Eric Sloof

Usually, when you need to use any USB device (like scanner, flash-memory, etc) you plug it into USB port of your computer. But for all that,  what if you want to use an USB device in a virtual machine? FabulaTech has resolved this problem in a different way.
They've created “USB over Network” which allows to work with remote USB devices over a local network or Internet. All you have to do is to install the “USB over Network Server” software on the PC where USB devices are plugged in. “USB over Network Client” must be installed in the virtual machines, you want to give access to those very USB devices you've already plugged in.

That's all. Now any virtual machine which has installed the “USB over Network Client” can work with remote USB devices as if they were connected directly to his local PC.

Just select USB device you want to share and click share button. Click the image to enlarge.

Viktor van den Berg, Product Manager and Technical Trainer at the Xpert Training Group is going to present a session about the Unattended Deployment of VMware Infrastructure 3 at the VMworld Europe 2009 Cannes.

An unattended deployment of VMware infrastructure 3 reduces the time needed for installation and configuration of your VMware ESX and vCenter server(s). It also reduces the risk misconfiguration. Unattended deployment of these products will gain you a consistent configuration. At Xpert Training Group, an indepedent VMware Authorized Training Centre from The Netherlands, unattended deployments of VI-3 are used on a regular basis. In this session you will learn how to automatically deploy your ESX servers and how to connect these fresh installed ESX servers to a vCenter server. After the introduction of a step-by-step plan for unattended deployment, this session will focus on some useful scripting techniques used in a unattended deployment scenario. Expect some bash and powershell scripting in this session.

Do you wonder about virtualization? Are you seeking for the best virtualization platform for your specific environment? Project VRC shows you the way!

Project Virtual Reality Check (VRC) is a joint venture of Log•in Consultants and PQR, who have researched the optimal configuration for the different available hypervisors (hardware virtualization layers). The project arises from the growing demand for a founded advice on how to virtualise Terminal Server and Virtual Desktop (VDI) workloads. Through a number of researches, Log•in Consultants and PQR show you the scaling possibilities for Terminal Server environments as well as Virtual Desktops.

Continue reading "VMware Platform Performance Index v1.0" »

Quickly following up on Beta 1, Beta 1.5 introduces three important new features:

• In addition to VMware Infrastructure 3 and VMware Server 2, VMM now supports the management and monitoring of Citrix XenServer 1.5.
• VMM now works on ALL mobile devices via its new Lite Mode. VMM will gracefully degrade itself to a zero-Javascript version if a fully-Ajax capable browser is not detected. You can now manage and monitor VMware and Xen from your BlackBerry, Windows Mobile device, or any phone with a web browser!
• Beta 1.5 introduces a feature we are calling Accidental Touch Detection (ATD). ATD prevents users from accidentally brushing up against a power button in full mode (as opposed to the new lite mode) and shutting down a VM. ATD requires an intentional touch (measured by a depression of 500 milliseconds).

Get beta 1.5 and read more about VMM at http://lostcreations.com/vmm/.

StorMagic’s SM Series Lite with no expiration will be available in 30 days. That’s right! In 30 days, you will have the opportunity to unlock the full potential of your ESX Server with StorMagic’s SM Series Lite. After VMware users asked StorMagic to develop an easy SAN Management solution to help users like yourselves, StorMagic is ready to release a breakthrough product redefining Shared Storage. It’s time to benefit from all the features your ESX Server has to offer and let StorMagic take you there!  And the best part? The SM Series Lite has no expiration which means you enjoy the benefits of shared storage for life!

• VMware Certified
• Turn unused internal disk drives into a virtual SAN
• Integrated into VI Center
• Single step storage provisioning
• Automatically expand you environment as your business grows
• Manage your VMs, Data Storage and O/S from 1 management tool

Usually, when you need to use any USB device (like scanner, flash-memory, etc) you plug it into USB port of your computer. But for all that, the device is accessible only for the computer it is plugged into. And what if someone else needs to use the same USB device? Or if you want to use it in a virtual machine. FabulaTech has resolved this problem in a different extraordinary way. They've created USB over Network which allows to work with remote USB devices over a local network or Internet. All you have to do is to install USB over Network Server on the PC where USB devices are plugged in. USB over Network Client must be installed on the VMs you want to give access to those very USB devices you've already plugged in. That's all.

