Author Archives: Tony Pittman
EMC VNXe Replication Wizard issue and workaround
A quick note about setting up replication on an EMC VNXe: The VNXe replication wizard allows you to set up the replication destination as part of the wizard, but I’m seeing some cases with the most recent release, Version 2.1.3.16008 (2.1 Service Pack 3.1), where that will crash the management services. Storage functionality isn’t affected, [...]
Laying out VNX FAST VP storage pools
One of the questions I run into a lot pertains to EMC VNX FAST VP storage pools, particularly with VMware. Now that we have all these layers of abstraction (the sub-LUN tiering in FAST VP, the I/O improvements of FAST Cache, then on top of that the I/O aggregation from VMware datastores with many VMs, [...]
Posted in EMC, FAST VP Storage Pools, Virtualization, VMware vSphere, VNX Comments closed
VNX OE update released this week, I’m optimistic
As reported by EMC uber-blogger Chad Sakac, EMC has released a VNX OE update this week. This finally includes some things that I’ve been waiting for, things that would have been in the original VNX release in my perfect world. These are things that have been causing me some pain since we started installing the first [...]
VNX / VNXe Live Chat are available
Quick note: EMC VNX and VNXe Live Chat are available on Powerlink, as of last week . Live Chat is usually pretty good support, and you don’t have to fight through thick accents like on phone support.
EMC World 2011
It’s day 3 of EMC World 2011 and I’m finally stopping to write some stuff down. Before now, I’ve attended VMWorld 2007 and 2008, and various regional VMUGs. This is the first event I can remember that has focused so much on philosophy rather than functionality. There are some occasional mentions about how the VNX [...]
Posted in EMC, EMC World 2011 Comments closed
MSCS stretched clusters with RP/CE
Lately I’ve been asked a few questions about how EMC’s Recoverpoint / Cluster Enabler (RP/CE) functions, what it can do and how it does it, so here are some details on how it works. RP/CE installs on the Windows hosts in the MSCS cluster and communicates with the Recoverpoint Appliances (RPA’s). It makes sure that the storage [...]
Posted in EMC, Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft SQL, Recoverpoint, Replication Manager Comments closed
Varrow Madness – Next Week
If you’re within a few hours drive of Greensboro, NC check out Varrow Madness. It’s a free, all-day event packed with a LOT of IT content. There will be some big name speakers, a lot of solid vendors will have booths set up, plus NCAA tourney and St Patrick’s Day stuff, and I’ll be there [...]
Posted in Uncategorized Comments closed
Enabling SSH access to the COS in vSphere 4.1
Just a quick note about a quiet change to how ESX 4.1 handles SSH access: In previous versions of ESX, you would open the VI client or vSphere client, connect directly to the host and create a user with “allow shell access” checked. With 4.1, you now also need to go to the Permissions tab and [...]
Posted in Virtualization, VMware vSphere Comments closed
vSphere 4 Update 2 and PCoIP – Now it works!
A lot of people installed vSphere 4 Update 2 when it released, only to find that desktop connections using PCoIP (a multimedia-optimized remote desktop option for VMware View) would no longer work. The tricky part is that the problem only occurs once VMware Tools is upgraded in the guest, and since not everyone does that immediately [...]
Posted in PCoIP, View 4, Virtualization, VMware View, VMware vSphere, vSphere 4.0 Update 2 Comments closed
DHCP and Vmware Guest Customization
Beware using IP DHCP PING (Cisco) or DHCP Conflict Detection (Windows) when deploying templates in VMware vCenter. If the DHCP server takes too long to answer a DHCP request, Guest Customization will time out while attempting to join a Windows VM to a domain (it makes two attempts). This will be recorded in the logs [...]
Posted in Virtualization, VMware View, VMware vSphere Comments closed
Bringing ESXi Back [Take 'em to the chorus]
I want to take a few minutes to discuss how to choose between vSphere ESXi and vSphere today, in the present. 
Posted in CoS, ESXi, Service Console, Virtualization, VMware vSphere Comments closed
Why no SIS?
Exchange 2010 does not include Single Instance Storage. This article explains why we'll be better off.
Posted in Uncategorized Comments closed
VMware, SQL, and the Value of Simplicity