In every VMware class I teach, whether it’s the basic ICM (Install Configure, Manage) or it’s the more involved FastTrack, a lot of students run into basic confusion on planning or the lingo. Consequently, I decided to cover these topics in this series of posts.
Background on Physical Machines

The terminology seems to be the first cause for confusion. Remember, before we went to virtualization, we used to buy expensive servers from IBM, HP, Dell or other hardware vendors and then install our operating systems (Oss). The operating system was either something from Microsoft or some flavor of Linux. Then on top of that OS, we installed our application, for example, installing Windows 2008 on top of your Dell Server and then putting something like Microsoft Exchange or SQL on top of that.

Going by the book, the upgrade process is precisely defined and should be followed in a specified order and manner whenever possible. In real life, other options and challenges always exist that might come into play in your organization. If you want to upgrade to vSphere 5.1 with the least possible headaches, you should perform the following steps in their precise order:

In addition to hardware and performance considerations, there are other significant changes that will affect your upgrade and your use of vSphere 5.1, especially if you have more than one vCenter. There is a new Single Sign On service that increases security and control by allowing the software components to communicate with each other through a secure token mechanism. Depending on the size and complexity of your installation, there may also be a changed setting for the vCenter Server Administrator(s) of your organization.

If you are upgrading to ESXi 5.1, there are some important facts that you should consider first. Upgrading involves many stages and processes that must be performed in a specific order. Many of these processes are one-way and do not provide a “back button.” If you do not use care and consideration in your upgrade plan, you could possibly lose important data and configuration, and potentially even lose contact with your servers. Understanding how to upgrade properly will ensure that you endure as little downtime as possible on each of your vSphere components.

A new report commissioned by VMware has found that businesses of all sizes are increasingly using public cloud services for mission-critical applications.

The results of the survey, undertaken by analyst firm Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG), reveal a major shift in attitude to cloud adoption from just a year ago when many businesses seemed to be wary of making the move to the cloud. Now the trend appears to be one of taking the plunge without hesitation.

VMware recently revamped their certification roadmap to focus on job roles instead of products. So what does that mean for you?

New certifications that are better aligned with everyday tasks you perform
Flexible career paths
Strong correlation between courses and certifications

How are IT and storage managers coping with the organizational challenges posed by the explosion of data, increasing criticality of digitized information, and rapid introduction of new storage technologies for virtualization and cloud?

Poorly designed or managed storage infrastructures put the entire business at risk in the case of a catastrophic failure. A robust storage infrastructure requires highly reliable equipment as well as a strong team of experts to manage it efficiently.

In vSphere 5, an administrator can manage the ESXi host from the command line using esxcli commands, such as esxcli network vswitch standard. The commands are available using the Direct Console User Interface (DCUI) to access the ESXi shell, using a remote application like putty to ssh into the host, or through the vSphere Command-Line Interface (vCLI).

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the most recent recession began in December, 2007 and ended in June, 2009. While that may technically be true, many of the statistics that describe the current economy have yet to return to their pre-recession values. Today, a number of IT professionals question whether job stability within IT is a thing of the past, based on current trends.

I just got back from VMworld, and so much went on it was tough to select a blog topic. Still, one moment stuck with me since it happened.