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Questions about the pros and cons of server virtualization, or about moving a physical server to a virtual server, or about virtual servers (VM) in general? Want to know how to lease a Red Hat Enterprise Linux VM, or want to have OIT handle the system administration of your new or existing department virtual servers? Call OIT
Benefits of Server Virtualization
- Administrative access to the virtual server
- Increased reliability
- High availability options
- Flexibility to grow resources – memory, disk space or CPUs – often on-the-fly without any downtime
- Snapshots
Benefits of Moving a Physical Server to a VM
- Provides the benefits of virtualization as mentioned above, without the overhead of maintaining a physical server or a datacenter – including conditioned power, air, etc. – to store the server
- High availability options without purchasing additional servers
To speak with someone about options for moving a physical server to a VM, submit a virtual server request online or by phone at 865-974-9900, and ask for a VMware administrator.
Benefits of Leasing a VM
- Provides all the advantages listed above for Server Virtualization
- Very flexible web-based configuration of your server specifications
- Pay only for what you want – add more anytime
- Operating systems pre-installed (optional)
- No long-term contract required
- Can be paired with an SLA (Service Level Agreement)
To request a virtual server (VM) for your department, use the VM Request Form. The website provides a built-in calculator so you can compare the costs for various configurations prior to submitting the request.
Service Level Agreement
- OIT provides the system administration of your department virtual server(s)
- No need for your department to maintain in-house IT system administration and datacenter support staff
- Multiple tiers of service from which to choose
- Server monitoring
- Off-hours and emergency administration support (optional)
- Backup and recovery support (optional)
- Database support (optional)
- 30-day contract termination
- Additional services may also be requested
If you are interested in establishing an agreement with OIT to manage your servers, contact the OIT HelpDesk online or by phone at 865-974-9900 and ask to speak with a Service Level Manager about establishing a server support agreement.
Knoxville Area, including UT Knoxville, UT System, Institute of Public Service, and Institute of Agriculture
Faculty, Staff, Students, Departments, and official campus organizations
This service is available 24/7, except during scheduled and emergency maintenance. All efforts are made to perform maintenance on Wednesday night from 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM, and on Sunday from 12:00 AM to 12:00 PM.
DNS Entries
DNS entries are free; however, requests for non-utk.edu and non-tennessee.edu domain names are subject to the cost of the DNS name registrar (GoDaddy, Network Solutions, for instance). OIT does not charge any additional fees for obtaining other domain names. The requester is responsible for providing a charge account.
SSL Certificates
SSL Certificates from our InCommon Certificate Authority are provided at no additional cost to the department.
Server Administration Contracts
Server administration contracts are billed at a rate of $1000 per year per server. The annual charge is billed at the beginning of each fiscal year and is prorated if acquired during the fiscal year.
Level 1
The server, rack of servers, or VM is housed in a secured OIT facility which is environmentally controlled with appropriate cabling for network and storage access, and conditioned power. Escorted access is provided for access to physical servers, as is remote KVM access. System monitoring, database administration, and data backup are NOT provided. Level 1 hosting is managed entirely by the customer and as such, may include any software that the customer can support. Users experiencing problems can contact the Help Desk for service and the ticket will be routed to the appropriate customer contact.
Level 2*
Includes all Level 1 hosting services, plus system administration of supported operating systems, including operating system upgrades, operating system patches, and Microsoft Defender Endpoint, as well as backup and recovery services. Such systems are typically made available for use 24×7. The customer is responsible for verifying that backups are complete and acceptable. System Administration Services are available during normal university business hours (8:00 AM – 5:00 PM) with scheduled periodic maintenance. Database provisioning and application administration are NOT included in Level 2 hosting.
Level 3*
Includes all of Level 2 hosting services, plus database and a pre-defined level of application administration.
Level 4*
Includes all Level 3 hosting services, plus off-hour emergency support. Hosted services in Level 4 are typically hosted on the OIT Flexpod hardware providing 24×7 datacenter redundancy and full system failover.
*Service levels beyond Level 1 must be negotiated with the OIT Associate CIO for Service Level Management.
Virtual Server Hosting Options
Virtual server hosting is available on either a “Tier I cluster” or a “Tier II cluster” with the following charges:
Tier 1 Monthly Costs**
- Storage @ $0.08/GB
- Memory @ $0.98/GB
- CPU @ $1.94/each
Tier 2 Monthly Costs**
- Storage @ $0.04/GB
- Memory @ $0.49/GB
- CPU $ $0.97/each
**Pricing Updated August 2022