Score with Virtualization

We just got back from the Citrix virtualization seminar in Washington D.C.  The seminar was very informative with live demos of their products.  They pretty much covered all their virtualization products and how they work together: XenApp (application virtualization), XenDesktop (desktop virtualization), and XenServer (server virtualization).  They also had three of their customers come in to share their experiences with Citrix virtualization technologies.

Now for the free stuff.  Attendees received a small bag (man purse?), a notepad, a pen, and a 1GB flash drive.  Citrix XenServer is also now free with XenMotion (live migration) and XenCenter (let’s see how VMware responds to this ).  Picture of the free stuff below.

Free Stuff

Citrix Virtualization Event

Our team is attending this event next week in Washington D.C.  Click here to register.  It’s free!

Score with Virtualization

Date: 2/24/2009
Time: 9:00 am EDT - 3:00 pm EDT
Location:
555 12th St NW
Washington, DC
Hosted by: Citrix Systems Inc.
Venue: ESPN Zone

Agenda

9:00am Registration, breakfast and partner networking
9:30am Opening remarks
10:00am Virtualization Today
10:30am Dynamic Demos
12:30pm Lunch with roundtable discussions
1:30pm Customer panel with moderator intro and Q&A
2:30pm Closing remarks, evaluations, and raffles

More info here: http://www.citrix.com/English/NE/events/event.asp?eventID=1685694

How to change from ACPI Multiprocessor HAL back to ACPI Uniprocessor HAL in Windows 2003

“Warning: Changing the number of virtual processors after the guest OS is installed may make your virtual machine unstable.”

You’ve probably seen this message before while working with VMware, especially if you’ve done physical to virtual migrations.

As a best practice, it is recommended to always start with only 1 vCPU when creating virtual machines and only increase the number of vCPUs if you think it’s necessary and if the virtual machine is actually running applications that can utilize multiple processors to avoid wasting resources.

Increasing the number of processors from 1 to 2 or more is actually not a problem with Windows Server 2003 because it will automatically change the HAL to ACPI Multiprocessor PC.  But setting the number of virtual processors back to 1 won’t automatically change the Windows 2003 HAL back to ACPI Uniprocessor PC.

According to Microsoft, “If you run a multiprocessor HAL with only a single processor installed, the computer typically works as expected, and there is little or no affect on performance.”  But if you’re like me and just want to be absolutely sure that there won’t be issues, switching back to the uniprocessor HAL in Windows Server 2003 is pretty easy:

1. Make sure you have at least Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2 installed.
2. Shut down the virtual machine.
3. Change number of virtual processors to 1.
4. Power on the virtual machine.
5. In Windows, go to Device Manager -> Computer.
6. Right-click “ACPI Multiprocessor PC” and choose “Update Driver…“.
7. Select “No, not this time” option -> “Install from a list or specific location” -> “Don’t search.  I will choose the driver to install.” -> select “ACPI Uniprocessor PC.”
8. Reboot the virtual machine.

That’s it! You’re all set!

getVIRTUALnow

Just got back from the Microsoft Virtualization Launch Event in New York.  Overall, it was pretty good.  It was also pretty short, it started at 8:30am and it’s pretty much done by 1:30pm.  There’s also not a lot of people who attended this event compared to their other launch events, there were plenty of seats available.

They pretty much talked mostly about the benefits of virtualization and Microsoft System Center.  They showed live demos on how to use System Center and its interoperability with VMware ESX Server.  They also showed demos for application virtualization and there are hands on labs if you want to try out the products.

For the free stuff, you get a T-Shirt, a voucher for prep course collection #6319 and exam #70-652 ($316 value), and a Microsoft Virtualization Evaluation Kit (will be mailed to you).

VMware ESXi: Setup did not find any hard disk drives installed in your computer (Windows XP)

If you get this error when installing Windows XP in VMware ESXi, simply do the following:

1. Download this floppy image which contains the VMware SCSI drivers: vmscsi-1.2.0.4.flp.
2. Upload the floppy image to the datastore using the VI Client.
3. Edit the virtual machine settings and select Floppy Drive 1, then choose the option on the right to “Use existing floppy image in datastore:” and select the floppy image.
4. Power on the virtual machine.
5. Press F6 when you see the message “Press F6 if you need to install a third party SCSI or RAID driver…” at the bottom of the screen.
6. Connect Floppy Drive 1.
7. Press S, then press Enter to select the VMware SCSI Controller driver, then press Enter again to continue with the setup.

That’s it! The Windows XP setup should now be able to detect the hard drives :).

Source: VMware Knowledgebase Document

Citrix XenDesktop User Experience Demo

I’m doing some research on Citrix XenDesktop and I just saw this demo.  I know this is kind of old but I just find it really cool!

Check it out here.

Microsoft Virtualization Launch Event

Just saw this on Microsoft’s website, you can register here: http://www.getvirtualnow.com/usevents/cityselect.aspx

Here are the sessions:

Session I: Server Virtualization and Management
An inside look at Hyper-V and System Center Virtual Machine Manager from an architectural and a real world point of view. Complete with live demo’s of real life scenarios, and even a look at SCVMM managing VMWare ESX servers.

Session II: How Microsoft IT builds Dynamic Data Centers
A look at the current and future Microsoft Data Center. See how Microsoft IT, one of the world’s largest IT organizations, uses Windows Server 2008 and Hyper-V to provide dynamic, scalable, and real-time adjustment to business needs.

Session III: Understanding Virtualization at the Desktop Level
The future of the Enterprise Desktop is very exciting, and Microsoft Virtualization technologies like Softgrid (App-V), Med-V, MDOP, VECD and Terminal Services are in the middle of it all. This session will provide an understanding of the directions of the industry, and highlight the capabilities of the technologies available, as well as look at what the future will bring.

I’m planning on going to the one in New York on November 3 if my manager approves it.  If not, then I’ll take a day off so I can attend the event ;).

Converting Physical Citrix Server to VMware Using VMware Converter

We converted one of our physical Citrix servers yesterday to VMware ESXi also and it went smoothly as well.  No issues so far, so if you’re thinking of doing the same thing I can confirm that it works.

We also use RSA SecurID for authentication and it still works after the conversion with no changes made to the RSA Authentication Manager or RSA ACE Agent (using the same IP address after the conversion of course).

More P2V conversions next week :).