APC PowerChute

APC PowerChute in the Service Console
It's a best practice to keep the number of COS software installations to a minimum. Here's a case that's justified for some environments to ensure graceful host shutdowns. Mike at motogobi has done some leg work & put together the procedure:

http://www.motogobi.com/2008/11/13/setting-up-powerchute-network-shutdown-in-vmware-esx-35/
See also http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-9531
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LiveLink

In Lab Manager, the use of the "LiveLink" feature is a great way to report something you've found in a configuration (a bug perhaps). A LiveLink is the HTTP URL of a configuration in the Library. The URL can be emailed to another Lab Manager user (ie. Developer), who can click on the link to deploy a copy of the configuration exactly as it was when it was saved to the Library.
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Memory hot add

VMware vSphere supports memory hot add for the following Windows OSs:
Win2k3 ENT x86/x64
Win2k8 STD x86*/x64*
Win2k8 ENT x86/x64
VMware vSphere supports CPU hot add for the following Windows OSs:
Win2k8 STD x64*
Win2k8 ENT x64*
Memory and CPU hot remove is not supported for Windows OSs.
* = Reboot of guest OS required to recognize added hardware
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Users and Groups

Users cannot log into the Lab Manager system or access any resources until they are added to an Organization. Users can be added as new accounts in the Lab Manager database or imported from an LDAP source (such as Active Directory). Groups can only be imported from an LDAP source. When a group is imported, the members of that group don't appear on the Users tab until they have logged into Lab Manager at least once.
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ESX Service Console

At the ESX Service Console, the w command will display a summary of every user logged in to the host, what that user is currently doing, and what load all the activity is imposing on the host.
i.e.
[root@esx3l /etc]# w
19:44:32 up 7 days, 20:00, 1 user, load average: 0.18, 0.06, 0.01
USER TTY FROM LOGIN@ IDLE JCPU PCPU WHAT
root pts/0 workstation 2:53pm 0.00s 0.07s 0.01s w
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Fuser command

At the ESX Service Console, use the fuser command to show which processes are using a specified file, file system, or socket.

i.e.
[root@esx3l /etc]# /sbin/fuser -u /sbin/fuser
/sbin/fuser: 3793e(root)
[root@esx3l /etc]# /sbin/fuser -u /var/log/vmkernel
/var/log/vmkernel: 1208(root) 2181(root)
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VM guest VLAN tagging

To configure VM guest VLAN tagging, configure the vSwitch portgroup for VLAN 4095. Any vNIC in a VM configured to use this portgroup will have VM guest VLAN tagging enabled. Of course, for it to properly work, the guest OS network configuration must be set correctly for VLAN tagging.
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Virtual NICs

Virtual NICs:
Vlance = Emulated AMD 79C970 PCnet32 LANCE NIC
VMXNET = Optimized NIC for ESX 2.x
Flexible = Reports as Vlance during VM boot & initialize as Vlance or VMXNET depending on which OS driver initializes it
E1000 = Emulated Intel 82545EM Gb Ethernet NIC for newer OS
VMXNET2 (Enhanced) = Supports Jumbo Frames & TSO
VMXNET3 = Next gen paravirtualized NIC, supports multiqueue, IPv6 offloads, MSI/MSI-X
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Disable access to VMware

Disable access to VMware Tools in the Windows system tray (doesn't restrict access thru Control Panel)
1) Go to c:\program files\vmware\vmware tools\
2) Apply Deny permission for Read & Execute & Read for the users on file VMControlPanel.cpl
3) Right click on the VMware Tools system tray icon and choose disable
4) Run regedit & delete the VMware Tools key in HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
KB1006354
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ESX3.5 & ESXi

Networking Differences Between ESX3.5 & ESXi

Cisco Discovery Protocol = ESXi is listen only. ESX3.5 can be configured for both listening & advertising
Jumbo Frames = ESX3.5 VMkernel & guest support. ESXi3 guest support only
NetQueue = Supported on ESX3.5; not supported on ESXi3
NetFlow = Experimental support on ESX3.5; not available on ESXi3
Infiniband = HCAs from Mellanox Technologies not supported on ESXi3
KB1003345
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What's New

What's New in VMware vSphere 4.0
iSCSI Support Improvements — Improvements to both software and hardware iSCSI, resulting in a dramatic improvement of both performance and functionality of both software and hardware iSCSI and delivering significant reduction of CPU overhead for software iSCSI. See the Fibre Channel SAN Configuration Guide http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vsphere4/r40/vsp_40_san_cfg.pdf
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Microsoft Cluster Server

Microsoft Cluster Server can be virtualized on VMware Virtual Infrastructure. Although MSCS can be deployed several ways on VMware, there exists a precise set of configurations and conditions that must be met in order to be supported by VMware. You can view them at the links below:

http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35/esx_3/r35u2/vi3_35_25_u2_mscs.pdf
http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vsphere4/r40/vsp_40_mscs.pdf
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Virtualization Quote of the Day

You may already know that while in esxtop, interactively pressing the c, m, d, and n keys changes the esxtop focus to each of the four food groups. But did you know there are more advanced views for drilling down to more detailed information?

