Jason Powell - Church IT and Other Musings

ESXi Officially Free and Available

As was rumored last week ... the latest VMware hypervisor is now available for free.

Features & Benefits

Virtualize processor, memory, storage and networking resources into multiple virtual machines with VMware ESXi, an enterprise-class hypervisor with a thin 32 MB footprint for added security and reliability.

VMware ESXi is the virtualization platform customers build upon for continuous application availability and infrastructure security. With VMware Infrastructure 3, customers can add the benefits of server consolidation, automatic load balancing and business continuity to ESXi.

VMware to release ESX3i for Free!

Dustin shot me an email this morning with the news ... next week VMware is going to start giving away it's latest ESX3i hypervisor ... and yes it fully supports iSCSI SANs!

Of course, you'll still need to pay for the big daddy features like vmotion, virtual center, etc; but this is a great move by VMware to get their hypervisor product into the publics hands (like ours) before we look closely at switching to Microsoft's new hypervisor :-)

Sadly, we don't have any physical servers that are on the hardware support list for 3i ... but the list is still young and growing.  That won't stop us from testing it on our older Dell servers :-)

This is just the next step in the virtualization ladder.  VMware Server is a great entry point to get familiar with virtualization and we've been running it production level for 3+ years now.  It works VERY well.  However, the bare metal 3i hypervisor eliminates the need and resource hit of the host operating system, in our case Server 2003 Enterprise, along with a host of other benefits VMware Server doesn't offer ... and again all this for free.  So we loose nothing and gain features all for free?  w00t!

Even support is available for a low cost of $500-900 ... that's a no brainer.

Now if only VMware would give us non-profits a big price break, like Microsoft, for vmotion and the other VM goodies!  Pretty Please!!!???

Dell EqualLogic Auto-Replication and VMware Site Recovery Manager

Oooo, more new stuff for EqualLogic customers!  Now if only GCC were using VI3...

Dell EqualLogic Auto-Replication and VMware Site Recovery Manager

Simple, Affordable, Automated Disaster Recovery

New Solutions for Automated Site Recovery from Dell and VMware: The virtual infrastructure enabled by Dell EqualLogic and VMware VI3 technologies now automate disaster recovery planning and execution by natively integrating the PS Series Auto-Replication feature directly into VMware’s Site Recovery Manager software.
VMware Site Recovery Manager (SRM) is a new product that is tightly integrated with Dell EqualLogic PS Series to offer centralized disaster recovery management, automation, and testing for the entire virtualized datacenter. Using the PS Series’ native Auto-Replication feature integrated directly into Site Recovery Manager using specialized storage adapter software storage adapter software.  MORE

IT Power Consumption: EqualLogic Arrays

I'm slowly gathering data for my IT power consumption/cost project ... and here's my first 'victim', our EqualLogic Arrays.

I assumed these dudes would pull some juice considering each array has 14 drives spinning 24/7/365, but I was surprised by the results.

I attached a Kill-A-Watt meter to each Power Supply feed (yes, I did this on a live production array) and here are the results...

Left PS => 145W, Right PS => 152W for a total 297W... and if only one PS is connected the live side reads 285W

I was expecting close to 500W not  under 300W!  I'd say that's pretty green for a bad mama jama storage array ... same consumption as 3 100W light bulbs!  Impressive.

Since we have 2 EqualLogic arrays our total SAN storage eats up a mere 600W ... and that's 28 drives, 4 power supplies, and 4 big blower fans plus the onboard controllers and whatnot.

I don't know what it takes to be labeled "green", but I'd say these arrays are pretty green in my book.

EqualLogic App-aware Snaps for Exchange

Tasty features coming for EqualLogic users!  I've been under NDA on this, but it's now free to air news :-)

Round Rock, Texas, April 28, 2008

• In a move that further enhances the Dell EqualLogic^TM  PS5000 Series as the midrange SAN of choice for Microsoft^®  Exchange Server, Dell is announcing Auto-Snapshot Manager Smart Copy for Exchange as the latest in a series of “application-aware” snapshot, cloning and data replication capabilities. This application awareness can simplify how IT application specialists can work with PS Series SANs to help improve data protection, disaster recovery and testing-and-development procedures. Smart Copy enhances the PS Series’ host integration capabilities to help reduce the amount of time IT administrators spend managing and protecting Windows^® -based business applications. In the case of Exchange, Smart Copy allows administrators to easily automate data validation checks and quickly recover from data loss or corruption. The first Smart Copy feature was announced for Microsoft SQL Server^®  in July 2007 (press release), furthering the Dell EqualLogic product line’s integration with Microsoft environments and helping to improve the speed and reliability of database and file recovery operations.
• “The Smart Copy feature set is yet another way the PS Series is simplifying storage and enhancing Dell’s overall vision of simplifying IT,” said Kevin Wittmer, senior manager, product marketing, for Dell EqualLogic storage solutions. “Evolving Smart Copy to include Exchange data protection and recovery is part of our initiative to make PS Series storage more application aware. This can empower application administrators by putting sophisticated data management and protection features at their fingertips – at no additional cost – in a safe and easy to-use package.”
• Smart Copy for Exchange will be available in May at no extra cost with all new purchases of Dell EqualLogic PS5000 Series iSCSI SAN storage arrays and for all existing PS Series customers under warranty or with a current support agreement.

