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Gabriel Maciel's Blog

VMware and Microsoft Virtualization - Open Source Technologies - IT Management and Security

49 Posts tagged with the esx tag 1 2 3 4 Previous Next
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"We know that ESX can handle a large number of IOPS, but we set out to see just how far we could push it. We went to EMC and got as many storage arrays as we could lay our hands on. We picked a realistic workload of 100% random with a 50/50 read/write mix and 8KB block size and then fired it up. We kept pushing more and more IOPS and managed to get up to 100,000 IOPS before running out of storage array bandwidth. And we still had plenty of headroom to spare with ESX!"

Read the full article here

Posted by Gabriel Maciel

0 Comments Permalink Tags: esx, infrastructure, it, storage, virtual, virtualization, vmware, vi3
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And the Best of the Week is back again this weekend with the following articles:

  1. Getting my head around the Hyper-V architecture via Peering through Windows
  2. Step-by-Step Guide for Testing Hyper-V and Failover Clustering via Microsoft
  3. How a stateless ESXi infrastructure might work via vinternals.
  4. Troubleshooting ESX Logs via VM/ETC
  5. How to be a Great Boss via Life as Healthcare CIO
Enjoy!

Posted by Gabriel Maciel

0 Comments Permalink Tags: best_of_the_week, esx, 3i, it, management, infrastructure, microsoft, server, vi, vi3, virtual, vmware
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This VMware KB has identified the following best practices when upgrading to VirtualCenter 2.5 and ESX Server 3.5:

  1. Backup your VirtualCenter database. VMware recommends detaching the database and copying it somewhere safe.
  2. Grant the System DSN user of the VirtualCenter Database db_owner privileges on the MSDB database as well as the VirtualCenter database. 
  3. Ensure that your ODBC System DSN is using the proper driver. You must have a SQL Server driver if your database is SQL 2000, and SQL Native Client driver if using SQL 2005.
  4. If your ESX Server host is in a DRS or VMware High Availability (HA) Cluster remove it from the cluster so no virtual machines migrate to the ESX Server host.
  5. If possible VMotion all virtual machines off the host to be upgraded. If not, power them down gracefully and power off the ESX Server host.
  6. Log in to your VirtualCenter server with a local Administrator account to run the installation, do not use a domain administrator.
  7. Perform the upgrade to VirtualCenter to 2.5 and ensure all your data is visible in VirtualCenter 2.5 after the upgrade.
  8. Ensure no processes are running that conflict with the ports that VirtualCenter uses, such as IIS.
  9. If there is a SAN connected to your ESX Server host detach the SAN before continuing with the upgrade.
  10. Confirm that all the virtual machines are now migrated from the ESX Server host or powered down, and that ESX Server host is no longer part of an VMware HA or DRS cluster.
  11. Download the newest version of the ESX operating system ISO image and burn it to CD.
  12. Place the CD in the CD-ROM drive of the host and boot from the CD.
  13. Install ESX Server 3.5 with a fresh install or upgrade.

You can find the VMware KB 1003889 article here.

Posted by Gabriel Maciel

1 Comments Permalink Tags: esx, infrastructure, it, virtual, virtualization, vmware, reference, vi3, vi
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Last week I mentioned that I was working on a Virtualization / Security project to migrate our physical Anti-Spam and Management Servers into VMware and I promised some updates.

Well, so far everything is working as planned, two of the three servers are now running in our VMware Cluster and processing an average of 54000 emails per hour.

Next week, I am going to be working from Toronto (HP training course), so the last portion of the project will be postponed a little bit. To be continued.

Posted by Gabriel Maciel

0 Comments Permalink Tags: infrastructure, it, virtual, virtualization, vmware, esx
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These are the articles and links for the last week:

1.VMware Certified Professionals command higher salaries, report shows via Server Virtualization Blog
2.Free Virtualization Capacity Planning, Courtesy of Microsoft MAP via Virtualization.com
3.Cool Technology of the Week via Life as a Healthcare CIO
4.My Thoughts on the Live Migration-Quick Migration Discussion via Scottlowe.org
5.Microsoft Blogs Part II via Yellow Bricks

Enjoy!

