Welcome to vSphere-land!

The polls will open next week for the annual VMware/virtualization top blog voting, so if you want to make sure your site is included make sure I have your blog listed on my vLaunchPad. This year will be a bit different, instead of just a top 25 we’ll also have categories kind of like they do at many awards shows. Some of the categories will be Best New Blog, Best Storage Blog, Blogger You Most Want To Meet, etc. I’m still playing with the categories so sound off in the comments if you have any ideas.

It’s always difficult to say goodbye, especially when you’ve been doing something you enjoy for many years.

I started writing for SearchVMware.com more than three years ago, in March 2008. Up to that point I had no writing experience, and I had never really thought of myself as a writer. On a whim, I responded to a post on TechTarget’s website about writing opportunities. They gave me a shot, and I found that I was pretty good at it, and since then I’ve written more than 100 articles on SearchVMware.com and more than 100 posts for the Virtualization Pro blog. My writing at TechTarget got me a lot of exposure and opportunities over the years, and it really helped my career develop and blossom.

Looking back at my writing over the years, I thought I would highlight some of the articles that I enjoyed doing the most and am most proud of. I tend to write pretty detailed and lengthy articles, because I like to give complete coverage to a product or feature, and as a result many of my articles were turned into series. My very first assignment was to write about VMware Converter, which ended up being a three-part series. I was a little green starting out, but one of the nice things about having editors is that they take your work and make it look even better.

Read the full article at searchvmware.com…

While part one of this vSphere 5 upgrade series dealt with the challenges that solution providers may need to deal with during a migration, but there are also benefits. Because of their simplistic nature and improved capabilities, the vSphere 5 features listed below can be assets during a customer upgrade:

vCenter Server appliance
VSphere 5 supports running vCenter Server as a pre-built Linux virtual appliance. This makes deploying and maintaining vCenter Server much easier and also means it’s no longer required to run it on a server running a Windows operating system (OS). The virtual appliance comes packaged with IBM’s DB2 Express and also supports only Oracle or DB2 for external databases. This will appeal to customers that mainly use Linux because vCenter Server doesn’t require the use of Microsoft products.

Solution providers can use a Web user interface (UI) for configuration, and it’s compatible with the new Flex based Web UI that is part of vSphere 5. Flex is a framework for web development from Adobe that enables rich functionality for Web browsers. This allows for better Web administration UI’s to be created so VMware can mimic the Windows based vSphere Client’s functionality through a Web browser. The previous web UI in vSphere 4 just used basic HTML and was not as feature-heavy as the new Flex based Web UI in vSphere 5.

Read the full article at searchsystemschannel.com…

Because of its new features and enhancements, many of your customers are likely anxious to start planning their vSphere 5 upgrade, and it’s important to know new caveats and issues before you let your customers dive right into it.

Solution providers can ensure a smooth transition to vSphere 5 by taking note of these important modifications and understanding what they mean to individual customer environments:

New licensing
Perhaps the biggest vSphere 5 deviation from previous versions is that your customers will need to deal with the new licensing model.

VSphere 4 licensing was fairly straightforward: as licenses were bought per CPU socket and you could run unlimited virtual machines (VMs) on the host. That model is no more with vSphere 5, and while licenses are still sold per CPU socket, each license comes with a fixed amount of virtual RAM (vRAM) that can be assigned to VMs. Depending on the environment, this could cause a customer to spend thousands of dollars in additional licenses to be compliant with new vSphere 5 licensing. The new model favors scale-out architectures that hold a greater amount of hosts that have smaller resource amounts. This means less VMs running on each host, which results in less vRAM usage per host. When you try and scale up with hosts that have large amounts of RAM, the additional license costs to match the amount of that RAM in a host can get very costly.

Read the full article at searchsystemschannel.com…

You learned about VMware Auto Deploy’s benefits in part one of our two-part series, but it’s also important to know the vSphere 5 feature’s nuts and bolts and how to set it up for customers.

Auto Deploy takes advantage of the Preboot Execution Environment (PXE) boot feature that is present in many physical network interface cards (NICs). This allows a server to boot from a remote image file using only a physical NIC and without local storage.

