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Archive for the ‘vmetc.com’ Category

The VIRTUMANIA continues with Episode 2! Rick Vanover joins Marc and I again along with very special guest Jason Boche, the Virtualization Evangelist, for a recorded discussion about DR options in virtualized environments. The following is the podcast summary:

VIRTUMANIA Podcast Episode 2 – Virtulization Makes DR Easy. Rich Brambley (@rbrambley) of VMETC and Marc Farley (@3parfarley) of 3Par and StorageRap.com with guests and Rick Vanover (@rickvanover) of RickVanover.com and Jason Boche (@jasonboche) of Boche.net/blog. This week’s episode includes discussion about how virtualization has changed disaster recovery and site failover, explores various virtual machine backup and replication products, compares storage mirroring to purely physical solutions in the past, and thinks about DR technologies in the future. Thanks to Greg Knieriemen (@knieriemen) of Chi Corporation for this Infosmack Production.

Before, between, and after the important stuff we also have some fun with Virtumania Bucks, the ongoing danger of nipples in the data center (yes, we go there again!), and a new nickname for Greg Knieriemen.

Listen to the podcast with the embedded player or subscribe to get a weekly copy so you can listen when convenient.

Check out the VM /ETC VIRTUMANIA Page to listen to past episodes as well as episodes of Infosmack.

The following links offer more information on some of the VM Backup and DR products mentioned in VIRTUMANIA Episode 2:

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ESXi doesn’t have a Service Console like ESX. Therefore, you can’t SSH to the server without entering unsupported mode. That process may be a hassle if all you need to do is modify VM configuration files. Of ourse, you could use the Datastore Browser from the VI/vSphere Client, but to make file edits you would have to download a file to your desktop, edit it, and then upload the changed version back to ESXi again. On the other hand, with Veeam’s free FastSCP editing files on ESXi datastores is easy.

To be clear, you can’t edit configuration files of the ESXi host itself with FastSCP, but there really should not be a need to do so. That’s one of the benefits of ESXi not having a Service Console!

Download FastSCP here. You will have to register with Veeam first, and the registration form will not accept a personal email. I’m guessing there is some kind of lead qualification strategy and support registration involved with this requirement for download, but I learned a work address is unavoidable. I tried to use my gmail address but received a message similar to “you must use a company email address.” The registration process ends with a confirmation email to be acknowledged before you can download, so making up a fake email is futile. Hey, it’s a small price to pay for a free, quality admin tool.

After you install FastSCP you’ll discover you have access to a trial period of Veeam Backup and Replication. I suggest exploring

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This is just a quick note to announce that VMETC.com is now optimized for most mobile browsers. I’ve configured the WPTouch plugin for the site so a mobile theme should show up automatically. Various mobile browsers and devices are supported including the iPhone and iPod Touch.  Bookmark the site in your mobile browser!

For quick access from the iPhone or iPod Touch open VMETC.com in the Safari browser, click the  ”+” icon on the bottom bar, choose “Add to Home Screen”, and then marvel at the Virtually Insane icon that appears among your other apps!

Leaving comments should also be an option from the mobile theme, but I have not fully tested that feature.

UPDATED 02.18.10 – Since there are still several mobile devices, Blackberrys, and other PDAs that do not have a browser supported by the WPTouch plugin (hopefully popular devices will continued to be added during the plug in’s devlopment),

I’ve created m.vmetc.com as an alternative for all mobile devices.

This URL is actually a redirect to my RSS Feed converted into a mobile site via Google Reader. You don’t have to open the URL in Google Reader (or any other RSS reader) , however. Just bookmark and use the URL. I learned about this quick and easy trick from an old LifeHacker article.

I guess I have a face for Internet radio as I was invited back as a guest for another episode of Greg Knieriemen’s (@knieriemen of Chi Corporation ) and Marc Farley’s (@3parfarley of 3Par and StorageRap.com) popular Infosmack podcast.

Along with the famous StorageIO.com’s Greg Schulz (@StorageIO – making the exact same guest lineup as my previous appearance on Episode 34), on Episode 38 we wonder about the privacy concerns surrounding Google Buzz, provide a little more coverage of VMware Partner Exchange 2010, discuss new processors from Intel and IBM and their potential use in storage devices, and, among other things, generally wonder why the great technology from IBM doesn’t make a bigger splash in the community. We also discuss Dell buying Exanet and Exar buying Neterion.

Here’s a quick list of links if you are interested in a little more information on the topics.

