Baffled by extra port group on VM
This week while working on a VM migration project I was initially confounded by an extra port group showing up on VMs that only had a single NIC listed in their configuration. We had been migrating VMs from ESX 4.0 hosts to new ESXi 5.0 hosts, upgrading VMware Tools and VM hardware, and migrating the [...]
Posted in VMware Comments closed
VMware Partner Exchange 2012: Locked and Loaded
On Feb. 13-16, VMware PEX 2012 will be on its way in Las Vegas. This being my first experience with...
Posted in VMware Comments closed
EMC Technical Advisory: EMC282741: CLARiiON and VNX: Managing dual solid state drive (SSD) issues
There has been a technical advisory floating around that deserves a little more attention. First...
Posted in EMC Comments closed
Lab Gear Review: Synology DS212+
If you read my lab posts or talk to my about lab gear it’s no secret that I’m a fan of Synology NAS boxes and for good reason. I personally bought two, a DS1010+ for my vSphere lab and a DS1511+ for lab, media, and home storage/backup. They have both been nothing but reliable…true workhorses. [...]
Configuring a KMS server on Windows Server 2008 R2
Well I have had to setup a KMS server in several of our clients sites, and found that the documentation from Microsoft is somewhat confusing. I have set these up before, but it is always a pain to go back and find the information on how to do it all over again. I ran across [...]
Posted in WindowBOX Comments closed
2012 Resolutions: Encrypting My Data Using OSX File Vault 2
One of my goals for this year was to start encrypting more of my data. This has become a higher priority now that I’ve switched to a MacBook Air from my 15″ MacBook Pro. I’m honestly worried that I’ll leave that little thing somewhere. It’s so light I don’t even notice if it’s not in [...]
Posted in Apple, data, encryption, file, lion, osx, protection, vault Comments closed
Resolutions for a Life Well-Lived
I ran across these resolutions today by author and professor Clyde Kilby. Great resolutions for sanity and a life well-lived. 1. At least once every day I shall look steadily up at the sky and remember that I, a consciousness with a conscien...
Posted in Uncategorized Comments closed
A Data Center is not a Refrigerator
Pop quiz: Q: What’s the difference between a bottle of ketchup and a blade server? A: A bottle of ketchup doesn’t have a power cord. I’ve realized recently, through working on a number of client data center assessments, that there’s a significant knowledge gap around effective airflow management in the data center. Through various conversations [...]
Posted in Data Center Comments closed
Who “owns” your Data Center?
More and more of our clients utilize third party data center facilities for production, disaster recovery, or both. With ever-increasing demands for power density, cooling capacity, and uptime / availability, this can often be the most cost-effective, future proof approach. A hosted data center provider can spread the investments required for state-of-the-art power and cooling [...]
Posted in Data Center, hosting, IT Service Management Comments closed
A picture is worth a thousand words. Straight from the…
A picture is worth a thousand words. Straight from the unsolicited whiteboard of one of our customers.
Posted in Uncategorized Comments closed
EMC FAST: Whether to File and/or Block Tier
Storage performance needs in today’s data center can change on a...
Posted in Uncategorized Comments closed
Battle Ponderings: A Year in Review 2011
Once a year I attempt to recall the happenings (here to) of the last 12 months specifically in the...
Posted in Uncategorized Comments closed
How-To Generate and Collect NAR Data from VNX Arrays
Login to the Unisphere console Select the array you want to collect data from Click on the “System” tab, then click on “Monitoring and Alerts” Click on “Statistics for Block” Click on “Performance Data Logging” A “Data Logging” windows will appear. Configure the settings to match the screenshot below. Leave the “Archive Interval” set to [...]
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