In my latest article, I discuss three ways that VARs can help their customers prevent VM sprawl. From the article:
“Server virtualization technology is rapidly becoming a data center standard. It’s even taking off in the small and medium-sized business (SMB) market. While this is good for the virtualization market, IT practitioners must avoid the headache of virtual machine sprawl, which is reminiscent of poorly implemented desktop infrastructures. Fortunately, service providers can help. “
If you don’t want to continue down the path of poorly managed desktops in your virtualized environment. Read the rest of the story at SearchSystemsChannel.com.
Happy Reading!
Technorati Tags: Virtualization, VMware, Writing, Security
Share and Enjoy:
These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
My latest articles are up at SearchVMWare.com. I go over how I set up a file server VM to connect via the Microsoft iSCSI initiator to a SATABoy storage array in the first article. In the second article I provide a Powershell and a VBScript script (your choice) that backs up the file server VM onto another ESX host using the command-line “p2vtool.exe.”
From the Part I:
“This two-part article series will outline a way to provide some redundancy for a file server virtual machine without the use of a SAN for VMFS storage or VMotion. The first part will discuss the initial setup of the file server virtual machine. The second part will discuss a scripted synchronization of the source virtual machine (VM) to another ESX server for manual recovery. Depending on your service up-time requirements, a manual fail-over of a virtual machine without the use of VMware HA could be acceptable. While these articles discuss a scenario with a file server virtual machine, the technique discussed could be used with any server that has a system drive that changes infrequently.”
Read the rest of Part I at SearchVMware.com.
From Part II:
“What would happen if your physical server running VMware ESX Server were to fail? If you don’t have failover options in place, you’d be in trouble. The good news is that you can eliminate this worst-case scenario without buying more hardware. You just need a redundant virtual machine (VM) file server.”
Read the rest of Part II at SearchVMware.com.
Happy Reading!
Technorati Tags: VMware, P2V, Business Continuity, iSCSI
Share and Enjoy:
These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
My latest article is up on SearchSystemsChannel.com. It deals with how VARs should proceed in the virtualization market now that server virtualization software is becoming easier to implement (thanks to products like ESX 3i). From the article:
“Well, it’s official. VMware Server ESX 3i was released. Vendors like Dell, Fujitsu, Seimens, HP, IBM and NEC will start shipping servers with ESX 3i pre-installed very soon, making configuration easier and the need for virtualization software installation nonexistent. Service providers who want to stay competitive in the server virtualization services market will have to find ways to distinguish themselves. Toward that goal, there’s fertile ground in virtualization security and business consulting.”
You can read the rest of the article at SearchSystemsChannel.com. Happy Reading!
Technorati Tags: VMware, ESX 3i, Virtualization, Writing
Share and Enjoy:
These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
I just finished up an interview for SearchSystemsChannel.com where I answered 10 questions about VMware from a Value-Added Reseller perspective. These questions range from VMware Partner benefits to VDI and VM security. Check it out at SearchSystemsChannel.com! Happy Listening!
There are two great ways to stay up to date on what’s happening at HarleyStagner.com:
You can access the RSS Feed (what is RSS? Have a look at my FAQ.)
You can also sign up for email updates.
Technorati Tags: Virtualization, VMware, VAR
Share and Enjoy:
These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
I found out today that a couple of my articles made the SearchSystemsChannel.com Top 5 List this year! That is a huge honor. Guide #1: Moka5’s LivePC and Guide #3: VMWare’s Virtual Desktop Infrastructure.
While you are on the Top 5 List site, be sure to also check out Chris Wolf’s excellent articles:
Guide #2: Virtual Machine Licensing and Guide #4: Virtualization Calculator for Windows Server
Happy Reading!
Technorati Tags: Virtualization, Writing
Share and Enjoy:
These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
In my latest article I go through some considerations when a client wants to virtualize a web server. How much traffic will the web site get? Is it a static or dynamic (read database driven) web site? How will you measure the site’s performance in the virtual world?
If these sound like questions that you may ask then take a look over at SearchSystemsChannel.Com to get a general overview on virtualizing web servers. If you have any questions or comments please leave them on this blog or contact me using my contact form.
Happy Reading!
Technorati Tags: Web, Virtualization, VMWare
Share and Enjoy:
These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
In my latest article on SearchSystemsChannel.Com I go through some of the pros and cons of building a business on Xensource (the other server virtualization product, that is now owned by Citrix). A couple of years ago, I would have not even thought that Xensource would be feasible in a production environment. Now, while lacking many VMWare ESX features, it is still a viable solution for the small-to-medium business market.
Happy Reading!
Technorati Tags: virtualization, VMWare, Xensource, writing
Share and Enjoy:
These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
I recently answered a question at SearchSystemsChannel.Com on how to address a customer’s storage throughput and bottlenecks. The basic idea is to establish a baseline and go from there. Remember, the bottleneck may not even be in the storage array, itself. There are a lot of poorly coded applications out there that are eager to cause all kinds of bottlenecks 
.
Happy Reading!
Technorati Tags: Writing, Storage
Share and Enjoy:
These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
I recently answered this question indirectly on SearchSystemsChannel.Com. Right now, Microsoft’s licensing is so restrictive that it makes VMotion with VMWare Windows Guests next to impossible. Granted, I don’t think Microsoft would bring the hammer down on a customer that was using VMotion to perform maintenance or for emergencies, but why not have a crystal clear license and avoid the ambiguity altogether?
Happy Reading!
Technorati Tags: Writing, Linux, Virtualization
Share and Enjoy:
These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
Value-Added Resellers who package virtualization solutions instead of just selling piecemeal virtualiztion technologies might be able to differentiate themselves from the pack.
My latest article at SearchSystemsChannel.com goes over the considerations and benefits of packaging holistic virtualization solutions.
Happy Reading!
Share and Enjoy:
These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
