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How to set up a free iSCSI or NAS storage system for VMware ESX using Openfiler
Everything I am about to demonstrate to you here is free. You won’t have to spend a penny on software to build this architecture, the end result here is a centralised storage system that can be used for iSCSI or NAS storage hosting to all your ESX clients to enable the use of VMotion, HA and DRS services.
VMware ESXi is free and can be downloaded here. Openfiler NAS/iSCSI appliance is free and can be downloaded here
Let us begin.
First of all, we will build or iSCSI or NAS device using ‘Openfiler’. You can download Openfiler from the link above, it is an easy installation (very similar to VMware ESX actually). Here are the required steps to get Openfiler up and running:
Setting up Configuration Logging in Presentation Server 4.5
New to Presentation Server 4.5, Configuration Logging will log all changes made in the Citrix Access Management Console (for the Presentation Server node only) and the Presentation Server Console. So it will log changes to published applications, farm level settings, server level settings, etc. It will not however log changes made using the Password Manager Node, Web Interface Node, or Access Gateway nodes, even though they show up in the Access Management Console.
Changing the IP address, default gateway and hostname of the Service Console in ESX Server 3.x
This article describes how to change the service console IP address, gateway address and hostname on your ESX Server 3.x host. These settings can be changed using the Virtual Infrastructure Client or from the physical or a remote console connection (ILO, RSA, DRAC, etc)
Citrix Access Gateway Advanced Load Balancing Contingency and High Availability Design Options
Citrix Access Gateway Advanced Edition is a great product, lots of my time is spent designing, implementing and integrating this product usually with a Citrix XenApp backend which includes Web Interface.
One question seems to always pop up though. Is it resilient and what happens if a component of the infrastructure fails?
Let us take a look at the components required to build the infrastructure and what might happen if one fails. We will start at the front end and work backwards from there (as this is what the client hits first).
Extending Xen iSCSI backend storage devices by adding another iSCSI LUN
I needed to add more storage space on the /home directory of a Xen guest running on a RHEL5 system. I investigated extending its LUN on the NetApp Filer and then tried running pvresize to see if the Xen guest would recognise the new size. No luck. In the end, i created another iSCSI LUN, mapped it to the Xen host, configured the Xen guest to see the new LUN and let LVM know it had another physical disk to play with. This is how i did it.
How to use the sysprep components of Virtual Center to automate the provisioning of virtual machines
This article demonstrates how you can upload the components of Microsoft’s sysprep utility to your Virtual Center server and then use it for fast, automated virtual machine provisioning.
Once you have installed Virtual Center and set up your first virtual machine from your standard build documentation, you may want to use this new virtual machine as a template or clone to create many others.
Virtual Center supports the cloning of virtual machines and can also prepare the virtual machine for cloning by using Microsoft’s sysprep utility.
Here is how it is done:
Reasons why an initial investment in a Citrix XenApp platform will set the stage for a dynamic and robust application delivery infrastructure - over and above what Terminal Services 2008 has to offer
I know this has been done to death over the past few years, but since Citrix are due to release Citrix XenApp 5.0 on Terminal Services 2008 soon I thought it may be worth while posting an article on the key infrastructure benefits that Citrix XenApp has to offer. If you are new to the application delivery market place and want to learn a little more about how these 2 products differ then this article may assist you in your future decision making.
Currently, this article analyses the key infrastructure differences between the latest application delivery platform from Citrix (XenApp 4.5 - was renamed recently from Presentation Server 4.5) and Microsoft Terminal Services 2008. Later this year this article will be updated to include the new features of Citrix XenApp 5.0. I have published this article before, but forgot we were now using the ‘XenApp’ name… whoops. A quick google search will return all the history you need to know about the renaming history of this product, or you can check out Brian Madden’s site which provide you with an absolute bible of information, news and sometimes controversial opinions on everything you need to know about the application delivery and virtual infrastructure market place.
Setting up a development environment up with VMware ESX, Virtual Center and a Windows iSCSI Target
Here is a cheap way of building an VMware ESX and Virtual Center development / demo environment with iSCSI which includes all the Virtual Center high availability functions, including HA, DRS and VCB. You will need to following to build this environment:
- 2 x VMware ESX servers (obviously:)
- 1 x Windows 2003 Server (with a fair amount of storage)
- A valid license from VMware or an eval license for VMware’s Virtual Infrastructure 3.
The following procedure assumes that you have 2 ESX servers built already or have the ability to do so, and that Virtual Center is up and ready.Setting up a Windows 2003 Server as a software iSCSI target. First, you will need the iSCSI components which comes with ‘Windows Unified Storage Server’ embedded OS.
