afokkema Virtualization

Tool: vOptimizer


Vizioncore

Quote van de Vizioncore website:

vOptimizer

vOptimizer is an advanced optimization solution that quickly and easily reduces a virtual machine’s virtual hard drive to the smallest size possible while optimizing Windows guest operating systems for speed and performance. vOptimizer 4.0 offers many new functions for enterprise level customers while improving the interface and ease of operation for smaller, desktop oriented users. vOptimizer – Desktop Edition enables unlimited optimizations of local VMs  while Network Edition enables unlimited optimizations of VMs located anywhere across the network. vOptimizer –Network Edition also enables the optimization of offline VMs as well as scheduled optimizations.

Advantages

Virtual machine platform technologies have the ability to transform the way people derive value from computing, especially in scenarios such as demonstrations or rapid solution prototyping. One of the limitations in this paradigm, however, can be the size of a virtual machine virtual hard drive. Specifically, large virtual hard drives are difficult to share and move around. Reducing the size of a virtual hard disk (VMDK with VMware / VHD with Microsoft) by as much as possible can deliver a big pay-off if virtual machine usage is a key component of an organization’s computing strategy. Optimizing a guest operating system for speed can have similar dividends, especially if virtual machines are used in selling or demo scenarios. Virtual machines can be reduced by up to 80% with vOptimizer, which are then easily utilized via CD or DVD or shared with colleagues over the network or Internet.

De User manual vind je hier: vOptimizerUserManual.pdf

Een introductie video vind je hier: voptimizer_video.html

De Freeware versie kun je hier downloaden: http://www.download.com/

Quote van Eric Sloof (www.ntpro.nl/blog) over de freeware versie en de licentie structuur.

Vizioncore vOptimizer Freeware may be used for a maximum of two (2) users within Licensee’s organization. For more than two (2) users within an organization licenses must be obtained. This license does not entitle Licensee to receive hard-copy documentation, technical support, telephone assistance, or enhancements or updates to the Product from Vizioncore

 

Bron: http://www.ntpro.nl/blog/archives/262-vOptimizer-FreeWare-4.0.41.html

afokkema VMUG

Event: NL Event: VMUG 2007 Update


Op 7 December 2007 is het zover. Dan zal het Nieuwegeins Business Center gevuld worden met VMUG’ers vanuit het hele land.

Inmiddels is een deel van de Agenda beschikbaar, deze kun je hier vinden. Voor een overzicht van alle sprekers kun je hier terecht. Wil je nog meer info dan verwijs ik je door naar de VMUG site.

Mocht je erbij willen zijn dan kun je via het inschrijfformulier jezelf aanmelden. Dit kan alleen als je lid bent van het VMUG forum. De kosten voor het evenement zijn 99€ exclusief BTW. In dit bedrag zijn alle hapjes en drankjes inbegrepen. Ook krijg je een VMUG goodie.

Ik heb me vandaag ingeschreven want er geld een vroegboek korting van 10€ 😉

afokkema Virtualization, VMware

Tool: VI3 PatchDownloader 2.1


patchdownloader2-case-240x320

Op 12 Oktober is er een nieuwe versie vrijgegeven van deze handige tool.

The latest follow up to the well received VI3 PatchDownloader tool is now a Windows command line executable meaning that it can be scripted and scheduled as a routine task. Additional functionality means that it is now easier than ever to keep up to date with VMware® ESX patch downloads.

Change Log:

2.1

– Updated for ESX 3.0.2

2.0.1.2

– Fixed minor bug which meant patches released in the month of July were not being downloaded.

2.0.1.1

– Fixed minor bug which meant the script did not exit cleanly after downloading the last of the 3.0.1 patches.

Copyright © xtravirt.com

Download de tool hier: http://www.xtravirt.com/

afokkema VMware

VMware: Announces VI 3.5


Hieronder een quote van de press release:

Virtualization platform enhancements help deliver new levels of performance, scalability and compatibility for running the most demanding workloads in virtual machines:

  • Expanded storage and networking choices such as support for SATA local storage, 10 Gig Ethernet, and Infiniband expand storage and networking choices for virtual infrastructure
  • Support for TCP Segment Offload and Jumbo frames reduce the CPU overhead associated with processing network I/O
  • Support for hardware nested page tables such as in processor assists for memory virtualization
  • Support for paravirtualized Linux guest operating systems enables higher levels of performance through virtualization-aware operating systems
  • Support for virtual machines with 64GB of RAM and physical machines with up to 128GB of memory

New virtual infrastructure capabilities help deliver increased infrastructure availability and resilience:

