My VMware vSphere Home lab configuration

I have always enjoyed running my own home lab for testing and playing around with the latest software and operating systems / hypervisors. Up until recently, it was all hosted on VMware Workstation 8.0 on my home gaming PC, which has an AMD Phenom II x6 (hex core) CPU and 16GB of DDR3 RAM. This has been great, and I still use it, but there are some bits and pieces I still want to be able to play with that are traditionally difficult to do on a single physical machine, such as working with VLANs and taking advantage of hardware feature sets.

 

To that end, I have been slowly building up a physical home lab environment. Here is what I currently have:

Hosts

  • 2 x HP Proliant N40L Microservers (AMD Turion Dual Core processors @ 1.5GHz)
  • 8GB DDR3 1333MHz RAM (2 x 4GB modules)
  • Onboard Gbit NIC
  • PCI-Express 4x HP NC360T Dual Port Gbit NIC as addon card (modifed to low-profile bracket)
  • 250GB local SATA HDD (just used to host the ESXi installations.

Networking

  • As mentioned above, I am using HP NC360T PCI-Express NICs to give me a total of 3 x vmnics per ESXi host.
  • Dell PowerConnect 5324 switch (24 port Gbit managed switch)
  • 1Gbit Powerline Ethernet home plugs to uplink the Dell PowerConnect switch to the home broadband connection. This allows me to keep the lab in a remote location in the house, which keeps the noise away from the living area.

Storage

  • This is a work in progress at the moment, (currently finding the low end 2 x bay home NAS devices are not sufficient for performance, and the more expensive models are too expensive to justify).
  • Repurposed Micro-ATX custom built PC, housed in a Silverstone SG05 micro-ATX chassis running FreeNAS 8.2 (Original build and pics of the chassis here)
  • Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz processor
  • 4GB DDR2-800 RAM
  • 1 Gbit NIC
  • 1 x 1TB 7200 RPM SATA II drive
  • 1 x 128GB OCZ Vertex 2E SSD (SATA II)
  • As this is temporary, each drive provides 1 x Datastore to the ESXi hosts. I therefore have one large datastore for general VMs, and one fast SSD based datastore for high priority VMs, or VM disks. I am limited by the fact that the Micro-ATX board only has 2 x onboard SATA ports, so I may consider purchasing an addon card to expand these.
  • Storage is presented as NFS. I am currently testing ZFS vs UFS and the use of the SSD drive as a ZFS and zil log / and or cache drive. To make this more reliable, I will need the above mentioned addon card to build redundancy into the system, as I would not like to lose a drive at this time!

Platform / ghetto rack

  • IKEA Lack rack (black) – cheap and expandable : )

 

To do

Currently, one host only has 4GB RAM, I have an 8GB kit waiting to be added to bring both up to 8GB. I also need to add the HP NC360T dual port NIC to this host too as it is a recent addition to the home lab.

On the storage side of things, I just managed to take delivery of 2 x OCZ Vertex 2 128GB SSD drives which I got at bargain prices the other day (£45 each). Once I have expanded SATA connectivity in my Micro-ATX FreeNAS box I will look into adding these drives for some super fast SSD storage expansion.

 

The 2 x 120GB OCZ SSDs to be used for Shared Host Storage
HP NC360T PCI-Express NIC and 8GB RAM kit for the new Microserver

 

Lastly, the Dell PowerConnect 5324 switch I am using still has the original firmware loaded (from 2005). This needs to be updated to the latest version so that I can enable Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP) – which is newly supported with the VMware vSphere 5.0 release on Distributed Virtual Switches. This can help with the configuration and management of network components in an infrastructure, and will mainly serve to allow me to play with this feature in my home lab. I seem to have lost my USB-to-Serial adapter though, so this firmware upgrade will need to wait until I can source a new one off ebay.

 

Getting up and running with the vSphere 5.1 Web Client

Getting up and running with the vSphere 5.1 Web Client and vCenter 5.1 is now easier than before. The steps to follow are listed below, along with the steps you should use if you also have vCenter 5.0 instances to manage with the 5.1 Web Client.

