I'm very excited to announce the new vibauthor fling<http://labs.vmware.com/flings/vib-author>. This fling is hot off the press and provides the capability to create custom vSphere Installation Bundles (VIBs). Prior to this fling the VIB authoring tools were only available to VMware partners, this fling now extends this capability to everyone.
There are a couple of use cases for creating custom VIBs. For example, if you are using Auto Deploy and you need to add a custom firewall rule to your host, or you need to make a configuration changes that can't be made using Host Profiles.
One word of caution however, the ability to create custom VIBs does come with some responsibility. If you plan to create your own VIBs here are a few things to keep in mind:
1. VIBs provided by VMware and trusted partners are digitally signed, these digital signatures ensure the integrity of the VIB. Custom VIBs are not digitally signed. Be careful when adding unsigned VIBs to you ESXi hosts as you have no way of vouching for the integrity of the software being installed.
2. Before adding a custom VIB you will need to set your host's acceptance level to "Community Supported". When running at the community supported acceptance level it's important to understand that VMware support may ask you to remove any custom VIBs. Here's the formal disclaimer:
"IMPORTANT If you add a Community Supported VIB to an ESXi host, you must first change the host's acceptance level to Community Supported. If you encounter problems with an ESXi host that is at the CommunitySupported acceptance level, VMware Support might ask you to remove the custom VIB, as outlined in the support policies:"
If you are not familiar with VIBs I recommend you start with a quick review of this blog: http://blogs.vmware.com/esxi/2011/09/whats-in-a-vib.html
With that, I know several folks have been chomping at the bit to create their own custom VIBs so I've attached a short tutorial that shows how to use the vibauthor tool to create a VIB to add a custom firewall rule.
Enjoy!
vibauthor-how-to-v0.1<http://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/files/2012/09/vibauthor-how-to-v0.1.docx>
blogs.vmware.com [X] <http://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/2012/09/introducing-the-vib-author-fling.html> |by Kyle Gleed on September 28, 2012
◆
________________________________
Original Page: http://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/2012/09/introducing-the-vib-author-fling.html
Sent from Feeddler RSS Reader
Friday, September 28, 2012
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Announcing Exchange 2010 Service Pack 3
The Exchange Team is pleased to announce that in the first half of calendar year 2013 we will be releasing Exchange Server 2010 Service Pack 3 (SP3) to our customers. With SP3, the following new features and capabilities will be included:
Coexistence with Exchange 2013: Customers that want to introduce Exchange Server 2013 into their existing Exchange 2010 infrastructure will need the coexistence changes shipping in SP3.
Support for Windows Server 2012: With Service Pack 3, you will have the ability to install and deploy Exchange Server 2010 on machines running Windows Server 2012.
Customer Requested Fixes: All fixes contained within update rollups released prior to Service Pack 3 will also be contained within SP3. Details of our regular Exchange 2010 release rhythm can be found in Exchange 2010 Servicing<http://technet.microsoft.com/library/ff637979.aspx>.
In order to support these newly added features, there will be a requirement for customers to update their Active Directory schema. We are communicating the required changes ahead of the release date in order to assist our customers with planning their upgrade path ahead of time.
We hope these announcements come as welcome news to you. It is our custom to provide ongoing improvements to features, functionality and security of Exchange Server, based largely on customer feedback, and to provide continual innovation on an already great messaging product. We look forward to receiving your comments and announcing more detailed information as we continue to develop the features that will be included in SP3.
Kevin Allison
General Manager
Exchange Customer Experience
TechNet Blogs [X] <http://blogs.technet.com/b/exchange/archive/2012/09/25/announcing-exchange-2010-service-pack-3.aspx> |by The Exchange Team on September 25, 2012
◆
________________________________
Original Page: http://blogs.technet.com/b/exchange/archive/2012/09/25/announcing-exchange-2010-service-pack-3.aspx
Sent from Feeddler RSS Reader
Coexistence with Exchange 2013: Customers that want to introduce Exchange Server 2013 into their existing Exchange 2010 infrastructure will need the coexistence changes shipping in SP3.
Support for Windows Server 2012: With Service Pack 3, you will have the ability to install and deploy Exchange Server 2010 on machines running Windows Server 2012.
Customer Requested Fixes: All fixes contained within update rollups released prior to Service Pack 3 will also be contained within SP3. Details of our regular Exchange 2010 release rhythm can be found in Exchange 2010 Servicing<http://technet.microsoft.com/library/ff637979.aspx>.
In order to support these newly added features, there will be a requirement for customers to update their Active Directory schema. We are communicating the required changes ahead of the release date in order to assist our customers with planning their upgrade path ahead of time.
We hope these announcements come as welcome news to you. It is our custom to provide ongoing improvements to features, functionality and security of Exchange Server, based largely on customer feedback, and to provide continual innovation on an already great messaging product. We look forward to receiving your comments and announcing more detailed information as we continue to develop the features that will be included in SP3.