Virtual Center - Adding metrics for your statistics
By default, Virtual Center only displays a limited amount of performance data within its statistics section. This is how you change it do display much more.
Whats new with VMware ESX 3.5 Update 2
Some interesting features from VMware included in ESX 3.5 Update 2. Most interesting is the official support for Virtual Machine High Availability and the ability to extend virtual disks while machines are running. Also included is the ability to clone virtual machines while they are powered on, which may suite well for some organisation when it comes to disaster recovery (cloning a VM and then copying the clone offsite)
Below are details ripped from VMware’s website.
For anyone out there that has a macbook and gets the common ‘bluetooth not available’ problem
OK, so I know that this isn’t really related to application delivery or virtual infrastructure, but it has been a pain in the ass for a long time.
Lots of people I know in my industry have turned to the Apple Macbook, especially now that VMware Fusion, Microsoft Office 2008, Omni Graffle, Microsoft’s RDP client and the Citrix ICA client have been available for a while.
However, myself and most of my colleagues have all experienced the ‘bluetooth not available error’ which seems to come and go which is incredibly frustrating if most of your peripherals are bluetooth enabled.
Data Center Contingency in a Box
Always been a fan of server virtualisation, simply because of the portability of virtual servers once they have been through the virtual infrastructure sausage machine.
Data Center contingency becomes much easier, its a case of finding the most cost effective way of replicating the virtual servers from storage solution to remote storage solution and then providing the host hardware to run those virtual machine when the shit hits the fan (usually there are network routing and DNS issues to deal with too but hey, it doesn’t half make things easier once you virtualise)
Data replication though, it can be expensive stuff, so can the redundant hardware needed on the remote site, awaiting activitation when a ‘plane lands on your data center’ (not sure how many times that has happened, but always seem to be the number one threat when having discussion on the subject).
What is Server Virtualisation and why use it?
Virtualization is a method of running multiple independent virtual operating systems on a single physical computer. It is a way of maximizing physical resources to maximize the investment in hardware. Since Moore’s law has accurately predicted the exponential growth of computing power and hardware requirements for the most part have not changed to accomplish the same computing tasks, it is now feasible to turn a very inexpensive 1U dual-socket dual-core commodity server into eight or even 16 virtual servers that run 16 virtual operating systems. Virtualization technology is a way of achieving higher server density. However.
Wiki - What is Desktop Virtualisation?
Desktop virtualization (or Virtual Desktop Infrastructure) is a server-centric computing model that borrows from the traditional thin-client model but is designed to give administrators and end users the best of both worlds: the ability to host and centrally manage desktop virtual machines in the data center while giving end users a full PC desktop experience
Wish List - A Better Mechanism for Exporting a Citrix XenApp Datastore
Something I have wanted to develop for a while, is an easier mechanism for exporting the whole data store contents of a Citrix XenApp farm, on the fly, with the click of a button.
Virtualisation - Agility is most valued by businesses
If you talk to CIOs who really “get” virtualization, the benefit that excites them the most is not cost savings but agility. I’m talking about the ability to say yes, quickly, to a business side request. Virtualization is helping smart IT leaders morph from “no” people to “yes” people. That’s a huge shift for many IT organizations and companies. But in order to be a yes person, you need to have enough carefully-managed virtual infrastructure on hand.
VMware Acquires ‘B-hive’
As you may know, VMware recently began the process of acquiring B-hive, but you may not know much about what B-hive does. From the press release, B-hive “gives infrastructure groups visibility into application performance in virtual environments such as end-user transaction response time, virtual machine utilization and cross-virtual machine dependencies.”
VDI: On the Horizon
Michael Rose, Research Analyst at IDC, discusses the rise of best practices for virtual desktop infrastructures in this executive interview sponsored by Citrix Systems.
Many companies are now talking about virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) as a way of delivering desktops virtually to end-users. Is this becoming a viable technology for mainstream enterprise customers?
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Popular
- Changing the IP address, default gateway and hostname of the Service Console in ESX Server 3.x
- Setting up a development environment up with VMware ESX, Virtual Center and a Windows iSCSI Target
- How to use the sysprep components of Virtual Center to automate the provisioning of virtual machines
- Reasons why an initial investment in a Citrix XenApp platform will set the stage for a dynamic and robust application delivery infrastructure - over and above what Terminal Services 2008 has to offer
- VMware ESX 3 - Maximum Storage size details, a quick reminder
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