 

  • If you have a vCenter 5.1 Server instance, you’ll just need to install the Web Client using standard installer from the vCenter autorun.
  • Don’t forget to install the latest Adobe Flash too.
  • With vSphere 5.1 you now have integration with the vCenter Single Sign on (SSO) service. If your vCenter server uses the same vCenter Single Sign On server as that which the Web Client uses, then you do not need to manually register vCenter 5.1 instances with the Web Client Server. Instead, just install the Web Client server as normal, and then sign in to it from the local machine at https://localhostl:9443/vsphere-client or remotely from another management machine at https://remotemachine:9443/vsphere-client. The vSphere Web Client can now locate these vCenter Server 5.1 systems by using the VMware Lookup Service.
  • If you run into any errors when you try to access the web client via the URL (local or remote), give it a few more minutes if you have just finished the installation. I found that it took my system up to 3 minutes before I could login. This must be due to automatic registration with the Lookup Service taking place in the background.

This definitely makes life a bit easier when setting up a vCenter 5.1 and the Web client, and makes complete sense as VMware have announced that the standard vSphere Client 5.1 (Windows application) is their final release of the vSphere Client software. From then on, everything will be managed via the Web Client!

Also remember that when you are setting up the vSphere web client, you are asked for the IP or FQDN of your vCenter server. If it uses IPv6 and you want to enter the IP address instead of using the FQDN, you must enter it in IPv6 format (ie. enclosing this address in square brackets).

 

If you are still using vCenter 5.0 or have vCenter 5.0 instances, you are still required to use the machine that the Web Client was installed on, and browse to https://localhost:9443/admin-app and then register these vCenter 5.0 instances as per the screenshots below. You do of course also have a couple of options depending on which vCenter Server 5.0 type you are using (Windows or the Appliance).

 

For vSphere vCenter 5.0 Windows instances you’ll still need to register these with the Web Client, login to the Web client on the machine it was installed on using the localhost address:

Register your vCenter Server 5.0 instance by using the IP or FQDN and correct credentials.

Accept and install the security certificate if applicable.

 

If you are using the vCenter 5.0 appliance, then you’ll need to register these instances using the command-line on the appliance. Use the following script to register your vCenter instance:

/usr/lib/vmware-vsphere-client/scripts/admin-cmd.sh register https://[IP or FQDN of the Web Client]:[HTTPS Port Number]/vsphere-client [VC IP Address] [VC Admin username] [VC Admin password]

If you have any special characters in your password, don’t forget to enclose this in single quote marks ( ‘ ).

 

Corsair XMS3 RAM compatible with HP Microserver N40L

Just a quick post today on RAM compatibility with the good old trusty home lab server, the HP Proliant N40L Microserver. I am currently using Microservers for my home vSphere 5 lab, running ESXi 5.0 update 1.

 

I had 8GB of Corsair XMS3 PC3-12800 C9 (1600MHz) RAM lying around at home and wanted to put it back to good use. It does not have ECC, but I tried it out in my Microserver and it works! Despite being a higher voltage rated RAM kit (1.65v odd), it works with the Microserver’s 1.5 rated DIMM slots just fine. No need to buy an extra 8GB RAM kit with my second Microserver now.

 

 

The latest trends in VMware and Cloud Computing

cloud computing

 

VMware promotes virtualization as a catalyst for cloud computing. Cloud infrastructures are built on and powered by VMware. VMware allows IT professionals to build solutions that are specifically tailored to a client’s individual needs. Internal and external clouds may be created to handle the needs of a growing business. Hybrid clouds are growing in popularity for businesses that want the convenience of both. Here are some of the benefits of VMware cloud virtualization:

 

