VSphere in a Box: Storage VMotion

The Storage VMotion feature allows an administrator to migrate Virtual Machine Disk files from one datastore to another all while the virtual machine is still accessible.

Please feel free to download the document below using the download button. As always, I welcome any comments/suggestions.

VSphere in a Box: Vmotion

Vmotion allows us to move a running virtual machine from one ESX host to another without any type of disruption. In a perfect scenario, this is transparent to any end users involved. This PDF documents the steps to perform a successful Virtual Machine host migration using VMotion.

Feel free to download the document below using the download button. As always, I welcome any comments/suggestions.

VSphere in a Box: Adding Sysprep files for Windows Guest OS

Sysprep is what Vcenter uses to customize a Microsoft Windows machine when we clone it, or deploy it from a template. For those not familiar with it, it's also used when creating standard images (ie with symantec Ghost etc...) of desktops/servers etc...for deployment throughout your organization.

Windows Vista/2008 already have Sysprep installed. So this is mainly for Windows 2003 and prior operating systems.

Please feel free to download the document below using the download button. As always I welcome any comments/suggestions.

VSphere in a Box: Create and Deploy a VM Template

Using Templates to deploy or create virtual machines is one of the many benefits of virtualization. You can have a server configured exactly as you like and it saves a lot of time.

Imagine being able to setup a new server within minutes. Some might argue that it's even faster than installing a traditional image using a utility like Symantec Ghost or Acronis.

Please feel free to download the document below using the download link. As always, I welcome any comments or suggestions.

VSphere in a Box: Installing an OS in a Virtual Machine

We've created the virtual machine, and copied the ISO file over to our ESX hosts. This next piece of documentation will walk you through on how to install an OS within our newly created Virtual Machine.

Please feel free to download the document below using the download button. And as always, I welcome any comments, suggestions, criticisms.

VSphere in a Box: Create a Virtual Machine

Now that we have a datastore mapped to our VCenter/ESX hosts, we can create some Virtual Machines and store the VM's and Virtual Disks on the datastore.

Please feel free to download the document below using the download button.

As always, please feel free to share any comments/suggestions/criticims.

VSphere in a Box: Create an iSCSI Datastore

We created a LUN in Openfiler earlier in this blog/series. Now we are going to make our VCenter/ESX hosts aware of it's existence and create a datastore for our Virtual Machines.

Please feel free to download the document using the download button below. As always, I welcome any comments/criticisms/suggestions...

VSphere in a Box: Copy an ISO file to your ESX Host

When you're ready to build an Virtual Machine in your ESX host, the process is made MUCH quicker by having the ISO install image stored on the ESX host.

There are other methods, like using the actual CD and putting into the CD drive, but this can be a bit more time consuming. Having the ISO already mounted to your virtual machine streamlines the process.

Please feel free to download the PDF file below using the dowload button:

VSphere in a Box: Creating a Datacenter in VCenter

As I've said before, VCenter is used to administer/manage multiple ESX hosts from one location. This document goes through the steps in creating a Datacenter, setting up a cluster, and adding hosts to said cluster.

Again, any comments are more than welcome.

Please feel free to download the embedded document using the download button below.

VSphere in a Box - Installing VCenter

In the previous blog, we covered how to Setup a SQL Database for the VCenter installation. Now we're going to cover the actual VCenter Installation.

VCenter allows one to manage multiple ESX hosts, configure High Availablility, Vmotion and a plethora of other options.

Please feel free to download the document using the download link below. As always, any comments, criticims, suggestions etc... are more than welcome.

VSphere in a Box: Prepare your MS SQL Database for VCenter Installation

VCenter requires some type of database engine to store information about your ESX hosts. For a small setup, the VCenter installer will use SQL Server Express edition (which is free from Microsoft).

For a larger setup, one should have a good, fully functional database server. Despite the fact that our lab here is small, it's good practice to know how to prepare a database for your VCenter installation.

