Eric Sloof

VMware is working on a new training course, it's still in early beta but it looks very promising. The training course is called VMware vSphere: Optimize and Scale [v5.0]. At the end of the course, you should be able to do the following:

• Configure and manage ESXi networking and storage for the large and sophisticated enterprise.
• Manage changes to the vSphere environment. 
• Optimize the performance of vSphere components.
• Troubleshoot faults and identify their root causes. 
• Use a command-line interface and the vSphere Management Assistant to manage vSphere. 
• Use vSphere Auto Deploy to provision ESXi hosts. 

This course prepares the student for the VMware Certified Advanced Professional – Data Center Administration [V5] certification (VCAP5-DCA). Completion of this course also satisfies the prerequisite for taking the VMware Certified Professional 5 exam.

Datasheet

A new feature in vCloud Director 1.5 is support for static routing. This provides the ability to route between network segments without the use of NAT and enables increased flexibility in implementing network connectivity within a vCloud environment. Though most networks will have a directly connected default gateway, it is possible for networks to have more than one router (such as multiple vShield Edge devices). Static routing provides a way to manually configure routing tables so that traffic can be forwarded to these remote networks while still using the default gateway for all remaining traffic. In vCloud Director, static routing can be configured at both the routed organization network level and vApp network level.

• For organization networks, routes can be defined within the organization network or to an external network.
• For vApp networks, the static routing configuration is simplified as routes are only applied on the external interface.
  
  

To demonstrate the different options for static routing with vCloud Director, I've recorded a video which will show you how to add Static Routes Between vApp Networks Routed to Different Organization Networks. An organization administrator can add static routes between two vApp networks that are routed to different organization networks. Static routes allow traffic between the networks. You cannot add static routes between overlapping networks or fenced vApps. After you add a static route to an organization network, configure the network firewall rules to allow traffic on the static route. For vApps with static routes, select the Always use assigned IP addresses until this vApp or associated networks are deleted check box.

Static routes only function when the vApps included in the routes are running. If you change the parent network of a vApp, delete a vApp, or delete a vApp network, and the vApp includes static routes, those routes cannot function and you must remove them manually.

Prerequisites:

• vShield 5.0
• Two organization networks routed to the same external network
• Static routing is enabled on both organization networks
• A vApp network routed to each organization network
• The vApp networks are in vApps that were started at least once

The time saved in the management of user desktops is significant with a VMware View virtual desktop implementation. Time saved in desktop management means that your IT staff can devote themselves to other projects on your IT horizon. A VMware View virtual desktop solution resolves many of the economic and user satisfaction issues of a desktop environment. A View deployment saves an average of 7 hours of labor per user desktop per year, out of 12.2 hours labor per user on a physical desktop per year. This is a 57% decrease in labor costs with a VMware View implementation. Multiply the 7 hours by your number of users, and the time available for other projects is a convincing argument for virtual desktops.

This book which is available for pre-order now, covers solving vSphere performance problems. VMware vSphere is the industry's most widely deployed virtualization solution. However, due to poor or improper deployment of vSphere, performance problems occur. Aimed at VMware administrators and engineers and written by a team of VMware experts, this resource provides guidance on common CPU, memory, storage, and network-related problems. Plus, step by-step instructions walk you through techniques for solving problems and shed light on possible causes behind the problems.

Divulges troubleshooting methodologies, performance monitoring tools, and techniques and tools for isolating performance problems Details the necessary steps for handling CPU, memory, storage, and network-related problems Offers understanding on the interactions between VMware vSphere and CPU, memory, storage, and network VMware vSphere 5 Performance is the resource you need to diagnose and handle VMware vSphere performance problems.

The folks at Xsigo have done some performance benchmarking  -- on their own server fabric but still, in this emerging space, numbers are still hard to come by and these illustrate some of what’s possible as the industry moves in this direction.  

This is a really short write-up they did with info on the test bed, the tests performed and some graphs and screenshots, but the summary results show that compared to 1G and 10G Ethernet, the Xsigo ServerFabric delivered: 

• 2.4X the Ethernet traffic of a 10G Ethernet connection (throughput to a single virtual machine)
• 20Gbps throughput measured to a single NIC on a single virtual machine
• 15X faster vMotion than1G Ethernet 
• 67% faster vMotion than 10G Ethernet

In performance benchmark testing, the Xsigo Server Fabric demonstrated significantly higher network device throughput as compared to 1G Ethernet and 10G Ethernet server connections.

This paper is intended to clarify concepts involved with choosing solutions for vSphere site availability, and to help understand the use cases for availability solutions for the virtualized infrastructure. Specific guidance is given around the intended use of DR solutions like VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager and contrasted with the intended use of geographically stretched clusters spanning multiple datacenters. While both solutions excel at their primary use case, their strengths lie in different areas which are explored within.

Microsoft SQL Server 2012 is Microsoft’s first cloud-ready information platform. It gives organizations effective tools to protect, unlock, and scale the power of their data, and it works across a variety of devices and data sources, from desktops, phones, and tablets, to datacenters and both private and public clouds. Our (Ross Mistry and Stacia Misner) purpose in Introducing Microsoft SQL Server 2012 is to point out both the new and the improved capabilities as they apply to achieving mission-critical confdence, breakthrough insight, and using a cloud on your terms.

As you read this book, we (Ross Mistry and Stacia Misner) think you will fnd that there are a lot of exciting enhancements and new capabilities engineered into SQL Server 2012 that allow you to greatly enhance performance and availability at a low total cost of ownership, unlock new insights with pervasive data discovery across the organization and create business solutions fast—on your terms.