Last week, I
mentioned
how administrators can take advantage of a licensing option for VMs that can save licensing on Windows Servers as guests. Through an unrelated event, I found some interesting
comments
on VMware's Virtual Reality blog, where many relevant topics related to client licensing are discussed.
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Posted by Rick Vanover on 03/17/20096 comments
VMware's vCenter (formerly VirtualCenter) is a critical system for most datacenters. Many early implementations had vCenter installed on a physical server, but it's not a requirement. VMware, with its own dog food on the menu, published a good
technical note
on what you can and should do when virtualizing vCenter.
I've run vCenter in a VM for a small number of hosts and guests, and had no issues with it. I will soon take the plunge and virtualize a larger vCenter. To that end, I want to share some planning points.
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Posted by Rick Vanover on 03/12/20093 comments
Microsoft's
Windows Server 2008 Datacenter
edition offers unlimited virtualization rights. This means that you can put an unlimited number of Windows server systems as guest VMs on processors licensed with Datacenter.
That's good; but note that if you license a processor with Windows Server 2008 Datacenter, you don't actually have to run the Windows OS. Instead, the Datacenter-licensed processor can run a different virtualization solution on the physical hardware. One approach that many are considering is licensing the processor as Windows Datacenter, but running VMware ESX and vCenter (formerly VirtualCenter) to manage the systems. By buying both platforms, you get an open door to your Windows Server licensing for guest server systems.
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Posted by Rick Vanover on 03/10/20095 comments
Earlier this week I
mentioned
refining the basics of virtualization as it is now. I am going to totally change gears and talk about a next generation disk technology on the roadmap at VMware. The technology is called PARDA – proportional allocation of resources for distributed storage access. I came across this reading Cameron Haight’s
blog
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Posted by Rick Vanover on 03/05/20091 comments
Last week’s
VMworld Europe
show confirmed that new products are still coming. While we still don’t have a very clear picture of what the future will hold, now is a good time to clear up some loose ends in the current virtualization landscape before the changes start ushering in. Here are some points to think about in this transition time for VMware environments:
- Engage in a health check assessment. This small service can ensure that the fundamentals of your virtual environment are solid before any substantial changes are brought in. These services will vary by provider in scope, price, and deliverable, but are a good way to get an assessment of your environment from an outside perspective. These services are available by VMware directly, hardware vendors, software integration services, or analyst firms.
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Posted by Rick Vanover on 03/03/20092 comments
VMworld Europe, in Cannes, France, is the focus of the virtualization community this week. While it's 4,400 miles away from me, it still is a source of important news for the virtualization community. Here are some highlights of partner and product announcements thus far at the show:
VMware and Fujitsu-Siemens have
announced
that a new version of FlexFrame for SAP will provide a cost-efficient infrastructure for VMware-based environments. Fujitsu-Siemens computers are not marketed in the USA, so the news is more relevant to the attendees from the region.
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Posted by Rick Vanover on 02/25/20098 comments
One great thing about virtualization is
that there are so many amazing virtualization-centric tools available. Many good
tools are free; yet, for the rest, the pricing models end up being a
one-size-fits-most approach. Let’s identify the problem by highlighting the main
models for pricing of virtualization tools.
Among the more common
approaches is per-processor licensing, which is based on the number of sockets
available to the tool (which could span an entire virtual cluster). Per-use
licensing would have a price tag associated with each occurrence of the tool
being used; this can also refer to the number of systems managed by the
tool. Time-based subscriptions define a period of time that the software is
used. Lastly, various forms of enterprise licensing allow organizations
unlimited use for their environment.
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Posted by Rick Vanover on 02/23/20093 comments
On Feb. 12, VMware released version 4 of the popular
vCenter Converter
tool.
Among the important new features are Linux conversion support, Windows Server
2008 support, some post-conversion task features, as well as enhanced image and
virtual format compatibility.
Many administrators take the P2V
conversion for granted, but in fact this is more important than ever, since
conversion tasks are growing in complexity and scope. One of the new features
that can assist administrators in this regard is workflow automation. This
allows an automatic shutdown of the source system and service management on the
destination system, so that data in transit can be protected. These types
of factors can make or break a successful conversion; to have it built into
the free product is a big plus.
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Posted by Rick Vanover on 02/18/20091 comments
Sun’s
VirtualBox 2.1
hypervisor
has quietly passed an important milestone in its maturity. The bridged
networking that most VMware folk take for granted in a hypervisor is now
built-in. This makes it much easier to put a VM onto the same network as the
host. Before, VirtualBox required the use of the VBoxManage command to create a
bridged interface for guest provisioning.
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Posted by Rick Vanover on 02/17/20093 comments
Hyper-V might be in its infancy, but its snapshot feature shows quite a bit of maturity. Basically, my gripe with most hypervisors is that when they make or remove snapshots, the burden on the guest is noticeable. Hyper-V is not immune to this, but what it does is pretty good. During a snapshot, a dropped ping can cause a problem for non-virtualization-centric notification systems and generate false failures. This can occur while the VM is taking or removing a snapshot.
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Posted by Rick Vanover on 02/10/20095 comments
Sun has offered an early concept of VDI since 1999 with the
Sun Ray
Software and Sun Ray devices. Over the years the solution has evolved to support other operating systems beyond Solaris as well as roll in other devices or connections. Today's offering with Sun VDI Software
2.0
uses VMware's ESX as the hypervisor for guests on Sun Ray devices. But what have they been working on lately?
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Posted by Rick Vanover on 02/05/20094 comments
One of the key selling points to server virtualization is disaster recovery. But, how many of us have actually implemented a virtualization-centric DR solution that isn't a backup or restore? One of the biggest issues to implementing virtualization-centric DR is that there is usually a large upfront cost for software and usually corresponding hardware. VizionCore's
vConverter
has a feature that is out to change all of that.
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Posted by Rick Vanover on 02/03/20099 comments