VMware Blog

2006-11-08T08:37:00.001-05:00

VMware Blog is shutting down. I'm too busy to dedicate any time to this blog and with great bloggers already doing the work in this area, there is no need to duplicate it. Instead, I'll concentrate on my ThoughtComm blog. Thanks...

**Updated 2/9/11 to reflect more recent blogs before sale

2006-09-28T16:57:00.000-04:00

VMware 'miles ahead' of Microsoft Virtual Server, expert says

I agree.

2006-09-21T08:18:00.000-04:00

Vizioncore's got VMware's back | InfoWorld | Review | 2006-09-21 | By Paul Venezia

From the article:

The backup and restore process itself is the very model of simplicity. Armed with the root credentials to the VMware servers and administration rights to Virtual Center, esxRanger’s backup method is straightforward: It creates a snapshot of the target server and then leverages tar and gzip to collect and compress the snapshots and the VMDK (VM Disk Format) hardware configuration file for the target VM into an SSH connection between the ESX or VI3 server and the workstation. From there, the resulting tarball is placed onto the destination medium, whether it is a local disk, a SAN, or a simple Windows share. Alternatively, the backup may be directly placed on a file system mounted on the VMware server, be that a SAN LUN (logical unit number) or an NFS file system.

2006-09-19T15:39:00.000-04:00

VMware preps less painful ESX upgrades

virtualization.info reported over a month ago about zero downtime migration from ESX 2.x to ESX 3.x. Now it seems we have a name for this feature, "Dmotion" as well as a bit more detail. I think it would be much more appropriate to call it "Promotion".

2006-09-06T16:37:00.000-04:00

Phil Windley's Technometria | VMWare ESX Performance Report

Phil Windley, former CIO of Utah, had a student do a report on ESX server performance. He reports the following findings from the student:

Single CPU virtual machines scale better than virtual machines using Virtual SMP.
Hyper-Threading increases throughput if there are a large number of virtual CPUs, but makes no difference if the number of virtual CPUs is less than or equal to the number of physical CPUs.
Do not allocate excessive resources to virtual machines. Additional resources may hurt performance.

2006-08-30T15:42:00.000-04:00

virtualization.info: Tool: Live View

A forensic analysis tool from CERT which allows virtualization on the fly so systems can be untouched in the physical world but manipulated in the virtual world. Try it out for yourself.

2006-08-15T10:57:00.000-04:00

virtualization.info: Features comparison: VMware Workstation 5.5.2 vs Server 1.0.0

Helpful reference as to how these products compare. I'm running Workstation on my desktop and Server on my laptop. Some feature in Workstation are definitely worth the money.

2006-08-15T10:55:00.000-04:00

VMware Appliance Winners

VMware's introduction of virtual appliance was simply brilliant. Organizing a contest and challenging the community to contribute their best appliances sparked a variety of ideas and purposes for virtual machines. Now we have the winners with this appliance (HowNetWorks) taking top honors. Download a copy and try out the result of ingenuity, teamwork and practical application.

2006-08-07T10:59:00.000-04:00

virtualization.info: VMware Workstation for Mac OS X to enter beta soon

2006-08-02T11:57:00.000-04:00

Two new migration offerings for ESX

Vizioncore debuts esxMigrator and PlateSpin releases PowerConvert 6.0. Both products can assist in the move to VI3. Check them out and let us know your experiences.

2006-07-20T20:34:00.000-04:00

LinuxWorld | VMware slams XenSource-Microsoft deal

via digg

2006-07-12T13:36:00.000-04:00

virtualization.info: Release: VMware Server 1.0

Full version available.

2006-07-12T13:33:00.000-04:00

virtualization.info: Release: VMware VirtualCenter 1.4

2006-07-04T18:32:00.000-04:00

Improving Business Continuity Using Virtual Infrastructure

Dell e-seminar available next week.

2006-06-26T11:04:00.000-04:00

VMGuru : Restoring an ESX 2.X Virtual Machine on VMware Server

Nice article at VMGuru on using VMware server as a restore environment for disaster recovery on an ESX 2.x server. A GUI for the manual changes to the header file is forthcoming on VMGuru.

2006-06-26T10:59:00.000-04:00

virtualization.info: Whitepaper: Unofficial upgrade guide to VMware ESX Server 3.x and VirtualCenter 2.x

Thinking about upgrading to VI3, it might be worth checking out this paper.

2006-06-26T10:57:00.000-04:00

VMware Utilities

If you haven't checked out these utilities, you may find them a great deal of help. VMware DiskMount GUI and VMware DiskManger GUI are available here.

2006-06-26T10:54:00.000-04:00

Australia's Premier Virtualisation Community

The VMTN blog introduces a new blog in the community that has some good articles focused on VMware issues. Check it out.

2006-06-21T23:54:00.000-04:00

Installing Windows 2003 (within ESX 3.0) on an 8 processor AMD64 Opteron server

Rockin'! Also enjoy Richard's installation of the ESX 3.0 which has some nice banjo. I need to play some of this when I upgrade. Thanks, Richard (http://www.cyclelicio.us)!

2006-06-15T22:45:00.000-04:00

South Carolina VMware User Group - June 29th Meeting

Register to come and join us for the following:

Agenda: Upgrade/Migration Strategies to Virtual Infrastructure 3
* Intro's
* Elect Officers
* Discussion on Migration Strategies to move from ESX 2.x to VI3
* Q&A round-table

2006-06-13T12:16:00.000-04:00

Ecora First to Deliver Configuration Management Solution for VMWare

The press release says:

Ecora Reporter and Auditor for VMWare come loaded with 28 ready-made report templates, including:

• ESX security settings
• Virtual machine permissions
• VMFS files
• VMFS volumes
• ESX and GSX host overview
• Virtual machine summary
• Physical NIC and virtual switches
• Linux local users and groups, and many more.

Give it a try and let us know what you think.

2006-06-08T23:00:00.000-04:00

Flash: VMWare eats Microsoft's lunch again, steals toys, cuts in line - Computerworld Blogs

Jeff Boles has a few words to say. Here is his final thought:

I think even the Microsoft fans in us love to love VMWare, because it finally makes our hope come alive - finally, a way to use this nice GUI OS without having to worry about how we're shooting ourselves in the foot. As VMWare continues to add tremendous depth to their product line, it doesn't look like competitors in the same space have a wing or a prayer.

2006-06-06T08:42:00.000-04:00

VMware Not Resting on Laurels, President Says

eWeek reports Diane Greene's announcement of VI 3 yesterday.

2006-06-06T08:32:00.000-04:00

VMware Infrastructure 3

Visit the VMware site for more info in detail about the products now available. Some nice pdf's concerning the details.

2006-06-05T08:03:00.000-04:00

VMware aims higher with new bundle | CNET News.com

VMware is introducing VMware Infrastructure 3, combining a number of products together as a package. Pricing is expected as follows:

VMware said Infrastructure 3 will be available this month in three versions: Infrastructure Starter for small and medium-size companies costs $1,000 per two processors; Infrastructure Standard is for companies consolidating department-level environments and costs $3,750 per two processors; and Infrastructure Enterprise, aimed at large companies, sells for $5,750 per two processors.