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 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 Hardware, Virtualization, VMware

DELL: More info about Dell’s VESO Server


Hieronder zie je de binnenkant van een Dell VESO server. De VESO server kanworden voorzien van 2 QuadCore AMD Barcelona processoren (zie http://direct2dell.com/ voor meer info), max 128GB intern geheugen (16 dimm slots), max 20 network interfaces en de 10Gbit/s optie komt eraan.

Deze server is standaard voorzien van een 32MB ESX 3i flash memory kaart zodat je deze gelijk in kunt zetten in je datacenter.

Bron: http://www.uberpulse.com/us/2007/09/vmworld_07_dell_unveils_vizo_a_server_made_for_virtualisation.php

afokkema Virtualization, VMware

VMware: ESX3i (VESO) Demo by Dell


Op de blog Direct2Dell staat een introductie (demo) filmpje over ESX3i op een DELL VESO Server. Pretty cool als je het mij vraagt Hot.

What do we mean by simplifying IT? Take a look at this vlog, where David Schmidt, manager of the Virtualization Solutions Engineering team provides a preview of the demo system that Mark Jarvis and Diane Greene used at VMworld. See their keynote here (registration required). More details coming over the next few months.

Zie het filmpje hier: http://direct2dell.com/one2one/archive/2007/09/13/29651.aspx