Kevin Allison
General Manager
Exchange Customer Experience
TechNet Blogs [X] <http://blogs.technet.com/b/exchange/archive/2012/09/25/announcing-exchange-2010-service-pack-3.aspx> |by The Exchange Team on September 25, 2012
◆
________________________________
Original Page: http://blogs.technet.com/b/exchange/archive/2012/09/25/announcing-exchange-2010-service-pack-3.aspx
Sent from Feeddler RSS Reader
Monday, September 17, 2012
Technical White Paper - Performance Best Practices for VMware vSphere 5.1
Performance Best Practices for VMware vSphere 5.1<http://www.vmware.com/pdf/Perf_Best_Practices_vSphere5.1.pdf>, provides performance tips that cover the most performance-critical areas of VMware vSphere 5.1. It is not intended as a comprehensive guide for planning and configuring your deployments.
* Chapter 1, "Hardware for Use with VMware vSphere," provides guidance on selecting hardware for use with vSphere.
* Chapter 2, "ESXi and Virtual Machines," provides guidance regarding VMware ESXi software and the virtual machines that run in it.
* Chapter 3, "Guest Operating Systems," provides guidance regarding the guest operating systems running in vSphere virtual machines.
* Chapter 4, "Virtual Infrastructure Management," provides guidance regarding infrastructure management best practices.
This book is intended for system administrators who are planning a VMware vSphere 5.1 deployment and want to maximize its performance. The book assumes the reader is already familiar with VMware vSphere concepts and terminology.
http://www.vmware.com/pdf/Perf_Best_Practices_vSphere5.1.pdf
feedproxy.google.com [X] <http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Ntpronl/~3/gFkaENWV1Zg/2163-Technical-White-Paper-Performance-Best-Practices-for-VMware-vSphere-5.1.html>
◆
________________________________
Original Page: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Ntpronl/~3/gFkaENWV1Zg/2163-Technical-White-Paper-Performance-Best-Practices-for-VMware-vSphere-5.1.html
Sent from Feeddler RSS Reader
* Chapter 1, "Hardware for Use with VMware vSphere," provides guidance on selecting hardware for use with vSphere.
* Chapter 2, "ESXi and Virtual Machines," provides guidance regarding VMware ESXi software and the virtual machines that run in it.
* Chapter 3, "Guest Operating Systems," provides guidance regarding the guest operating systems running in vSphere virtual machines.
* Chapter 4, "Virtual Infrastructure Management," provides guidance regarding infrastructure management best practices.
This book is intended for system administrators who are planning a VMware vSphere 5.1 deployment and want to maximize its performance. The book assumes the reader is already familiar with VMware vSphere concepts and terminology.
http://www.vmware.com/pdf/Perf_Best_Practices_vSphere5.1.pdf
feedproxy.google.com [X] <http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Ntpronl/~3/gFkaENWV1Zg/2163-Technical-White-Paper-Performance-Best-Practices-for-VMware-vSphere-5.1.html>
◆
________________________________
Original Page: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Ntpronl/~3/gFkaENWV1Zg/2163-Technical-White-Paper-Performance-Best-Practices-for-VMware-vSphere-5.1.html
Sent from Feeddler RSS Reader
Install, configure and use vSphere Replication (Back to Basics)
One of the coolest features that has been included with vSphere 5.1 in my opinion is vSphere Replication. (Make sure to read the what's new paper<http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/techpaper/Introduction-to-vSphere-Replication.pdf>) The reason for it being is that it now brings "advanced" technology to everyone (Essentials Plus and upwards). I have used vSphere Replication in 5.0 and it was nice, but with 5.1 the installation and configuration process has been improved. For instance the database is now included in the appliance and it isn't as DNS sensitive as it was with 5.0. This makes installing and configuring it a matter of minutes.
I am going to assume you have "vSphere Replication" traffic enabled on a VMkernel NIC, if you do not know how to create a VMkernel NIC check this article<http://www.yellow-bricks.com/2012/09/13/back-to-basics-configuring-a-vswitch/>
Lets get started. I downloaded the vSphere Replication virtual appliance and imported and configured it in just a couple of steps using the vSphere 5.1 Web Client:
* Go to your cluster under "vCenter" —> "Hosts and Clusters".
* Right click the cluster object and click "All vCenter Actions" —> "Deploy OVF Template"
* As a source I select the ova file I downloaded, now click "Next"
* Validate the details and click "Next"
* If you agree "Accept" the EULA and click "Next"
* Select the "Name and folder" this virtual machine will needs to be placed in and click "Next"
* Select the "Datastore" it needs to be provisioned to and click "Next"
* Select the "Network" it needs to be connected to and click "Next"
* Provide an administrative "password" and enter the "Networking properties" and click "Next"
[http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8037/7971327436_c8457286c9.jpg]
* Click "Next" on the vService bindings, when the binding status is "ok"
* Click "Finish"
Now the vSphere Replication appliance is ready to be powered on. Depending on where you are replicating to there might be some additional steps required. If you are replicating to a second vCenter Server you will need to deploy a vSphere Replication appliance in that environment as well. Note that you will need to link two appliances together before you can replicate anything.
