VSAN Officially Announced!

Yes the official announcement for VSAN has been made.  I was not able to catch as it was 2am Singapore time.  However you can watch the launch recorded video here.  Cormac Hogan has also did a summary of the launched which is pretty lots of supported feature beyond what was release in beta.  E.g. from 8 nodes to 32 nodes and from 120,000 IOPS to 2 Million IOPS.  Vicardo has done upa nice table here on comparison.  David Hill has a very long table of limit for Public Beta here which I made some correction in my table below:

Description	Public Beta	GA
Minimum nodes	3	3
Minimum SSD	1	1
Minimum MD	1	1
Maximum number of disk stripes	12	12
Maximum number of failures tolerated	3	3
No of VSAN hosts per Cluster	8	32
Max number of IOPS	120,000	2,000,000
Max number of Parallel vMotion per VSAN cluster	8	8
Max number of Parallel SvMotion per VSAN cluster	2	2
Max number of VMs per host	100	100
Max number of VMs per (evenly distributed) VSAN cluster	800	3200 (2048 protected by HA)*
Max number of disk groups per host	5	5
Max number of hard disks per disk group	7	7
Max VSAN Size	1.1 PB	4.4 PB
Max components per node	3000	3000
Max size per component	255GB	255GB

*Duncan has a post on the HA limit per datastore mentioned of why 2048 VMs are protected here.

Note: You would need vSphere 5.5. Update 1 to use VSAN.

The VSAN sizing guide is also been release here.  In public better the recommend sizing was 1:10 between SSD and MD.  On GA based VSAN on sizing guide, its now 10% of total utilized space.

The Register has also wrote on the launch with its view here.   Though the official GA where it is available for download would be on 10th Mar (US date), the pricelist is suppose to release next week but seems like there are lots of sources by The Register here.

VMware have also release the hardware compatibility list here with more vendors support other than Dell in the public beta only.

This will be very exciting moving forward.


Update 7th Mar 2014
Public Beta and GA table and sizing guide.

vSphere Web Client Setup Quick Overview

Constantly even myself, we found difficult to setup the vSphere web client.  Often I always forgot what to do again and again from vSphere 5.0, 5.1 and now 5.5.  I decide to just document this down so that the web client can work as a breeze.
 
The first thing after setting up your vCenter 5.5, you would need to:

• Log into the web client using the SSO administrator:
• Change the password for the SSO administrator account (administrator@vsphere.local)
• Change the password expiry to from the default 90 days to your requirement (Note: '0' will not work although the message state so when you click on the textbox, instead do a 9999 if you require no expiry. Refer to KB)
• Add your domain into the Identity Sources under Administration>Single-Sign-On>Configuration

• Set it to Default Domain by clicking on the Global Icon
• Add your accounts or groups to be SSO administrator going to Administrators under Groups in Administration>Single-Sign-On>Users and Groups

•  Add permission for user or group to have access to vCenter by going to vCenter (your vCenter) > Manage > Permissions (Thanks to Lorenzo). Remember to assign the right role, default is No Acess. (Note DO NOT use Build-in Group, only Groups that are Build-in can be used.)

Hope this clarify for many like myself on setting this up for access and domain integration.

ASEAN VCAP & VCDX Bootcamp

Once again just like the past year, the VMware Education team has managed to organize a one day bootcamp for those who are planning or wanted to find out more on becoming a VCAP and VCDX.  This is a similar bootcamp that has been held several times in US and its really rare opportunity that this is conducted in ASEAN.

While this is a great move, this will be more applicable for those who are already a VCP.  As the number of vacancy is limited, I would encourage anyone who are a VCP and keen to pursue a VCAP or those who have VCAP and intend to give VCDX a shot to register now!

Here is the registration link.  Please be responsible and only register if you are able to attend as this is a rare opportunity and we will be having our VCDX#001, John Arrasjid to host this bootcamp.

Below is the respective countries in ASEAN where the bootcamp will be held:

11th Mar 2014  Malaysia (in collaboration with MDeC)
Information

13rd Mar 2014  Singapore
Information

17th Mar 2014 Vietnam
Information

I will be in the Singapore session and hope to see you there!

VMware High Availability Failover Simulation

Having working as a presales consultant, I have realize as virtualization gets more complex, more and more people are confused with the basic fundamental and have forgotten and felt uncertain.  Certain test are also perform wrongly or understand incorrectly.
Here is a short video to demonstrate this on how VMware High Availability (HA) test is conducted and configured as stated in this KB.  Do note that only vSphere 5.x methods are shown in this video.

