Tag: vSphere

Jul 08 2011

VMware’s vStorage APIs for Array Integration (VAAI): How they work and which arrays support them

In a virtual server environment, the interaction between hypervisor and the storage hardware that supports it is complicated. In an effort to simplify that interaction and make it more efficient, VMware developed the vStorage APIs for Array Integration (VAAI). The APIs create a separation of duty between the hypervisor and its storage devices, enabling each to focus on what it does best: virtualization-related tasks for the hypervisor and storage-related tasks for the storage arrays.

With VAAI, storage array vendors can directly integrate their storage hardware and applications with vSphere. VAAI enables certain storage tasks, such as cloning, to be offloaded to the storage array, which can complete them more efficiently than the host can. Rather than use host resources to perform the work (which was required prior to VAAI), the host can simply pass the task onto the storage array, which will perform it while the host monitors the progress of the task. The storage array is purposely built to perform storage tasks and can complete requests much faster than the host can.

Read the full article at searchvirtualstorage.com…

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Jul 08 2011

Patching VMware ESXi Installable

ESXi 4.1 brought changes to the patching process. Previously, the Host Update utility — an application included with the vSphere Client — could patch ESXi 4.0 hosts. VMware removed Host Update from ESXi 4.1, presumably to encourage users to upgrade to paid versions that are managed and patched with vCenter Server’s Update Manager. As a result, the only method left to patch the free version of ESXi is with the vihostupdate command-line utility, which is included in the vSphere Command-Line Interface (CLI).

Before using this method, it’s important to understand how the patches work and where to find them.

Read the full article at searchvmware.com…

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Jul 08 2011

Installing and configuring VMware ESXi

VMware announced that ESXi will be the exclusive hypervisor of vSphere 5. As such, we will likely see a greater adoption of VMware’s smaller hypervisor.

ESXi can be either embedded on a server (boot from flash) or installed on existing servers, using the Installable version. The free version of ESXi, the VMware vSphere Hypervisor, includes support for virtual symmetric multiprocessing (vSMP) and thin provisioning. No additional features are included, which means the free version of ESXi cannot be managed by vCenter Server, because it does not include a vCenter Server agent. To gain additional features and a vCenter Server agent, you need to upgrade your ESXi license.

The ESXi installation uses about 5 GB of space. Any remaining space on the drive is automatically formatted as a Virtual Machine File System (VMFS) partition. The hypervisor needs roughly 32 MB; the additional space is used for VMware Tools as well as swap and core dump partitions.

If you already have existing licenses for ESX, you can also choose to deploy ESXi in place of ESX on a server. Simply download ESXi installable. Install it and then license it with vCenter Server, as you would a traditional ESX server. Follow the steps below to install and configure ESXi.

Read the full article at searchvmware.com…

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Jul 07 2011

Register for VMware’s special event on 7/12 or else…

… Mr. T will come whoop your butt.

mr-t-712

Seriously though, if you’re involved in virtualization in any way, VMware’s special event on 7/12 is one you really can’t afford to miss. VMware is being vague on what the event is about but you should be able to put two and three together and come up with five. The reason VMware is being purposely vague is because their lawyers told to them be (yeah it sucks being a public company sometimes). But just because you came up with five doesn’t tell the whole story, you’re probably expecting to hear about something related to five but their is much more to it than that. VMware will be making more announcements than you will be expecting and you definitely want to hear what they have to say.

I am one of four bloggers invited to attend the event live, it is not being held in Palo Alto like the vSphere announcement was but instead in San Francisco much like an Apple event. The event starts at 9:00am PST and will go for until about 12:00 PST, below is the schedule for everything:

  • 9:00-9:45 Paul and Steve present – live online streaming
  • 10:00-12:00 three tracks of deep dive breakout sessions
  • 10:00-12:00 live Q&A with VMware cloud and virtualization experts

After the event David Davis & I are going to try and get some Q&A time with Steve Herrod and record a live vChat, so if you have any questions for him send them to us. So register now, seriously you don’t want to miss this one, their are some exciting times ahead for VMware!