I don't have a second vCenter Server and I just want to replicate virtual machines to a secondary remote storage device as a form of backup. So I will go ahead and replicate a virtual machine.
* Go to your cluster under "vCenter" —> "Hosts and Clusters".
* Right click one of your virtual machines, I will use the vCenter Server as an example, and select "All vSphere Replication Actions" and then click on "Configure Replication".
[http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8178/7971353672_081a34da47.jpg]
* As a target site select the vCenter Server itself and click "next".
* As a target location select a datastore and click "next".
* Decide what the RPO (recovery point objective) should be, I selected 15 minutes and click "next".
[http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8461/7971355730_7f20402504.jpg]
* Click "finish".
Now replication will be configured and the virtual machine will be replicated with an RPO of 15 minutes. Next lets check on the progress of the replica:
* Click on the "Home" button.
* Click on "vSphere Replication" in the upper right.
* Click on "Sites" and then on your vCenter Server instance, in my case "vcenter-tm01".
* On the "Summary" tab you can see that a virtual machine replication is in progress.
* If you click "View details" you can see some more specifics. It is the first time it is being synced so it will do a full sync as indicated.
* When it is finished it should show a nice green check.[http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8454/7971357630_d560f1fe96.jpg]
Now if needed you can recover this virtual machine. You can also pause syncing or stop it completely. There is also the option to force an instant sync or even reconfigure the replication process. All of this can be found as follows:
* Click on the "Home" button.
* Click on "vSphere Replication" in the upper right.
* Click on "Sites" and then on your vCenter Server instance, in my case "vcenter-tm01".
* Click on the "Monitor" tab and next on "Incoming Replications".
* Right click the appropriate virtual machine.
[http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8302/7971351676_a49f88f35e.jpg]
* If you select "Recover" you will notice your virtual machine needs to be powered off before you can recover it.
* Select the "folder" you want to recover your virtual machine to and click "Next".
* Select the "cluster" and click "Next".
* Note that your virtual machine will be powered on, but with a disconnected network, click "Finish".
* Now you should see the status change to "Recovering" and when it is done to "Recovered".
That is it… Simple right
yellow-bricks.com [X] <http://www.yellow-bricks.com/2012/09/17/back-to-basics-install-configure-and-use-vsphere-replication/> |by Duncan Epping on September 17, 2012
◆
________________________________
Original Page: http://www.yellow-bricks.com/2012/09/17/back-to-basics-install-configure-and-use-vsphere-replication/
Sent from Feeddler RSS Reader
I am going to assume you have "vSphere Replication" traffic enabled on a VMkernel NIC, if you do not know how to create a VMkernel NIC check this article<http://www.yellow-bricks.com/2012/09/13/back-to-basics-configuring-a-vswitch/>
Lets get started. I downloaded the vSphere Replication virtual appliance and imported and configured it in just a couple of steps using the vSphere 5.1 Web Client:
* Go to your cluster under "vCenter" —> "Hosts and Clusters".
* Right click the cluster object and click "All vCenter Actions" —> "Deploy OVF Template"
* As a source I select the ova file I downloaded, now click "Next"
* Validate the details and click "Next"
* If you agree "Accept" the EULA and click "Next"
* Select the "Name and folder" this virtual machine will needs to be placed in and click "Next"
* Select the "Datastore" it needs to be provisioned to and click "Next"
* Select the "Network" it needs to be connected to and click "Next"
* Provide an administrative "password" and enter the "Networking properties" and click "Next"
[http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8037/7971327436_c8457286c9.jpg]
* Click "Next" on the vService bindings, when the binding status is "ok"
* Click "Finish"
Now the vSphere Replication appliance is ready to be powered on. Depending on where you are replicating to there might be some additional steps required. If you are replicating to a second vCenter Server you will need to deploy a vSphere Replication appliance in that environment as well. Note that you will need to link two appliances together before you can replicate anything.
I don't have a second vCenter Server and I just want to replicate virtual machines to a secondary remote storage device as a form of backup. So I will go ahead and replicate a virtual machine.
* Go to your cluster under "vCenter" —> "Hosts and Clusters".
* Right click one of your virtual machines, I will use the vCenter Server as an example, and select "All vSphere Replication Actions" and then click on "Configure Replication".
[http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8178/7971353672_081a34da47.jpg]
* As a target site select the vCenter Server itself and click "next".
* As a target location select a datastore and click "next".
* Decide what the RPO (recovery point objective) should be, I selected 15 minutes and click "next".
[http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8461/7971355730_7f20402504.jpg]
* Click "finish".
Now replication will be configured and the virtual machine will be replicated with an RPO of 15 minutes. Next lets check on the progress of the replica:
* Click on the "Home" button.
* Click on "vSphere Replication" in the upper right.
* Click on "Sites" and then on your vCenter Server instance, in my case "vcenter-tm01".
* On the "Summary" tab you can see that a virtual machine replication is in progress.
