Virtualfuture.info

User settings and profiles always make the design of a new Architecture with virtualisation products (are there still any others?) a lot more difficult. Users want to be able to save application preferences, favorites etc etc. and administrators want a good managed performance (network and servers). Due to the different ways to provide a workspace to users (SBC, VDI, Old fahioned deployment etc.), the way of moving user preferences with the users becomes more and more of an issue. Because profiles are becoming bigger and bigger, a roaming profile isn’t much of a solution anymore. So a new way of user profiling is needed, I’ve found three solid options.

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Veeam, known of their freeware FastSCP program to copy files to ESX servers, has released the third version of their Veeam Reporter Enterprise.

This is part of the mail I received from Veeam:

The beta is over … the first reporting solution specifically designed for documentation and change management in large VMware Infrastructure 3 environments is now generally available.

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EverRun VM 4.0.2 is shipped to day, which provides compatibility with XenServer 5.0. The Marathon corporate website has also been updated for customers downloading 30-day evaluations and single host trial edition evaluations.

The Xen HA feature that is available with XenServer 5.0 has not been integrated into 4.0.2. If Xen HA is enabled before or after everRun VM 4.0.2 is installed, it will automatically be disabled. everRun VM 4.1 is due to release on December 3rd and it will fully integrate and support Xen HA. Users who require both Xen HA and everRun VM have two options. They can deploy 4.0.2 now for fault tolerant VMs and upgrade to everRun VM 4.1 in December for Xen HA support. Or they can delay deployment until December 3rd when everRun VM 4.1 will be available.

As this everRun VM release is not providing new features other than compatibility with XenServer 5.0, upgrades from existing everRun VM 4.0.x releases are not supported. New deployments should be performed using everRun VM 4.0.2. Existing deployments must wait until December 3 to upgrade to XenServer 5.0 and everRun VM 4.1 to take advantage of the many new features in that everRun release.

Most people who read our blog know something about virtualization so probably know what VMWare ESX and VMWare ESXi are. But Alessandro Perilli pointed the following KB article from VMWare out to me and I find it pretty usefull because it really clearly sums up the differences between the full ESX and the free ESXi product.

Check out the comparison here.

John Davis of Virtualizationinformation.com posted the presentation he gave at VMWorld 2008 on his website: Advanced Performance Tuning VI3. His notes are also included. A lot of useful tips are in this presentation, so John, thanks for sharing!

Last week InstallFree released a new version of their application virtualization product called: Installfree Bridge. This version (1.5) fixes some bugs and has also some new features. The bridge is now fully supported on Vista for example. Here is the complete list of new features: Read the rest of this entry »

Now that the sessions from VMWorld 2008 are available online (for registered attendees), I thought I could share some of the good stuff with you. Here are some recommendations for implementing XenApp 4.5 on VMware. I’ve posted recommendations before, so there could be some overlap. Of course, not all recommendations may apply to your situation, but I find some of them very useful. These come from session VD2591: Lessons Learned While Deploying Citrix Presentation Server (XenApp) 4.5 in a Virtual Datacenter.   Read the rest of this entry »

Wow there’s a new buzz word in the IT world. Virtualization isn’t hot anymore, everybody knows what it does and everybody knows how to use it with the single products. And most of us know how to combine several virtualization products and create a super flexibel and redundant environment. Great but virtualization isn’t flashy anymore. So let’s give it a new name and call a combination of products Cloud Computing.

Question: What is so very different about Cloud Computing?

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Today Microsoft released their Hyper-V Server 2008 product. This is Microsofts attempt to compete with VMWare ESX 3i so it’s free and you want it! They say…

Microsoft is aiming at the following use cases:

• Test and Development
• Basic Server Consolidation
• Branch Office Consolidation
• Hosted Desktop Virtualization (VDI) Read the rest of this entry »

Yesterday I went to the very last session of VMworld, it was an hands on lab with ESX 4.0 Beta. The labs guys were very strict on no taking photographs and the disclaimer that everything is still under development and could change as it is being developed. They were saying new, renamed or changed features with every new build they got. Read the rest of this entry »