System Requirements
To ensure optimal performance and reliability, please review the system requirements before deploying XLServer. The recommendations vary based on the selected edition and expected usage scale.
Hypervisor Compatibility
XLServer is delivered as a pre-built OVA image and must be deployed on a supported hypervisor.
| Hypervisor | Minimum Version | OVA File | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| VMware ESXi | 6.7 | xlserver-vmware.ova | Recommended for production |
| VMware Workstation | 16.x | xlserver-vmware.ova | For desktop testing |
| Oracle VirtualBox | 6.5 | xlserver-virtualbox.ova | For evaluation only |
✅ VMware ESXi is recommended for production environments due to better resource isolation and support for VMXNET3.
CPU and Memory
Edition-Specific Recommendations
| Edition | Recommended vCPU | Recommended RAM | Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free Edition | 2 vCPU | 4 GB | Evaluation, no heavy cloning or retention |
| Standard / Professional | 8 vCPU | 32 GB | Mid-scale production with regular backups |
| Enterprise Edition | >16 vCPU | >64 GB | High-volume backups, frequent cloning |
⚠️ These recommendations assume backup scheduling, snapshot retention, and VM cloning operations. Avoid CPU overcommitment for production deployments.
Storage Requirements
XLServer stores backup data, snapshots, and clone templates on a ZFS-based datastore. Planning your storage properly is critical to prevent performance issues.
Key Factors Impacting Size
- Total size of live databases to back up
- Estimated incremental change size (daily)
- Number of snapshots retained
- Use of virtual or physical clones
- A required 20% free space margin (per OpenZFS recommendation)
Sizing Formula
To estimate total required datastore size:
Backup_Size = Full_DB_Size + (Incremental_Change_Size × Num_Snapshots)
Clone_Size = Sum of Physical Clones (if any)
Total_Used = Backup_Size + Clone_Size
Provisioned_Datastore = Total_Used × 1.25 ← accounts for 20% free space + buffer
Example
- Live DB Size: 500 GB
- Daily Change: 20 GB
- Snapshots retained: 5
- Physical Clones expected: 1
Backup_Size = 500 + (5 × 20) = 600 GB
Clone_Size = 500 GB
Total_Used = 1100 GB
Provisioned_Datastore = 1100 × 1.25 = 1375 GB
🧠 ZFS requires headroom for ARC efficiency, transaction group flushing, and protection from fragmentation. Do not exceed 80% disk usage.
Minimum Disk Requirement per Edition
| Edition | Minimum Disk for ZFS Datastore |
|---|---|
| Free Edition | 10 GB |
| Standard/Pro | Based on formula above |
| Enterprise | Based on formula above |
Clone Considerations
-
Virtual Clones: consume very little additional disk (based on ZFS clone features).
-
Physical Clones: require full-size disk space, same as live database.
Disk and Datastore Configuration
Datastore benefits from multi-disk configurations and optional cache/log devices.
| Disk Type | Role | Recommendation |
|---|---|---|
| Datastore | Main zpool | SSD (recommended), NVMe (best) |
| SLOG | Write log | Enterprise SSD, Intel Optane |
| L2ARC | Read cache | SSD or NVMe (optional, ~20% of datastore) |
💡 For the best performance: use SSD or NVMe disks for the datastore. Avoid traditional HDDs unless cost-constrained or using large capacity pools.
❗ Avoid placing SLOG and L2ARC on the same device.
Network Requirements
At least one network interface is required for management, client traffic, and backup transfer. However, network isolation is recommended in production.
Minimum Setup
| Interface Count | Roles Shared | Recommended NIC |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Management, Client, Backup | VMXNET3 (VMware) |
Recommended Production Setup
| NIC Count | Role | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Management | Admin web/SSH access |
| 1 | Backup | Backup and clone data transfer |
| 1 | Client Network | Traffic to/from DB clients |
🚀 NICs should be 10 Gb/s or higher for Backup and Client traffic. VMXNET3 is highly recommended as virtual adapter.
Summary Table
| Component | Free Edition | Standard/Pro | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|
| vCPU | 2 | 8 | 16 |
| RAM | 4 GB | 32 GB | 64 GB |
| Datastore | ≥10 GB | Formula-based (above) | Formula-based (above) |
| Disk Type | SSD (preferred) | SSD/NVMe (recommended) | NVMe (high performance) |
| NICs | 1 | 1–3 (optional isolation) | 3 (recommended isolation) |
| SLOG / Cache | Optional | Recommended | Strongly Recommended |
Need help sizing your environment? Contact us or refer to the deployment examples in the next section.