* If you click "View details" you can see some more specifics. It is the first time it is being synced so it will do a full sync as indicated.
* When it is finished it should show a nice green check.[http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8454/7971357630_d560f1fe96.jpg]
Now if needed you can recover this virtual machine. You can also pause syncing or stop it completely. There is also the option to force an instant sync or even reconfigure the replication process. All of this can be found as follows:
* Click on the "Home" button.
* Click on "vSphere Replication" in the upper right.
* Click on "Sites" and then on your vCenter Server instance, in my case "vcenter-tm01".
* Click on the "Monitor" tab and next on "Incoming Replications".
* Right click the appropriate virtual machine.
[http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8302/7971351676_a49f88f35e.jpg]
* If you select "Recover" you will notice your virtual machine needs to be powered off before you can recover it.
* Select the "folder" you want to recover your virtual machine to and click "Next".
* Select the "cluster" and click "Next".
* Note that your virtual machine will be powered on, but with a disconnected network, click "Finish".
* Now you should see the status change to "Recovering" and when it is done to "Recovered".
That is it… Simple right
yellow-bricks.com [X] <http://www.yellow-bricks.com/2012/09/17/back-to-basics-install-configure-and-use-vsphere-replication/> |by Duncan Epping on September 17, 2012
◆
________________________________
Original Page: http://www.yellow-bricks.com/2012/09/17/back-to-basics-install-configure-and-use-vsphere-replication/
Sent from Feeddler RSS Reader
Friday, September 14, 2012
What’s New with VMware vCloud Director 5.1 - Snapshots, Storage Profiles and the Elastic vDC
VMware vCloud Director<http://www.vmware.com/products/vcloud-director/overview.html> orchestrates the provisioning of software-defned datacenter services, to deliver complete virtual datacenters for easy consumption in minutes. Software-defned datacenter services and virtual datacenters fundamentally simplify infrastructure provisioning and enable IT to move at the speed of business.
Numerous enhancements are included within vCloud Director 5.1, making it the best infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) solution in the marketplace today. This document highlights some of these key enhancements and is targeted toward users who are familiar with previous vCloud Director releases.
This presentation will show you what has changed in: Snapshots, Storage Profiles and the Elastic vDC.
Technical White Paper - What's New with VMware vCloud Director 5.1<http://www.ntpro.nl/blog/archives/2107-Technical-White-Paper-Whats-New-with-VMware-vCloud-Director-5.1.html>
feedproxy.google.com [X] <http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Ntpronl/~3/AGr61RWRYA4/2160-Whats-New-with-VMware-vCloud-Director-5.1-Snapshots,-Storage-Profiles-and-the-Elastic-vDC.html>
◆
________________________________
Original Page: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Ntpronl/~3/AGr61RWRYA4/2160-Whats-New-with-VMware-vCloud-Director-5.1-Snapshots,-Storage-Profiles-and-the-Elastic-vDC.html
Sent from Feeddler RSS Reader
Numerous enhancements are included within vCloud Director 5.1, making it the best infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) solution in the marketplace today. This document highlights some of these key enhancements and is targeted toward users who are familiar with previous vCloud Director releases.
This presentation will show you what has changed in: Snapshots, Storage Profiles and the Elastic vDC.
Technical White Paper - What's New with VMware vCloud Director 5.1<http://www.ntpro.nl/blog/archives/2107-Technical-White-Paper-Whats-New-with-VMware-vCloud-Director-5.1.html>
feedproxy.google.com [X] <http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Ntpronl/~3/AGr61RWRYA4/2160-Whats-New-with-VMware-vCloud-Director-5.1-Snapshots,-Storage-Profiles-and-the-Elastic-vDC.html>
◆
________________________________
Original Page: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Ntpronl/~3/AGr61RWRYA4/2160-Whats-New-with-VMware-vCloud-Director-5.1-Snapshots,-Storage-Profiles-and-the-Elastic-vDC.html
Sent from Feeddler RSS Reader
Thursday, September 13, 2012
VMware Posters - VMware vSphere Blog
This page is dedicated to the VMware posters which were created by Technical Marketing and have been released at VMworld and VMUGs around the world, this is a central place to find the latest versions of the PDF versions which can be used for reference or printed off as needed.
VMware ESXi 5.1 Reference Poster
Click here to download the PDF<http://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/files/2012/09/ESXi-5.1-Poster.pdf>.