Compare the following interactive keys with d: u, v

To view the complete documentation for esxtop (known as man pages in the *nix world), use the command man esxtop in the COS.
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Virtualization Quote of the Day

If you are an ESX shop contemplating a migration to ESXi and the benefits that it has to offer, keep in mind the two products do not share an identical list of compatible hardware. Generally speaking, the ESXi Hardware Compatibility List (HCL) is more limited in terms of hardware than ESX. There is a chance the hardware you have running ESX in the datacenter right now may not be supported by VMware for running ESXi.
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Network Port Requirements

VMware Update Manager Network Port Requirements
80
443
8084
9000-9100

http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1004543
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Recent ESX builds

Recent ESX builds (English) and release dates
ESX 4.0, 5/21/09, Build 164009
ESX 3.5 Update 4, 3/30/09, Build 153875
ESX 3.5 Update 3, 11/6/08, Build 123630
ESX 3.5 Update 2, 8/13/08, Build 110268
ESX 3.5 Update 1, 4/10/08, Build 82663
ESX 3.5, 12/10/07 & re-released 2/20/08, Build 64607
See also http://bit.ly/aK8zQ
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ThinApp

On this day in 2008, VMware announces the acquisition of Thinstall. The Thinstall product is rebranded as ThinApp and VMware releases ThinApp 4.0 on 6/27/08. ThinApp creates portable applications that can be leveraged across a variety of operating systems (Windows NT, XP, Vista, 2000) and plug into a variety of deployment infrastructures (SMS, LANDesk, Citrix, BMC, and others)
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Virtualization Quote of the Day

Removing a datastore in Lab Manager deletes all its virtual machines, media stores, and media files from the Lab Manager database only. This operation does not actually delete files on the datastore.

Out of the box, only (System) Administrators can remove datastores and as you can probably imagine, for good reason. This permission should be delegated only to trustworthy administrators.
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VMware vSphere 4.0

What's New in VMware vSphere 4.0
Pluggable Storage Architecture — An open modular framework that enables third-party storage multipathing solutions for workload balancing and high availability. See the Fibre Channel SAN Configuration Guide or the iSCSI SAN Configuration Guide http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vsphere4/r40/vsp_40_san_cfg.pdf http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vsphere4/r40/vsp_40_iscsi_san_cfg.pdf
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Configuration Maximums

Configuration Maximums Comparison

Linked-mode for vCenter Server 4.0:
Linked vCenter Server system: 10 vCenter Servers
ESX(i) hosts in Linked-mode environment: 1,000 ESX(i) hosts
Powered-on VMs in Linked-mode environment: 10,000 VMs
Registered VMs in Linked-mode environment: 15,000 VMs

vCenter Server 2.5 Update 4 does not support Linked-mode
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ACE

On this day in 2005, VMware releases ACE (Assured Computing Environment) 1.0. ACE is a revolutionary product that reinvents desktop management and security. ACE is a great fit for contractor, telecommuter, and mobile laptop users with a single mechanism that combines security, user autonomy, and centralized management.
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Configuration Maximums Comparison

Configuration Maximums Comparison

Hardware iSCSI initiator ports per host:
ESX(i) 4.0: 4 ports
ESX(i) 3.5 Update 4: 2 ports
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VI3 license pool

Secure your VI3 license pool with an Options file:

The FlexLM license tool in VI3 essentially lets any host on the network draw from its available license pool, exhausting licenses and features in the process.

Add security to your valuable license pool by implementing an Options file which dictates which network hosts can check out a license from the pool.

http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1000955
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Lab Manager Organizations

Lab Manager Organizations are container boundaries which determine which resources (resource pools, hosts, datastores, media stores, and physical networks) users and groups have access to or can be granted access to.

In a default installation, only (System) Administrators can add and delete Organizations.
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Load averages

Load averages in ESXTOP are 6-second sample calculations based on the total number of processors in the host in the last 1, 5, and 15 minutes. For example, in a 4 processor host, a value of 2.00, 2.00, 2.00 would mean 50% host utilization (2.00 divided by 4 processors) evenly in the last 15 minutes. A reading of 4.00, 2.00, 0.03 would indicate an idle host 15 minutes ago and a fully utilized host as of 1 minute ago.
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Direct Execution Mode vs. Virtualization Mode

ESX has 2 execution modes: Direct Execution Mode & Virtualization Mode. Direct Execution Mode is much more efficient because it has direct access to the host hardware, thus it is the most preferred method of instruction execution. Virtualization Mode is used when Direct Execution Mode is not possible, primarily when an instruction needs access to CPU Ring 0. The VMkernel handles each of these requests, thus it's slower.
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Know Thy Open Snapshots

Know Thy Open Snapshots
Snapshots are wonderful. With this technology comes the responsibility of using it properly and knowing its limitations. Keep constant track of the snapshots that exist in your environment. Leaving a snapshot open can cause slowness and lead to failure for the VMs residing on the snapshot volume.

http://www.boche.net/blog/index.php/2008/12/02/know-thy-open-snapshots/
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Configuration Maximums Comparison

Configuration Maximums Comparison

Fibre Channel LUN size:
ESX(i) 4.0: 2TB minus 512B
ESX(i) 3.5 Update 4: 2TB
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Configuration Maximums Comparison

Configuration Maximums Comparison

Concurrent vSphere client connections:
vCenter Server 4.0 32-bit: 15 client connections
vCenter Server 4.0 64-bit: 30 client connections
vCenter Server 2.5: unpublished

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