Others related links:

EqualLogic and Exchange

EqualLogic and SQL

Want more info on EqualLogic Storage?  Contact VR6 Systems 

IT Power Consumption and Costs

I'm starting a new project that I've been wanting to pursue for a few years ... an overall IT power consumption and cost analysis.  Yes, I'm a sick puppy.  Why start it now?  Well, the main reason is we're heading into budget cuts and I'm wondering what kind of cost savings we'd see by powering down PC's overnight.  Yes, this causes patch management headaches, but perhaps the pain is worth the gain?  I can't truly say either way without supporting data.

Of course the end user PC's are just one part of the power consumption equation.  I want to measure everything ... switches, servers, APs, SANs, etc ... if it belongs to IT I want to measure it and in the end have a pretty comprehensive report on what it costs to power IT at GCC.  A side benefit from this will be having some data to estimate how much we've saved by virtualizing servers and storage in the past 2 years.  Bonus!

I did a little googling tonight and this Kill-A-Watt monitor looks like a cost effective tool to get most of the data I'll need.  About the only devices at GCC they won't work on are our UPS units as the Kill-A-Watt maxes out at 15A.

I did a similar study 6-7 years ago at my prior employer with the school's PC's.  I don't recall the $ amounts, but in the end we did shut down the computers during the weekends.  Anyone else done an IT Power analysis for your organization?  What did you discover?

Our VMware Server Host Whitebox Servers

A couple people have asked about the specs on our whitebox Intel servers after the various webinars and presentations Ed and I have done.  It's been almost a year so I'd forgotten the exact specs myself ... a quick dig through my email and here's the dope...

But first here's the back story on these boxes.  Over a year ago we built 2 of these Intel workstations for video editing work running XP 64bit ... I think 1 box had 4GB ram and the other had 2GB and just a single processor.  After several months of fighting strange 64bit driver issues I yanked these boxes from production and bought 2 Dell Precision workstations for our guys.  This left us with 2 identical Intel boxes with lots of grunt.  Oddly enough it's about this time we were maxing out our aged servers with all the VM's we were placing on them.  So we loaded up each Intel box with 16GB ram and added a proc so they were both dual dual-core boxes ... the hope was that these would make great VMware Server host servers.  To take advantage of all the ram we bought Server 2003 64bit as the host OS.

Here are the specs:

- Intel Server Chassis SC5299WS - Tower - 6U - dual 670 Watt PS - black

- Intel Workstation Board S5000XVN - LGA771 Socket - IDE/Serial ATA-300 (RAID)

- Processor - 2 x Intel Dual-Core Xeon 5150 / 2.66 GHz - LGA771 Socket - L2 4 MB ( 2 x 2 MB )

- Kingston ValueRAM - Memory - 4 x 4 GB ( 16GB total ) - FB-DIMM - DDR II - 667 MHz - CL5 - 1.8 V - fully buffered - ECC

- Western Digital WD2500YS - 2 x 250 GB - 16MB buffer - 7200 rpm - RAID 1

 

~ $4400 each (with today's RAM prices these would cost significantly less)

One of the boxes had a goofy mobo so we got that replaced and since then these 2 have been solid workhorses for us.  Would I purposely build a whitebox server if given the choice?  Hmm, that's a tough call ... pros/cons on both sides ... that'll make a good future post.  Next time we need new server gear we'll look at Intel, HP and Dell.

These 2 servers drive almost all our production needs ... and all our VM's live on the 2 EqualLogic PS100E's (pictured above the servers).  We've been running the free VMware Server offering for over 2 years now and it's it's been a rock.  We may someday upgrade to VI3/ESX, but so far the free product has worked so well it's hard to justify paying for anything :-)

Northern Indiana VMware User Group Starting

I hope this turns into a great resource.  I'm often jealous of those of you that live in/near big cities with access to all sorts of kewl active user groups.  If you're in northern Indiana and using or wanting to learn about VMware get your butt to this meeting :-)

Northern Indiana Area VMware User Group
Meeting Invitation

Please join us for the upcoming Northern Indiana Area VMware User Group meeting on May 8.