Many I have spoken with is still unclear how HA really works.  You can refer to Duncan Epping's post here on more deep dive of HA.

HA is enabled from vCenter with just a simple checked box.  Once that is enabled, the ESX servers will have a HA agent (FDM) running and this will communicate within the ESX servers in the cluster and with one of them as the Master role communicating with vCenter.  In vSphere 5.0, in the new HA architecture, there will be one Master node and rest as salves nodes.

In vSphere 5.0, datastore heartbeat was introduced on top of just relying on the traditional management heartbeat.  I.e. to say, if a ESX server lost it management heartbeat with the rest, as long the datastore is still alive with VM is still running (If ESX server has failed, there will be no heartbeat), Host Isolation>Virtual Machine Options will follow the policy that is set.  This creates a 2nd safe check in case of a failure.

So in summary if you have set Virtual Machine Options as Leave Powered On, host isolation will not trigger failover but leave the VM running on the host as the host still lock on to the VM files.  However if this is set to Shutdown or Power off, VM will failover to other host as the log on the failed ESX server is released.  This KB explains the above in detail.

vExpert 2014 Application Opens!

This year the VMware vExpert applications is has started early!  You can find the details here.  You can read my previous post about my first experience during my first application back in vExpert 2012.

This year for existing vExpert 2013, you can apply using a short application form using a Fast Track application.  This is very useful and save a lot of trouble of filling all the information all over again.  Great job to the program team!

The second new thing is a quarterly nomination which can be done.  So if you are not doing it now and couldn't get this accreditation, don't worry you can still do your part and be nominate in the next.
This will allow more individuals and professionals to be awarded.

Read about the requirements, you never know you can just be awarded this accreditation.  Apply for it if you are not sure whether your contribution is been described.

Don't wait further before it ends on 6th March 2014.

vSphere 5.5 AppHA Setup Overview

I decided to document about the setup of vSphere AppHA.  This was mainly due to many roadblocks encountered during the installation.  I was not able to find a proper guide or anyone doing a detail explanation of the setup process.  Also the poorly written documents and documents are all over the place as well.

Instructions from the document is also difficult to understand.  I did this many times in my lab to come out with a smooth out process via video and list down all the hiccups you will face.

The AppHA documentation site can be found here.

vFabric Hyperic Server documentation can be found here. (This is pointed to version 5.7.x as the vFabric Hyperic Server binary at vCenter 5.5 for AppHA is also at 5.7.x.)

The requirements of resources by vFabric Hyperic server:

• HDD requirements for all deployment: 4.4 GB HDD (thin), 91GB (Thick)

• Small Deployment (< 50 platforms)
• Hyperic Server 2vCPU, 2GB memory
• Postgress DB 2vCPU, 2GB memory
• Medium deployment (50 to 250 platforms)
• Hyperic Server 4 vCPU, 4GB memory
• Postgress DB 4 vCPU, 4GB memory
•   Large deployment (more than 250 platforms)
• Hyperic Server 12 vCPU, 8GB memory
• Postgress DB 12vCPU, 8GB memory

• AppHA server, 2CPU, 4GB memory, 1.3GB HDD (thin)/20GB HDD (Thick)

Before you can setup AppHA you need to make sure the below are done:

• vCenter 5.5 with appropriate license
• vFabric Hyperic server 5.7.x installed (deployed OVA)
• Deploy AppHA vApp
• in vSphere Web Client, under Administration>vSphere AppHA, enter Hyperic setting to connect AppHA to Hyperic Server
• Check VM & Application monitoring is enable in HA setting
• vFabric Hyperic Agent installed in guest to be monitored of service (refer below for the agent.conf settings)
• Setup vFabric Agent running the agent option 'install' and 'start' to go through the setup
• Configure vFabric Hyper server to create a vCenter Server Plug-in
• Create policy
• Apply to specific service on VM to be monitored

Importing vFabric Hyperic vApp
First of all before importing the vApp, you would need to setup an IP Pool in vSphere client.  (This is called Network Protocol Profiles in the vSphere Web Client)

Here you can see that I enabled the assignment of IP via the IP pool for IPv4.  I selected transient for my IP allocation.