A server booting with PXE first obtains an IP address using Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) and then loads a boot image from a Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) server. Auto Deploy uses PXE booting to download an ESXi image file to a host and its components work to define which image a host should use, customizations and host-specific configuration information.

Auto Deploy relies on software depots that are used to store collections of vSphere Installation Bundles (VIB) and image files that are accessed remotely via HTTP to deploy or update hosts. VIB files are used to deploy the ESXi software and any hardware vendor customizations. The Auto Deploy Server uses the software depot to pull VIBs and image profiles when booting an ESXi host.

Read the full article at searchsystemschannel.com…

Although creating new hosts is a common server virtualization task, it is also a tedious process. Solution providers can use VMware Auto Deploy for vSphere 5 to do it much more efficiently.

Installing single hosts isn’t hard for solution providers but configuring multiple hosts can be time consuming. A VAR that has to create a new vSphere host without VMware Auto Deploy typically has to do the following:

1. Locate the installation media for ESX or ESXi and boot the server from it.

2. Follow the setup prompt to set configuration information.

3. Complete the installation and then reboot the server.

4. Verify that management console networking works properly.

5. Add the host to vCenter Server.

6. Configure networking, storage, security and other settings.

In doing all this, you risk making mistakes during the build process and could configure hosts inconsistently. Consistency is very important in a virtual environment both from a security and operational perspective. Once you’ve built and configured a host, another challenge is to back up host configuration data so if a problem occurs and you need to rebuild the host, you don’t have to restart from scratch.

Read the full article at searchsystemschannel.com…

The release of VMware Inc.’s vSphere 5 brings many exciting new features and enhancements to the virtualization platform, especially when it comes to storage. Two of the biggest new features in that area are Storage Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS) and Profile-Driven Storage, which provide some much-needed control over storage resources.

In previous versions of vSphere, Distributed Resource Scheduler balanced VM workloads based on CPU and memory resource utilization. Storage DRS extends this capability to storage, enabling intelligent VM initial placement and load balancing based on storage I/O and capacity conditions within a cluster. Profile-Driven Storage, for its part, ensures that VMs are placed on storage tiers based on service-level agreements (SLAs), availability, performance and capabilities of the underlying storage platform. In this tip, we’ll examine both Storage DRS and the storage profile functionality in detail.

Storage DRS

Similar to the traditional DRS feature, Storage DRS uses a new type of cluster called a data store cluster, which is a collection of data stores that are aggregated into a single unit of consumption. By controlling all of the storage resources, Storage DRS allows intelligent placement of VMs that are powered on, as well as the shifting of workloads from one storage resource to another when needed to ensure optimum performance and avoid I/O bottlenecks. What this means in simpler terms is that, similar to vMotion’s movement of VMs from host to host, VMs can now be moved from data store to data store as well; the decision to move a VM from one data store to another is made by Storage DRS, which tells Storage vMotion to make the move.

Read the full article at searchvirtualstorage.com…

Selecting a virtualization hypervisor begins with an important choice: Do you need a hosted or bare-metal hypervisor? Once you decide which type of hypervisor you need, there are lots of factors to consider.

You want a virtualization hypervisor that’s compatible with your hardware, allows for simple management and gives you the performance your virtual infrastructure needs. You should also consider high availability, reliability and scalability. And of course, look into costs.

Here are eight considerations for choosing a virtualization hypervisor:

Performance
If you want high performance, a bare-metal virtualization hypervisor is really your only option. Bare-metal virtualization offers the least amount of resource overhead. Bare-metal virtualization hypervisors also have advanced resource controls that allow you to guarantee, prioritize and limit virtual machine (VM) resource usage.

Hosted hypervisors typically have no or limited resource controls, so VMs have to fight each other for resources. Unlike bare-metal virtualization, hosted hypervisors often have steep resource-overhead penalties, especially when operating system services, tools and applications are running on the guest operating system.

Read the full article at searchservervirtualization.com…

Once you choose the type of hypervisor that fits your needs, you need to choose the best hypervisor technology for your infrastructure. Hypervisor products from the major virtualization vendors have their pros and cons, so consider the features of these hosted and bare-metal virtualization hypervisors before you make your decision.

