Eric Sloof - Entries from October 2012

Tuesday, October 30. 2012

Technical White Paper - View Storage Accelerator in VMware View 5.1

Leveraging the Content-Based Read Cache in VMware vSphere 5.1 within VMware View 5.1. The goal of this paper is to provide a thorough understanding of how the content-based read cache (CBRC) functions with vSphere 5.1, and how it is integrated in VMware View 5.1. It will also provide a detailed explanation of configuring View Storage Accelerator (also known as Host Caching) for View desktops.

VDI deployments can scale up by increasing back-end computing power and by adding storage space for desktop consolidation. Storage space preserves virtual machine images, which load to the host memory to make the desktops live. A typical performance bottleneck is the I/O request issued from a virtual machine to the underlying storage for accessing the data contents from virtual machine images. View Storage Accelerator included in VMware View 5.1 addresses the bottleneck by leveraging the CBRC feature in vSphere.

Though CBRC is a vSphere feature, it is uniquely leveraged by VMware View to provide the Host Caching capability. The CBRC feature provides a per-host RAM-based solution for View desktops. This considerably reduces the read

I/O requests that are issued to the storage layer, and also addresses boot storm snags. Studies show that View Storage accelerator helps to minimize the overall Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) in VMware View deployments by providing up to 80 percent reduction in peak IOPS and up to 65 percent reduction in peak throughput. Refer to the VMware End-User Computing Blog for more details.

Technical White Paper - View Storage Accelerator in VMware View 5.1

Thursday, October 25. 2012

Free eBook - Introducing Windows 8 - An Overview for IT Professionals

The Windows 8 operating system is the newest member of the Microsoft Windows family. It differs from earlier Windows releases as much for what it does not change as for what itdoes change. That is, the features that IT pros loved about Windows 7 are still there in Windows 8—just better. The same keyboard shortcuts, management tools, security features, and deployment options are available in Windows 8. But in many cases, Windows 8 improves them in intuitive and significant ways. Some examples are the ribbon in File Explorer and faster disk encryption when using BitLocker Drive Encryption. This book describes these enhancements plus many of the new features in Windows 8.

Of course, everyone is talking about the elements of the new user interface in Windows 8: the Start screen, the modern looking Windows graphics, and so on. These are not replacementsfor the desktop, and it is not an either-or choice that you have to make. For desktop apps, the same desktop that you used in Windows 7 is still there in Windows 8. You can still pin appsto the taskbar, pin files to those apps, and so on.

The keyboard and mouse work the same way as it did before on the desktop. But Windows 8 uses a Start screen instead of the tiny Start menu in Windows 7. The most obvious benefit is that there is more real estate available, so apps can display dynamic, live information on their Tiles (icons) to bring the latest information to you at a single glance.

Windows 8 also introduces Windows 8 apps. These are full screen, immersive apps that provide a different experience than you might be used to with traditional desktop apps. They do not have chrome. App commands (menu items) only appear when you need them. Importantly, Windows 8 and Windows 8 apps provide a first-class touch experience, so you can swipe, flick, and use other intuitive gestures to get around

them.

This book describes these new and improved features. It focuses on IT pros, however, so we spend fewer pages talking about the new user interface and more talking about management, deployment, and security. This book is just an introduction—an overview. For more detailed information about any of the features and capabilities you learn about in this book, the one resource you need to know about is the Springboard Series on TechNet. The URL is simply http://www.microsoft.com/springboard

Wednesday, October 24. 2012

Over 50 FREE VMware Instructional Videos Available at VMwareLearning.com

VMware Education has released a new video site with over 50 of our free instructional videos, on products including: vSphere, vCloud Director, Site Recovery Manager (SRM), vFabric, and more. Now you can grow your IT skills with free training, expertise, and insights on VMware products, all in one convenient location.

Instructional Videos – freely accessible, these short technical videos allow VMware technical experts to provide tips and step-by-step instructions on product features, design best practices, configuring, deploying and running your virtual infrastructure.

http://vmwarelearning.com/

Technical White Paper - Customizing vm-support in vSphere 5.0

The vm-support tool is re-written entirely in python framework from vSphere 5.0. This allows for a plugin type framework and users can run individual modules without the need to change the tool, it gathers and triggers commands to get diagnostic data across different components of the ESXi server.

The vm-support tool has been modified with this in mind and now addresses these components as “Groups”. Almost every component comes under this group and allows the user to run the support tool on these groups either individually or by combining multiple groups.

vm-support tool in vSphere 5.0 introduces the concept of manifest files. A manifest file is the setup or configuration file that the vm-support tool refers to run any command or gather any diagnostic log and store it in the vm-support tar bundle. A manifest file has the details of the group it belongs to, the set of actions that have to be executed and additional options like timeout value in executing a command.

By default, a set of manifest files are made available to the user during the installation of ESXi 5.0. The manifest files are available under the /etc/vmware/vm-support directory. Tags are another feature introduced in the vm-support tool in vSphere 5.0. Tags refer to a number of groups or a list of manifest files with common components and trigger commands around similar groups.

Like previous versions, the support tool also provides the user to run performance snapshots, gather information about a particular VM, and also list out the files that have been gathered by the support tool.

http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/techpaper/VMware-Customizing-vm-support-vSphere50.pdf

Free tool to learn and master PowerShell fast - PowerShell Plus v4.6

PowerShell Plus is a single integrated development environment that maximizes productivity by providing configurable tool windows, a ribbon bar, a full featured editor and an embedded interactive console. It’s the most advanced Interactive Development Environment for PowerShell available today. Designed to help administrators and developers quickly learn and master Windows PowerShell, it also dramatically increases the productivity of expert users.

