​

• Hyper-V uses percentage-based processor reservation, while vSphere uses frequency-based reservation.

• Memory should be dedicated and not shared (Dynamic Memory disabled in Hyper-V; "Reserve all guest memory" enabled in vSphere). ​

Network Architecture:

• Separate NICs for IT (information technology) traffic and OT (operations technology) traffic. ​

• Use VLANs for network segmentation and static IP addresses for all nodes. ​

• Configure NIC binding order to ensure proper network prioritization. ​

Backup and Disaster Recovery (DR):

• Use VM-level backup solutions for long-term archival, not snapshots. ​

• Schedule regular backups and store them off-host or off-site. ​

• Define RTO (Recovery Time Objective) and RPO (Recovery Point Objective) based on acceptable downtime and data loss. ​

Security Considerations:

• Implement firewalls, antivirus software, and secure links for data sharing. ​

• Regularly update systems and monitor for vulnerabilities. ​

Hardware Compatibility:

• Use Generation 2 VMs in Hyper-V for better performance and security. ​

• Select the highest compatible VM hardware version in vSphere and validate against the AVEVA Technology Matrix. ​

Amazon Web Services:

This guide covers required steps in the initial setup, such as creating VPCs, subnets, and EC2 instances, to advanced topics like security hardening, backup strategies, and system monitoring.

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