VMware Communities : Thread List - Higher Education

Giving students access to applications

serembanboy — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:54:05 GMT

Hello everyone. I'm new to VMware and I have a few questions with regards to
which VMware product I should look at as a solution for my needs.

I work at a university that's moving towards a mobile computing environment.
At some point we expect all our students to own a laptop/notebook. The laptops
will be used both for schoolwork and personal use. When we reach that point
where all our students own a laptop, we’re planning on closing down the computer
labs we have on campus.

The repercussion of that is, students will lose access to the applications
that were available in those labs. This would include applications such as SPSS,
SAM 2003, Studio 9, etc.

As a solution we were wondering if we could “push” these applications to the
laptops. These applications would have to be available 24/7 while the students
are on campus.

What VMware product can help us do this? Thin client, thick client? How well
will it work over wireless network? We have n capable access points.

Thank You.

Chelvan.

Which higher ed apps have you virtualized?

wendy — Fri, 09 May 2008 21:52:50 GMT

Tell us which industry specific apps you have in a VM. Also, which version of Microsoft are you running and how are you running exchange? Is it in a VM?

Want to tell your story at VMworld? Submit your story online here: https://vmworld2008.wingateweb.com/portal/cfp/login.ww

Server Hardware/Software Requirement Planning

josephk626 — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 02:57:14 GMT

Hi everyone!

I am a student at a University that has done a pilot implementation of a VM package. I do not have the specs of the server hosting the VM's, but I know by the performance issues I am experiencing as a student using the VM in the classroom that the server is swamped, quite terribly so.

I am slowly chewing my way through documentation on VM products. At this point I am really only satisfying my curiosity as I have no decision role in the implementation of IT in my department, but as a student using the system I've developed a fascination with the concept of virtualization. I am hoping someone is kind enough to indulge my curiosity, I have a few general questions for the experts out there! I apologize in advance if this has been covered already, I admit I haven't looked through the site yet...

1) How would you go about planning a virtualization implementation with VM products to meet the following scenario:

Goal: Setup a server to handle a class of 20 students and one professor; providing efficient delivery of computational needs by eliminating workstation towers through an implementation of netappliances and monitors in the classroom; hooked up to a dedicated VM server.

Objectives: Simplify hardware and software management by only having to administer one physical unit, reduce costs, etc, etc.

Requirements: To serve students in the MIS / IT/ CompSci departments; ability to run web development applications as well as MS-Visual Studio 2008 with excellent response times.

OS: Windows environment; let us assume WinServer2008 but virtualizing Windows XP for the clients in the classroom.

At a guess, I know this would mean a fairly hefty server configuration for decent performance. The main catch is the 21 simultaneous users each one running some fairly heavy apps.

With these rough specs, how would you go about fleshing out a hardware and software mix?

Thanks in advance!

-Joseph

best solution to gets started with VMware for technical support

b0yw0nder204 — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 06:45:31 GMT

we support software and need to support 6 operating systems
we have approximately 30 support representatives in offices up and down the west coast
we also have the need for testing server/client interactions

i believe that the "lab manager" is probably the way to go, but i want to know what less costly solutions I can try to prove the technology

if i setup workstation, can I have support engineers login to the virtual machines that I create?

can i use the ESXi free server to set something up that is similar

let me know. thanks.

"Cannot open disk blklst://snapshot-69 ... " when doing Lab 12 for Deploy class

dkpatrick — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 20:32:11 GMT

This problem has had numerous posts and suggestions, none of which seem to work for me. My environment is two ESX Servers. All my VMs are Windows 2003 Server Enterprise.

