Hi all,
Looking for some advice on the best way to handle a fresh install of vCenter Server 5.1 using an off-box MSSQL database. Have done some searches and watched a few of the videos that are out there but haven't quite found what I'm looking for. So, figured I'd post. Be gentle - I'm kinda new to the vMware environment. 
Here's my scenario. And if there's a link/doc/post/video that covers what I'm after - great. Just looking for a little help on finding it. If not, direct answers will be fantastic too.
- Need to build a vCenter 5.1 server and use an MSSQL off box database. Out of the gate I'm starting with 6 hosts and 24 guests, which, if I understand things correctly, is just a little bit bigger than SQL Express can handle. And the host/guest footprint will probably grow over time.
- Have an MSSQL 2008 R2 cluster available to build DB's on.
- My company has existing vMWare/vCenter deployments, but my particular scenario is going to be a one-off, independent setup.
- ESXi hosts will be 5.0 update 1 (to stay within our internal best practices framework.)
- vCenter can be 5.1 for management purposes though.
- Also need to run Update Manager, which if I understand right, kind of excludes the "appliance" version of vCenter, or at the very least, complicates things a bit.
- Leaning towards the Simple Install of vCenter 5.1. Know this is going to kick off the Single Sign On Server, Inventory Service and vCenter Server installs. And that the install of the Update Manager will be a 4th (and hopefully final) install.
Where I'm a little confused:
- How many discrete databases do I actually need? One school of thought (and practiced in our "other" vMWare environment) is 1 DB for each app called out above. That seems a little complicated, but if that's the way it has to be, so be it.
- I'd think I can run just one database and each of the 4 required apps would build/use the required table spaces that they need. Is that accurate or am I way off base?
- If 1 single database is doable, can I use one master AD flavored service account for everything, or should I look at AD different service accounts for different functions.
Not entirely sure I"m being completely clear on what I'm after, so fire away with follow on questions if needed.