Sep
4
Microsoft MDOP Virtualization Licensing Reflects their Software as a Service Support
September 4, 2008 | 1 Comment
Microsoft is adding software as a service (SaaS) licensing to encourage Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP) virtualization adoption. Â This licensing arrangement supports the idea of a future of JeOS’s (Just Enough Operating Systems) with single applications running as virtual machines on hypervisors.Â
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App-V 4.5 will also feature a new Service Providers License Agreement (SPLA), officially called Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.5 Hosting for Desktops, which will enable service providers to use App-V 4.5 to deliver third-party ISV developed applications to customers via
Sep
3
Google Chrome on Windows Vista
September 3, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Testing Google Chrome on Windows Vista. It’s pretty fast and I really do like it, but does it mean you give away your original posts on blogs?.  Hours later, Google says they will clarify.  It’s hard not to be evil.Â
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Sep
2
Citrix XenApp 5
September 2, 2008 | Leave a Comment
I was reading about the new features of XenApp 5. It looks like Citrix is really raising the Application  Virtualization bar high.  Citrix does have the historic advantage on the competition and it appears that they just aren’t depending on their strong history of application delivery, but are advancing the end user experience.Â
It also looks like Citrix is also successfully navigating the Microsoft partnership pretty well. Microsoft is a sponsor of the XenApp 5 launch event.
Aug
25
Watching Virtual TV From Anywhere with Windows Media Center, VMWare Workstation on Ubuntu
August 25, 2008 | Leave a Comment
I travel a lot, so I’m always on the lookout for ways to make sure I can stay entertained while waiting for meetings, travel or just decompressing. At home, I have had some kind of DVR, (MythTV, Tivo, etc) that allows me to watch what I want whenever I want. I had MythTV and really liked it and would recommend it to anyone with an old machine and a video capture card. My MythTV machine was an older box that was too noisy to stay in our living room, so it had to go.
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Aug
22
VMWare Workstation 6.5 Beta on Ubuntu Linux 64-bit
August 22, 2008 | Leave a Comment
I’m trying out VMWare Workstation 6.5 beta. I’m testing the Unity feature with a Windows guest on Linux 64-bit. I like the idea: it needs polish, but I’m looking forward to it smoothing out like the other features we’ve accepted as stable that usually get introduced in Workstation versions initially.
Aug
19
Great news coming for the virtualization world by way of Microsoft. Microsoft Server Virtualization Validation Program (SVVP) will now provide for joint support for all customers running Microsoft server operating systems and applications on 3rd party (non-MS) hypervisors. VMware has signed an agreement to be a part of the SVVP and is working on validating VMware ESX3i/3.5 Update 2 as a supported hypervisor.
Other participants in the SVVP include Citrix, Novell, Sun, Cisco and Virtual Iron. Even with the agreement in place, Microsoft still reserves the right to ask customers that need support to reproduce issues on Microsoft Hypervisors or physical servers. With that said, this is a step forward and will most likely make this more the exception than the rule.
Aug
19
Check out our latest interview with Alex Raitz from Splunk. Alex and I worked together a few years ago and it was really nice to catch up with him and see how our paths are crossing again.
If you are not familiar with Splunk, it can be described as the IT search engine. It can help you find all kinds of information on any platform and system that generates log files. It’s really flexible and can install on Linux, Windows, UNIX, Solaris, Mac and FreeBSD. If that’s not easy enough, it’s free!
Aug
13
XenServer “Orlando” beta Released
August 13, 2008 | Leave a Comment
The next version of XenServer is in beta and available for download. The XenConvert tool is interesting. It converts Windows machines to .vhd or .xva virtual machines.
From the Citrix site:
Citrix is pleased to announce the availability of the public beta release of the next version of Citrix XenServer. This release delivers many new features and enhancements, in the areas of:
Aug
12
ESX Update 2 Patch Bug Fix Released by VMWare
August 12, 2008 | 1 Comment
VMWare just released the fix for the Update 2 patch that stopped servers from being operational.
http://www.vmware.com/download/
Aug
12
VI Exclusive Video: VMWare’s Engineers on August 12th After the Update Bug Discovered
August 12, 2008 | Leave a Comment
In this time-lapsed video, it shows an hourly account of how the team handled the news. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwyrGwM4a7M
Aug
12
This is a collection of workarounds that our VMWare Engineering contact sent to us.
Potential workarounds
A) Set the host time to a date prior to August 12, 2008. This workaround has a number of very serious side affects that could impact product environments. Any Virtual Machines that sync time with the ESX host and serve time sensitive applications would be broken. These include, but are not limited to database servers, mail servers, & domain administration systems.
Aug
12
Clustering Virtual Center Servers Running in VMs
August 12, 2008 | Leave a Comment
If you are interested in using Microsoft Clustering Services to provide High Availability for VirtualCenter and License server, then you should find this a good read.
http://www.ntpro.nl/blog/uploads/ClusteringVC25.pdf
Enjoy!
-john a. davis
Aug
12
Major issues with VMWare ESX 3.5 Update 2 - DO NOT UPGRADE!
August 12, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Dear Customers,
An issue has been uncovered with ESX/ESXi 3.5 Update 2 that causes the product license to expire on August 12. VMware engineering has isolated the root cause of this issue and will reissue the various upgrade media including the ESX 3.5 Update 2 ISO, ESXi 3.5 Update 2 ISO, ESX 3.5 Update 2 upgrade tar and zip files in the next 36 hours (by noon, August 13, PST). They will be available from the page:
http://www.vmware.com/download/vi. Until then, we advise against upgrading to ESX/ESXi 3.5 Update 2.
The Update patch bundles will be released separately later in the week.
Aug
7
VMWare joins the Linux Foundation
August 7, 2008 | Leave a Comment
VMWare Joins the Linux Foundation http://tinyurl.com/5gflhs
Aug
7
Time Server Source pool.ntp.org
August 7, 2008 | Leave a Comment
When you need to set a time source for your ESX, XenServers or even Windows servers,
http://www.pool.ntp.org/ is a great and reliable time source. This is an interesting wiki on how it works. Its a really good study on how big DNS deployments are designed http://www.socialtext.net/ntp/index.cgi?dns