The vCenter VM is on local storage for one of the servers. The vcb proxy and target VM (I'm trying to do a snapshot) are on the same (DeployVMs) iSCSI LUN (my iSCSI is the software target available with Fedora). Here is the command I am using:

vcbMounter -h 192.168.1.3 -u Administrator -p secret -a name:P1TAVM3.Web -r e:\Backups\P1TAVM3.Web -t file -L 6

The VM exists and is running. I can see from the internal log messages that it is able to log into the machine and actually does some things before it throws the following error:

2009-10-03 13:12:41.612 'vcbMounter' 1952 error] Error: Cannot open disk blklst://snapshot-69DeployVMs P1TAVM3.Web/P1TAVM3.Web.vmdk@192.168.1.3?xxxx/xxxx. Cannot open disk file: Error : Disk library failed (Cannot access a SAN/iSCSI LUN backing this virtual disk. (Hint: If you are using vcbMounter you can use the option "-m ndb" to switch to network based disk access if this is what you want.) If you were attempting file-level access, stop the vmount Service by typing "net stop vmount2" on a command prompt to force vmount to re-scan for SAN LUNs and re-try the command.). Unable to open 'blklst://snapshot-69DeployVMs P1TAVM3.Web/P1TAVM3.Web.vmdk@192.168.1.3'. Failed to configure disk scsi0:0.

After the error, vcbmounter cleans up the work it's already done.

I can take a snapshot without a problem using vCenter's graphic interface. It's the command line from the vcb proxy that's giving me fits.

I am not using DNS so you can see the internal LAN address for my virtualized vCenter machine.

I could not match the LVID with any of the LVIDs on either ESX server so I can't figure out what path it's looking for. I went into the ESX servers and did an "ll" in the /vmfs/volumes directories to get the LVIDs know to the servers.

I do not have multipath. The vcb and VM in question are on the same iSCSI target. I tried the 'net stop vmount2' trick suggested in several postings and the error msg. That had no effect. "-m ndb", with my other operands, throws a syntax error on the command. I walked through one site which was said to be some sort of debugging information but in general it gave you no clue about what was happening if any of the steps failed!

Up until now I've not had any particular problems getting labs to run in either the install or the deploy classes but this one stumps me and I don't see any VMware documentation that shows the error messages and either breaks them down so I can figure out what it's looking for, or gives any guidance on how to resolve the issue.

Virtualisation education/trainings ?

vNic007 — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 04:36:06 GMT

Hi All,

I would like to know from fellow vmware users to advice me on some other certs or trainings that will go with vmware. For your information , i am a new bie in vmware , with around 6 months of experience in using VI 3.5 environment and currently going through a VI4 training. I wanted to know this as i am working for corporate consulting firm and have some training budget allocated to me and would like to use it to strengthen my virtualisation skills. Any suggestions and advice would much appriciated.

Cheers!!

Possible to download just the VMware Infrastrure Client for free?

smith12 — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 19:19:18 GMT

I'm a student, and our university has a vmware server running that we can connect to using what I think is called the "VMware Infrastrure Client" from our school's computer lab, and I was told we can also download the same client for free in order to connect to from our own home pc. (We then use a VPN). I've been looking around this site, and no where do I see just a simple download for just the Vmware Infrastrure Client, which I think is what I could use to connect to the server our school has running vmware. I have tried a few free vmware download from this site, and they seem to be 600MB+ packages with many many zipped files, not just a simple client that I am looking for.

Can someone tell me if there is a way to just download a simple VMware infrastrue client for free, asI have been told, and if this sounds right, that then I could use this to connect a server on a network running vmware.

Basically I have the IP of our schools server, and a username and password that I can use to log into it, however I need to find and install the vmware client in order to connect to it.

vmware sales professional certification

rsk112 — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 11:12:32 GMT

i would like to do VSP - vmware sales professional certification () how&where to start and do it? pl help.

thanks n advance.

pegasus - IpmiIfcSdrGetAll: invalid version. version = 0x1

simvtran — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 13:54:00 GMT

Version: VMware ESX Server 3.5.0 build-153875

After installing ESX3.5, I notices that I am getting a lot of these messages:

IpmiIfcSdrGetAll: invalid version. version = 0x1

I found the post below. When I stop the pegasus(cimserver) service, then the error message will go away. That message occurs in an interval of 4 minutes, and then 6 minutes. The only thing that puzzle me is that, I installed the same version of esx3.5 on an older test system and that message does not appear. I am getting that message on a newer and better system.

http://communities.vmware.com/message/1062505;jsessionid=249796D0F178E3737330AAC3FF7335B5

What is the service pegasus used for?

