VM /ETC

Archive for the ‘partner’ Category

The VCP Certification test will be changing in March. The announcement can be found on VMware’s Certification page:

VCP On VMware ESX Server 3.5 and Virtual Center 2.5 available March 1st, 2008

Current holders of the VCP for VMware Infrastructure 3 will not be required to refresh their certification for VMware ESX Server 3.5 and VMware VirtualCenter 2.5. Candidates who have taken one of the qualifying courses for the VCP on Virtual Infrastructure 3.0 and have not taken the test are encouraged to do so as soon as possible. Beginning March 1st, 2008 questions on VMware ESX Server 3.5 and VMware Virtual Center 2.5 may appear on the exam. Candidates who have taken VMware ESX Server 3.0 and VMware Virtual Center 2.0 classes and DO NOT take the test prior to March 1st, 2008 will have the following options to learn about the new software versions:

1. Self study and hands on experience.
2. What’s New e-learning offerings from VMware

What’s New classes will not be required for those attempting the exam, but are recommended as an information source.

IBM is running a VMware ESX evaluation promotion through December 31, 2008. Details about the promotion can be found at IBM System x and BladeCenter with VMware.

From the IBM site:

For a limited time, you can try VMware® Infrastructure 3 software when you purchase a VMware ServerProven® System x server or BladeCenter chassis. The eligible products are shipped with a flyer that entitles you to register for a 90-day evaluation license for VMware Infrastructure 3. Once registered, you will receive an email with your VMware Infrastructure license activation code and easy instructions on how to get started.

The promotional 90 day evaluation is an extension to the normal 60 day evaluation offered from the VMware.com downloads site.

Although closely working with your favorite VMware partner can also get you extended evaluation periods for ESX anyways, this promotion is worth mentioning for companies that are considering implementing Blades in their data center. A Blade Center is an effective option for reducing your server sprawl without virtualization, and with the ability now to have up to 6 nics and 32 mb of ram in some blade servers makes implementing VI3 on blades a great decision.

Vizioncore’s vConverter 3 claims to be faster than both Platespin’s PowerConvert and VMware’s VMConverter.

“vConverter enables lightning fast and easy conversions without disrupting the source physical system during the conversion process. There are never any reboots, no need to visit machines being converted, no software to install on the source and no downtime. A significant R&D effort and focus on conversion reliability and efficiency has resulted in the fine tuning of read/write/transfer algorithms and the creation of several mechanisms which result in impressive speed and conversion completion metric.”

Click here to see demos of recorded conversions. The first example is a freshly installed Read the rest of this entry »

What is VMware’s Capacity Planner tool and how do you get a copy? It’s a common question. Bottom line is that Capacity Planner is not a tool that can be downloaded by a Systems Administrator, but it is a tool that VMware partners use to perform a Capacity Analysis for Virtualization services project.

To understand the Capacity Planner tool let’s first back up and understand the Capacity Analysis services project. When you start to consider how to migrate your data center to VI:

• You need to size server hardware which will become ESX hosts, and you need to know how many ESX hosts you’ll deploy.
• You’d like to explore different vendor hardware platform scenarios for your ESX hosts.
• You need to understand which of your physical servers will consolidate well and which ones are not good virtualization canidates.
• You’d like to figure out a good VM to Host consolidation ratio.
• You need to estimate your total disk storage for the VI solution.

Capacity Planner helps you Read the rest of this entry »

Yep. It’s a shameless plug for my company. Regardless, I thought it was worth letting everyone know about these promotions from Microsoft before the year ended. Go crazy and implement a new server infrastructure on VI3 with your favorite solutions provider.

The following is from an email I received. I also have created a Promos page with this info.

Have you recently purchased Microsoft Office, SQL or Windows Server? If so, keep reading as you may have some free services to claim. Read the rest of this entry »

Shortly after Oracle announced their new free Xen-based virtualization product VMware sent an email to all it’s partners addressing the confusion caused by Oracle’s claims. The following is a cut and paste from the email I received:

What Was Announced?

Oracle announced Oracle VM at their Oracle OpenWorld user conference. Oracle VM is a Xen hypervisor based on Oracle Enterprise Linux. Oracle also announced that the Oracle Database, Oracle Application Server middleware and selected applications would be certified when run in Oracle Enterprise Linux virtual machines on Oracle VM. Oracle claimed that Oracle VM is more efficient than other virtualization products. Oracle VM is free, but annual support costs are $499 for two-socket systems and $999 for unlimited sockets.

Oracle Press Release:

• “Oracle Unveils Oracle VM”

Press/Blog Coverage:

• “ Oracle Introduces Oracle VM As It Leaps Into Virtualization” – Information Week
• “Analysts call Oracle’s virtualization bluff” – ZDnet

VMware Summary Response: Read the rest of this entry »