Posted by Gabriel Maciel

0 Comments Permalink Tags: best_of_the_week, esx, infrastructure, it, management, microsoft, virtual, virtualization, vmware
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Besides knowing how to manage the Hypervisor, administrators are expected to interact with at least the storage, backup and networking teams in order to provide a complete virtualization solution. Because of that, I would like to recommend you the following links since they talk about the interaction between the different players in a virtualization project, network design with Cisco devices and best practices:

1. Server Virtualization: Network Implications and Best Practices by Maurizio Portolani

2. Challenges integrating VMware into Cisco networks by Colin McNamara

Enjoy!

Posted by Gabriel Maciel

0 Comments Permalink Tags: infrastructure, it, management, virtualization, vmware, esx
1

A while ago I wrote a post about the tools I use everyday to manage our VMware environment and about Veeam Backup. FastSCP was updated this week and now it includes the following new features:

  • Disk space pre-allocation
    When copying virtual machines, FastSCP will pre-allocate disk space for VMDK files, to prevent fragmentation.
  • Ability to edit file attributes
    FastSCP shows the properties for a file or folder, allowing users to set owner, group and permissions (the most common CHMOD commands) in a Windows GUI.
  • Scheduled copy
    Now you can schedule copy jobs to do VM migrations over night or to regularly backup ESX configuration files.
  • Integration with Veeam Backup

Download he PDF

Download the Product

Posted by Gabriel Maciel

1 Comments Permalink Tags: esx, vmware, virtualization, storage
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Since a second SCSI adapter is mandatory for Microsoft Clustering Services running in VMware, and it will also provide better performance for any I/O intensive virtual machine like a database server, file server, etc; adding a second controller may be a necessity or valuable option for us. Here is how it can be done:

  • After creating the VM we need to “Edit” its settings and select to “Add...” a new device



  • We then choose “Hard Disk” (not SCSI device) and click “Next”



  • We accept the defaults and click “Next” (unless we whish to re-use an existing vDisk)



  • We input the size and move on to the next screen



  • In here we need to select a different SCSI node so…



  • We are going to choose “SCSI (1:0)” and then click “Next”



  • Now we complete the Add Hardware Wizard by clicking “Finish” and then…



  • We will be back to the VM Properties where, after clicking “OK”, the changes are going to be committed



Note: If we select to edit the VM one more time, we will see the second SCSI Controller



Posted by Gabriel Maciel

0 Comments Permalink Tags: esx, center, microsoft, vi3, virtualization, vmware, server
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There is a new web interface for the Patch and Update Releases for VMware that simplifies the selection and download of the patches. So far, it applies to the following products: ESX Server 2.0.2 to 3.5, ESX Server 3i and Virtual Center.

This is the link to the new page!

Posted by Gabriel Maciel

0 Comments Permalink Tags: virtualization, vmware, infrastructure, security, workstation, esx, 3i, virtual, center
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This is a new section that I am going to try to write every week. It will
have the links or articles that called my attention the most in the last 7 days, so you can have
them too. Here we go:

  1. Cheap Hypervisors: A Fine Idea -- If You Can Afford Them via
    VMware: Virtual Reality (the comments are also very interesting)
  2. The Complete Clustering How-To Presentation (VMworld 2007) via Jumé BV
  3. Managing IT Projects via Life as a Healthcare CIO
  4. Windows Server 2008 Step-by-Step Guides
  5. Webcast: Hardening Windows Server 2008 and its guide
Enjoy!

Posted by Gabriel Maciel

0 Comments Permalink Tags: best_of_the_week, esx, server, it, management, microsoft, virtualization, vmware
0

I have been using mRemote for two months now and I mainly like it because:

1) It supports rdp, vnc, ssh, telent, rlogin, raw, http/s and ica, so you can check your web sites, connect to the ESX Server / Unix farm and manage your Microsoft Infrastructure through RDP using only one window

http://bp3.blogger.com/_aQ4lu_8WP_o/R9hDXNQ526I/AAAAAAAAAXo/ZzV5ahq1ZuE/s200/mRemote.2.JPG

http://bp2.blogger.com/_aQ4lu_8WP_o/R9hEJ9Q527I/AAAAAAAAAXw/yleA2b1k9ys/s200/mRemote.5.JPG

2) It will recognize your Putty sessions

3) mRemote can call external applications and tell them what to do with the use of parameters and variables of the currently selected connection

Give it a try and hopefully you will like it too!