Bare-metal virtualization hypervisors

VMware ESX and ESXi
VMware has the most mature hypervisor technology by far, offering advanced features and scalability. However, VMware’s bare-metal virtualization hypervisor can be expensive to implement because of its higher licensing costs. The vendor does offer a free version of ESXi, but it’s very limited and has none of the advanced features of the paid editions. VMware also offers lower-cost bundles that can make hypervisor technology more affordable for small infrastructures.

Microsoft Hyper-V
Microsoft Hyper-V has emerged as a serious competitor to VMware ESX and ESXi. Hyper-V lacks many of the advanced features that VMware’s broad product line provides, but with its tight Windows integration, Microsoft’s hypervisor technology may be the best hypervisor for organizations that don’t require a lot of bells and whistles.

Reach the full article at searchservervirtualization.com…

VMware Tools are an optional set of drivers and utilities that improve the performance and manageability of virtual machines. But there’s a debate about whether the benefits of installing VMware Tools outweigh the potential virtual security risks that it introduces.

On one hand, VMware Tools replaces many of the guest operating system drivers that were designed for physical hardware. These optimized drivers can drastically improve performance and functionality (e.g., providing copy-and-paste capabilities between the host and VM). But the installation of VMware Tools also adds potential virtual security vulnerabilities to an otherwise secure infrastructure.

In this face-off, two experts debate the merits of running VMware Tools.

Creating unnecessary virtual security risks with VMware Tools
vs.
Realizing a virtual infrastructure’s potential with VMware Tools

Read the full article at searchvmware.com…

The iPad is becoming more and more popular in the enterprise, and not just for mobile workers. There is also a slew of iPad applications for VMware admins.

Many IT vendors see the iPad’s potential and are developing iPad apps that can manage their traditional hardware and software products. Xsigo Systems, for instance, has a very nice app called Xsigo XMS , which manages virtual I/O through the company’s XMS servers. There is also an iPad application called SiMU Pro that manages Cisco Systems Inc.’s Unified Computing System.

In addition, there are several iPad applications that can supplement the traditional VMware admin toolkit, including the vSphere Client and Secure Shell (SSH) applications. With the right iPad applications, VMware admins will reach a new level of management flexibility that’s not possible with traditional desktops and laptops.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. Top iPad applications for VMware management

II. Applications for remotely connecting to hosts and workstations

III. Top iPad applications for VMware networking

IV. General purpose iPad apps for VMware admins

I. TOP IPAD APPLICATIONS FOR VMWARE MONITORING AND MAINTENANCE
With the top iPad applications for infrastructure management, VMware admins can control basic functions, such as powering virtual machines (VMs) on and off and using vMotion.

These iPad apps mimic some of the functionality of the vSphere Client and service console, but they aren’t a full-fledge replacement. Even so, these iPad applications allow VMware admins to perform key virtualization tasks without a full-scale computer.

Read the full article at searchvmware.com…

VMware has released the Licensing Advisor tool that I talked about in this post for you to download and run in your environment to see how it complies with the new licensing model in vSphere 5. The download link and FAQ for the tool are available on VMware’s website.

When VMware announced the new licensing model based on vRAM when they revealed vSphere 5 the ensueing uproar overshadowed all the great features and enhancements that are part of vSphere 5. In fact if you look at my vSphere 5 link collection you will see that there are more links about licensing then there are about everything non-licensing related in vSphere 5. There was also a thread started in the VMTN forums on licensing and it is currently 87 pages long.

Well VMware heard you loud & clear and is changing the licensing model in a manner that should make almost everyone happy. I was fortunate to be on a pre-briefing call with VMware on the licensing changes and one of the points I brought up to VMware was how could you not of expected this reaction. If they had consulted with customers, vExperts and some other key people they could of seen what the reaction was going to be like and not be in the position they are in today. VMware said they kept this mostly internal which was not a good idea when making changes that would have a big impact on customers. VMware had calculated that only a very small percentage of there customers would be affected by this. I asked them how did you calculate this and what percentage of your customers did you get this information from. They responded that they use information obtained from logs that are sent in when support requests are opened and vm-support bundles are typically sent in which documents a persons environment.

