<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
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    <title>FatMin</title>
    
    
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.fatmin.com/" />
    <id>tag:typepad.com,2003:weblog-1621874</id>
    <updated>2012-02-22T08:33:49-08:00</updated>
    <subtitle>Look out honey, 'cause I'm using technology!</subtitle>
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    <atom10:link xmlns:atom10="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/typepad/fatmin" /><feedburner:info xmlns:feedburner="http://rssnamespace.org/feedburner/ext/1.0" uri="typepad/fatmin" /><atom10:link xmlns:atom10="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" rel="hub" href="http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/" /><atom10:link xmlns:atom10="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" rel="hub" href="http://hubbub.api.typepad.com/" /><entry>
        <title>test1</title>
        <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.fatmin.com/2012/02/te.html" />
        <link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="http://www.fatmin.com/2012/02/te.html" thr:count="0" />
        <id>tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e551c39e1c8834016762caf4ad970b</id>
        <published>2012-02-22T08:33:49-08:00</published>
        <updated>2012-02-22T08:33:49-08:00</updated>
        <summary>test</summary>
        <author>
            <name>Fatmin</name>
        </author>
        
        
<content type="xhtml" xml:lang="en-US" xml:base="http://www.fatmin.com/">
<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>test</p></div>
</content>



    </entry>
    <entry>
        <title>Latest Vmware Tools Download </title>
        <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.fatmin.com/2012/02/latest-vmware-tools-download-.html" />
        <link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="http://www.fatmin.com/2012/02/latest-vmware-tools-download-.html" thr:count="0" />
        <id>tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e551c39e1c8834016301806cfe970d</id>
        <published>2012-02-16T11:18:33-08:00</published>
        <updated>2012-02-16T11:18:33-08:00</updated>
        <summary>I would actually be suprised that I was not aware of this site previously, if I had not ever been to vmware.com and attempted to find a specific software in the past. Needless to say, its rather dificult to find...</summary>
        <author>
            <name>Fatmin</name>
        </author>
        <category scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category" term="Vmware" />
        
        
<content type="xhtml" xml:lang="en-US" xml:base="http://www.fatmin.com/">
<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><div class="photo-wrap photo-xid-6a00e551c39e1c8834016762750107970b" id="photo-xid-6a00e551c39e1c8834016762750107970b" style="float: left; margin: 0px 5px 5px 0px; width: 120px;"><a href="http://devnull.typepad.com/.a/6a00e551c39e1c8834016762750107970b-pi"><img alt="12236148821970538641sivvus_tools_svg_hi" class="asset  asset-image at-xid-6a00e551c39e1c8834016762750107970b" src="http://devnull.typepad.com/.a/6a00e551c39e1c8834016762750107970b-120wi" title="12236148821970538641sivvus_tools_svg_hi" /></a></div>
<p>I would actually be suprised that I was not aware of this site previously, if I had not ever been to vmware.com and attempted to find a specific software in the past. Needless to say, its rather dificult to find exactly what you are looking for there.</p>
<p>So... apparently vmware calls the latest vmware tools, OSPs, or "Operating System Specific Packages"</p>
<p>The site is below... Navigate to the OS specific to your needs and go to town.</p>
<p><a href="http://packages.vmware.com/tools" target="_blank" title="http://packages.vmware.com/tools">http://packages.vmware.com/tools</a></p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p></div>
</content>



    </entry>
    <entry>
        <title>Cisco UCS Visio Stencils</title>
        <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.fatmin.com/2012/01/cisco-ucs-visio-stencils.html" />
        <link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="http://www.fatmin.com/2012/01/cisco-ucs-visio-stencils.html" thr:count="0" />
        <id>tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e551c39e1c88340167606b2ea4970b</id>
        <published>2012-01-12T11:19:42-08:00</published>
        <updated>2012-01-12T11:19:42-08:00</updated>
        <summary>Cisco UCS Visio Stencils -- Use the link below and scroll down to "Unified Computing and Servers" http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/prod_cat_visios.html</summary>
        <author>
            <name>Fatmin</name>
        </author>
        <category scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category" term="Cisco UCS" />
        
