Recent content by Arisap

I agree with Cabraun. Especially the cx4. If the cx4 is on the HCL check code levels. Early EMC code levels may not be on the hcl. Also make sure that server CPU's are on the Hcl. Next do not do an upgrade of any kind . build a new virtual center server. Bring all hosts into the new vcenter...

not an answer to your question but when copying a vmdk file from one datastore to the other, use vmkfstools -i /vmfs/volumes/source/source.vmdk /vmfs/volumes/destination/destination.vmdk This work way better because it only clones the actual data used inside the VMDK not the entire vmdk file...

cabraun makes excellent points and adherence to them will make your project successful. These are the exact guidelines I have used with many customers.

If you have Enterprise or Enterprise Plus licensing, you can do storage vmotion. If not: 1. Create a helper VM 2. Add a thick provisioned disk of the size you want 3. Mount the new disk and the VM's original disk to the helper (original VM must be powered down first) 4. Copy data from original...

mrdenny, out of curiosity, why would you even bother? Seems like a lot of work. I mean in theory it can be done. but if this is for production use, it seems like a risk that is unnecessary.

I would suggest first that you dedicate a VLAN to your storage that is unroutable so that only members of a particular VLAN can attach to it and keep all extraneous broadcasts off your storage VLAN. Next dedicate two NIC's just for a VMKERNEL port (depending on which blade manufacturer, this...

GrimR, how have you made out with this? I see from your posts that there may be a misunderstanding of what virtualization is, ESX is specific. ESX is not a piece of software it is an operating system. You wouldnt install Windows 2003 server on a Windows 2003 server. You would install Office on a...

Rule number 1. ***NEVER*** upgrade a host to a major release and yes, 4.1 is a major release. You should ALWAYS rebuild the host from scratch. The host installation is throw away. Why take the remote chance that an upgrade leaves something behind. 1. export performance data if you want to...

I am confused here. joepc, what is the mode of connectivity to the SAN (NFS,iSCSI or Fiber Channel)? Next, how many hosts do you intend to run and how many VM's do you intend to run and most important is this to be used in production. Also, if you are presenting one LUN to each blade, when you...

You cannot run 64bit guests under the virtualized ESX4 hosts. And it makes perfect sense; one requires Intel-VT or AMD-V instruction sets to run 64bit guests. The virtualized processor that the hypervisor gives out does not contain the VT/V instruction set. therefore, while your virtualized ESX4...

While you can SSH to an ESXi host, the commands are limited. The use of tools will now be the main way to communicate with the hypervisor. RVTools is certainly a great tool. There are also a plethora of powershell scripts on the net to accomplish all sorts of tasks. Also look for PowerGUI and...

It is really important to understand processor usage in a virtual environment. I have the "multiple vs single proc" argument all the time. Here's how this works. Your server has 8 processors. You have 3 VM's each with 4vCPU's. When a VM with 4vCPU's goes to execute a command (any command at all...

Gunga64, Simon is correct. VMware's HCL is not a joke. You need to make sure tht every peice of HW is on that list. Now, you might get something to work, and it may run for a long time. The moment something goes wrong, VMware will not support you if your HW is not on that list. Good Luck

It is very important to read the release notes for each version of ESX that is made available. The following link is for ESX 3.5U5 and the bottom of the page has a link to previous release notes. http://www.vmware.com/support/vi3/doc/vi3_esx35u5_rel_notes.html I think the biggest problem with...

My two cents: Yes, DC's can be P2V'd. But why would you want to? It is MUCH simpler to build a new DC and run DCPROMO. Besides, VMware's best practices are to NOT P2V a DC. Also, in the case listed here, you are running into very typical problems with VMware Converter and Dynamic Disks...