Any suggestion on how I can fix this?

Virtualizing Non-IT Systems in an IT ESX Environment

kikori — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 20:23:21 GMT

Hi Folks,

We have an established ESX 3.5 environment that is home solely to systems that are a part of our college's IT infrastructure. To be clear, these systems are managed entirely by me and other IT staff. However, there are numerous labs and research systems on campus which are managed primarily by faculty, and IT has no involvement with these systems whatsoever apart from providing basic network connectivity.

We've been tasked at looking at the possibility of virtualizing these systems and bringing them into our existing ESX environment. Is anybody doing this already, and do you have any thoughts on essentially mixing production and research environments within the same ESX cluster? What kinds of general policies, guidelines, and/or restrictions do you have for the owners of these VMs, and for the resources they consume? Ideally we might set up a separate cluster for these kinds of non-IT systems, but due to budgetary constraints, that may not be feasible. Are there any particular problems that you may have run into that we should be concerned about?

Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!

advice on virtualizing student server

Mike_MT — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 15:48:03 GMT

Hey All,

I want to virtualize my student file server, but need some advice. Currently, the system is a hardware win2k3 server attached to a FC SAN with a 2TB SAN volume that holds all our student home directories.

I have ESX 3.5 servers already, and they are attached to the same FC SAN.

My biggest question is: what's the best way to use my SAN for my 2TB volume? Should it be a RDM? Should it just be a 2TB vmfs file?

I will need to be able to vmotion the server in case of hardware failure, so that should also be a consideration. Snapshots would be nice, but not a necessity as we already backup files using our backup software...the backup window is shrinking though...

Thanks for any help!

Mike

Why would someone want Multiple Public IPs (not static)

dhkid — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 11:39:33 GMT

At my home my ISP provides me with a public IP (obviously).

My ISP also sells an option of purchasing an addittional 4 public IPs (NOT STATIC) for additional $10/mo.

I wanted to throw a general question out ther: Why would an individual / family at home (personal usage not comemrcial) want more than one public IP? Keep in mind i am not talking about Satic IPs... Multiple dynamic IPs. What are the uses that couldn't just be solved with a simple cheapo router?

Thanks

Path to achieve VTSP

navaneedak — Thu, 28 May 2009 11:32:08 GMT

I ahve already done VCP . I want to complted VTSP - Vmware technical Sales Professional. I am not able to find the exams in the net.

Vmware Install and Configure training in Bangalore

SoumyaRajagopal — Mon, 11 May 2009 07:31:47 GMT

A Vmware Install and Configure training is schedule for Bangalore on 25th may

Interested candidates ,please contact : 9986343378

How to segment vms by student logon

dPipkin — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 15:33:23 GMT

I teach security and have been using vmWorkstation so each student can have multiple machines with multiple OS to admin and secure. However, this does not easly allow students to to get access form different locations. The vm images are on local drives.

Does ESX, ESXi, or Server allow users to access a central system and have control over only their systems, including creating new systems?

Any insight would be helpful.

Where are you with Virtualization?

timantz — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 18:32:08 GMT

Are you just starting out?

Have you been running VMWare for a while?

What version are you running?

Did you attend any training?

How extensive is your VMWare infrastructure on campus?

"There are 10 types of people. Those who understand binary and those who don't."

Virtualizing Desktops in Labs?

tailwindALWAYS — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 14:36:43 GMT

I worked for the College of Natural Sciences as the local University and we are still growining in computers! At nearly 2000 printers/servers/desktops/laptops registered for two full-time support staff it's getting a to be a challenge!!

