VM /ETC

Posts Tagged ‘vi3’

Why is it that migrating to virtual infrastructure (VI) is most often considered to be the responsibility of the server administrators? Anyone who has already done it can tell you it involves much more than servers and hardware. Even for small companies, virtualizing servers potentially (and usually) involves networking, storage, security, and infrastructure services changes. In fact, it is often as involved and complex as moving your physical servers from one data center to another.

So why is there a perception that implementing VI is only a server team responsibility? Obviously, one reason is because on the surface it’s about installing and consolidating operating systems on server hardware. Another reason is because VMware, the source for all the interest in migrating to VI to date, has done such a great job marketing their products as just server installs. Read the rest of this entry »

Sure, you can run Virtual Center Management Server as a Virtual Machine. VMware supports it and has published a technical note about doing it – http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi3_vc_in_vm.pdf. A lot of companies have built their VC2 server this way, but is it really wise to have “the manager” of the environment running in the environment it is managing?

Think about it. Virtual Center provides VMotion which in turn enables DRS and HA. Agents running on each ESX host are communicating back to VirtualCenter for these features to work. A lot could go wrong with some pretty severe consequences. This is even worse if a company has completely virtualized their network services such as DNS. I’ve personally seen where a client “shot themselves in the foot” because Virtual Center and all networking services where provided by VMs.

In my opinion the VMware tech note is a not exactly a “glowing endorsement” for installing VC2 in a VM. It is best practices guide that explains critical design criteria.

First, why would you put VC2 in a VM? The tech note begins by offering some good reasons: Read the rest of this entry »

Like most if us, I watched the VMware stock plummet over the past several weeks, and I am now relieved to see it recovering again. What inspired me to write this post was an article from TheStreet.com - VMware Shakes Off Worries – News & Analysis – Tech Stock Update – VMW – ORCL

“They say VMware, which has a commanding 90% share of the virtualization market, will maintain its edge for specialized software that allows servers to run multiple operating systems because its management software tools are superior to those of their competitors, including Microsoft.”

I’m not a trained financial analyst. I do not even actively trade stocks, but 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 »