[ESXi Poster]<http://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/files/2012/09/ESXi-5.1-Poster.pdf>
VMware Management with PowerCLI 5.1 Poster
Click here to download the PDF.<http://blogs.vmware.com/vipowershell/files/2012/09/PowerCLI_5_1_Poster.pdf>
[PowerCLI Poster]<http://blogs.vmware.com/vipowershell/files/2012/09/PowerCLI_5_1_Poster.pdf>
VMware vCloud Networking Poster
Click here to download the PDF.<http://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/files/2012/09/VMW-vCloud-Networking-Poster2.pdf>
[VMware vCloud Networking]<http://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/files/2012/09/VMW-vCloud-Networking-Poster2.pdf>
VMware Hands-On Labs 2012 Poster
Click here to download the PDF.<http://communities.vmware.com/servlet/JiveServlet/download/2110117-95116/HOL_2012_Labs-Reference.pdf>
[Hands-On Labs Poster]<http://communities.vmware.com/servlet/JiveServlet/download/2110117-95116/HOL_2012_Labs-Reference.pdf>
VMware vCloud SDKs Poster (1.0 – Out of date)
Click here to download the PDF.<http://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/files/2012/09/Final-vCloudApi_34x22-020111.pdf>
[vCloud SDK Poster]<http://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/files/2012/09/Final-vCloudApi_34x22-020111.pdf>
blogs.vmware.com [X] <http://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/2012/09/vmware-posters.html> |by Alan Renouf on September 11, 2012
◆
________________________________
Original Page: http://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/2012/09/vmware-posters.html
Sent from Feeddler RSS Reader
VMware ESXi 5.1 Reference Poster
Click here to download the PDF<http://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/files/2012/09/ESXi-5.1-Poster.pdf>.
[ESXi Poster]<http://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/files/2012/09/ESXi-5.1-Poster.pdf>
VMware Management with PowerCLI 5.1 Poster
Click here to download the PDF.<http://blogs.vmware.com/vipowershell/files/2012/09/PowerCLI_5_1_Poster.pdf>
[PowerCLI Poster]<http://blogs.vmware.com/vipowershell/files/2012/09/PowerCLI_5_1_Poster.pdf>
VMware vCloud Networking Poster
Click here to download the PDF.<http://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/files/2012/09/VMW-vCloud-Networking-Poster2.pdf>
[VMware vCloud Networking]<http://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/files/2012/09/VMW-vCloud-Networking-Poster2.pdf>
VMware Hands-On Labs 2012 Poster
Click here to download the PDF.<http://communities.vmware.com/servlet/JiveServlet/download/2110117-95116/HOL_2012_Labs-Reference.pdf>
[Hands-On Labs Poster]<http://communities.vmware.com/servlet/JiveServlet/download/2110117-95116/HOL_2012_Labs-Reference.pdf>
VMware vCloud SDKs Poster (1.0 – Out of date)
Click here to download the PDF.<http://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/files/2012/09/Final-vCloudApi_34x22-020111.pdf>
[vCloud SDK Poster]<http://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/files/2012/09/Final-vCloudApi_34x22-020111.pdf>
blogs.vmware.com [X] <http://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/2012/09/vmware-posters.html> |by Alan Renouf on September 11, 2012
◆
________________________________
Original Page: http://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/2012/09/vmware-posters.html
Sent from Feeddler RSS Reader
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Free self-paced training - vSphere What’s New [V5.1]
The VMware vSphere - What's New [V5.1] course is designed for SEs (VMware/Partner) and customers who want to learn about the new features and components available in VMware vSphere 5.1. This training course explores new features in VMware vCenter Server 5.1 and VMware ESXi 5.1. By the end of the course, you should gain an understanding and should be able to implement the following new functions and features of VMware vSphere 5.1:
Compute and Storage
* Support for hardware version 9, the latest CPU performance counters and virtual shared graphics acceleration designed for enhanced performance.
* For better space efficiency vSphere supports storage space reclamation for VDI.
Network
* Support for VXLAN
* Enhanced vSphere Distributed Switch that supports:
* Network health check
* Backup and restore
* Rollback and recovery
* Link Aggregation Control Protocol support
* Single-root I/O virtualization (SR-IOV)
Availability
* VMware vSphere vMotion® without the need for shared storage configurations.
* VMware vSphere Data Protection for simple and cost effective backup and recovery,
* vSphere Replication enables efficient array-agnostic replication of virtual machine data over the LAN or WAN.
VMware vCenter Enhancements:
* vSphere Web Client
* vCenter Single Sign-On
* VSA enhancements
* Support for Additional Disk Drives
* Increase Storage Capacity Online
* vCenter running on the VSA Cluster
• Security: Inclusion VMware vShield Endpoint to eliminate the agent footprint from the virtual machines, offload intelligence to a security virtual appliance, and run scans with minimal impact.
• Automation: Two new methods for deploying new vSphere hosts to an environment make the Auto Deploy process more highly available than ever before.
http://mylearn.vmware.com/mgrReg/courses.cfm?ui=www_edu&a=det&id_course=149391<http://mylearn.vmware.com/mgrReg/courses.cfm?ui=www_edu&a=det&id_course=149391>
feedproxy.google.com [X] <http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Ntpronl/~3/_aUyc6B8LT8/2153-Free-self-paced-training-vSphere-Whats-New-V5.1.html>
◆
________________________________
Original Page: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Ntpronl/~3/_aUyc6B8LT8/2153-Free-self-paced-training-vSphere-Whats-New-V5.1.html
Sent from Feeddler RSS Reader
Compute and Storage
* Support for hardware version 9, the latest CPU performance counters and virtual shared graphics acceleration designed for enhanced performance.
