Veeam’s Gift to VCPs, vExperts, and VCIs
Thanks Veeam!!
From their website…
Today Veeam issued a press release about their vHoliday Gift. In the release, they say that their vHoliday gift is to offer NFR (not for resale) licenses of their most popular products to VMware Certified Professionals (VCP), vExperts, and VMware Certified Instructors (VCI).
These individuals can receive Veeam Backup & Replication™ v5 with vPower™ for non-production use in their home labs. Any vExpert, VCP or VCI can receive a free two-CPU socket software license for evaluation, demonstration and training purposes. The offer also includes the Veeam ONE™ Solution for VMware management with Veeam Monitor™, Veeam Reporter™ and Veeam Business View™.
If you are a VCP, vExpert, or VCI, you can find out how to register for your license keys in the Veeam Holiday Gift PR.
Working with the IOMega ix12-300r
I installed an IOMega ix12-300r for our ESX test lab and I must say it’s just as feature rich as my personal ix4 and ix2.
I enjoy working with this device for its simplicity and feature depth. It’s very easy to deploy and it’s a snap to integrate with ESX.
Here are some of the things I like about ix12 and a high level overview to enable it with esx.
Note: Keep in mind most of the
features below are available on the ix2 and ix4 line but not all..
See http://iomega.com/nas/us-nas-comp.html for more information about the ix line and their features…
The Drives…
Our ix12 (the ix## is the amount of possible drives in the unit, ie ix2 = 2 drives, ix4 = 4drives) is populated with 8 x 1TB drives.
By default the 8TB unit will come with 4 x 2TB drives, I opted to buy a 4TB unit and expand it by 4TB, giving us the 8 x 1TB drives.
The drives are Seagate Barracuda Green SATA 3Gb/s 1TB Hard Drive – ST31000520AS – SATA II (Rev 2.6 Drives) 5.9K RPM, they should perform nicely for our environment…
(Buts like most techies, I wish they were faster)
More information here about the drives and SATA 2.6 vs 3.x
http://www.serialata.org/documents/SATA-6-Gbs-The-Path-from-3gbs-to-6gbs.pdf
Storage Pools…
A storage pool is not a new concept but in a device this cost effective it’s unheard of.
Basically, I’m dividing up my 8 drives like this..
Storage Pool 0 (SP0) 4 Drives for basic file shares (CIFS)
Storage Pool 1 (SP1_NFS) 2 drives for ESX NFS Shares only
Storage Pool 2 (SP2_iSCSI) 2 drives dedicated for ESX iSCSI only
I could have placed all 8 drives into one Storage pool but…
One of our requirements was to have SP0 isolated from SP1 and SP2 for separation reasons…
NO Down time for RAID Expansion… Sweet…
Another great feature is NO down time to expand your RAID5 Set..
Simply edit the Storage pool, Choose your new drive, and click apply.
The Raid set will rebuild and you’re all done!
Note: the downside to this… If you decide to remove a drive from a RAID set, you’ll have to rebuild the entire set.
TIP: To check the status of your RAID reconstruction check on the Dashboard under status or the home page at the bottom.
Mine reconstructed the 3 Storage Pools or all 12 drives at the same time in about 4.5 hours…
Teaming your NIC’s!
The ix12 comes with 4 x 1gb NICS, these can be bonded together, stay separate, or a mix of both.
You can setup your bonded NICs as Adaptive Load Balancing, Link Aggregation (LG), or Failover modes.
In our case we bonded NIC 3 and 4 with LG for ESX NFS/iSCSI Traffic and set NIC 1 up for our CIFS traffic.
For the most part setting up the networking is simple and easy to do.
Simply enter your IP’s, choose to bond or not and click apply.
Note: Don’t uncheck DHCP from unused adapters, if you do you’ll get an invalid IP address error when you click apply.
Also, making changes to the network area, usually requires a reboot of the device.. Tip: Setup your Network First..
Adding the NFS Folder to your ESX server
Note: These steps assume you completed the Iomega installation (Enabled iSCSI, NFS, Files shares,etc), networking, and your ESX Environment…
From the ix12 web interface simply add a folder on the correct Storage pool.
In our case I choose the folder name of ESX_NFS and the SP1_NFS storage pool
Tip: ALL Folders are broadcasted on all networks and protocols… I haven’t found a way to isolate folders to specific networks or protocols.
If needed make sure your security is enabled… I plan to talk with IOMega about this…
In vCenter Server, Add NAS storage and point it to the ix12.
Note: use /nfs/[folder name] for the folder name…
Once it’s connected it will show up as a NFS Data store!
Adding iSCSI to your ESX Server..
Note: This assumes you setup your esx environment to support iSCSI with the ix12…
Add your shared storage as an iSCSI Drive, set your iSCSI Drive name, and Select the correct Storage Pool.
Next is to set the Size of the iSCSI device, in this case we have 922GB free, but can only allocate 921.5GB
After clicking on apply, you should see the information screen…
In vCenter Server ensure you can see the iSCSI drive..