        
<content type="xhtml" xml:lang="en-US" xml:base="http://www.fatmin.com/">
<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p><a href="http://devnull.typepad.com/.a/6a00e551c39e1c88340162ff7647f6970d-pi" style="float: left;"><img alt="Visio-icon" class="asset  asset-image at-xid-6a00e551c39e1c88340162ff7647f6970d" src="http://devnull.typepad.com/.a/6a00e551c39e1c88340162ff7647f6970d-120wi" style="margin: 0px 5px 5px 0px;" title="Visio-icon" /></a>Cisco UCS Visio Stencils -- Use the link below and scroll down to "Unified Computing and Servers"</p>
<p><a href="http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/prod_cat_visios.html" target="_blank" title="http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/prod_cat_visios.html">http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/prod_cat_visios.html</a></p></div>
</content>



    </entry>
    <entry>
        <title>Cisco UCS Firmware Best Practices Document</title>
        <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.fatmin.com/2012/01/cisco-ucs-firmware-best-practices-document.html" />
        <link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="http://www.fatmin.com/2012/01/cisco-ucs-firmware-best-practices-document.html" thr:count="0" />
        <id>tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e551c39e1c883401676016733d970b</id>
        <published>2012-01-06T12:49:12-08:00</published>
        <updated>2012-01-13T13:32:53-08:00</updated>
        <summary>Not sure that I have ever run into a product with as many separate support documents as Cisco UCS - here is another that appears to be useful (the jury is still out on this one). Anyway the link is...</summary>
        <author>
            <name>Fatmin</name>
        </author>
        <category scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category" term="Cisco UCS" />
        
        
<content type="xhtml" xml:lang="en-US" xml:base="http://www.fatmin.com/">
<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p><a href="http://devnull.typepad.com/.a/6a00e551c39e1c88340162ff21a27f970d-pi" style="float: left;"><img alt="754679-grape_ape_large" class="asset  asset-image at-xid-6a00e551c39e1c88340162ff21a27f970d" src="http://devnull.typepad.com/.a/6a00e551c39e1c88340162ff21a27f970d-120wi" style="margin: 0px 5px 5px 0px;" title="754679-grape_ape_large" /></a></p>
<p>Not sure that I have ever run into a product with as many separate support documents as Cisco UCS - here is another that appears to be useful (the jury is still out on this one). Anyway the link is below</p>
<p><a href="http://goo.gl/KOm8J" target="_blank" title="http://goo.gl/KOm8J">http://goo.gl/KOm8J</a></p>
<p>The link below will take you to the Firmware update and install guides -- note that Cisco has not upgraded the documentation to reflect an upgrade from an older 2.0 firmware to a newer 2.0 firmware.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps10281/prod_installation_guides_list.html" target="_blank" title="http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps10281/prod_installation_guides_list.html">http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps10281/prod_installation_guides_list.html</a></p>
<p> </p></div>
</content>



    </entry>
    <entry>
        <title>How Not to Assign KVM IP Addresses Via Cisco UCS Manager</title>
        <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.fatmin.com/2011/12/how-not-to-assign-kvm-ip-addresses-via-cisco-usc-manager.html" />
        <link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="http://www.fatmin.com/2011/12/how-not-to-assign-kvm-ip-addresses-via-cisco-usc-manager.html" thr:count="3" thr:updated="2012-02-07T18:58:37-08:00" />
        <id>tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e551c39e1c88340162fea5cce6970d</id>
        <published>2011-12-29T11:01:09-08:00</published>
        <updated>2011-12-29T11:13:07-08:00</updated>
        <summary>After a few hours poking around a newly deployed UCS cluster trying to get some basic profiles created and assigned. I realized that I had actually no idea how the KVM is actually supposed to work inside the UCS cluster. Which is funny as this was a subject that we touched on during my DCUDC class. Apparently we did not touch on it enough.</summary>
        <author>
            <name>Fatmin</name>
        </author>
        <category scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category" term="Cisco UCS" />
        