Next I start to import the vFabric Hyperic vApp.
I tried using the web client and occur an error with a quick check a KB was found that this was an error and was asked to use the web client.  So much of the web client ability.

Going through the import wizard and make sure you specify an IP address for the vFabric Hyperic Server.  I do not recommend transient or DHCP IP unless the IP does not change.  This is due to the setup of the Hyperic agents later on which is configured using IP address.

vFabric Hyperic Agent Configuration
You may use the .exe binary file to perform the installation or extract the agent file from the .zip file.  Below are the configuration changes need to be changed in the agent folder which is extracted from as a folder place in your machine.  The file is located at

\conf\agent.properties

change the values below and uncomment for the top 3 lines below before starting the agent service:
agent.setup.camLogin=hqadmin
agent.setup.camPword=hqadmin
agent.setup.acceptUnverifiedCertificate=yes
accept.unverified.certificates=true

AppHA Policy

A rather confusing how the policy settings are worded and place to me.  So here is a summary of how it should sound:
When a service fails, restart service allowing N minutes for each service startup.
Reset VM if restart of service fails.
Reset VM if N times restart of service fails only reset with N period of time.

 

With example here: Service is restart allowing 1 minute to start up, if restart fails, it will reset the VM.

Service is allowed up to 2 times of restart (first start considered 1 time), in a 5 minutes window, if it fails 2 times or more in 5 minutes, VM is reset.

Do note that reset here mean force reboot of the VM.  There is no graceful restart of the VM in AppHA.

Final Words

vSphere AppHA is still at its version 1.0.  I hope to see more improvements like what Symantec AppHA has grown to today.  At this point, vSphere AppHA is more suitable for customer who just need a application HA solution for the applications supported which require no additional cost other than vSphere Enterprise Plus.  But if you need something that have more granular access and easier to implement with more supported applications, you might have to consider other AppHA solution.

vSphere 5.5 Installation with MS SQL Overview

It has been sometime that I last did any installation and decide to rebuild my home lab.  I will skip the installation or upgrade of ESX server as this is pretty straight forward either using VMware vCenter Update Manager or via booting up from CD.

I will document the vCenter components as well as the databases requirements.  The SQL query are all tested during my installation.  I have record a simple video to show that the SQL query are error free and allows vCenter to install without any errors.

I might miss out some stuff here since I am not a DB guy or a SQL expert so to speak.

• vCenter
• 64bit DSN after user and rights assigned
• Check out support Database from here
• Adobe Flash required for machine access web client 

Similarly to what I have documented year before on vCenter 5.1 here, the SQL scripts did not change other than the requirements of SSO database is no longer required.

Extracted from vCenter installation guide which can be found in the documetation site.

The script is located in the vCenter Server installation package (ISO) at //vCenter- 
Server/dbschema/DB_and_schema_creation_scripts_MSSQL.txt

1) Change the location of the data and log files you would like to store in the create database script.

2) The user created by this script does not follow any security policy. The passwords are provided only for convenience. Please change the passwords as appropriate.

3) The user created will have DBO Privileges on both VCDB and and MSDB databases or will have VC_ADMIN_ROLE on both VCDB and MSDB and VC_USER_ROLE in VCDB.

4) You can create the database before hand then you can skip the database creation portion of the query below.

5) You would need to install dot net  framework 3.5 installed for SQL.  You can just add feature in the server else you will see this error.  Just add in without quitting the SQL installation and click back and forward to get a green passed.

Logon to a Query Analyzer session with the sysadmin (SA) or a user account with sysadmin privileges and run the following script.

Database name: VCDB

Schema name: VMW

Database location: C:\VCDB.mdf (make sure the user have permission to the path)

Database log location: C:\VCDB.ldf
(make sure the user have permission to the path)

VCDB user: vpxuser

I added in Recovery method in this script marked in highlight. You can choose between Full or Simple.

use [master] go CREATE DATABASE [VCDB] ON PRIMARY (NAME = N'vcdb', FILENAME = N'C:\VCDB.mdf' , SIZE = 4000KB , FILEGROWTH = 10% ) LOG ON (NAME = N'vcdb_log', FILENAME = N'C:\VCDB.ldf' , SIZE = 1000KB , FILEGROWTH = 10%) COLLATE SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS go ALTER DATABASE [VCDB] SET RECOVERY SIMPLE  /*or FULL*/  go  use VCDB go sp_addlogin @loginame=[vpxuser], @passwd=N'vpxuser', @defdb='VCDB', @deflanguage='us_english' go ALTER LOGIN [vpxuser] WITH CHECK_POLICY = OFF go CREATE USER [vpxuser] for LOGIN [vpxuser] go CREATE SCHEMA [VMW] go ALTER USER [vpxuser] WITH DEFAULT_SCHEMA =[VMW] go

Please note the size of the database needs to change to 4000KB (default 3000KB) if you are using SQL 2012 else you will encounter this error when  you run the script above.