Add the iSCSI disk…
Give this disk a name…
Choose the right block size…
Finally there she is… one 920GB iSCSI disk…
Summary…
From a price vs. performance stand point the IOMega line of NAS devices (ix2, ix4, and our ix12) simply ROCK.
It will be hard to find such a feature rich product that will cost you so little.
This post has merely scratched the features of these devices. It is really hard to believe that 10+ years ago Iomega was known only for ZIP and Jazz Drives…
There new logo is IOMega Kicks NAS, and from what I’ve seen they do!
Follow up posts…
Over the next couple of months I hope to performance test my VM’s against the ix12
I’d like to figure out their protocol multi tendency issue (CIFS, NFS, iSCSI broadcasting over all NICS)
I’ll post of the results as they come in..
VM ESX and ESXi 4.1 Comparison
I’m reposting this for my reference, but I thought you might like it too..
I recommend you go to the link below for the most updated information…
See this URL –
VMware ESX and ESXi 4.1 Comparison
Purpose
This article provides a detailed comparison of VMware ESX and ESXi 4.1. The article is separated into capabilities or features and compared at that level.
Resolution
|
Capability |
VMware ESX |
VMware ESXi |
|
Service Console |
Service Console is a standard Linux environment through which a user has privileged access to the VMware ESX kernel. This Linux-based privileged access allows you to manage your environment by installing agents and drivers and executing scripts and other Linux-environment code. |
VMware ESXi is designed to make the server a computing appliance. Accordingly, VMware ESXi behaves more like firmware than traditional software. VMware has created APIs through which monitoring and management tasks – traditionally done through Service Console agents – can be performed. VMware has provided remote scripting environments such as vCLI and PowerCLI to allow the remote execution of scripts and commands. Tech Support Mode (TSM) provides a command-line interface that can be used by the administrator to troubleshoot and correct abnormal conditions on VMware ESXi hosts. |
|
CLI-Based Configuration |
VMware ESX Service Console has a host CLI through which VMware ESX can be configured. VMware ESX can also be configured using vSphere CLI (vCLI) or vSphere PowerCLI. |
The vSphere CLI (vCLI) is a remote scripting environment that interacts with VMware ESXi hosts to enable host configuration through scripts or specific commands. It replicates nearly all the equivalent COS commands for configuring ESX. VMware vSphere PowerCLI is a robust command-line tool for automathing all aspect of vSphere management, including host, network, storage, virtual machine, guest operating system, and more. Notes:
|
|
Scriptable Installation |
VMware ESX supports scriptable installations through utilities like KickStart. |
VMware ESXi supports scriptable installations using a mechanism similar to Kickstart, and includes the ability to run pre- and post-installation scripts. VMware ESXi also provides support for post installation configuration using PowerCLI- and vCLI-based configuration scripts. |
|
Boot from SAN |
VMware ESX supports boot from SAN. Booting from SAN requires one dedicated LUN per server. |
VMware ESXi may be booted from SAN. This is supported for Fibre Channel SAN, as well as iSCSI and FCoE for certain storage adapters that have been qualified for this capability. Please check the Hardware Compatibility List for supported storage adapters. |
|
Serial Cable Connectivity |
VMware ESX supports interaction through direct-attached serial cable to the VMware ESX host. |
VMware ESXi does not support interaction through direct-attached serial cable to the VMware ESXi host at this time. |
|
SNMP |
VMware ESX supports SNMP. |
VMware ESXi supports SNMP when licensed with vSphere Essentials, vSphere Essential Plus, vSphere Standard, vSphere Advanced, vSphere Enterprise, or vSphere Enterprise Plus. The free vSphere Hypervisor edition does not support SNMP. |
|
Active Directory Integration |
VMware ESX provides native support for Active Directory integration. |
VMware ESXi provides native support for Active Directory integration. |
|
HW Instrumentation |
Service Console agents provide a range of HW instrumentation on VMware ESX. |
VMware ESXi provides HW instrumentation through CIM Providers. Standards-based CIM Providers are distributed with all versions of VMware ESXi. VMware partners include their own proprietary CIM Providers in customized versions of VMware ESXi. These customized versions are available either from VMware’s web site or the partner’s web site, depending on the partner. Remote console applications like Dell DRAC, HP iLO, IBM RSA, and FSC iRMC S2are supported with ESXi. |
|
Software Patches and Updates |
VMware ESX software patches and upgrades behave like traditional Linux based patches and upgrades. The installation of asoftware patch or upgrade may require multiple system boots as the patch or upgrade may have dependencies on previous patches or upgrades. |
VMware ESXi patches and updates behave like firmware patches and updates. Any given patch or update is all-inclusive of previous patches and updates. That is, installing patch version “n” includes all updates included in patch versions n-1, n-2, and so forth. Furthermore, third party components such as OEM CIM providers can be updated independently of the base ESXi component, and vice versa. |
|
vSphere Web Access |
vSphere Web Access is only experimentally supported in VMware ESX. |
VMware ESXi does not support web access at this time. |
|
Licensing |
For licensing information, see the VMware Sphere Editions Comparison. |
For licensing information, see the VMware Sphere Editions Comparison. |
|
Diagnostics and Troubleshooting |
VMware ESX Service Console can be used to issue command that can help diagnose and repair support issues with the server. |
VMware ESXi has several ways to enable support of the product:
|
|
Jumbo Frames |
VMware ESX 4.1 fully supports Jumbo Frames.
|
VMware ESXi 4.1 fully supports Jumbo Frames.
|
Additional Information
- For a comparison of ESX and ESXi 4.0, see VMware ESX and ESXi 4.0 Comparison (1015000).
