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Release: VMware vCenter AppSpeed 1.2

admin — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 16:19:57 +0000

Today VMware released version 1.2 (build 41671) of its application performance analyzer AppSpeed, announced in January andÂ released for the first time in July.

AppSpeed,Â acquired from B-Hive in May 2008, is a performance analyzer tool that sniffs the network traffic and learn how the applications inside virtual machines usually perform, so it can help to understand the reason of performance issues.

Version 1.2 introduces some interesting features:

A single user interface can now manage different AppSpeed instances
The UI can now edit the mapped application topology
Administrators can exclude servers that donÃ¢Â€Â™t need to be monitored
Users authenticate against the vCenter user database
The product includes a new latency-focused analysis which offers two views: a view that compares a single application or transaction latency between servers, and a view that compares transaction or server latency with their latency baselines, pointing to latency anomalies

Release: Cisco Nexus 1000V 1.2

admin — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 16:19:19 +0000

Since the release in May, Cisco updated its virtual switch for VMware virtual infrastructure, the Nexus 1000V, a couple of times.

The second update arrived last week, introducing a number of key features. Most of them are security-oriented and very welcome.

The most prominent anyway is a JAVA-based GUI installer for the Virtual Supervisor Module (VSM).
The GUI allows to perform several actions like create the VMware port groups, VLANs, enable the SSH service, register the Nexus plug-in inside vCenter Server and restart the VSM.
Cisco publishedÂ a video to show it in action:

Nexus 1000V 1.2 also includes:

Layer 3 control
a VSM can be Layer 3 accessible and control hosts that reside in a separate Layer 2 network
Virtual Service Domain (VSD)
Virtual service domains (VSDs) allow you to classify and separate traffic for network services.
Interfaces within a VSD are shielded by a service VM (SVM) that provides a specialized service like a firewall, deep packet inspection (application aware networking), or monitoring.
iSCSI Multipath
The iSCSI multipath feature sets up multiple routes between a server and its storage devices for maintaining a constant connection and balancing the traffic load.
DHCP Snooping
DHCP snooping acts like a firewall between untrusted hosts and trusted DHCP server.
Dynamic ARP Inspection
Dynamic ARP Inspection (DAI) validates ARP requests and response.
MAC Pinning
If one or more upstream switches do not support port channels, you can use MAC pinning to assign each Ethernet port member to a particular port channel subgroup.
Static Pinning
You can use vPC-HM to configure a port channel subgroup so that traffic is forwarded only through its member ports by assigning (or pinning) one of the following to the subgroup: vEthernet interface, the Control VLAN e Packet VLAN.

Veeam Backup & Replication 4.1

admin — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 16:15:17 +0000

Yesterday Veeam released version 4.1 of its disaster recovery solution Backup & Replication.

The major new feature is that the product can now replicate the paid/licensed version of VMware ESXi leveraging the VMware vStorage APIs (so far it could only backup it).
The replication of free version of ESXi is not available,Â according to what VMware required in June.

Backup & Replication 4.1 also introduces SNMP notifications (reporting the status per-job and per-VM) and a brand new, stand-alone utility, available for Windows and Linux, called Extract that customers can store on tapes with saved data, to accelerate the restore process.

SpringSource CEO explains VMware synergies

admin — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 15:31:44 +0000

SpringSource CEO explains VMware synergies

VMware’s acquisition of SpringSource this summer left many IT
managers scratching their heads, wondering what an open source Java framework had to do with virtualization. In this interview, Rod Johnson, the former SpringSource CEO and now the general manager of VMware’s SpringSource division, talks with SearchServerVirtualization.com about the relationship between virtualization and application frameworks, the cloud, and what, ultimately, integration of these technologies will mean for their data centers.
RELATED: Listen to the full interview with Rod Johnson

VMware Site Recovery Manager 4 supports vSphere

The list of VMware products that do not yet support vSphere 4 is shrinking fast. This summer, VMware updated Lab Manager to support vSphere, which began shipping in May. Now, vCenter Site Recovery Manager 4, its automated disaster recovery product, also supports vSphere 4. The only remaining VMware product that still doesn’t support vSphere is VMware View, its virtual desktop infrastructure suite.
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How to use open source cluster resource management tools

This three-part series explains step by step how to create a Xen high availability setup with only open source components. This installment explains how to configure a cluster through open source Pacemaker.

Pacemaker, a cluster resource management tool for open source environments, is available as an extension pack for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (or as a free download in other distributions).
RELATED: Setting up shared storage for high availability in Xen VMs

Nominate the Products of the Year

SearchServerVirtualization.com is now taking submittions for Products of the Year 2009. Users and vendors are invited and encouraged to nominate their favorite/best products by completing the required form. In January 2010, the winning products will be highlighted on SearchServerVirtualization.com.
PRODUCTS OF THE YEAR DETAILS

Using VMware Go to get going on your ESXi virtualization project

admin — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:07:54 +0000

Using VMware Go to get going on your ESXi virtualization project

With VMware Go, SMBs and VMware first-timers have an easy entry into VMware ESXi virtualization. Get step-by-step instructions on using VMware Go.

READ THIS TIP

Masterâ€™s guide to VMware Fault Tolerance

Think you know everything about Fault Tolerance? If not, bookmark our masterâ€™s guide to Fault Tolerance â€“ and if you think you do, I bet this guide will teach you something anyway.

READ THIS BLOG POST

Installing and using VMware vCenter Lab Manager 4

Lab Manager 4 can shorten a system administratorâ€™s task list by enabling users to clone, snapshot and destroy virtual machines without granting them access to the entire VMware infrastructure. Learn how to install Lab Manager and learn how it might work in your environment.