User should have DBO Privileges on VMW database or create a VC_ADMIN_ROLE and grant specific rights.  There are two scripts so use only one of them.  First one just grant the dbo rights to vpxuser while the other create a VC_ADMIN_ROLE.

use VCDB go sp_addrolemember @rolename = 'db_owner', @membername = 'vpxuser' go OR if not exists (SELECT name FROM sysusers WHERE issqlrole=1 AND name = 'VC_ADMIN_ROLE') CREATE ROLE VC_ADMIN_ROLE; GRANT ALTER ON SCHEMA :: [VMW] to VC_ADMIN_ROLE; GRANT REFERENCES ON SCHEMA :: [VMW] to VC_ADMIN_ROLE; GRANT INSERT ON SCHEMA ::  [VMW] to VC_ADMIN_ROLE; GRANT CREATE TABLE to VC_ADMIN_ROLE; GRANT CREATE VIEW to VC_ADMIN_ROLE; GRANT CREATE Procedure to VC_ADMIN_ROLE; if not exists (SELECT name FROM sysusers WHERE issqlrole=1 AND name = 'VC_USER_ROLE') CREATE ROLE VC_USER_ROLE go GRANT SELECT ON SCHEMA ::  [VMW] to VC_USER_ROLE go GRANT INSERT ON SCHEMA ::  [VMW] to VC_USER_ROLE go GRANT DELETE ON SCHEMA ::  [VMW] to VC_USER_ROLE go GRANT UPDATE ON SCHEMA ::  [VMW] to VC_USER_ROLE go GRANT EXECUTE ON SCHEMA :: [VMW] to VC_USER_ROLE go sp_addrolemember VC_ADMIN_ROLE , [vpxuser] go sp_addrolemember VC_USER_ROLE , [vpxuser] go

User should have DBO Privileges on MSDB or create a VC_ADMIN_ROLE in MSDB and grant specific rights only.  Similar to above.

use MSDB go CREATE USER [vpxuser] for LOGIN [vpxuser] go sp_addrolemember @rolename = 'db_owner', @membername = 'vpxuser' go OR if not exists (SELECT name FROM sysusers WHERE issqlrole=1 AND name = 'VC_ADMIN_ROLE') CREATE ROLE VC_ADMIN_ROLE; go grant select on msdb.dbo.syscategories to VC_ADMIN_ROLE go grant select on msdb.dbo.sysjobsteps to VC_ADMIN_ROLE go GRANT SELECT ON msdb.dbo.sysjobs to VC_ADMIN_ROLE GO GRANT EXECUTE ON msdb.dbo.sp_add_job TO VC_ADMIN_ROLE go GRANT EXECUTE ON msdb.dbo.sp_delete_job TO VC_ADMIN_ROLE go GRANT EXECUTE ON msdb.dbo.sp_add_jobstep TO VC_ADMIN_ROLE go GRANT EXECUTE ON msdb.dbo.sp_update_job TO VC_ADMIN_ROLE go GRANT EXECUTE ON msdb.dbo.sp_add_jobserver TO VC_ADMIN_ROLE go GRANT EXECUTE ON msdb.dbo.sp_add_jobschedule TO VC_ADMIN_ROLE go GRANT EXECUTE ON msdb.dbo.sp_add_category TO VC_ADMIN_ROLE go sp_addrolemember VC_ADMIN_ROLE , [vpxuser] go

Some company policy would not allowed dbo user on MSDB or VCDB, in such, the below query will remove that.

Remove VC_ADMIN_ROLE from vpxuser on VCDB

use VCDB go sp_droprolemember VC_ADMIN_ROLE , [vpxuser] go

Remove dbo role from vpxuser on MSDB 

use MSDB go sp_droprolemember @rolename = 'db_owner', @membername = 'vpxuser' go

Java 1.7 Update 51 Error Alert

I am writing this for anyone who is facing a Java issue after updating to 1.7 Update 51.  With this release, there is a security check on all Java site and if it does not contain any certificate or self signed, it will not load the page or load with error.  Refer to the release notes.