Our labs are now on a 4 year replacement cycle due to the growth in labs (use to be 3 years). So, we will be replacing about 70 computers in the Industrial Technology department this summer. This will cost us at least $70K. I'm thinking this may be a good time to look at VMware View. We have about 400 computers in the 4 year rotations used for teaching and open lab hours. The total utilization is less than 20% for sure if not closer to 10%!

The biggest catch this summer with the Ind Tech lab is they run Pro/E and Autodesk Inventor, AutoCAD, and other rendering programs. I'm ASSuming VMware View will not work with these programs, correct? I hope it will work as it will save us a TON of money! Plus, the computers these Ind Tech students are using for their CAD programs are P4s with 1GB of RAM. Which doesn't meet the requirements for any of the programs, but they are 4 years old! So, I'm trying to figure out a way of getting around this in 4 years down the road! If all I do is have to throw in a few more servers rather than 70 new computers then I'm all for it!

Is anyone else using VMware View or similar type setups in their labs? Even if this summer isn't a good year for it, the other years may be as the software doesn't require OpenGL etc. Some of our labs are also dual-boot for Linux and Windows so I also think VMware View would help with that.

Newbie question about VMWare

SABOEM — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 14:11:42 GMT

We have been asked to look into server consolidation probably using VMWare. But we want to build a solid infrastructure from the beginning. Can you split physical servers into two separate locations, if one fails would the other location pick up the load. At this point we don't not know what types of applications or servers we would want on this VMWare Server farm. Can this be done with VMWare? Also is the hypervisor in VMWare now 64-bit? What types of software from VMWare would we need to do this project? All servers would be Windows 2003 or Windows 2008. There might be a possibility of linuix.

Any thoughts or opinion are welcome since we are newbies.

New project... is vmware the right choice?

rogernome — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 10:28:02 GMT

Hi all,

I am new to VMWare.

I wish to create a %99.9 uptime solution using vmware. Two sites perferably. I have 3 servers I need to shove on VM. Domain Controller, SQL Box and Application box. If one site goes down, I need fail over.

Is this something that can be achieved using VMWare. If so, what should I start looking at?

The servers are Windows 2003 Standard 64bit. Microsoft SQL Server 2005 64bit and tomcat server running custom app.

Any help would be appreciated.

VCP310 Exam -promotion code

Doush — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 06:15:50 GMT

Hi there!!

I want to take the vcp310 exam. Is there any promotional code, i can apply to get a discounted price.?

Please help me folks....

Is Virtualisation what I need or what I want?

weemort — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 20:24:21 GMT

Hi.
Im looking after a suite of computers in a school. Currently its 15 units all hooked up to a windows 2k3 server. Simple domain.
Its potentially going to expand.... up to 30 - so i thought vmware was something I could use to help me - and the school.

The main problems we face at the moment are:
1) Installation of software - we sometimes have to install something on every machine....time wasted.
2) Access to CDs - we have a cd server (or cd iso images on a file server, which are mounted via file sharing...) This we need to keep to allow some apps to run.

My initial thought was to create 1 virtual machine / virtual appliance, and install all the software we need on it. Done and dusted - backups are easy and maintainence is sorted. The machines can then be distributed to the workstations and run using the vmware player....

However, if I go down the virtual appliance route, it causes a problem, as every machine needs to be on the network to access the server, and as such would then need a unique hostname - so '1image' wont fit all.

Am I trying to shoe-horn in virtualisation, just cause I like / am interested in the technology, or is it something that will be able to do these things, and bring real benefit?
Any ideas / comments / ridicule welcome.

weemort.

Number of app to install on VI3

bluem — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 20:43:40 GMT

Hello,

I am currently working for a company that is looking to implement vmware, however i need some info on the limitation for the number of application that can be installed on a server that have vmware vi3 standard..

For example an HP Server with 2.3GHz Quad Core 2 Processor with 6 harddrives each 146GB and 12GB of memory, can 3 or 4 application be installed on this server? I know the number of application installed will depend on how much memory they need, number of users....etc. Let us assume that I plan to implement 5 server based applications and each application requires 2.0GHz process and 2GB of RAM. Two applications will only have 2-4 users, while the rest can have between 10-20 user each.