* For better space efficiency vSphere supports storage space reclamation for VDI.
Network
* Support for VXLAN
* Enhanced vSphere Distributed Switch that supports:
* Network health check
* Backup and restore
* Rollback and recovery
* Link Aggregation Control Protocol support
* Single-root I/O virtualization (SR-IOV)
Availability
* VMware vSphere vMotion® without the need for shared storage configurations.
* VMware vSphere Data Protection for simple and cost effective backup and recovery,
* vSphere Replication enables efficient array-agnostic replication of virtual machine data over the LAN or WAN.
VMware vCenter Enhancements:
* vSphere Web Client
* vCenter Single Sign-On
* VSA enhancements
* Support for Additional Disk Drives
* Increase Storage Capacity Online
* vCenter running on the VSA Cluster
• Security: Inclusion VMware vShield Endpoint to eliminate the agent footprint from the virtual machines, offload intelligence to a security virtual appliance, and run scans with minimal impact.
• Automation: Two new methods for deploying new vSphere hosts to an environment make the Auto Deploy process more highly available than ever before.
http://mylearn.vmware.com/mgrReg/courses.cfm?ui=www_edu&a=det&id_course=149391<http://mylearn.vmware.com/mgrReg/courses.cfm?ui=www_edu&a=det&id_course=149391>
feedproxy.google.com [X] <http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Ntpronl/~3/_aUyc6B8LT8/2153-Free-self-paced-training-vSphere-Whats-New-V5.1.html>
◆
________________________________
Original Page: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Ntpronl/~3/_aUyc6B8LT8/2153-Free-self-paced-training-vSphere-Whats-New-V5.1.html
Sent from Feeddler RSS Reader
vSphere Replication 5.1 and Site Recovery Manager 5.1 Now Available! - VMware vSphere Blog
Make sure you read the release notes, as always, but head on over to the download pages and pick up a copy!
vSphere Replication
* Release Notes <http://www.vmware.com/support/vsphere5/doc/vsphere-replication-51-release-notes.html>
* Download<https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/info/slug/datacenter_cloud_infrastructure/vmware_vsphere/5_1>
Site Recovery Manager
* Release Notes<http://www.vmware.com/support/srm/srm-releasenotes-5-1-0.html>
* Download<https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/info/slug/infrastructure_operations_management/vmware_vcenter_site_recovery_manager/5_1>
blogs.vmware.com [X] <http://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/2012/09/vsphere-replication-5-1-and-site-recovery-manager-5-1-now-available.html> |by Ken Werneburg on September 11, 2012
◆
________________________________
Original Page: http://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/2012/09/vsphere-replication-5-1-and-site-recovery-manager-5-1-now-available.html
Sent from Feeddler RSS Reader
vSphere Replication
* Release Notes <http://www.vmware.com/support/vsphere5/doc/vsphere-replication-51-release-notes.html>
* Download<https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/info/slug/datacenter_cloud_infrastructure/vmware_vsphere/5_1>
Site Recovery Manager
* Release Notes<http://www.vmware.com/support/srm/srm-releasenotes-5-1-0.html>
* Download<https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/info/slug/infrastructure_operations_management/vmware_vcenter_site_recovery_manager/5_1>
blogs.vmware.com [X] <http://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/2012/09/vsphere-replication-5-1-and-site-recovery-manager-5-1-now-available.html> |by Ken Werneburg on September 11, 2012
◆
________________________________
Original Page: http://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/2012/09/vsphere-replication-5-1-and-site-recovery-manager-5-1-now-available.html
Sent from Feeddler RSS Reader
What’s New in vSphere 5.1 – Networking - VMware vSphere Blog
With the release of VMware vSphere 5.1, VMware brings a number of powerful new features and enhancements to the networking capabilities in the VMware vSphere platform. The following diagram provides a list of new features in different categories[http://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/files/2012/09/vSphere5.1-newFeatures.jpg]<http://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/files/2012/09/vSphere5.1-newFeatures.jpg>
The main thing I would like to highlight is that the operational improvements in VDS will help customers to go away from the hybrid virtual switch design approach, where management traffic is carried on vSphere Standard Switch (VSS) and all other traffic flows through vSphere Distributed Switch (VDS). The Rollback and Recovery and Configuration Backup and Restore features address some of the operational concerns customers had about VDS and thus simplifies the virtual network operational aspects. Going forward with vSphere 5.1 all things on VDS is the way to go !
For more details about all the new features please take a look at the What's New paper here<http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/techpaper/Whats-New-VMware-vSphere-51-Network-Technical-Whitepaper.pdf>. In the coming weeks, I will dive down into each feature and provide more technical details. So please stay tuned.
