Archive for category Tools
HDS SRA 2.0
Posted by martijn in Tools, Virtualization on January 25, 2010
If you want VMware SRM to work with your storage array it needs to communicate to the storage array. For this reason each storage vendor has created a Storage Replication Adapter (SRA) which plugs into SRM. You can download these SRAs for each vendor here. (Note : Only download from the VMware website. Why?)
HDS also provides a SRA to connect to its storage arrays. But only installing the SRA won’t get the storage array to be recognized by SRM. The picture below gives a graphical representation of the component needed to let SRM communicate with the HDS storage array.
Click on picture to enlarge
The HDS SRA 2.0 needs an instance of the HDS Command Control Interface (CCI) to communicate to the HDS storage array. The HDS CCI is storage box management software which is provided by HDS. This can be installed on the SRM server next to SRM and the SRA.
To create an instance of the HDS CCI a Hitachi Online Remote Copy Manager (HORCM) service is defined manually on the Windows host. The HDS CCI manages the storage array(s) through the defined control LUNs on each storage array. The HORCM service is configured in the HORCM file. This file defines which LUNs are replicated between the protected and the recovery site. These LUNs are the LUNs that SRM can see and which it can managed for Disaster Recovery and testing purposes.
During configuration the HDS SRA is pointed to the HORCM instance which manages the storage array(s). All this provides the HDS SRA with the information which it passes through to the SRM server.
This creates the connection between the SRM server and the storage array necessary for SRM to work. For more information look at the VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager Deployment created by HDS. Follow its step-by-step instructions carefully while it is essential getting HDS to work with SRM.
VMware vSphere & SRM with Hitachi Data Systems (HDS)
Posted by martijn in Tools, Virtualization on January 22, 2010
This post is about Site Recovery Manager (SRM) in combination with the storage system of Hitachi Data Systems (HDS). I’ve been working with over the last couple of months. This is a braindump of my knowledge about the product.
HDS has complete portfolio of storage solutions available. Every type of VMware environment can find a HDS solution suited for their needs. I’ve been working with the AMS2500. This is a SAS / SATA based storage array. It is a suitable solution for midrange size companies, but can also be used by enterprise size companies as a 2nd tier SAN. Next to this storage array HDS also provides enterprise class storage array with its Universal Storage Platform.
For both types of storage HDS provides best practices for VMware which can be found here for the AMS2000 series and here for the Universal Storage Platform VM.
Like all major storage vendors HDS also is a VMware partner when it comes to SRM. They committed themselves to the support of their storage systems with SRM through their HDS SRA 2.0.
For more information how to set up VMware SRM with HDS storage arrays take a look at the deployment guide here that HDS created. It’s a document that explains in detail how to setup your HDS storage array and HDS Storage Replicatoin Adapter (SRA) for the creation of your SRM environment.
For more information on HDS with VMware look at this resource page.
vSphere management GOing to the cloud?
Posted by martijn in Cloud computing, Tools, Virtualization on January 18, 2010
Last week VMware launches its new product: VMware Go. This is a product that is specifically targeted at the SMB market. A clever move by VMware to expand its market share of virtualization in the SMB segment. VMware already is the market leader in virtualization when it comes to enterprise companies. But in the SMB segment has competitors like Microsoft’s Hyper-V, Citrix XenServer or RedHats KVM.
Not only cost is a factor that stops SMB companies from entering the path of virtualization. Also the lack of resources and knowledge about virtualization is something most SMB companies don’t have. With Go VMware tries to simplify the proces of virtualization. It provides a management interface to VMware ESXi from the Go cloud.
Eric Sloof over at NTPRO.NL points to a YouTube video where Dave McCrory, founder and CTO of Hyper9, explains how VMware Go works.
The picture above shows the same explanation of VMware Go as Dave McCrory gives in his video. What shows is that management takes place, through a web interface, from the workstation where the administrator is located. Everything will be managed from the VMware Go cloud. The ESXi hosts are connected to the Go cloud by installing a proxy admin desktop. This desktop will service the Go cloud a management interface for the ESXi host.
This is a rather new concept of managing servers. Normally a client-server management model is applied to this kind of infrastructure services. VMware vCenter, the current management tool for vSphere infrastructures, is an example of a this type of management model.
The question is : Is this the first of step into moving vSphere management into the cloud?
This may seem like a far fetched idea, but is it? We are now living in the world of cloud computing. Lets look at the same picture as above, but introduce the vCloud concept into this equation.
Here you can see the same concept as the picture above. The proxy desktop has been replaced by an VMware Go Proxy appliance which is for managing the ESXi host in you (local) private vSphere cloud. There is a connection between the Private vSphere cloud and the vCloud(s) provided the various VMware hosting partners. All this can be managed from a central point : the VMware Go cloud.