        <category scheme="http://sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" term="blade" />
        <category scheme="http://sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" term="cisco" />
        <category scheme="http://sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" term="cluster" />
        <category scheme="http://sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" term="failover." />
        <category scheme="http://sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" term="HA" />
        <category scheme="http://sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" term="hardware" />
        <category scheme="http://sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" term="ilo" />
        <category scheme="http://sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" term="kvm" />
        <category scheme="http://sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" term="ucs" />
        <category scheme="http://sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" term="UCSM" />
        <category scheme="http://sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" term="virtualization" />
        
<content type="xhtml" xml:lang="en-US" xml:base="http://www.fatmin.com/">
<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p><a href="http://devnull.typepad.com/.a/6a00e551c39e1c883401675f9a71ae970b-pi" style="float: left;"><img alt="Boxing-glove" class="asset  asset-image at-xid-6a00e551c39e1c883401675f9a71ae970b" src="http://devnull.typepad.com/.a/6a00e551c39e1c883401675f9a71ae970b-120wi" style="margin: 0px 5px 5px 0px;" title="Boxing-glove" /></a>After a few hours poking around a newly deployed UCS cluster trying to get some basic profiles created and assigned. I realized that I had actually no idea how the KVM is actually supposed to work inside the UCS cluster. Which is funny as this was a subject that we touched on during my DCUDC class. Apparently we did not touch on it enough.<br /><br />Anyway, before I get ahead of myself, lets review the gear in this cluster.<br /><br /><sub><strong>2 5108 chassis</strong><br /><strong>7 B200 M2 blades with 2104 IOMs</strong><br /><strong>2 6248s Fabric Interconnects</strong><br /><br /></sub>Now in my network all lights out management ips (ilos, ipmi, etc) are all on one particular vlan, which for the purpose of this post we will call VLAN 100. Non application related infrastructure equipment (servers, virtual hosts) are on another vlan, which we will call VLAN 200. So when the Fabric Interconnets were deployed, I gave them each an ip address on VLAN 200. And once UCS Manager was up and running, I created a KVM ip address pool of unused ip addresses on VLAN 100. Well guess what, this is wrong.<br /><br />Routing for the KVM addresses is done through the management interfaces on the Fabric Interconects, so unless you are using vlan tagging, your KVM pool must be on the same vlan as the ip addresses assigned to your Fabric Interconnects.<br /><br />But wait, why is this?</p>
<p><br />I thought that I could even assign private 192.168.x.x ip addreses to the KVMs as they were only supposed to be managed via the UCS Manager, but this also incorrect.</p>
<p>Navigate to one of your working KVM ip addresses in a web browser and you can access the KVM of the blade outside of UCS Manager. Nice, which is how I actually expected this to work. </p>
<p><a href="http://devnull.typepad.com/.a/6a00e551c39e1c88340168e49bb562970c-pi"><img alt="Logo" class="asset  asset-image at-xid-6a00e551c39e1c88340168e49bb562970c" src="http://devnull.typepad.com/.a/6a00e551c39e1c88340168e49bb562970c-320wi" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Logo" /></a></p>
<p>Note that I find it rather dumb to have my KVM management ips and Fabric Interconnects on the same vlan as a rule, however since this is how its supposed to work I am going to have to let that one go.</p>
<p>Now, the fact that you can navigate to a specific KVM IP address via a web browser also makes the idea of using a pool of ip addresses silly. Would you not want to hard code the KVM ip address in the service profile so that you always know which server's console you are logging into? Dunno, I am still working on figuring that one out.</p>
<p> </p></div>
</content>



    </entry>
    <entry>
        <title>Cisco UCS Manager (2.0) Configuration Guide</title>
        <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.fatmin.com/2011/12/cisco-ucs-manager-20-configuration-guide.html" />
        <link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="http://www.fatmin.com/2011/12/cisco-ucs-manager-20-configuration-guide.html" thr:count="0" />
        <id>tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e551c39e1c883401543909684e970c</id>
        <published>2011-12-27T13:18:37-08:00</published>
        <updated>2011-12-27T13:18:37-08:00</updated>
        <summary>This is the document that you will want to have access to in order to configure your USC Cluster Manager. http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/unified_computing/ucs/sw/gui/config/guide/2.0/b_UCSM_GUI_Configuration_Guide_2_0.pdf</summary>
        <author>
            <name>Fatmin</name>
        </author>
        <category scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category" term="Cisco UCS" />
        