Get notification of these blogs postings by following me on Twitter: @VMWNetworking
blogs.vmware.com [X] <http://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/2012/09/whats-new-in-vsphere-5-1-networking.html> |by Venky on September 11, 2012
◆
________________________________
Original Page: http://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/2012/09/whats-new-in-vsphere-5-1-networking.html
Sent from Feeddler RSS Reader
The main thing I would like to highlight is that the operational improvements in VDS will help customers to go away from the hybrid virtual switch design approach, where management traffic is carried on vSphere Standard Switch (VSS) and all other traffic flows through vSphere Distributed Switch (VDS). The Rollback and Recovery and Configuration Backup and Restore features address some of the operational concerns customers had about VDS and thus simplifies the virtual network operational aspects. Going forward with vSphere 5.1 all things on VDS is the way to go !
For more details about all the new features please take a look at the What's New paper here<http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/techpaper/Whats-New-VMware-vSphere-51-Network-Technical-Whitepaper.pdf>. In the coming weeks, I will dive down into each feature and provide more technical details. So please stay tuned.
Get notification of these blogs postings by following me on Twitter: @VMWNetworking
blogs.vmware.com [X] <http://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/2012/09/whats-new-in-vsphere-5-1-networking.html> |by Venky on September 11, 2012
◆
________________________________
Original Page: http://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/2012/09/whats-new-in-vsphere-5-1-networking.html
Sent from Feeddler RSS Reader
VMware vCloud Networking Poster - VMware vSphere Blog
During VMworld 2012 (US) we released a brand new networking poster. This poster is a reference to all things related to vSphere Standard Switch (VSS), vSphere Distributed Switch (VDS), and Virtual Extensible Local Area Network (VXLAN) technology. It provides you information on the different components, terminologies and parameters of VSS, VDS, and VXLAN. It also explains the advanced features of VDS and discusses some best practices. You can download the pdf of this poster here<http://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/files/2012/09/VMW-vCloud-Networking-Poster2.pdf>
[http://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/files/2012/09/Networking-Poster.jpg]<http://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/files/2012/09/Networking-Poster.jpg>
I hope you like it. As always, I would love to hear your feedback.
blogs.vmware.com [X] <http://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/2012/09/vmware-vcloud-networking-poster.html> |by Vyenkatesh (Venky) Deshpande on September 11, 2012
◆
________________________________
Original Page: http://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/2012/09/vmware-vcloud-networking-poster.html
Sent from Feeddler RSS Reader
[http://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/files/2012/09/Networking-Poster.jpg]<http://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/files/2012/09/Networking-Poster.jpg>
I hope you like it. As always, I would love to hear your feedback.
blogs.vmware.com [X] <http://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/2012/09/vmware-vcloud-networking-poster.html> |by Vyenkatesh (Venky) Deshpande on September 11, 2012
◆
________________________________
Original Page: http://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/2012/09/vmware-vcloud-networking-poster.html
Sent from Feeddler RSS Reader
Thursday, September 6, 2012
vSphere 5.1 networking enhancements
There are many networking enhancement in vSphere 5.1 but I want to call out a couple specifically. The reason for this is that there have been many discussions on this blog about "hybrid VSS / VDS" environments as many were not comfortable with running everything on a VDS. Although the risks were minimal I could understand where people were coming from. So what's new in this space?
1. Management network rollback and recovery
2. VDS config backup and restore
3. Network health check
Management Network rollback / recovery says it all I guess. I for whatever reason you made changes that will result in your host not being able to connect to vCenter then this change will not be committed. Even more importantly, if you ever end up in the situation where your host is not able to connect to the network while using a VDS you can now reconfigure it through the DCUI (Network Restore Options). I played around with it, and I think it is a huge enhancement. I don't see a reason to go hybrid any longer… go full VDS!
Another often heard complaint was around export/import of the VDS config or backup/restore. With vSphere 5.1 this ability is now added. Not only can you save the VDS config and use it for new VDS's but you can of course also use this feature for backup purposes (see screenshot below). Another cool feature is that if you made a change to a portgroup that was not what you intended you can actually roll it back.
[http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8012/7650164690_04cff0af09.jpg]
Last but not least is the "Network Health Check" option. I particularly like this feature as I've been in the situation many times in the past that changes were made on a physical level and people forgot to inform me about it. This will allow you to quickly identify when things changed and that will make the discussion with your networking colleagues a lot easier. In this release three things are checked:
* VLAN
* MTU
* Network adapter teaming
These checks will be done every minute, and is done by sending probing packets on the VDS uplinks. If for whatever reason these probing packets fail it could indicate that the config of the physical components have changed. Nice right… I am not going to reveal any more secrets as I am guessing Venky will be writing some deepdive stuff soon.
In the mean while, for more details around what's new I would like to refer to the great what's new paper that Venky Deshpande wrote: What's New for Network in vSphere 5.1<http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/techpaper/Whats-New-VMware-vSphere-51-Network-Technical-Whitepaper.pdf>.
yellow-bricks.com [X] <http://www.yellow-bricks.com/2012/09/06/vsphere-5-1-networking-enhancements/> |by Duncan Epping on September 6, 2012
◆
________________________________
Original Page: http://www.yellow-bricks.com/2012/09/06/vsphere-5-1-networking-enhancements/
Sent from Feeddler RSS Reader
1. Management network rollback and recovery
2. VDS config backup and restore
3. Network health check
Management Network rollback / recovery says it all I guess. I for whatever reason you made changes that will result in your host not being able to connect to vCenter then this change will not be committed. Even more importantly, if you ever end up in the situation where your host is not able to connect to the network while using a VDS you can now reconfigure it through the DCUI (Network Restore Options). I played around with it, and I think it is a huge enhancement. I don't see a reason to go hybrid any longer… go full VDS!