If the name will still be the same isn’t important, call it vCenter Cloud Edition (CE), it doesn’t matter. What does matter is the fact that you now have central point of management to control your hybrid cloud. Not only can you manage your private cloud, but from the same interface you can manage you various vCloud partners (or even non-VMware) cloud services. This makes the VMware vCenter Cloud Edition a cloud broker to manage all your IaaS cloud services. Maybe even with integration to manage PaaS or SaaS solution. One cloud to rule them all 
Will this become reality? Only time will tell.
My personal opion: I like the idea of cloud brokers. I don’t think that one (cloud) provider / solution can serve all the cloud services needed by a company. So in my opinion cloud brokers will become the next battleground in cloud land. That’s why I like the idea of a central management cloud broker solution. That’s why I like the idea of a vSphere vCenter Cloud Edition.
What do you think?
Cloud in your Pocket
Posted by martijn in Cloud computing, Tools on September 7, 2009
Wyse created an application for a VMware View / RDP client for the iPhone. An app giving the user full control over his virtual desktop through his / her iPhone. Resulting in the ability to access the cloud from your pocket through your mobile device.
This concept isn’t new, but Wyse made such an incredible app that it’s really easy to perform actions while connected to your desktop. Easy to use also on such a small screen!
Watch the video created by Richard Garsthagen made at VMworld to see it in action.
CommVault Backup Solution For Virtual Environments
On January the 26th CommVault introduced their new datamanagement solution Simpana 8. Normally I’m not that much into backup solution. They need to do their job, period! But this one looks very impressive. In my opinion it’s more like “backup virtualization”. Out-of-the-box it provides data-deduplication. How wonderfull is that. This includes embedded-deduplication (backup to disk) and device-deduplication (backup to tape). Resulting in a reduction of data management costs by up to 40% in the first year and reduces the tape consumables by up to 90%!
CommVault data deduplication methods
Backing up all of a sudden became an easy job and besides that eliminating the backup window.
But also cool is that CommVault has a very nice backup solution for virtual environments. It works for both Microsoft Hyper-V and VMware ESX. It includes data-protection, archive, replication and reporting. All this integrated to deliver a complete virtualization solution managed from a single console. How wonderfull is that.
Besides that the software delivers the following capabilities to protect virtualized environments:
- Automated discovery of virtual machines using default protection policies
- Agentless backup of virtual machines eliminating resource consumption
- Multiple backup options, including image-level, file-level, and volume-level
- Multiple recovery options, from individual files to entire virtual machines from any physical server
- Embedded, global deduplication eliminates redundant data and reduces storage footprint
- Flexible architecture for seamless, consistent, reliable data protection across physical and virtual servers
- Fast, cost-effective, and reliable disaster recovery for business continuity
- Centralized management of virtualized and non-virtualized environments
All great features you want from your backup solution. Giving you an easy to manage backup solution at various datalayers in your virtual environment. I’m impressed, hope to try this a.s.a.p. 
For more information go here.
Use SCOPE approach with server virtualization
Posted by martijn in Education, Tools, Virtualization on January 12, 2009
Starting server virtualization is always a difficult task to begin with. First thing you need to deside is which servers you want to virtualize (Well some pointers in that direction : all of them!). But with all difficult tasks you need to take a structured approach. Business isn’t waiting for you to bring down their critical applications. Therefor approach it one step at a time. This gives you the structured approach you need, slowly entering the learning curve of virtualization and giving your IT department the time to adapt to all virtualization technologies.
I would always advice to use a capacity planning tool for your “physical” server environmen, before beginning to start server virtualization. Tools like VMware Capacity Planner and Novell Platespin PowerRecon give you a good insight in what the workloads are on your physical servers. This will then be presented to you in a report with an advice for the most optimal virtual workload distribution across your “yet to be build” virtual infrastructure.
Besides these technical tools, you can also use SCOPE. A conceptual tool by Danielle Ruest and Nelson Ruest. SCOPE lets you quickly identify which workloads to start with. Begin in the lab, maybe even with the lab machines themselves, and slowly move your virtual workloads into production.
SCOPE is the step-by-step approach to virtualize your complete environment. So virtualize your environment in the following steps :
- Easy workloads; Servers that don’t consume a large workload and can be easily virtualized.
- Production workloads; Server used by users on a day-to-day business but that aren’t critical to your line of business
- Operational workloads; These server are mainly used by the IT department itself. Servers which demand a high workload but aren’t business critical
- Complex workloads; Server that are, already without virtualization, complex to maintain. These includes the servers which have common applications installed on them in mostly enabled with clustering / load balancing.
- Special workload; Each IT infrastructue has those servers which require special attention. When finishing the virtualization of your complete IT infrastructure, these servers will finish the job.
So as you can see, SCOPE gives you a five step approach to virtualizing your IT infrastructure. This will hopefully help you in creating a good virtualization strategy!
More information you can find here.