        
<content type="xhtml" xml:lang="en-US" xml:base="http://www.fatmin.com/">
<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p><a href="http://devnull.typepad.com/.a/6a00e551c39e1c883401675f7ed5f5970b-pi" style="float: left;"><img alt="688537" class="asset  asset-image at-xid-6a00e551c39e1c883401675f7ed5f5970b" src="http://devnull.typepad.com/.a/6a00e551c39e1c883401675f7ed5f5970b-120wi" style="margin: 0px 5px 5px 0px;" title="688537" /></a>This is the document that you will want to have access to in order to configure your USC Cluster Manager.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/unified_computing/ucs/sw/gui/config/guide/2.0/b_UCSM_GUI_Configuration_Guide_2_0.pdf" target="_blank" title="http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/unified_computing/ucs/sw/gui/config/guide/2.0/b_UCSM_GUI_Configuration_Guide_2_0.pdf">http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/unified_computing/ucs/sw/gui/config/guide/2.0/b_UCSM_GUI_Configuration_Guide_2_0.pdf</a></p></div>
</content>



    </entry>
    <entry>
        <title>Cisco 6248 Fabric Interconnect CLI Guide</title>
        <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.fatmin.com/2011/12/tet.html" />
        <link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="http://www.fatmin.com/2011/12/tet.html" thr:count="0" />
        <id>tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e551c39e1c88340162fe8a429e970d</id>
        <published>2011-12-27T13:10:56-08:00</published>
        <updated>2011-12-28T07:07:26-08:00</updated>
        <summary>Cisco calls this document the "Cisco UCS Manager CLI Configuration Guide", which is not exactly the best description this document. I call this document the "Cisco 6248 Fabric Interconnect CLI Guide", and you can too. Just print out a copy...</summary>
        <author>
            <name>Fatmin</name>
        </author>
        <category scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category" term="Cisco UCS" />
        
        
<content type="xhtml" xml:lang="en-US" xml:base="http://www.fatmin.com/">
<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p><a href="http://devnull.typepad.com/.a/6a00e551c39e1c8834015439094705970c-pi" style="float: left;"><img alt="Ucs_6248_lg" class="asset  asset-image at-xid-6a00e551c39e1c8834015439094705970c" src="http://devnull.typepad.com/.a/6a00e551c39e1c8834015439094705970c-120wi" style="margin: 0px 5px 5px 0px;" title="Ucs_6248_lg" /></a>Cisco calls this document the "Cisco UCS Manager CLI Configuration Guide", which is not exactly the best description this document. I call this document the "Cisco 6248 Fabric Interconnect CLI Guide", and you can too. Just print out a copy and stick a piece of tape over the title page, and boom, you have renamed the document.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/unified_computing/ucs/sw/cli/config/guide/2.0/b_UCSM_CLI_Configuration_Guide_2_0.pdf" target="_blank" title="http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/unified_computing/ucs/sw/cli/config/guide/2.0/b_UCSM_CLI_Configuration_Guide_2_0.pdf">http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/unified_computing/ucs/sw/cli/config/guide/2.0/b_UCSM_CLI_Configuration_Guide_2_0.pdf</a></p></div>
</content>



    </entry>
    <entry>
        <title>XenServer Switch Ports Configuration Best Practices</title>
        <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.fatmin.com/2011/11/xenserver-switch-ports-configuration-best-practices.html" />
        <link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="http://www.fatmin.com/2011/11/xenserver-switch-ports-configuration-best-practices.html" thr:count="0" />
        <id>tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e551c39e1c88340162fcc99647970d</id>
        <published>2011-11-23T10:40:37-08:00</published>
        <updated>2011-11-23T12:58:30-08:00</updated>
        <summary>Finally I have found it! Citrix's XenServer switch configuration best practices document.

While everyone in the world has blog posts and documentation regarding how to set up and configure bridged networks in Xen, they hardly ever go into the physical switch configuration required.

