Plain Virtualization

Recently from my previous post, I have upgraded my home lab to VMware View 5.0. Everytime seems working.  For those who ain't aware, my ISP issue dynamic IP.  In such, I created a domain name from dyndns.org. As to match my external IP to my View Security Server with my external dns name, I would need to use a script which was found from the source below. I did some modification to suit my environment and corrected some mistake.  Below is my script. However in View 5.0, it has to be launch using the View PowerCLI and Add-PSSnapin VMware.View.Broker is no long working anymore. (which it did in View 4.6).  This was documented in VMware KB 1034652 . A quick check with the View PowerCLI properties from Start Menu, I realize it is calling a powershell script from C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware View\Server\extras\PowerShell\add-snapin.ps1 so in such I added the change in my script as you can see.  This was documented Now my script is running fine again...

  Two new white-boxes purchased to add to my current whitebox. Finally I can have a cluster! Am going to try EVC for my Core2Quad box with my new i7 box. Here are the specifications of my new whitebox if you are interested in building one. Note the chipset of the mainboard which is the crucial part whether ESXi can be installed on it. So far I discover P67 chipset seems to be working for all models.  So I bought the Deluxe series as the Evo series was out of supply. I bought my Intel Dual Port from dealextreme.  It took very long to shipped and its not cheap as they are server NICs. Components Parts CPU Intel i7-2600 3.4GHz/8MB/LGA1155 Board Asus P8P67 Deluxe-B3 Memory 4 x Kingston 4GB DDR3 10600/1333 CL9 HDD Western Digital 1TB 64MB Caviar Black SATA 3 NIC Intel Pro 1000/PT Dual Port PCI-E X4 Video Asus EN210 512MB DDR2 HDMI (L/Profile) DVD Samsung SH-S243S 24x ...

Finally took some time to upgrade my ESXi whitebox which is running on ESXi 4.1 with custom driver to support the onboard Marvell LAN chipset. The installation screen was different in this case and I took some pictures using my mobile.  My CD Rom happen not to work and I need to create a ESXi installer onto an UDB Drive to install on another USB Drive. First I would just go through the tools I used to create a USB installer. I use unetbootin version 5.55 and use the ESXi 5.0 installable image to create the USB installer. This time it works.  Unlike in ESXi 4.1, it has to be using version 4.94, any higher version breaks the installation. My ESXi 4.1 was installed on a 2GB USB disk.  So with ESXi 5.0 which required 4GB scratch disk, it is definitely not possible. I did some google of cause and found USBIT .  What it does is, it creates a backup (clone image) of my 2GB disk and restore to my 8GB disk.  That boots up proper.  But my 2GB disk cannot b...

Here is a list of the item for my Home Lab Intel Core2Quad 9550 4 x 4GB DDR2 800MHz Kingston ValueRam Asus P5Q-E Motherboard 2 x Western Digital Sata2 500GB Harddisk CoolerMaster GX-550W PSU XFXForce Graphic card (this was board to play game when I was using windows back then) Thermaltake Casing 1 x 2GB thumbdrive (Got free on a VMware event) ESXi 4.0 was installed on the machine. Did tried using 4.1 but there was an issue booting up after installation not sure why. After which upgrade was done via CLI to 4.1. After which everything run smooth.

I have DIY a system in 2010. But have never use it as a bare metal ESXi server. Was very used to Windows and end up having Windows 7 with workstation 7. However, there are limitation. You do not learn as much due to the fact that commands in Tech Support Mode is your friend in VMware World. Windows 7 is not resource unintensive, so part of my memory is used to run the OS. Workstation 7 has a USB service which indirectly affecting some of my USB device e.g. Mobile Broadband Dongle from Huawei. I decided to rebuild my system with a baremetal ESXi installed. Bare in mind my is a DIY PC which I seek quite a bit of reference from ESX / ESXi 4.0 Whitebox HCL. My whitebox specification ASUS P5Q-E motherboard Core2Quad 9550 Kingston DDR2 800MHz 16GB Max (4 x 4GB) 2 x WD 500GB 1 x Seagate 160GB (my old HDD) XFXForce video card (was using this to play some games) Intel GT 1Gigabit card LG IDE DVDRW Rom Thermaltake casing Silverstone 550W PSU 2GB thumbdrive The disappoi...