Episode 38 Topic Links

Google Buzz Privacy Changes

Google Buzz Recast as Auto-suggest to Quell Privacy Fears

Dell buying Exanet for rumored $12M
http://storageio.com/blog/?p=1104
Exar buying Neterion
http://www.neterion.com/how/product.html
IBM announced SONAS

IBM rolls out SONAS clustered NAS based on GPFS

IBM announced Power7:
http://storageio.com/blog/?p=1098

VMware Partner Exchange 2010 – plenty of coverage here on VMETC.com!

http://vmetc.com/tag/vmwarepex/

Download/subscribe the episode/podcast on StorageMonkeys.com. I’ve also embedded a player to listen to it right from this post if you prefer. Enjoy!

Future HP Blade Tech Day Infosmack Episode?

At the end of the month I will be at a HP Blade Tech Day Event in Houston, TX along with Greg Knieriemen.

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The LackRack

Most of my colleagues have a home lab with at least some equipment that is rackable, but because of expense, room size, or the decor concerns of a much smarter significant other purchasing a data center rack is not possible (or advisable). In fact, our servers, storage and switches are stacked under a desk, piled in a corner, or hidden in a coat closet. Virtualization and server consolidation has helped reduce the total amount of hardware we need running at home, but we still end up with a makeshift and cluttered workspace that keeps us in the dog house.

Now, imagine this conversation:

Yes, going to IKEA with your Love is a dangerous undertaking, but it’s a reality to consider for your home lab.

The IKEA Lack tables are the perfect size

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Before the Alliance, Coalition, and Partnership start the Cloud Wars, everybody raise your Guinness and say “Brilliant!”

YouTube Guinness Brilliant Six Pack Commercial

It’s obvious now that Cloud Computing is no longer just a concept. Amazon EC2 has been around for a while, vCloud Express was announced late last year, Microsoft is moving full steam ahead with Azure, and new internal cloud infrastructure and storage solutions are appearing on the scene weekly. CTOs and IT Directors are starting to see legitimate solutions for offloading some or all of their development and production workload and infrastructure to alternatives in The Cloud.

Put yourself at the helm of one of the Original Equipment Manufacturer’s (OEMs) that have made their money selling server, switch and storage hardware in the private data center to date. Faced with the future possibility that companies will have an option to run applications and services on infrastructure they don’t buy, build, or maintain, what would be your strategy for generating reoccuring business in the future?

I bring it up because of all the cloud architecture announcements. EMC announced a coalition with Cisco and VMware, NetApp has a Secure Multi Tennancy alliance with Cisco and VMware, and HP has announced an Integrated Infrastructure partnership with Microsoft. The storage OEMs are the first out the gate with the snap together infrastrucure for the cloud, but I imagine other hardware partnerships are not too far behind. VMware and Cisco UCS may already be the first with Microsoft and HP? Microsoft and VMware conveniently can run on top if it all.

Before the Alliance, Coalition, and Partnership start the Cloud Wars, everybody raise your Guinness and say “Brilliant!”

It’s brilliant because Read the rest of this entry »

I was lucky enough to have been invited as a guest on this week’s Infosmack podcast. Infosmack, sponsored by StorageMonkeys.com, is a weekly storage, virtualization, and infrastructure podcast hosted by Greg Knieriemann and Marc Farley covering top weekly news and issues in the data center. Greg Schulz, author of the StorageIO Blog, was is also a guest with me on this week’s episode. I had a great time recording the call and I am really excited about the final result available now for download.

Already one of the subscriptions listed in my recent post about podcasts relevant to virtualization administrators, Infosmack Podcast Episode #34 – VMware vs Hyper-V discusses several topics on the minds of the virtualization community right now including:

• VMware’s purchase of Zimbra
• VMware Go for ESXi
• VMware and Microsoft Clouds
• HP’s partnership announcement with Microsoft and Hyper-V
• HP LeftHand’s announcement of a iSCSI SAN for Hyper-V
• Backup strategy for virtualized environments

Check out Episode #34 and offer your thoughts in the comments here or on the StorageMonkeys.com episode page linked above. Honestly, the title makes the podcast seem more controversial than it really is, but it’s good discussion none the less! The four of us really thought through virtual infrastructure and various vendor cloud scenarios based on recent announcements, acquisitions, and partnerships forming recently.

While you are listening Subscribe to the Infosmack Podcast for new episodes every Monday and join the StorageMonkeys.com community too. If you are an aspiring blogger use storagemonkeys.com for an instant audience. You have the option to be authenticated with your Facebook account if you don’t want to create a new one.

Be sure to look me up as rich brambley and add me as a StorageMonkey friend.

Greg Schulz has also posted is summary of the podcast. Check out his StorageIO.com post Infosmack Episode 34, VMware, Microsoft and More. Greg also includes several links for extra info on the topics we discussed.