I guess i am looking for a rule to use when trying to pick the right server and the number of applications that you can install on that server using vmware.

Thanks,

Server Sprawl and Charge Back - who does it? Why? Why Not? Strategies?

Dan@LMU — Wed, 28 May 2008 01:21:38 GMT

One of the beauties of VMWare is the ability to create new servers quickly and easily. The downside to this is server sprawl. In an academic support environment, is anyone charging back to departments to avoid this sprawl? Why or why not? What strategies / policies have you bult for chargebacks? One time fee? Semesterly? Yearly? Extra fees for backups?

These are some of the questions we're struggling with and I'd like to hear what other institutions are doing.

This really isn't a signature ... I just can't come up with something witty.

Using VMWare to support teaching, learning and research

Dan@LMU — Fri, 23 May 2008 02:01:24 GMT

At LMU I have begun an initiative to build a VMWare environment dedicated to supporting our faculty and students. What cool uses have you come up with for supporting teaching, learning and research with VMWare at your schools? Did you leverage your existing infrastructure or did you commit other resources to it?

Right now we have B-school profs teaching (and giving tests!) Oracle which is running on Windows in a VM. We have a linux system with open source to support a research lab that the subjects are allowed to schedule when they will come in for labs. We have also started moving support of our Science and Engineering Lab servers to VM - Linux, Windows and Solaris.

UPDATE: 6/6

We are considering rolling out Workstation or Fusion to support some of our specialized lab environments in engineering so they can get access to windows, solaris, linux and os x. Has anyone setup a lab this way? Any tips or hiccups supporting the environment?

Message was edited by: Dan@LMU

Which VMware solution are you using and why?

wendy — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 21:01:13 GMT

Are you using the free Server product? Did you buy one of the new "smaller footprint" acceleration kits? What else did you buy when you went virtual- new servers, SAN, other software, etc. Why did you choose that solution?

Higher Ed VI3 Architecture Question

timantz — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 19:37:00 GMT

How many hosts and clusters do you support in your Virtual Center, and why?

At Bowdoin, we have 10 hosts and 3 clusters. Our Production cluster has 4 nodes, supporting standard, production-level VMs. Our Test/DEv cluster has 3 nodes, and contains all test/dev VMs that support our production servers, as well as Student-managed servers, Academic sandboxes, and Vendor-supported DMZ-type VMs. Our Third cluster is 2-nodes, for Secure applications such as Finance, Health, and other sensitive data types. Both test and production VMs reside here, and it is isolated by network and storage from all other VMs or physical hosts. Our last ESX host is a standalone node, supporting one-off applications that cannot be hosted withing our existing infrastructure such as Proof of Concept, Network-isolated services, etc. We have this host firewalled internally in addition to external seclusion.

"There are 10 types of people. Those who understand binary and those who don't."

NFS, iSCSI, Fiber? SAN/NAS? FC-Disk, SATA?

Dan@LMU — Fri, 23 May 2008 01:47:49 GMT

As a higher ed institution how much energy have you spent reviewing your initial VMWare setup? How many people have started in one direction (Fiber SAN to FC?) but then changed direction at some point (NFS NAS to SATA?)?

What was the original setup and what change did you make and why?

For example at LMU, we started our VMWare deployment on iSCSI and RDMs on FC, but now we are beginning to leverage the ease of management with NFS and back to the native VMDK files. The primary reasons for this is one or original VMWare administrator left the roost, trying to replicate his strategy and protocol, even with good documentation, is difficult. Using NFS and VMDKs seems simpler and more standard.

I look forward to reading everyone's thoughts.

Deduplication on filer running VMWare?

Dan@LMU — Fri, 23 May 2008 01:51:57 GMT

Is anyone out there turned on deduplication in volumes that run VMWare? What are you experiences? Performance hits? Disk space gain? What is your filer/setup?