Replicate Technologies has announced a new software update for its flagship product, Replicate Datacenter Analyzer™. The new release, Replicate Datacenter Analyzer (RDA) 1.2, expands its best practices library to add IP Knowledge Modules that increase the innovative product’s ability to detect and resolve configuration issues across a broader range of network issues, provides enhanced notification capabilities and drill down diagnostics, offers an easy-to-use user interface with advanced navigation and an updated dashboard, and supports VMware ESX 3i.

RDA 1.2 offers the following new capabilities:

New IP Knowledge Module – including the ability to detect and resolve configuration issues across a broader range of network issues. RDA can now identify routing and subnet misconfiguration and can determine if a guest VM network stack is operating correctly, as well as check for duplicate IP address usage in a common subnet.

Expanded drill down diagnostics – providing data to explain issues and guide IT towards a quick resolution – going beyond the basic identification of errors to save IT time and money.

Advanced item level notification – offering email notifications which now include full details on the exact changes that RDA has detected. The detailed notifications provide IT administrators with the latest information, delivered directly to their inbox.

Broader platform support – including support for VMware ESXi.

Increased scalability – offering significant performance improvements, including enhanced support for large scale datacenters of 100+ hosts.

I encountered a little issue when restarting my Windows 2003 server hosting both VirtualCenter and the internal SQL 2005 Express database.  SQL wasn’t fully started before VirtualCenter tried to logon and generated the following failure.

SQL Server is not ready to accept new client connections. Wait a few minutes before trying again. If you have access to the error log, look for the informational message that indicates that SQL Server is ready before trying to connect again.

Just e few events further Virtual Center was shutting down on me.

Forcing shutdown of VMware VirtualCenter now.

I know you can set a dependency on the VirtualCenter service so it would wait until SQL was fully running and till my great surprise, my old friend Andrew Kutz already has written an article about it.
You just need to add a value to the following registry key.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\vpxd and edit the DependsOnService property  (REG_SZ_MULTI) and add the MSSQL$SQLEXP_VIM value.

Dear ESX 3.5 Customer,

Our records indicate you recently downloaded VMware® ESX Version 3.5 U3 from our product download site. This email is to alert you that an issue with that product version could adversely effect your environment. This email provides a detailed description of the issue so that you can evaluate whether it affects you, and the next steps you can take to get resolution or avoid encountering the issue.

ISSUE DETAILS:

VMware ESX and ESXi 3.5 U3 I/O failure on SAN LUN(s) and LUN queue is blocked indefinitely. This occurs when VMFS3 metadata updates are being done at the same time failover to an alternate path occurs for the LUN on which the VMFS3 volume resides. The effected releases are ESX 3.5 Update 3 and ESXi 3.5 U3 Embedded and Installable with both Active/Active or Active/Passive SAN arrays (Fibre Channel and iSCSI).

PROBLEM STATEMENT AND SYMPTONS:

ESX or ESXi Host may get disconnected from Virtual Center
All paths to the LUNs are in standby state
Esxcfg-rescan might take a long tome to complete or never complete (hung)
VMKernel logs show entries similar to the following:
Queue for device vml.02001600006006016086741d00c6a0bc934902dd115241 49442035 has been blocked for 6399 seconds.
Please refer to KB 1008130. Continue reading "VMware ESX and ESXi 3.5 Alert" »

Lostcreations.com has been relaunched with the hot-off-the-build-server release of the first beta for Virtualization Manager Mobile! Monitor and manage your VMs from the palm of your hand. Well, as long as there is a mobile device in your hand. But what has happened to the old software section and where's the sVMotion Plugin?

This picture is (C) Viktor van den Berg. Story via Carlo Costanzo over at VMware Info

Update : I received an email from Andrew, the plug-ins are back online. :-)