This affect Mac as well as Windows.  The resolution is to go to the Java Console
For Windows user, go to Control Panel>Java
For Mac user, go to System Preferences>Java

Enter the website that you are access to or loading Java, under the Security Tab.  Remember to add in https:// for the site your are accessing to.

This affects not just VMware solutions but also Citrix as well as VPN client that uses Java.

Hope this resolve your error.

vSphere with Operations Management (vSOM) FAQs

Happy New Year to everyone who have been following my blog.  It been a great year last year and the start of the year have already got me real busy.

To start the year going, I decide to have my first post regarding vC Ops in vSOM which have been rising lots of questions.

As more customers are looking at better managing their environment, the standalone vSphere license become less attractive as the only monitoring that is possible is from vCenter performance charts.  Using this could be an easy way out for a small 2-3 hosts environment however if you have more  hosts or over 100 of VMs, that would be a tedious task to be accomplish everyday.  Especially when an issue rise.

As you know VMware has release a new package for vSphere which is known as vSphere with Operation Management.  This package added in vC Ops Standard edition as part of the processor license and allow customers to monitor unlimited number of VMs running on such licensing type in the cluster.  You can read more about vSOM here.

In terms of licensing and best practice, it is not recommend to mix different type of licenses in the same cluster to avoid complexity when troubleshooting.  So remember to license all your processors of your hosts with the same type and edition of license in the same cluster.

vC Ops can also be purchase as ala cart as well however it is more expensive as this allow customers to choose which VM to be protected.  They are sold in pack of 25 VMs.  So there is no need to license by processor licensing like in vSOM.  But to be effective in the cost and licensing, vSOM should be the way to go moving forward in view of manageability.

So how can I change the license in vC Ops if you have purchase vC Ops in ala cart or in vSOM?  You can refer to this KB for the steps.

For vSOM customers, below are the common asked questions:

Q: I cannot locate the license in myVMware portal.
In vSOM licensing, vC Ops licenses are not located in myVMware portal.  This is because the license allows unlimited VMs limit.  vC Ops license that can be found in myVMware portal are for ala cart purchase which have a limit of number of VMs (multiple of 25 due to pack of 25 are sold).

Q: How can I locate the license for vC Ops if I have purchase vSOM?
You can find the license in a text file (.txt) in the download page.  Please note your myVMware account must be entitled to download vSOM. 

After login, go to download page, select vSOM.

Select vC Ops Standard.

Scroll down and you will locate the license key file.

Q: Can I monitor VMs not in vSOM licensing cluster?
No.  You will violate End User License Agreement (EULA).

Q: How can I monitor VMs in outisde the vSOM Cluster?
You can do so by purchasing ala cart vC Ops.


Hope this explain more details for everyone who is confuse.

VMware Support and Severity

Seeing several occasions where many are not sure what to do when logging a support call.  Depending on your support that you have purchase which comes in the follow: Basic Support, Production Support, Business Critical Support (BCS) & Mission Critical Support (MCS).  You can compare the support types at here.

You can log a call via two ways 1) online via myVMware, 2) phone providing your Customer Number.

Now first you need to know the support landing page here.  Here you see three options and all of them will bring you to login your myVMware account.  That would be simple assuming you have the rights to the licenses and you will see your customer number in the portal.  You will then be able to log a support case easily.  You can follow this guide here to learn how to log a online support ticket.

What if you do not have the rights to view the licenses but you manage to get the customer number from a co-worker who has it but he is off duty.  Simple you can log a case via phone with VMware.  You can click on "phone" under Technical Support here.  You will then be brought to a page with list of countries and what number to call by clicking on the country of choice.  In this page, it also have provided how you can retrieve your Customer Number and what is a Customer Number.

Example: If I click on Singapore, the contact details will be shown on the right.

Singapore
English Language Support
1800 823 2238
6823 2239 - See more at: https://www.vmware.com/support/contacts/singapore.html#sthash.4XH6likU.dpuf

Singapore
English Language Support
1800 823 2238
6823 2239

Next I like to address what is the Severity to choose and not selecting the wrong one.  I have seen people logging a Severity 1 but only wanting to do it the next day.  Or a Severity 2 ticket but wanting immediate attention.  There are some confusion and this to be address to allow you to get the right support.

