24 Apr
I’m what you might call a contradiction. I’m definitely not a fan of the repetitive task, but am also coincidentally too lazy to learn how to script this very same task. Sometimes I luck out and a quick Web search will point me in the right direction, or other times my laziness takes me to built-in functions that can help me out just as well. The vSphere Client (and Web Client!) have helped me avoid scripting one more time! Whew!
24 Apr
I’ll admit it — I love the flexibility that VMware vSphere virtualization provides. The fact is, you can do nearly anything on this platform. This actually can be a bad thing at times. I recently was recording a podcast with Greg Stuart, who blogs at vdestination.com and we observed this very point. We agreed that all virtualized environments are not created equal, and it is very rare if not impossible to see two environments that are the same.
12 Apr
Esta es la segunda versión de una soltura principal para mí durante mi tiempo aquí Veeam. Empecé en 2010, unas semanas después de llegar a ser disponible v5. Esta versión es de hecho una versión muy importante para mí y para Veeam.
Esta semana, Veeam se anunció que la capacidad del lab virtual vendrá para Hyper-V en Veeam Backup & Replication v7, disponible en Q3 de este año. Este es la cuarta característica principal que anunciamos antes la soltura para v7, los otros son:
La capacidad de lab virtual en Veeam Backup & Replicación incluirá soporte completa para U-AIR, SureBackup y Sandbox a pedido (On-Demand Sandbox). Estas son las ventajas para las infraestructuras virtualizadas de Hyper-V:
El imagen abajo demuestra cómo funciona el lab virtual con Veeam Backup & Replicación:
Esta noticia es muy importante para clientes que usan Hyper-V y muestra otros puntos importantes para v7. ¿Son labs virtuales necesarios en sus sistemas de Hyper-V? Dígame aquí.
4 Apr
Veeam SoftwareはMicrosoft System Center用VMware環境管理ツール、Veeam Management Pack (MP) for VMware Ver6のリリースを開始しました。（注）Veeam nworks MPはVeeam Management Packに名称が変わりました。
Veeam MPは詳細なVMware監視、管理、キャパシティ・プラニング機能でSystem Centerを拡張し、物理、仮想インフラとアプリケーションを同一コンソールから統合管理することができます。Veeam MPが Microsoft System Centerを拡張する機能は
3 Apr
One of the things I’ve noticed over my IT career is that if I’m buying servers and storage systems, I look very closely at features and design elements. A good example is server systems, where serviceability and rack ease of use are important. This can be anything from intuitive rail mechanisms, to front-side USB (remember when that was novel??) or performance design for density and capacity.
But when I buy systems that “include” hardware, I usually forgo these preferences. I’ve sometimes referred to them as Black Box hardware that accompanies another purchase. I’ve used mail relay systems, deduplication appliances, firewalls, network software solutions and more where there are hardware requirements. We buy these solutions for the software, and don’t generally give much concern for the hardware involved.
In my previous role, I supported specialized software solutions that ran on Windows Appliance Edition (See a blogpost I did on specialized hardware) and a number of Linux-based hardware devices. I bought them for the software.
The takeaway here is that when we buy these hardware solutions, we continually are disappointed with the individual equipment components; especially when something goes wrong.
Recently, I had a chance to talk to MBX Systems about a new product they are launching in this space. They just launched the MBX X-60 disk system (pictured below):
You can see the big feature on this appliance, a lot of disks. 60 to be exact, and a lot of flexibility for the software solution to plug into this platform. While MBX doesn’t have a specific application that is built for, there are a lot of use cases. One of my favorite detail features is below:
Configurable SAS2 backplanes with 6 GB SAS expanders delivering up to 5 discrete backplane configurations with performance up to 30 Gb/s
The 5 discreet channels part is most important to me. So, there can be 5 discrete I/O channels. This could be of great interest to next generation deduplication or storage systems that may want to have a higher-tier performing zone on SSDs or something, yet they won’t have to manufacture the hardware themselves. We always want high capacity storage (when not using as a SAN) to be something fancy, or at least fancier than the BackBlaze cookbook from 2009.
The MBX X-60 gravitates to a term that was new to me: “Cloud drives” They refer to this hard drive for use in this product that provides the best cost and capacity (for most applications) benefit, and it usually comes from the desktop computing segment. The software maker can specify higher performance drives, however if needed.
Other features of the MBX X-60 include these, with my notes in red:
Up to 240 TB of storage, depending on the customer’s needs. Important as SSDs are also supported, if they use 3.5” interface (usually with enclosure).
Support for ATX or Extended ATX motherboard form factors, providing the flexibility to add expansion slots as well as the power to support both big data storage and processing in one unit – leveraging EATX’s 512 GB of memory plus the system’s power supply, cooling and expansion design. So, the compute platform here (and next point) allow the most options for the hardware platform for the software applications to run on.
· Support for a variety of x86 or ARM architectures depending on the motherboard configuration Good, as above.
Integrated individual drive activity and fail LED indicators Good, don’t want black boxes to not indicate problems.
· Dual fan banks for distributed cooling to acclimate to operating environment extremes. Good for serviceability.
· Tool-less maintenance with captive thumb screws for easy front and rear lid removal. Good for serviceability.
Inside of this OEM hardware space, there are a lot of details in play. First of all, products like the MBX X-60 is targeted to a few specific industries/applications:
These are just a few use cases that MBX supply with the product, and appeal to the industry to find a fit for software applications.
I asked MBX if any specific customers were lined up for the MBX X-60, they didn’t offer any but focused on the industries/applications list above.
All of this being said, I think MBX is on the right path with the design of this series for serviceability, I/O channels and flexible compute platforms.
What do you expect of “black box hardware”? Share your comments below.
27 Mar
The other day I prepared a few demo environments of a new component coming in Veeam Backup & Replication v7, the vSphere Web Client plug-in for Veeam Backup & Replication. Think what you want about the Web Client (it’s growing on me for one), but it’s going to be part of the future. Might as well put a Veeam hook in there if you ask me.
Anyways, it’s pretty straightforward. Here it is on my vSphere 5.1 environment:
Once you go in, to the main link a lot of useful information is presented:
Namely job successes, warnings or failures at the top in text and the bar graph. Also important is the “Running jobs” option, a nice quick look to see if a job is running at a time you don’t expect it to.
There are 5 dashboard widgets in the Plug-In:
Each widget is expanded as shown below:
The Repositories and Weekly Protected VMs widgets have links to important Reporter components: the Capacity Planning Report for backup repositories and Protected VMs report (great tool to tell you what is NOT backed up).
The webinar I did on the Plug-In should be available for replay soon at Veeam.com.
17 Jan
Those of you may remember in May I did a review of the Earth Fare Columbus store as it was opening. I keep going there, it’s a great option for me for good food choices.
They’ve launched a new promotion for their customer loyalty program, the Tomato Bank. The promotion is that if you sign up before January 20, you will be spotted 1,000 points – which is a $10 store credit. You can sign up for it here.
The graphic below explains the program:
