Eric Sloof

Sign up to the VirtualizationAdmin.com Monthly Newsletter, written by David Davis, containing news, tips, links of the month and much more. Subscribe today and don't miss a thing! David Davis is Director of Infrastructure at TrainSignal.com. He has a number of certifications including CCIE #9369, MCSE, CISSP, & VCP. Additionally, David has authored over three hundred articles and a number of video training courses including Windows XP, Wireless Networking, Linux+ Administration, ISA Server, A+ Certification, Microsoft Virtual Server, VMware Server & Workstation, & VMware ESX Server. The intention of this blog is to share with readers the most relevant and important information, news, tips and tweaks for all aspects of Virtualization, focusing on Microsoft Hyper-V. VMware, and Citrix. He will discuss topics such as high availability, migration, performance, recovery, product add-ons, and more. He will also cover practical information to help with administration and management of your virtualization infrastructure.

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The Virtual Machine Communication Interface (VMCI) is an infrastructure that provides fast and efficient communication between a virtual machine and the host operating system and between two or more virtual machines on the same host. The VMCI SDK facilitates development of applications that use the VMCI infrastructure.

The VMCI SDK has the following components:

• A datagram API to exchange small messages
• A shared memory API to share data
• An access control API to control what resources a virtual machine can access
• A discovery service for publishing and retrieving resources

Without VMCI, virtual machines communicate with the host using the network layer. Using the network layer adds overhead to the communication. With VMCI communication overhead is minimal and different tasks that require that communication can be optimized.

Easgs has created a video tutorial about how to install VMware 6.5 Workstation in OpenSuse 11.0, the video is available here.

This video shows how to install Vmware 6.5 workstation with the bundle file in OpenSuse 11.0, to accomplish this you must install first the following packages: binutils, gcc, gcc-c++, kernel-source and make and after that execute the command “sh VMware-Workstation-6.5.0-118166.i386.bundle” as root, all this is show in the video, it is assumed that you have inserted the opensuse 11.0 DVD and the Vmware installation file is located at your home directory.

Today the Dutch market leader in virtualization training XTG delivered the Dutch virtualization event. The Xpert Training Group V-Event is the key virtualization event of the year. At this event attendees received the latest product updates and information, they saw live demos and got a deep level of understanding required to turn their infrastructure challenges into a competitive advantage through server, desktop and storage virtualization solutions and technology. I was one of the attendees and recorded some Dutch video footage which is viewable at XTG’s Vimeo page.

VMworld 2008 Sessions & Labs will be made available this week. All paid attendees of VMworld 2008 will be able to view flash videos (audio over slides) of the breakout sessions, download PDFs or listen to MP3 podcasts. PDFs only will be made available for manuals and presentations from hands-on labs.
As an added bonus, all attendees will get access to all sponsor keynotes as PDFs, MP3s and streaming flash presentations as well. Check the site Friday for the release of this content. Via the forum and Holy VM!

I have received a free copy of “VMware ESX Essentials in the Virtual Data Center” from one of the authors, Jase McCarty this morning.:-) I’m speed reading trough it and believe that these guys have covered everything you need to know when setting up your ESX environment. Finally an alternative to the VI3 install and configure course guide.

The VMware ESX server is vital to virtualization methods used to perform server consolidation, software development, test automation, legacy Windows migration, and more. VMware ESX Essentials in the Virtual Data Center is an extremely valuable and distinctive resource. The authors present surprising new ways of using virtualization to accomplish tasks now performed at the physical level. All areas of business are examined, with text that features technical information and best practices, including business challenges and technology breakdowns to expedite effective allocation of time and resources.

VMware ESX Essentials in the Virtual Data Center
CRC Press | 2009 | 237 pages | David Marshall, Stephen S. Beaver, Jason McCarthy

Mike DiPetrillo over at VMware posted a PowerShell script on his weblog. This script is able to Quick Migrate a VMware virtual machine from one ESX server to the other.

One of the things that was also brought up over and over again in the debate was the fact that Quick Migration was free and came with Hyper-V since it was based on Microsoft Clustering whereas VMware VMotion was only available in the most expensive Enterprise SKU of VMware Infrastructure. So there it was - I need to create Quick Migration for the lower priced and free VMware solutions. I went off, built my little script, and showed it off at VMworld. There was a GREAT response to it so I'm posting it here for others to use or improve upon however you see fit.

Steve Ballmer today announced the final release and availability of Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 in front of a crowd of 700 IT professionals during a TechNet Server and Tools event keynote address in London. To further assist customers with the adoption and deployment of Microsoft virtualization solutions, Microsoft announced a new offering of specialized assessment and implementation services available from the Microsoft Services organization that help customers use server virtualization, and separate new training and certifications from Microsoft Learning for IT Professionals.

This morning I attended a prep session at the Xpert Training Group in Gouda. While I was there I captured some video footage. In the video You see Viktor van den Berg rehearsing his keynote.




At the 3th of October the Dutch market leader in virtualization training XTG will deliver the Dutch virtualization event. The Xpert Training Group V-Event is the key virtualization event of the year. At this event you will receive the latest product updates and information, see live demos and get deep level of understanding required to turn your infrastructure challenges into a competitive advantage through server, desktop and storage virtualization solutions and technology. No commercial presentations but the real deal from certified trainers.