Another often heard complaint was around export/import of the VDS config or backup/restore. With vSphere 5.1 this ability is now added. Not only can you save the VDS config and use it for new VDS's but you can of course also use this feature for backup purposes (see screenshot below). Another cool feature is that if you made a change to a portgroup that was not what you intended you can actually roll it back.
[http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8012/7650164690_04cff0af09.jpg]
Last but not least is the "Network Health Check" option. I particularly like this feature as I've been in the situation many times in the past that changes were made on a physical level and people forgot to inform me about it. This will allow you to quickly identify when things changed and that will make the discussion with your networking colleagues a lot easier. In this release three things are checked:
* VLAN
* MTU
* Network adapter teaming
These checks will be done every minute, and is done by sending probing packets on the VDS uplinks. If for whatever reason these probing packets fail it could indicate that the config of the physical components have changed. Nice right… I am not going to reveal any more secrets as I am guessing Venky will be writing some deepdive stuff soon.
In the mean while, for more details around what's new I would like to refer to the great what's new paper that Venky Deshpande wrote: What's New for Network in vSphere 5.1<http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/techpaper/Whats-New-VMware-vSphere-51-Network-Technical-Whitepaper.pdf>.
yellow-bricks.com [X] <http://www.yellow-bricks.com/2012/09/06/vsphere-5-1-networking-enhancements/> |by Duncan Epping on September 6, 2012
◆
________________________________
Original Page: http://www.yellow-bricks.com/2012/09/06/vsphere-5-1-networking-enhancements/
Sent from Feeddler RSS Reader
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
vMotion without shared storage requirement, does it have a name? - VMware vSphere Blog
With the release of version 5.1, VMware introduced some extra functionality to the vMotion platform. One of these enhancements enables vMotion to run in environments without shared storage.
I heard a lot of names floating around the community, such as X-vMotion, Unified vMotion and enhanced vMotion, but in reality we do not brand this particular enhancement as a separate feature. To give you some background of the previous mentioned terms: X-vMotion was the internal code name for this feature, this name is still visible in the ESXi Host Advanced Setting with the rest of the internal codenames. Unified vMotion is a reference to the unified architecture which combines vMotion and parts of the Storage vMotion for this process. When a virtual machine needs to be migrated between hosts that do not share storage, vMotion copies the data across the vMotion network using some of the Storage vMotion code. A separate article will appear soon expanding on the technical bits of this process.
A separate product name usually means a separate license and that is the beauty of this enhancement. vMotion without the shared storage requirement is available in all kits and edition that have vMotion included. This means, if you are using vMotion today, the moment you upgrade to vSphere 5.1, you can migrate virtual machines between hosts without the need of shared storage and without any downtime.
blogs.vmware.com [X] <http://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/2012/09/vmotion-without-shared-storage-requirement-does-it-have-a-name.html> |by Frank Denneman on September 5, 2012
◆
________________________________
Original Page: http://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/2012/09/vmotion-without-shared-storage-requirement-does-it-have-a-name.html
Sent from Feeddler RSS Reader
I heard a lot of names floating around the community, such as X-vMotion, Unified vMotion and enhanced vMotion, but in reality we do not brand this particular enhancement as a separate feature. To give you some background of the previous mentioned terms: X-vMotion was the internal code name for this feature, this name is still visible in the ESXi Host Advanced Setting with the rest of the internal codenames. Unified vMotion is a reference to the unified architecture which combines vMotion and parts of the Storage vMotion for this process. When a virtual machine needs to be migrated between hosts that do not share storage, vMotion copies the data across the vMotion network using some of the Storage vMotion code. A separate article will appear soon expanding on the technical bits of this process.
A separate product name usually means a separate license and that is the beauty of this enhancement. vMotion without the shared storage requirement is available in all kits and edition that have vMotion included. This means, if you are using vMotion today, the moment you upgrade to vSphere 5.1, you can migrate virtual machines between hosts without the need of shared storage and without any downtime.
blogs.vmware.com [X] <http://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/2012/09/vmotion-without-shared-storage-requirement-does-it-have-a-name.html> |by Frank Denneman on September 5, 2012
◆
________________________________
Original Page: http://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/2012/09/vmotion-without-shared-storage-requirement-does-it-have-a-name.html
Sent from Feeddler RSS Reader
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
MY Webinar Wednesday's
In an effort to educate even more people on VMware’s products, I have started a bi-weekly webinar series called “Webinar Wednesdays”
I will be focusing on VMware products and solutions that fit into the mid-market.
Please signup and view the schedule and topics at:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)