This document focuses on using Microsfot SQL Server 2008, however, the same exact instructions would apply for Microsoft SQL 2005.

Before proceeding with this, you should already have Windows Server 2003 or 2008 installed, as well as SQL Server 2008 or 2005. You can find 180 day evaluation copies of each via Microsoft's website (www.microsoft.com). (*Note: I just created another VM within workstation. It runs right along with the two ESX servers).

Please feel free to download the document using the download button below. Please feel free to share any questions/criticism/comments.

VSphere in a Box: Installing and Configuring Openfiler 2.3 in Vmware Workstation 6.5

Now that we have a couple of ESX servers installed within Workstation 6.5, I think it would be a good idea to simulate some type of storage solution. After all, it would be very unlikely that one would be storing their VMs on the local drives of the ESX servers. You'd most likely be dealing with iSCSI, Fiber, or NFS storage.

After doing some research, I found Openfiler. This software basically turns any regular PC into an iSCSI storage device. Best of all it's free! Great for testing!

I found this site to be a tremendous help when I was configuring my Openfiler VM: http://www.techhead.co.uk/how-to-configure-openfiler-v23-iscsi-storage-for-use-with-vmware-esx

Here is the Installing and Configuring Openfiler in Workstation 6.5 document (please feel free to download the PDF):

VSphere in a Box - Installing Vpshere ESX in Workstation 6.5, Ubuntu 9.04 64-Bit

As I wrote in my previous post, in order to get a bit more familiar with Vsphere ESX, I decided to purchase a Quad Core 8GB PC, install Ubuntu 64bit, Vmware Workstation 6.5 and use that as my base to virtualize a small ESX Lab.

I will be documenting all the steps I'm making in setting this lab up and providing it for anyone who may find it useful. (Feel free to download it at the bottom of this post).

I will say this now, this is all new to me, so I'm open to any suggestions, criticisms etc... I'm literally documenting as I'm learning and I hope that it may help others as well as myself.

Here are the following steps for my lab (so far), the point highlighted is the step we're currently working on:

1) Install 2 ESX servers within Workstation.
2) Install and configure Openfiler iSCSI within Workstation (to act as a SAN for the ESX servers).
3) Setup and Install VCenter to manage the 2 ESX servers.
4) Create, manage virtual servers using VCenter.

(I expect this list to grow dramatically as I learn more).

Without further ado....Vsphere In a Box, Installing ESX within Vmware Workstation (Please feel free to download it using the download button below):

VMWARE VSPHERE in a Box - Build a small, efficient Home Lab

I've always found Vmware ESX fascinating. I've worked with ESX 3.5 briefly, but wanted to understand more about it. However, building a lab would be no easy task. The hardware costs would be too much!

Then I stumbled upon this site:

http://xtravirt.com/xd10089

I found that one can install ESX 4.0 within a VM in Vmware's Workstation 6.5.2!! Heck, you can put a small infrastructure on there, containing the following:

2 ESX hosts
1 Windows Server for VCenter
1 iSCSI (Openfiler).

So now I just needed a dedicated machine to do this. I wanted a quad core processor, with approximately 8 GB of RAM. So I did some digging around and found a Gateway DX4200-09 on www.jr.com for $339. It was a short lived promotion and is no longer available at their site. So I'm glad I snagged it up.

It can also be found on http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001NVW8F0 albeit more expensive.

I also purchased an extra 4GB of RAM (since it comes with 4GB installed) from www.newegg.com.

Once all the parts were in, I immediately removed Windows Vista and installed Ubuntu. As I feel linux will make better use of the resources. I need as much speed as I can get.

In my next several posts, I will document how I setup a virtual infrastructure within VMWARE workstation using the guide provided by www.xtravirt.com.

Belated Blogging

Wow, it's been quite some time since I've posted. Apologies to those who have been following this blog.

Let's just pick up where I left off. I did pass the 70-431 exam some time ago and haven't stopped learning SQL 2005.