READ THIS TIP

Removing old hardware after a P2V conversion

Make sure to remove old hardware drivers after a physical-to-virtual conversion, otherwise you could run into IP address conflict issues and youâ€™ll be consuming unnecessary additional resources.

READ THIS BLOG POST

The VMware-Microsoft hypervisor battle continues

admin — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 15:52:49 +0000

The VMware-Microsoft hypervisor battle continues

Eric Siebert, Contributor

Microsoft says VMware ESX costs too much, especially now that Hyper-V R2 includes free Live Migration. But what about the price of Microsoft’s OSes and Office productivity application? Also, will VMware beef up ESXi free edition at VMworld to rival Hyper-V R2?
READ THE FULL STORY

VMware buys SpringSource with Microsoft, Red Hat in mind

VMware’s recent acquisition of enterprise application development firm SpringSource laid bare its intentions to move beyond controlling access to physical hardware with virtualization and to move up the stack to applications. The shift could further usurp the role of traditional operating systems such as Microsoft Windows and Red Hat Linux.
READ THE FULL STORY

IT pro gets schooled in virtualizing a disaster recovery site

Through a variety of creative measures and much trial and error, our contributor and his team successfully converted the remote data center’s physical machines — without having anyone on-site.
READ THE TIP

Scheduling VMworld sessions

In this blog post, a VMworld veteran offers his pointers for creating your VMworld schedule using the VMworld scheduler. He also offers session suggestions.
READ THE BLOG

VMware to virtualize Google Chrome OS

admin — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 16:21:53 +0000

VMware to virtualize Google Chrome OS

Alex Barrett, News Director

There is no guarantee that Google will succeed in its quest to displace Microsoft Windows on the desktop withÂ Chrome OS, a Web-centric operating system Google announced earlier this month. One thing is certain though: When Chrome OS becomes available in the second half of 2010, VMware and other virtualization providers will virtualize it.

VMware Inc. itself confirmed that it intends to support Google Chrome OS as one of the many guest operating systems it can virtualize.
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Converting a physical server into a VMware ESXi virtual server

Almost every data center has underutilized physical servers running single applications, which makes them perfect candidates for virtualization. Learn how to convert an existing physical server into a virtual machine, then how to install ESXi on the server hardware and load the virtual machine back onto it.
READ THIS TIP

Resources that turn VMware beginners into experts

If you’re a VMware beginner, there is no ‘easy button’ to get VMware expertise. But the VMware resources listed here can jump-start your journey to VMware expert status.
READ THIS TIP

Podcast: VMware lures Virtual Iron users with 40% discount, goes after SMB market

Join site editor Hannah Drake, news writer Bridget Botelho and special guest Eric Siebert in the second edition of the Hypervisor Huddle, a monthly podcast covering the virtualization space. This month’s topics include VMware’s offer to Virtual Iron customers, whether or not VMware is fated to become the next Novell, and more.
LISTEN TO THIS PODCAST

Converting a physical server into a VMware ESXi virtual server

admin — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 15:43:48 +0000

Converting a physical server into a VMware ESXi virtual server

Many companies have not yet begun virtualizing because of virtualization costs and required hardware. What better way to get started than by turning existing servers into virtual hosts using the free VMware ESXi hypervisor?

Almost every data center has underutilized physical servers running single applications, which makes them perfect candidates for virtualization. Learn how to convert an existing physical server into a virtual machine, then how to install ESXi on the server hardware and load the virtual machine back onto it.

READ THIS TIP

Resources that turn VMware beginners into experts

If you’re a VMware beginner, there is no "easy button" to get VMware expertise. But the VMware resources listed here can jump-start your journey to VMware expert status.

READ THIS TIP

Podcast: VMware lures Virtual Iron users with 40% discount, goes after SMB market

Join site editor Hannah Drake, news writer Bridget Botelho and special guest Eric Siebert in the second edition of the "Hypervisor Huddle," a monthly podcast covering the virtualization space. This month’s topics include VMware’s offer to Virtual Iron customers, whether or not VMware is fated to become the next Novell, and more.

LISTEN TO THIS PODCAST

Virtual Data Center e-zine, July 2009 issue

The proliferation of virtual machines has dramatically expanded the concept of configuration management in today’s data centers. Stephen J. Bigelow sizes up the latest configuration management tools for you in Volume 12 ofÂ Virtual Data Center. Also in this issue, Edward L. Haletky offers tips on securing your virtual environment, and Brien M. Posey explains how to get the most out of your server, storage and network.

READ THIS E-ZINE

Hyper-V R2 matches VMware with 64-processor support

admin — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 16:34:02 +0000

Microsoft’s Hyper-V R2 will support 64 logical processors — a big deal for existing Hyper-V users, but not enough to win over VMware customers, say experts.

Support for 64 logical processors in Hyper-V R2 is a major upgrade over the existing version of Hyper-V, which supports only 16 processors. Support for 64 logical processors is important for users because of coming advances in hardware, said Chris Wolf, an analyst at Burton Group. IT shops want software that will let them get the most out of the latest hardware.
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VMworld 2009 awards: Nominate a product
Submit your product nominations for the Best of VMworld Awards. Judges will visit contenders’ booths at VMworld 2009, and winners will be announced at the show. Products must be from a company exhibiting at VMworld 2009. In addition to the other awards, a single Best of Show award will be given at the judges’ discretion.
SUBMIT A NOMINATION

How Hyper-V snapshots work
Point-in-time snapshots of a virtual machine in Hyper-V can save administrators time, but they aren’t backups, and you need to monitor disk usage and coordinate merges.
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Price, politics working against VMware vCenter Chargeback
Chargeback is a tough sell in any organization, but VMware isn’t making it any easier by pricing its new vCenter Chargeback so high.
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