This is the document that you will need to pass along to your friendly Network Administrator, as they will more than likely not be familar with networking for Xen as its much different from networking for Vmware ESX.</summary>
        <author>
            <name>Fatmin</name>
        </author>
        <category scheme="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category" term="Xenserver" />
        
        <category scheme="http://sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" term="best practices" />
        <category scheme="http://sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" term="bpdu" />
        <category scheme="http://sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" term="cisco" />
        <category scheme="http://sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" term="citrix" />
        <category scheme="http://sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" term="config" />
        <category scheme="http://sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" term="configuration" />
        <category scheme="http://sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" term="document" />
        <category scheme="http://sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" term="fatmin" />
        <category scheme="http://sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" term="network" />
        <category scheme="http://sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" term="settings" />
        <category scheme="http://sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" term="spanning tree" />
        <category scheme="http://sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" term="stp" />
        <category scheme="http://sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" term="switch" />
        <category scheme="http://sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" term="vswitch" />
        <category scheme="http://sixapart.com/ns/types#tag" term="xenserver" />
        
<content type="xhtml" xml:lang="en-US" xml:base="http://www.fatmin.com/">
<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p><a href="http://devnull.typepad.com/.a/6a00e551c39e1c88340162fcc95323970d-pi" style="float: left;"><img alt="Old_switch" class="asset  asset-image at-xid-6a00e551c39e1c88340162fcc95323970d" src="http://devnull.typepad.com/.a/6a00e551c39e1c88340162fcc95323970d-320wi" style="margin: 0px 5px 5px 0px;" title="Old_switch" /></a><br />Finally I have found it! Citrix's XenServer switch configuration best practices document.</p>
<p>While everyone in the world has blog posts and documentation regarding how to set up and configure bridged networks in Xen, they hardly ever go into the physical switch configuration required.</p>
<p>This is the document that you will need to pass along to your friendly Network Administrator, as they will more than likely not be familar with networking for Xen as its much different from networking for Vmware ESX.</p>
<p><a href="http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX123158" target="_blank" title="http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX123158">http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX123158</a></p>
<p>The contents of the document above are outlined below.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Change the following options on the switches for XenServer ports:</span></p>
<ol type="1">
<div>
<li><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> <strong>Enable PortFast on XenServer connected ports.</strong></span><br /><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> PortFast allows a switch port running Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) to go  directly from blocking to forwarding mode by skipping the learning and  listening modes. PortFast should only be enabled on ports connected to a  single host. Port must be an 802.1q trunk port if you are using VLANS  and the port must be in access mode.</span><br /><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> Ports used for storage should have PortFast enabled.<strong><br /> Note</strong>: It is important that you enable PortFast with caution, and  only on ports that do not connect to multi-homed devices such as hubs or  switches.</span></li>
</div>
<div>
<li><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong>Disable Port Security on XenServer connected ports.</strong></span><br /><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> Port security prevents multiple MAC addresses from being presented to  the same port. In a virtual environment, you see multiple MAC addresses  presented from Virtual Machines to the same port. If you have enabled  Port Security, it shuts down the port.</span></li>
</div>
<div>
<li><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> <strong>Disable Spanning Tree Protocol on XenServer connected ports.</strong></span><br /><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> Spanning Tree Protocol must be disabled if you are using Bonded or  teamed NICs in a virtual environment. Spanning Tree Protocol should be  disabled because of the nature of Bonds and NIC teaming, to avoid  failover delay issues when using bonding.</span></li>
</div>
<div>
<li><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> <strong>Disable BPDU guard on XenServer connected ports.</strong></span><br /><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> BPDU is a protection setting part of the STP that prevents you from  attaching a network device to a switch port. When you attach a network  device, the port shuts down and has to be enabled by an administrator. </span><br /><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> A PortFast port should never<strong> </strong>receive configuration BPDUs.<strong><br /> <em>Note</em></strong><em>: When BPDUs are received by a PortFast port, it indicates  another bridge is connected to the port, and it indicates that there is a  possibility of a bridging loop formation during the Listening and  Learning phases. In a valid PortFast configuration, configuration BPDUs  should never be received, so Cisco switches support a feature called  PortFast BPDU Guard, which is a feature that shuts down a  PortFast-enabled port in the event a BPDU is received. This feature  ensures that a bridging loop is not formed, because the switch's  shutting down the port removes the possibility of a loop forming.</em></span></li>
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