Of all the certification exams I've taken, this was the most difficult. Perhaps because the world of databases was completely new to me. Regardless, I suggest admins have a solid 6 months of HANDS ON experience working with MS SQL before embarking on this certification path.

The simulations required test takers to have a very in depth understanding of the SQL Server Management Studio. Unfortunately, the previous books I posted didn't cover all the ins and outs of SSMS that were required.

By far, the most helpful resource was this:

It's an amazing day to day reference that seconds as a resource for the 70-431 exam.

The Art of Cross-Referencing

Ok, for those that aren't aware, when preparing for any IT certification exam it's imperative that you use more than one source of material in which to study from. Some products don't do a good job of explaining certain objectives (or omit them all together!). You don't want to get hit with a bunch of questions pertaining to a subject you assumed was "not that important" because your book/class/software etc... didn't cover it.

I'm using Microsoft's MS Press Self Paced study guide for 70-431:


Like their other self study guides, it breaks each chapter down into short "Lessons". It takes about 10-15 mins to read through each lesson, and probably another 10 minutes to do the exercises. I perfer this method of short lessons as it makes the material much easier to digest.

Testout 70-431 MCTS SQL 2005 "Review": Don't overlook the Fact Sheets!

For those who don't know what Testout is, check out their website: www.testout.com, this is a link for the actual 70-431 Suite. It's a fully integrated study solution including instructor led training, lab sims, and practice exams.

I'm only two chapters into using the Testout software (I've used their products for my MCSE 2003 studies), and I must say it's as excellent as the previous products I've used. The instructor is very knowledgeable and speaks clearly and confidently. The videos are also very "tight" in that he doesn't waste time, almost everything he says is relevant to learning about SQL 2005 and what's on the exam. Again, I must mention the book "Sam's Teach Yourself T-SQL in 10 Mins" was an invaluable prerequisite.

One thing that people overlook are the "fact sheets" that come in each lesson. I highly recommend printing them out and referring to them. They contain information not covered in the videos and are still VERY relevant to what's on the exam (according to the exam objectives anyway). So if you're going to take anything away from this blog post: DO NOT OVERLOOK THE FACT SHEETS.

The importance of SQL Server Performance Baseline Reports

As I've been reading up on how to be a 'good' DBA, I remembered the performance baselilne reports my boss and I used to create back when I was a systems administrator. All critical servers (including database servers) should have a baseline report created. It helps immensley when trying to identify the root cause of certain problems (ie - abonormalities in disk, processor, memory activity).

This site provides a great step by step procedure in creating a performance baseline report. It clearly lists the common processes to monitor, and even shows how to export the data into a nice clear excel spreadsheet (your boss will be impressed! well, atleast he/she will be thankful!).

http://www.brentozar.com/archive/2006/12/dba-101-using-perfmon-for-sql-performance-tuning/

Good luck!

MCTS: SQL 2005 Exam 70-431

I have recently acquired a new position at my current place of employment. My responsibilities now include managing and administering database servers running Microsoft SQL 2005.

Note, that my experience with SQL was limited at best. I decided to look into taking the 70-431 exam (along with two other exams, but lets just concentrate on one right now) to get certified as a SQL DBA.

I began my studying process by watching a few CBT nuggets videos. Now CBT is usually fantastic, and this video was no different, however I found that I just wasn't absorbing the information. You see Microsoft has apperantly changed the way admins handle SQL buy adding the SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) console. It's a fantastic graphical tool, but I just didn't feel like I understood how databases really work.

I realized that I needed a really good basic understanding of the SQL language before diving into using the fancy SSMS console. I picked up this book:


You won't become an expert by reading through it, but it gave me great insight on how TSQL (Transact SQL) works. It's helping me build a solid foundation going into the actual 70-431 study material, and I feel it will serve as a tremendous reference tool in the future.

Once I'm finished with this book, I will begin my certification studies using Testout's 70-431 material.