Here is the description of the Severity.  Mainly I want to focus just on two common support Severity that is 1 and 2 which are often used in a Production environment.

Severity 1

Let's talk about Severity 1 which I will share my past experience.  I was working on a project in the past in a production environment and we did not want to work round the clock.  However we wanted immediate attention once the log provided are analyzed so we selected Severity 1.  Support got back to us in the night however none of us was in the data center.  End up this ticket was demoted to Severity 2.

What I did wrongly here is I selected Severity 1 for a quick response.  Indeed VMware Support will be working round the clock to resolve the issue for Severity 1.  However by selecting Severity 1, you must be committed as well to work round the clock.  Meaning to say, if a call need to be done or a log required to be upload you need to be available to do that immediate.  Severity 1 is a very serious case, meaning you have something broken and require immediate attention and fix and no waiting time.  If there is a waiting time possible, this would not be a Severity 1 case.

Severity 2

Severity 2 cases are mostly commonly encountered and this is often a fix or a troubleshooting that needs to be done by no critical impact in the production environment.  Simple to say this allows no disruption while the fix or troubleshooting is going on.  You have alternative for the moment while this is support is resolving.  You do not expect yourself to return a request e.g. uploading a log or setting up a call with the support anytime any day even in wee hours as you like to do this normally during your work hours.

I hope you are more clear on how to log a support call.  If you do not have a rights for the licenses in your myVMware account, I advise you to keep the number in your phone somewhere and note down your Customer ID.

Do consider to upgrade your support to Business Critical Support (BCS) or Mission Critical Support (MCS) if you require dedicated support engineer which will know your environment well or with faster response time 24/7.  Of course this will come with extra cost but it will be worth for a Business Critical production environment where every minute counts.

Update 3rd Feb 2014
Added BCS and MCS support information and links.

Singapore
English Language Support
1800 823 2238
6823 2239 - See more at: https://www.vmware.com/support/contacts/singapore.html#sthash.4XH6likU.dpuf

Singapore
English Language Support
1800 823 2238
6823 2239 - See more at: https://www.vmware.com/support/contacts/singapore.html#sthash.4XH6likU.dpuf

What's New in Horizon Mirage 4.3

Having to release a newer version of Horizon Mirage from 4.2 to 4.3, there are some new features and with some limitations as well.

Here is the release note for Horizon Mirage 4.3.

You can see that in the What's New section, Horizon Mirage can now manage Persistent desktop from Horizon View.  This was not support for any virtual desktop previously as the dedup functions uses up all the CPU cycle and resulted a over demand on the ESX server.  In this release it is now only supporting full clone desktops.  You will see new upload policy setting as show below:

You can see that you can also disable client end throttling and choose that end point for this policy is optimize for LAN environment.

The next big feature is apply app layer during Windows 7 migration from Windows XP.  Previously only a base layer can be applied for migration and subsequently any new app layer/s need to be applied separately and this result some disruption to the user.  With this after migration, the app layer will also be applied when selected.

From Horizon Mirage 4.2, we were first introduced with the Web Management component just on the Web Help Manager role.  In 4.3 release, we now have a new Web Protection Manager role.  This role allows the administrator who is assigned to be able to monitor all CVD activities and finding any errors were present during synchronization.  You can refer to my previous post on the Web Help Manager.  Here I have provided how the Web Protection Manager screen would look like.

On clicking on the CVD Centralized you get to see events in the of all the CVD in this case I only have one.

Under polices, you get to see all the created policies. You can edit, delete, upgrade or even add new policy of your own.

For Volumes, you can actually block it from use.

Under Reports, it contains any report of issue here.

Clicking on it will show you the details of the report.

You can also search for a device and see all the event activities.

Limitations or not?
We know that there is a File Portal feature for the user in case their endpoint is not available and they would like to access their files.

Upon logging into the File Portal with the user credential, you will see only the standard folders in the user profile typically found e.g. Documents, Music, Pictures, etc.  You will not be able to see any other data from other drives or folder unless you have create a link in these fixed folders.

Here you will understand what I mean.  I have a E: drive which contain data but it cannot be found in the fixed folders in the File Portal.

The reason for this is simple.  If an endpoint is usable by more than one person, ACL is applied only to their respective user's folders however all users will be able to access the E: drive.  So only ACL folders can be found in the File Portal.

Hope this explains.  For those who is interested to try out Horizon Mirage you may download the trial here.