To VMware’s credit they listen to their customers though, many other companies would just go ahead with the changes regardless of how customers felt about them. While VMware didn’t directly respond to the 87 page forum thread they did read every single post in it to see what customers were saying about the licensing changes. So the end result is VMware addressed some of the key concerns that customers were making with licensing. Here is a summary of feedback that VMware obtained from customers & partners:

• With no cap on vRAM licensing the monster VM with 1TB of vRAM would cost $38,445 to license.
• Entitlements were too low and while it would only affect a small percentage of customers it would have a big financial impact.
• Penalized customers for short lived usage spikes that may not occur on a frequent basis.
• The 8GB cap on the free version of ESXi is too low and doesn’t make it that usable.

So VMware responded to each of these concerns to licensing in vSphere 5 as follows:

• The amount of vRAM counted per VM has been capped at 96GB. So a 1TB VM would now only use 96GB from the vRAM licensing pool and only cost $3,495 to license.

• vRAM entitlements have been changed as follows:

• To help against spikes in memory usage it now uses a calculated 12 month average of configured vRAM rather than a high water mark

• The vRAM limit for the free edition of ESXi has been raised from 8GB to 32GB.

One other question I had for VMware was whether they have to modify the vSphere 5 RC code now before it goes GA to update it with these new licensing changes. My main concern was the hard limits imposed on the Essentials and free edition of ESXi. VMware responded that they have actually not applied any hard limits to the code yet so the GA version of vSphere 5 will not enforce any hard limits at all. This will be considered a bug and will be resolved in the next update of vSphere 5.

To make it easier for customers to see how the licensing changes will affect their existing environments VMware is releasing a vSphere Licensing Advisor Tool. It is an application that can be installed on any Windows computer that connects to vCenter Server and collects information about your environment. The information gathered is a point in time picture of vRAM usage, you can exit the tool and re-run it if you want to get updated vRAM usage numbers. The tool maps editions to the vSphere 5 equivalent edition using standard entitlement paths. It does not capture information on Linked Mode and instead calculates pools as if all vCenter Servers are linked together. The tool also caps the amount of per VM vRAM usage at 96GB. The results of the tool can be exported to a CSV file so data can be more easily viewed. Here are some screen shots of the tool in action:

So there you have it VMware heard you loud & clear and did what was needed to fix the mess they created. I hope you understand VMware had to do something to change the licensing model because the socket model just doesn’t work anymore with the way core counts keep increasing. It would of been nice if they had implemented these new changes originally so the reception to the vSphere 5 announcement focused on the features and not the licensing but what is done is done, VMware fixed it and now its time to move on. I really have to give them a lot of credit for so quickly responding to customer feedback and trying to make things right with their customers. While there are some that may still not like the new licensing model, it’s definitely better than before and since it is here to stay its time to start getting used to it. So lets start getting excited about the features in vSphere 5 and not fixate on licensing anymore. This promises to be another great release from VMware that makes an already great product even better.

It’s John Troyer’s birthday, for those that do not know John he’s VMware’s dynamic, social media and community person who will give you the shirt of his back if you ask. For those who do know him, well you probably already know this. I know John very well and he has graciously written the foreword on both my books. Two years ago I arranged a special surprise involving dozens of bloggers and community people for John in appreciation for everything he has done for the community, be sure and check out the videos to see his reaction to the surprise.

I subscribe to the weekly VMware Knowledgebase updates and regularly go through the new articles to find interesting posts. The VMware KB has more than just solutions to problems, it also has a lot of great information and how-to articles as well. There are a lot of great nuggets of information posted on a regular basis there so I would suggest going there periodically to see whats new. Here’s some recent notable articles that I saw that are a good read.

• Limiting disk I/O from a specific virtual machine without using SIOC (1038241)
• The esxtop utility causes high CPU load (2000829)
• Forcibly shutting down an ESX host remotely (2001123)