  • VMware Storage VMotion enables live migration of virtual machine disks from one data storage system to another with no disruption or downtime. VMware VMotion has become an indispensable tool for many infrastructure administrators to dynamically balance their server workloads and eliminate planned downtime for server maintenance. Storage VMotion extends VMotion to storage resources of a virtual machine, namely virtual disks. Using Storage VMotion, administrators can dynamically balance the storage workload and address performance bottlenecks by migrating virtual machine disks to the best available storage resource. Administrators can minimize service disruption previously incurred for upgrading storage arrays and free storage administrators to improve and manage the storage infrastructure without having to co-ordinate extensively with application and server owners.
  • VMware Update Manager automates patch and update management for VMware ESX Server hosts and virtual machines. Update Manager addresses one of the most significant pain points for every IT department: tracking patch levels and manually applying the latest security/bug fixes. Patching of offline virtual machines enforces higher levels of patch standards compliance than physical environments. Integration with VMware Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS) enables zero-downtime VMware ESX Server host patching capabilities.

New virtual infrastructure management solutions help deliver increased automation for streamlined managed of IT environments.

  • VMware Distributed Power Management is an experimental feature that reduces power consumption in the data center through intelligent workload balancing. Working in conjunction with VMware DRS, Distributed Power Management is designed to automatically power off servers not currently needed in order to meet service levels, and automatically power on servers as demand for compute resources increases.
  • VMware Guided Consolidation, a feature of VMware VirtualCenter enables companies to get started with server consolidation in a step-by-step tutorial fashion. A wizard discovers physical servers, identifies consolidation candidates, converts them to virtual machines, and leveraging intelligently places them onto the best VMware ESX Server or VMware Server hosts. Guided Consolidation helps to make the consolidation process quick and easy for users with little knowledge of virtualization.

Availability, Packaging and Pricing
The new release of VMware Infrastructure will be available later in 2007.  Updated packaging and pricing for VMware Infrastructure will go into effect concurrent with the general availability later in 2007. VMware Infrastructure will be available for purchase in the following editions:

  • VMware ESX Server 3i, providing single server partitioning, will be delivered embedded as firmware in server systems or as a standalone purchase for hard-drive installation. If purchased standalone for hard-drive installation, ESX Server 3i list price will be $495 per 2 processors.
  • VMware Infrastructure 3 Foundation (previously called “Starter”) will include VMware  ESX Server, VMware ESX Server 3i, VMware Consolidated Backup and the new VMware Update Manager. Unlike the previous VMware Infrastructure 3 Starter, VMware Infrastructure 3 Foundation will have no restrictions on shared storage connectivity, memory utilization or number of CPUs of the physical server. VMware Infrastructure Foundation list price will be $995 per 2 processors.
  • VMware Infrastructure 3 Standard is designed to bring higher levels of resiliency to IT environments at greater value. In addition to the capabilities of VMware Infrastructure 3 Foundation, VMware Infrastructure 3 Standard will include VMware HA which provides automated restart of virtual machines affected by hardware failure.  VMware Infrastructure 3 Standard list price will be $2995 per 2 processors.
  • VMware Infrastructure 3 Enterprise contains the entire array of virtual infrastructure capabilities for resource management, workload mobility, and high availability. In addition to the capabilities in VMware Infrastructure 3 Standard, it also includes VMware VMotion, VMware Storage VMotion, and VMware DRS with Distributed Power Management (DPR). VMware Infrastructure 3 Enterprise list price will be $5750 per 2 processors.
  • VMware VMotion, Storage VMotion and DRS with DPM will also be available for standalone purchase with VMware Infrastructure 3 Foundation and Standard.
  • Existing VMware Infrastructure customers with valid support and subscription contracts will receive the new products and features included in each edition at no additional cost.

Lees de rest van het artikel hier: http://www.vmware.com/company/news/releases/esx_35.html

afokkema Microsoft, VMware, Windows

VMWare: Install VMWare Tools on Windows Server 2008 Core


 

Ik zag de volgende post op de blog van Mike Laverick: http://www.rtfm-ed.co.uk/?p=451. In deze post word door Michael Maher word uitgelegd hoe je de VMware Tools kunt installeren in een Windows Server 2008 Core VM.