  • Efficient Processes. VMware makes it possible to automate processes and employ utilization to increase IT performance. When IT professionals leverage existing resources and avoid expenses related to infrastructure investment, the total cost of ownership (TCO) is reduced tremendously.
  • Agility. End-users gain a more secure environment with cloud computing. With VMware, IT professionals can be assured that they will preserve IT authority, control and security while remaining compliant. Processes are also simplified to make the job easier. An IT organization is able to respond quickly to organizations with evolving business needs.
  • More Flexibility. IT professionals can use VMware in conjunction with traditional systems for maximum flexibility. The systems may be deployed internally or externally. When configuring VMware, IT professionals are not limited to using any one vendor or technology. The solutions are portable and are capable of using a common management and security framework.
  • Better Security. VMware solutions protect end-points, the network edge and applications through virtualization. The cloud based deployments of security patches and solutions are dynamic and constantly being updated.
  • Automation and Management. With VMware, a highly efficient, self-managing infrastructure can be created. Business rules and policies can be mapped to IT resources when the tools are virtually pooled.
  • Portable and Independent. Open standard VMware solutions provide more flexibility and reduce the dependence on a particular vendor. With this security model, applications are easily portable from internal datacenters to external service provider clouds. The applications are also dynamic, optimized and deployable on public clouds with VMware cloud application platforms.
  • Saves Time. A self-service cloud-based portal is capable of reducing time spent by deploying standardized solutions that have been pre-configured to operate off-the-shelf or out-of-the-box. This method promotes efficiency through automation and standardization. Tailored services are also popular and can be achieved with VMware solutions. IT can remain in compliance and preserve control over policies with VMware.
  • Virtual Pooling and Dynamic Resource Allocation. Virtual datacenters are created by pooling IT resources through abstraction. Logical storage building blocks, server units and network are integrated into the solution to power applications. This process is completed in accordance to regulations and business rules. User demand also plays a role in how these applications are deployed and hosted.

 

How Businesses are using VMware to transition to the Cloud

Dynamic businesses have a need for a robust and affordable IT solution. Most businesses use 70 percent of their resources focusing on maintenance of servers and applications in a traditional system. With only 30 percent of the IT budget left for innovation, companies cannot grow and provide the type of service and products its clients need and desire. IT management is searching for a better strategy, and VMware seems to be a viable solution.

VMware provides users with faster response times. Faster response times lead to lower costs over time. Self-managed virtual infrastructures are efficient and preferred by many businesses.

IT professionals can identify which cloud-based solution is best for your company. The choices typically consist of a public, private or hybrid solution. Many companies have successfully implemented these solutions.

VMware’s cloud infrastructure and management application is commonly known as vCloud Director.  This application will allow a company to transition to the cloud at their own pace. The application was introduced in 2011 to provide companies with greater flexibility and efficiency in the cloud.

VMware’s solution allows companies the ability to leverage their existing infrastructure. This saved business owners significant time and money. The savings could then be reinvested for innovation. VMware’s cost-effective solution provides an answer to the pre-existing solution of 70 percent spending on infrastructure maintenance.

NetApp has exceptional backup and recovery capabilities that are necessary for any company’s disaster recovery solution. Within minutes, VMware’s vCloud Director can recover data. The backup and recovery system is customizable, fast and accurate.

NetApp and VMware have a 24 hour per day and seven day per week global staff monitoring the applications and data stored in the cloud. This ensures the data is protected. Technical support constantly works with all parties to ensure issues are addressed promptly and efficiently. Additionally, VMware ensures that resources are available to meet service level agreements.

 

Consider How VMware Can Help Your Organization

VMware is a viable solution that can be beneficial in any organization. Consider VMware for your business and witness an increase in productivity, efficiency and mobility. VMware solutions are chosen frequently because they work.

 

Author Bio:

David Malmborg works with Dell. When David is not working, he enjoys spending time with his two kids. For more information on cloud computing, David recommends clicking here.

Checking if your SSD supports “TRIM” using FreeNAS 8.x

I have been playing with the newer versions of FreeNAS for shared storage on my home VMware vSphere lab recently (after having last used it on version 7.x). I added a spare OCZ Vertex Plus 120GB SSD to my mini-ITX based FreeNAS box and was wondering how TRIM would be handled, if at all with FreeNAS.

 

To check to see if your SSD supports TRIM under FreeNAS, open up a Shell session to your FreeNAS box – i.e. PuTTy, or via the Web GUI. Then issue the following command, specifying your SSD drive where /dev/ada0 is used as an example below. Note that we are using the CAM control program that comes with FreeBSD. Please exercise caution with this command as it has the potential to cause damage if not used correctly!

 

camcontrol identify /dev/ada0

 

If you need to check disk/device names to figure out which one is your SSD, you could use the GUI. Go to Storage -> View Disks, then check the name column for the device names of each disk. Use /dev/diskname in the command above. After running the command above, you’ll get a list of disk information back, just check the “data set management (TRIM)” row to see if TRIM support is enabled or not.

 

I have not yet worked out a way to see if TRIM is actually being actively used yet though – so if anyone has any suggestions or ideas as to how to check that it is actually in use, please let me know!