Please join an innovative group of VMware users at the Teachers Credit Union to network, share ideas and learn how to get the most out of your VMware solutions.

This is a great opportunity to meet with your Northern Indiana Area based peers to discuss virtualization trends, best practices and the latest technology.

Agenda

-
Welcome / Introductions

-
VMware Implementation, Branden Beachy (Coachmen)

-
Planning for Future Meetings
(meeting time & frequency, location, sponsorship, setting your agenda, vendor involvement)

Note: Dinner will be provided.

Register today to join us for this informative event. Space is limited, so respond as soon as possible to reserve your seat.

May 8, 2008
6:00pm - 7:30pm

Location:
Teachers Credit Union
110 S. Main Street
Executive Board Room and Lounge
South Bend, IN 46601
see online directions

Sponsored by

The VMware User Group (VMUG) program is designed to encourage and support communities of VMware users who want to hold regular meetings in their local area. The purpose of these gatherings is to provide a forum in which VMware users can share best practices and expertise, and VMware can in turn obtain feedback from the user community.

VMware User Groups are made up of independent communities of VMware users who get together to exchange ideas and information. There are many benefits to participating in a VMware User Group:

• Learn best practices and optimal use of VMware products
• Get answers, advice, tips, and suggestions from experts
• Discover new ideas and gain insight about Virtual Infrastructure
• Receive special information about new VMware products
• Participate in early access Beta programs
• Network with other technical professionals in your area
• Be part of the leading edge of VMware users

In addition VMware provides direct support and assistance to Affiliated VMware User Groups.

Check out www.vmware.com/vmug for meeting announcements and your local discussion forum.

Server Virtualization Presentation

For those interested here's the PowerPoint slides from my presentation Thursday on server virtualizaiton.

Thanks to those of you that came and I encourage you to install VMware Server and kick the tires ... like us, I believe you'll soon wonder how you ever survived without it :-)

Server Virtualization MinistryTECH 08

Steak And Array

Tonight Alan Hunt of VR6 Systems drove down to GCC to help us get our newest EqualLogic PS100E array into production.  Alan didn't have to come 3.5 hrs to help us with this, but he really wanted to come and make sure everything went smooth with the firmware upgrade of our current PS100E and then joining the two units together.  I love it when vendors go above and beyond!

Alan arrived around 4:30 and since all our VM's live on the SAN we couldn't do any real work until 5:30pm ... when our maintenance window starts.  So we chatted a bit then decided to grab a bite to eat before digging in.  When I asked Alan where he'd like to eat he pointed across our parking lot to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse.  I let him know that I've heard that RCS is quite salty price wise ... but he insisted ... and who am I to say no to a free steak!  I was pumped!  I figured I'd never get a change to eat at CRS unless someone else took me ... I would have to wait no more :-)

We arrived at 5 right as they were opening ... and from the minute we arrived we were treated like special guests.  Service staff were amazing.  Our waiter Chris was very gracious to us newbies and explained everything in great detail.  Ed and I both went for a NY Strip and a salad ... remember we're watching our diet :-)

Oh my goodness, the streak was amazingly good ... it comes to you on a super hot plate still sizzling away.  I meant to take a picture, but it was so good I couldn't focus on anything else ;-)  The three of us had a great meal and even greater conversation around storage technologies and just life in general.  It was great to get to know the person "behind" the salesman.

Once we were stuffed, did I mention how awesome this steak was?, we headed back and started powering everything down.  We had to move a few items around in the rack to make room for the new array and we soon had it racked up.  We up'd the firmware on the old array then powered on the new.  After maybe 5 minutes of configs the two arrays saw each other and began distributing data between them ... yes, it's just that easy to add another array into your storage pool.  So we doubled our storage to 4.36TB and doubled(?) our performance from 3 to 6 controllers.  w00t!

Again, a huge thanks to Alan for spending the evening with us ... this is a partnership I look forward to growing.  If you're looking at storage you really should contact Alan.  We also talked a length about Data Domain for offsite storage/deduplication ... but that'll have to wait for a future post.

Here's a few cruddy pics from the cam phone ...

Alan and Ed working on firmware update

I'm trying to get Ed to "strike a pose" and he can't stop laughing ... who knew inserting drives into an array was so hilarious ;-)

 
The twins

2 servers and 2 arrays ... this is the core of our network ... 20+ virtual servers live on this storage and run on either of the 2 physical servers.  It's amazing that just 3 years ago to do the same would have required an entire rack of servers producing gobs of heat and requiring loads of electricity.  Thank goodness for VMware Server!