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Jun 06 2011

Using SSD technology to support memory overcommitment in vSphere

With applications becoming increasingly memory-hungry, memory always seems to be the resource in the shortest supply on a host. In a virtualized server environment, the lack of sufficient physical memory can have a real impact on project ROI, since it will limit the density that you could otherwise achieve.

That’s because, while CPU sockets can support an ever-increasing number of cores, for maximum efficiency, a host has to have a balance of resources available to virtual machines (VMs). If a resource shortage occurs in any one area on a host — such as RAM — the number of VMs that the host can run will be restricted despite plentiful resources in other areas.

The technique of memory overcommitment in a virtualized environment can help mitigate the problem, and using SSD to handle memory overcommitment can produce better results at a lower cost than memory overcommitment on mechanical disk.

Let’s examine the memory limitations of server hardware, how memory overcommitment works, and how solid-state drive (SSD) technology can address the problem.

Read the full article at searchvirtualstorage.com…

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May 02 2011

The importance of a vSphere health check to VARs

Your customer’s vSphere environment may seem healthy enough at first glance, but external appearances can be deceiving. Hidden problems may lurk under the cover that can eventually cause the environment to become unhealthy.

Not all problems that can occur are obvious to VARs because virtualization is much more complicated than traditional computing environments. There are many more moving parts that can lead to more complications. Seemingly trivial things such as simple configuration settings can have a ripple effect on the environment if they aren’t set correctly. Virtualization is all about sharing a limited set of resources amongst many virtual machines (VMs) and ensuring the optimum performance and availability you need to ensure the environment stays healthy.

A vSphere environment health check is one of the most valuable services that you can offer to customers because vSphere needs constant maintenance to keep it operating efficiently and problem-free. A good health check should be done on a periodic basis and is similar to a home inspection in that it documents the environment and checks the many different vSphere components to identify any existing or potential problems that can occur. Health check results can also be used to identify potential optimization and performance improvement opportunities that VARs can turn into value-adds.

Read the full article at searchsystemschannel.com…

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Apr 29 2011

New vBookshelf launched

I just launched my new vBookshelf section of vSphere-land which can be found under the vInfo drop-down menu. I’ve gathered together over 30 books related to VMware and virtualization and have links and information on them. I think I’ve put together a pretty complete selection of good books that are available but if I’ve missed any please let me know. I’d also like to highlight 4 good books that have been recently released.

Click here to access the vBookshelf section of vSphere-land.com

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Title: Visible Ops Private Cloud: From Virtualization to Private Cloud in 4 Practical Steps

Authors: Andi Mann, Kurt Milne, Jeanne Morain

Publish Date: April 8, 2011

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Title: VMware vSphere Design

Authors: Scott Lowe, Maish Saidel-Keesing, Forbes Guthrie

Publish Date: March 8, 2011

v_powercli_ref

Title: VMware vSphere PowerCLI Reference: Automating vSphere Administration

Authors: Luc Dekens, Alan Renouf, Glenn Sizemore, Arnim van Lieshout, Jonathan Medd

Publish Date: April 12, 2011

v_vmware_enterprise

Title: VMware ESX and ESXi in the Enterprise: Planning Deployment of Virtualization Servers (2nd Edition)

Authors: Edward Haletky

Publish Date: February 18, 2011

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Apr 28 2011

New free tools section is open

This one is long overdue, I had a section created on my website a year ago that correlated to a link in my book, Maximum vSphere that listed all the many free tools that would be useful to a VMware administrator. But I had forgotten about it until recently so I scoured the internet for free tools and put together a big list of them. The table currently has over 80 tools and is sortable by category, name and vendor to help you go through them. If there is anything missing be sure and let me know.

Click here to access the Free Tools section of vSphere-land.com

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