Entries from Eric Sloof

In addition to VMware’s announcement that vSphere 4 is now generally available, VMware is also pleased to announce that as of May 21, 2009 the vSphere vShield Zones product is also generally available. VMware vShield Zones 1.0 offers the following key features and benefits for vSphere 4 environments:

Continue reading "The vSphere vShield Zones Product" »

Yes, its true, Cisco virtual networking goodness is available to one and all. To kick things off, we have worked with the fine folks at VMW to put together a 60-day eval program so you can check things out in your own environment.  As a quick reminder, you will need a (free) cisco.com account to access the software (don’t worry, we won’t spam you).

Head over to https://www.vmware.com/tryvmware/ to get your 60-day vSphere 4.0 eval license
Go to http://www.cisco.com/go/1000v to access the design, install and upgrade guides—look for the “Support” box on the upper right part of the page
Go to http://www.cisco.com/go/1000vdownload a pull down a copy of the software - install it per instructions
Go to http://www.cisco.com/go/1000veval and obtain your eval license
Install, enjoy, and marvel at how you ever got along without it

Posted by Omar Sultan at the Cisco Blog.

Here are the Windows 2008 license requirements for running vms in any virtual environment. Licensing Microsoft Windows Server 2008 to Run with Virtualization Technologies VMware’s ESX Server, VMware’s VMotion, Microsoft’s System Center Virtualization Machine Manager, and Parallels’ Virtuozzo.

Windows Server Licensing on top of VMware’s ESX

If a server is running ESX as the virtualization technology, then Windows Server is not deployed as a host operating system in the physical OSE. However, a license is required for every instance running in a virtual OSE.

If you have assigned a single license for Windows Server 2008 Standard to a server running ESX, then you may run one instance of Windows Server 2008 Standard at a time. The right to run an instance of Windows Server 2008 in the physical OSE cannot be used in this case since ESX runs on the physical OSE (and as a result, Windows Server 2008 cannot be deployed as the operating system on the physical OSE.) 

If you have assigned a single license of Windows Server 2008 Enterprise to the server running ESX, then you may run up to four instances at a time of Windows Server 2008 Enterprise. You may not run a fifth instance under the same  license since that right requires that the fifth instance be running hardware virtualization software and software managing and servicing the OSEs on the server. 

I’m was one of the of the lucky bloggers who was asked to review Eric Siebert’s new book.

The Definitive Guide to Planning, Implementing, Securing, Maintaining, and Troubleshooting VMware Virtual Infrastructure 3

This is the most comprehensive guide to planning for, implementing, securing, maintaining, monitoring, and troubleshooting VMware VI3 in any IT environment. Written by Eric Siebert, a veteran VMware system administrator and one of only 300 vExperts named by VMware in 2009, this book will help IT professionals make the best possible decisions about VMware every step of the way.

Siebert presents extensive coverage of the upfront planning and architectural tasks that can make or break VMware deployments, sharing practical insights you’ll never find in the official documentation. Next, he presents dozens of tips, tricks, and best practices for everything from migration and configuration to backup. Along the way, Siebert introduces advanced techniques for optimizing both the efficiency of VMware system administration and the effectiveness of VMware virtual environments.

VMware ESX 4 Version: 4 | 2009/05/21 | Build: 164009 Download

VMware ESXi 4 Versson: 4 | 2009/05/21 | Build: 164009 Download

VMware vCenter Server 4 Version: 4 | 2009/05/21 | Build: Log in for build number. Download

VMware Consolidated Backup Version: 1.5 Update 1 | 2009/05/21 | Build: 150805 Download

VMware Data Recovery Version: 1.0 | 2009/05/21 | Build: 164675 Download

VMware vShield Zones Version: 1.0 | 2009/05/21 | Build: R1.0G68 Download

Cisco Nexus 1000V Virtual Ethernet Module Version: 1.0 | 2009/05/21 | Build: 27-0.4.2 Download

With great pleasure I took notice of the fact that I’m still in the high ranks of Eric Siebert’s VMware top blog list. NTPRO.NL is staying at the third place. In June 2007 I was the first blogger who wrote about the start-up of vSphere-land. Since then Eric collected an immense number of links to all kinds of information related to VMware. He recently re-branded VMware-land to vSphere-land, you can quickly access any of the blogs from his site at the vLaunchpad. At VMworld in Las Vegas I had the pleasure to meet Eric in person, he was one of the speakers at the Vmtn Community Experts Panel. While I was attending this session I recorded the introduction on video.

VMware is pleased to announce the general availability for VMware vSphere 4 is 21 May 2009. VMware vSphere 4 extends the previous generation VMware platform – VMware Infrastructure 3 – along three dimensions: it delivers the efficiency and performance required to run business critical applications in large scale environments, it provides uncompromised control over application service levels, and it preserves customer choice of hardware, OS, application architecture and on-premise vs. off-premise application hosting.

Paul Davey over at Xtravirt has dropped me a quick email to ask if I have seen their new updated website and the Presentation Pack that they are giving away for free, be sure to take a look. :-)

There are 4 individual packs which contain extensively detailed icons and imagery to illustrate any virtualisation solution.  In total, there are over 350 icons to choose from.

Another great Tool from Mightycare to display all Snapshots of  virtual Maschines on VMware ESX 3.x or Virtual Center 2.x . You can see all Detailinformation, like Age and Size of Snapshots and you see also how many Gigabytes  with all Snapshots the  virtual Machine are using.