- For a comparison of ESX and ESXi 3.5, see VMware ESX and ESXi 3.5 Comparison (1006543).
- For a list of new features in vSphere 4.1, see What’s New in VMware vSphere 4.1.
- For a comparison of the different ESX 4.1 editions, see Compare vSphere Editions for Mid-size and Enterprise Businesses.
How to keep up to date on VMware technical information
TIP –
How to keep up to date on VMWARE related blog posts and information?
Simple…
Setup an RSS feed to – Vmware’s Planet V12n
http://www.vmware.com/vmtn/planet/v12n/rss.xml
You’ll have more information then you can handle…
Intel Experimental 48-core Processor
What a server this “could be” << Notice could be is in quotes, I understand this isn’t for us yet…
Imagine your entire Data Center on a just few of these? Who cares if they charge us 10K for one CPU?
With 48 Cores to a socket you would have very dense VM’s per host…
Please give this CPU to the masses…
Read here…
http://www.pcworld.com/article/193745/intel_to_ship_samples_of_experimental_48core_processor.html
http://www.dvhardware.net/article39544.html
http://download.intel.com/pressroom/pdf/rockcreek/SCC_Announcement_JustinRattner.pdf
VMware View 4.5 on NetApp Solution Guide
Repost from http://blogs.netapp.com/virtualstorageguy/ but its worth it!
I’m pleased to announce that NetApp is giving away published copies of our NetApp and VMware View 4.5 Solution Guide! This offer is open to the first 1,000 eligible individuals who have a shipping address in the US or Canada. The View on NetApp book has been extremely popular and now is your chance to scoop one for free! This is the same soft-cover book currently available on Lulu.com for $15.99 plus shipping (USD).
If you are a NetApp customer or partner, run VMware on FAS, vSeries, or IBM N-Series arrays this book is the ‘how-to’ guide for implementing VMware View on NetApp. Below is the book’s description from Lulu.
This book highlights the NetApp best practices in a VMware View 4.5 environment. It focuses on design, architecture, deployment and management of NetApp technologies that allow customers to design and implement space efficient AND high performing AND cost effective virtual desktop solutions without negative trade-offs.
The book runs 82 pages and the authors of book are Chris Gebhardt & Abhinav Joshi, both recognized by VMware as vExperts for 2010!
You can register for your free copy of VMware View 4.5 Solutions Guide here.
80’s Style returns to the modern PC
One of my first PC’s was a Commodore 64. Yes, I know some of you called it a Commode 64 but for its price it really beat out all of its competition.
I still have my good ole C64 and C128D and in addition I also have a Plus4, VIC20, C16, and yes even I Commodore Colt.
Today I was pleased to see that I company is starting up the brand again.
It would be pretty cool to have an old C64 doing VM’s, even better would have a C64 with VM running the C64 emulator < Okay that’s a bit much but very cool!
Right now they are just rebranded PC’s but who knows it may grow into the Commodore Empire it once was, or they will go back to making typewriters/calculators.
Check it out here..
http://www.commodoreusa.net/Home.html
HP PSP, SmartStart, and Firmware Matrix – PURE GOLD
If you’re an HP customer and ever wondered which version of PSP or Firmware will be support on which hardware platform, then here you go!
Older Stuff < 2009
ftp://ftp.compaq.com/pub/products/servers/management/smartstart/FWServerSupportMatrix.pdf
If you go one folder back… then more fun stuff…
ftp://ftp.compaq.com/pub/products/servers/management/smartstart/
New Stuff Currently <= 2010
ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/c-products/servers/management/smartstart
Enjoy!
vSphere PowerCLI Poster 4.1 – FREE
I was lucky enough to get my full printed copy at VMWorld 2010 and actually did the PowerCLI lab there too..
Here is the link to the poster.. it should come in very handy!
http://communities.vmware.com/thread/281904?tstart=0
Also, don’t forget if you’re an EMC customer they have now have some of their own PowerShell Cmdlets…
Check it out here..
http://virtualgeek.typepad.com/virtual_geek/2010/10/emc-powershell-cmdlets-come-and-get-em.html
Enjoy!
EMC – Chad’s Choice: Top 5 – 09/2010
I got a chance to listen into Chad’s Choice: Top 5 last week, and once again the information in these webcasts = PRICELESS
Here is the PDF Link to the slides…
http://www.emc.com/events/online-event-presentations/2010/Q3/09-30-10-chad.pdf
If you’re an EMC customer go here for the webcast re-run
http://www.emc.com/events/2010/q3/09-30-10-sept-vmware-series-part-4.htm
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