PowerShell Plus features a powerful interactive console, an advanced script editor and debugger and a comprehensive interactive learning center all integrated into a single product. Try PowerShell Plus today and see how much more productive you can be.

Product Highlight

Learn PowerShell fast using the Interactive Learning Center
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Take advantage of the PowerShell remoting features directly from the interactive console
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Debug PowerShell 10x faster with the advanced script editor and easily share your scripts with the PowerShell community

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The PowerShell Plus Console allows you to work interactively with PowerShell from a feature-rich Windows UI. This integration makes working with PowerShell faster and easier to use than ever before.
The advanced debugger and script editor lets you build and test complex PowerShell scripts, try one line PowerShell commands from an embedded console window, and sign your script with a security certificate … all from a single workspace.
The Comprehensive Learning Center helps you experience PowerShell by example. Short tutorials guide you through basic concepts at your own pace. The Comprehensive Learning Center also includes dynamically created help topics from currently installed PowerShell CmdLets, Snap-Ins, and WMI objects.

https://www.idera.com/Free-Tools/PowerShell-Plus/

Tuesday, October 23. 2012

VMworld 2012 Barcelona - VMworldTV Video Round-Up

The VMworld 2012 Europe has come to an end and everyone is slowly leaving the fabulous city of Barcelona. To all the people who made this year’s VMworld possible I want to say BIG thanks, this was one not to forget soon. If you’ve attended the event, there’s a strong possibility that you’ve seen me running behind a camera crew carrying some lights (yes was the roadie :)

We, VMworldTV created an insane amount of videos which will give you a good insight in what has been happening at the VMworld in Barcelona. The content of the videos is ranging from technical deep-dive demos to an interview with people like Steven Herrod and Pat Gelsinger, besides that we also had lots of fun with the HeteSambal contest.

I want to give a BIG compliment to my co-host Jeremy van Doorn, yes the guy with the beard :) Also BIG thanks goes out to our producer Ian Oakley and his team over at WhitestoneMedia. These guys where working day and night to capture, edit and upload all the videos.

I’ve created a list of all 25 videos, if you just want to get a quick overview I would recommend to watch the highlights and the final day video – they’re real fun. Enjoy!!!

Monday, October 22. 2012

VMware Mirage Available for Download Now

VMware Mirage offers a unique solution for endpoint management and recovery that combines image centralization and local execution. The images of the endpoints are cloned into the datacenter to enable the benefits of centralized management and recovery while leaving cached copies of the image on each endpoint for local (and offline) execution thereby preserving an uncompromised user experience.

Mirage centralizes the full desktop contents at the datacenter for management and protection purposes, distributes the execution of desktop workloads to the endpoints for superior user experience, and optimizes the synchronization in between. Mirage conceptually splits the PC into six layers, divided into two groups: IT centrally managed and user managed. The first group consists of a Base Image Layer, a Driver Library Layer, and a Departmental Application Layer (experimental). The second group consists of User-Application Layer, Machine Identity Layer and User Data Settings Layer.

These layers form an individually managed, centrally stored Centralized Virtual Desktop (CVD). CVDs are hardware-agnostic and can be easily migrated from one desktop (physical or virtual) to another, creating a wide range of use cases. The Mirage Client runs a copy of this CVD directly on the end point, so users can work offline, use processor-intensive applications, and enjoy predictable, native PC performance regardless of network connectivity.

The Mirage architecture includes VMware Mirage Server in the datacenter to centralize desktop management and protection; Mirage Client to create a local cache for optimal user experience at the endpoint, and advanced WAN optimization technology to speed bi-directional synchronization over the WAN.

http://www.vmware.com/products/desktop_virtualization/mirage.html

Thursday, October 18. 2012

Video - Tech Preview - Virtual Volumes (vVols)

Source: Virtual Volumes (VVOLs) Tech Preview [with video]

Wednesday, October 17. 2012

Enabling vSphere Distributed Switch Health Check in the vSphere Web Client

This video discusses and demonstrates enabling the vSphere Distributed Switch Health Check in vSphere 5.1 using the vSphere Web Client.

The network configuration for the vSphere infrastructure is a two-step process, whereby users must configure the physical network switches to which the vSphere host is connected and then configure the VDS. There are key network parameters, such as VLAN, network adapter teaming, and MTU, that should be configured properly on physical and virtual switches.

However, there are occasions when there are network connectivity issues in the user environment because these parameters are not configured properly. Network connectivity issues caused by configuration errors are often difficult to identify. This particularly is the case in an organization where the network administrators and vSphere administrators take management ownership of physical network switches and vSphere hosts respectively. In earlier versions of vSphere, there were no tools available that could help resolve such misconfigurations across the physical and virtual switches.

Source: http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2032878

Monday, October 15. 2012

Free vCenter Operations Manager Now Included with vSphere

vCenter Operations Manager Foundation will give you insights and visibility into performance and health of your vSphere infrastructure and is now included free with VMware vSphere.

VMware vCenter Operations Management Suite provides automated operations management using patented analytics and an integrated approach to performance, capacity and configuration management.

vCenter Operations Management Suite enables IT organizations to get better visibility and actionable intelligence to proactively ensure service levels, optimum resource usage and configuration compliance in dynamic virtual and cloud environments.

vCenter Operations Manager Foundation is the new, entry-level edition of the vCenter Operations Management Suite. It gains deep operational insights and visibility to improve the performance and health of your vSphere environment. vCenter Operations Manager Foundation is included with every vSphere edition free of charge.

Compare Editions

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