“For those unfamiliar with Server Core it is a command line only version of Windows Server 2008 (formerly Longhorn). I have been trying to install this on ESX 3.0. On the GUI version of Windows 2008 server, VMWare tools must be installed to get the NIC working. Server Core however is command line only. VMWareTools is a GUI installation so this is not an option for Server Core. The workaround is to transfer VMWareTools (contained in a file called windows.iso) from your ESX server to a local drive. This can be done using Winscp. Use Virtual Center to mount the windows.iso file as a CDROM drive in the Server Core VM. The driver files are located in \Program Files\VMWare\VMWare Tools\Drivers\VMXNet\w2k of the windows.iso file. The command used to install the drivers is

C:\Windows\System32>pnputil -i -a vmxnet.inf
Microsoft PnP Utility
Processing inf : vmxnet.inf
Successfully installed the driver on a device on the system.
Driver package added successfully.
Published name : oem2.inf

Next check the installation of the driver. Vmxnet should be displayed near the end of the list.

C:\Windows\System32>driverquery
ws2ifsl Winsock IFS driver Kernel 18/04/2007 04:52:40
vmxnet VMware Ethernet Adapte Kernel 22/04/2006 23:13:11

You can then enable remote access of Server Core with the command.


netsh advfirewall set allprofiles settings remotemanagement enable

To disable the firewall.
netsh advfirewall set allprofiles firewallpolicy allowinbound,allowoutbound”

In post word ook nog verwezen naar een ander blog van Justin Campbell. Daar vind je nog meer info over Server 2008 Core: http://cmsjustin.blogspot.com/2007/09/windows-server-2008-core-not-what-i-had.html

afokkema Virtualization, VMware

VMware: How to Secure your VMware ESX Server


Daniel Petri van de website http://www.petri.co.il/ heeft een artikel geschreven over de beveiliging van VMware ESX Server.

On a traditional server, you are only concerned with locking down the server OS. That OS could be Linux or Windows. Windows has, of course, been the favorite for security attacks so much of our time is spent securing it. So what if you put VMware ESX into this picture?

With VMware ESX being loaded on top of the server hardware, there are a few points of immediate concern:

  1. the VMKernel & its virtualization layer
  2. the VMware ESX Service console (based on Red Hat Linux Enterprise)

These two pieces are two very distinct parts of VMware ESX. VMware has periodically released patches for both of these different components although you probably just thought of them as “ESX patches”.

Concerning #1, the VMKernel and its virtualization layer is extremely secure. The Guest machines have hardware isolation in place and it seems impossible that a guest VM could somehow compromise the security of the host virtualization layer.

As for #2, with the services console being based on Linux, it will be affected by most of the Red Hat Linux vulnerabilities. Because the service console is a Linux OS with a direct link to the VMKernel, I will focus on securing the service console.

But first, what many admin’s forget about once they have virtualization software in place, is the underlying virtual guest operating systems. Because it is so easy to add a new server (in just seconds), it is easy to forget to add those servers to your patch distribution system (like SMS or WSUS), add anti-virus software, install the latest service packs, and or tweak security settings. In my opinion, the insecurity of those underlying virtual guest operating systems is the single largest source of concern for the security of your ESX servers. Fortunately, because ESX separates the guests from the host, if a guest is compromised it is unlikely it could affect the host except to perhaps take up more network bandwidth or server resources. My point being, don’t forget to secure your underlying Windows and Linux virtual guest operating systems!

With that, let’s get to securing your ESX Server service console… 

Lees de rest van het artikel hier: http://www.petri.co.il/secure-vmware-esx-server.htm

afokkema Random, Virtualization, VMware

VMware in de top vijf van de softwaresector


Computable heeft een leuk artikel geschreven over VMware na haar beursgang.

VMware’s IPO (initial public offering) deed voor virtualisatie wat senator Larry Craigs arrestatie bereikte voor sex in publieke toiletten: het bracht het fenomeen onder de aandacht van een groot publiek. Wie friemelt tussen de hardware en besturingssystemen komt echter onvermijdelijk in aanvaring met Microsoft.

Lees hier de rest van het artikel: http://www.computable.nl/artikel.jsp?id=2147741

afokkema Microsoft, Virtualization, Windows

Windows: Windows Server 2008 RC0 available with Viridian


Vanaf vandaag is de RC0 te downloaden vanaf de Microsoft site.

Er zijn twee versies beschikbaar:

  1. 6001.16659.070916-1443_x86fre_Server_en-us-KR1SFRE_EN_DVD.iso
  2. 6001.16659.070916-1443_amd64fre_Server_en-us-KR1SXFRE_EN_DVD.iso

Je kunt de beide versies hier downloaden: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=0818d425-cd47-4279-be8d-24aba14530a3&DisplayLang=en

Echter volgens deze how to: http://blogs.technet.com/jhoward/ heb je de 64Bit versie nodig als je met Viridian wilt gaan spelen.

Ik hoop een deze dagen een how to te posten over hoe je viridian in een Workstation VM kunt installeren.