Download mRemote at Sourceforge (1)

(1) Be sure to have the .Net Framework installed in advance

Posted by Gabriel Maciel

0 Comments Permalink Tags: esx, server, security, virtual, center, virtualization, vmware
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A week or so ago, Andrew Kutz made public 2 new client plugins for the VMware Infrastructure 3.5 environment. This week, we are glad to see that the list goes up to 7!


  1. SVMotion: This VI plugin allows VMware administrators to invoke storage VMotion (SVMotion) events.
  2. Add Port Groups: This plugin enables the creation of multiple port groups of any type on an number of ESX servers and virtual switches at once.
  3. Rdp: Allows for RDP from VMware Virtual Infrastructure client right click menu.
  4. Console: Adds a SSH enabled tab named 'Console' when a host system is selected.
  5. KeySniffer: KeySniffer is an example of how VI 2.5 client plugins can be abused. This plugin sniffs all key strokes that occur within the VI 2.5 client and outputs them to C:\viclientkeystrokes.txt.
  6. Invoke: Allows third-party applications to be launched from within the VI 2.5 client using an existing, authenticated session cookie.
  7. 37migrations: The 37migrations plugin was developed in conjunction with 37migrations.com. It increments your VMotion count on the 37migrations server every time a migration event occurs.
This is the link to viplugins.com.

Posted by Gabriel Maciel

0 Comments Permalink Tags: esx, server, virtual, center, virtualization, vmware
4

Here you have some of the links I came across recently and wanted to share in the Blog:

Veeam Backup
A groundbreaking disaster recovery solution for VMware Infrastructure 3 that combines backup and replication in one product.

Virtual Center 2.5 Passthrough Authentication via www.vinternals.com
"At last! VMware have finally added passthrough auth support in VC 2.5, although it is currently classed as experimental. This is something I have been waiting / asking about for quite some time. And even better, it's on by default! To use it, simply add -passthroughAuth -s vchostname to the end of the shortcut used to launch the VI 2.5 client."

Add multiple SCSI controllers to your VM to improve performance via www.yellow-bricks.com
"A couple of months ago at the Dutch VMug meeting Bouke-Jumé gave some good storage tips. This is one of them:
The LSI Bus Logic Controller / Driver has a standard queue depth of 256. Although it isn't possible to set this higher it is possible to add a second controller and when you make sure the SCSI ID of your disk corresponds to the SCSI card you will have another queue of 256. This can lead to improved performance for Database Servers, Files Servers and other I/O intensive VM's."

Dominic Rivera's Esx-AutoPatch.pl now supports ESX 3.5.0
"I've had a number of visitors write in to inquire about esx-autopatch.pl, and when I would update the script to support ESX 3.5.0. To be honest I didn't really plan to update the script since VMware's Update Manger seems to be doing an adequate job of filling that need. But if you need to get the patches installed at build time, or don't have Virtual Center at your disposal I still believe esx-autopatch.pl is the best answer out there."

Posted By Gabriel Maciel

4 Comments Permalink Tags: esx, server, security, virtual, center, virtualization, vmware
0

VMware is now offering email patch notifications for all of its products. It seems that the service has been running since last December but the VMTN Blog just mentioned this a couple of weeks ago.

"With this service, you will immediately be sent an email alert as soon as a patch or maintenance release becomes available on the VMware products you've purchased. How does this work? You can initiate this activity by selecting the Receive Patch/Maintenance Alerts link from our Support home page, providing your email address, and then, after verifying that we've got the right contact, you can select the product/s you would like notification on by selecting "Confirm Subscription" from within the email confirmation we will send you."

Posted By Gabriel Maciel

0 Comments Permalink Tags: esx, server, security, virtual, center, virtualization, vmware
0

Mike Laverick recently gave a really interesting 42 minutes Webcast covering the following topics:

1) ESX Partitioning
2) Local VMFS Volumes
3) Pros & Cons of using SAN Storage
4) How big should my LUNs be?
5) How big should my Virtual Disk be?
6) How should you arrange Virtual Disks in VM?
7) What are the storage considerations for VDI?
8) What storage considerations do you have with VMware Virtual Machine Snapshots?
9) Storage Monitoring / Reporting advices
10) How fast will my Virtual Center Data Base grow?

You can watch the event here.

Posted by Gabriel Maciel

0 Comments Permalink Tags: virtualization, vmware, esx, server, storage, virtual, center
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Gabriel Maciel Ottawa
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VMware and Microsoft Virtualization - Open Source Technologies - IT Management and Security

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