VMWare ESXi 4.0 + HP ProLiant DL160 G5

Confirmed - VMWare ESXi 4.0 works on a HP ProLiant DL160 G5

Sometimes it is frustrating to find out if your non HCL hardware will work with ESXi before shelling out $ on hardware, but in my case, I don't have to commit this hardware just for VM service, so it was more of a test if anything, and if it works, it may even go into light production duty (probably would advise to go for something on the official HCL for mission critical duty).

For more whitebox and official hardware compatibility info with ESXi, check out:

• http://www.vm-help.com/
• http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/search.php

The following configuration options worked for me:

• DL160 firmware up to current version as of Oct 2009
• SATA RAID disabled
• Installed onto internal SATA hard drive
• I had to re-order the boot priority of the SATA hard drives (I have 2 installed) for ESXi 4.0 to boot after the installation (via CD - onto one of the hard drives)
• Both NICs are seen by ESXi 4.0 as well

I also confirmed that this 1U server also worked fine with Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 R2. But what I didn't count on, is how locked down and inconvenient it is for lab testing compared to VMWare's bare metal product. Hyper-V does look great at first glance with the free vmotion stuff, but it just takes too long to setup in a non domain lab setup (and can only be managed from a Win2k8, Vista or Windows 7 console!). For now, going to stick with VMWare products. :)

NexentaStor - increasing swap space

Here's another tip I forgot to post yesterday. How to increase the swap space on your NexentaStor server.

When I was trouble shooting our NexentaStore server when it has low available drive space, in the NexentaStor documentation I found that the default swap size is the memory size. For some reason we had a 1 gig swap file, and 4 gig of ram. Perhaps we didn't have all the ram populated on original install, so just to make sure everything was setup correct to help my trouble shooting, I went looking for a way to increase the swap space.

Since there wasn't any option I could find in the web gui, I was certain it was going to be a CLI thang. After some googling, I came across this:

http://www.crypticide.com/dropsafe/article/2649

I ssh-ed into the NexentaStor server as the admin user, and ran:

zfs set volsize=4G syspool/swap

This changed the swap space to the same size as the physical ram in the server.

Deltek Vision - upgrades and service packs - hold your horses!

I have a client that has moved over to an accounting/erp/crm/do everything for your consulting company software called Deltek Vision - almost 2 years ago.

Working with Deltek's tech support crew has been fine. They provided plenty of information on recommended server configuration etc, and have even remoted in via GoToAssist sessions to help us with SQL database tweaks etc.

With these types of software systems, they are extremely complex, and with this complexity, there are alway little bugs, reports that don't quite work, etc. On top of this problem, there are alway new features in the pipeline. Some of these new features, my client was looking forward to implement (some new reports from memory).

In my client's case, Deltek took the new service pack/point release out from beta and went gold. Accounting was pushing for the upgrade, and we have Deltek support and our backups as a fall back...lets throw down!

Now look what happens - You go ahead, take a quick snapshot of your database, go ahead and install the new patch/software. Everything loads up fine, and you think everything is sweet. Then IT gets a bunch of calls from users, and accounting, that this report isn't working etc etc. One of the coolest things, was the new version of Vision went from a nice convenient web based app, to a full on local running app - *sigh*. Each time a new feature is introduced, and new bug appears, a previous bug fixed, and a new bug fix is promised in the next patch/release - and so on it goes.

Now this has been going on for about a year, and finally, accounting have come to the fact that no longer can they confidently upgrade their primary systems as soon as they go gold. Result - I am in the process of putting together a budget for a virtualized duplicate of their production environment, on which we can run updates, and test as throughly as possible before giving it the green light (or not) on the production boxes.

I guess the long and the short of it is, encourage your clients/account dept etc, to test test test upgrades and new versions first, preferably in a sandbox/test environment. If they don't have one, let them know what best practices are (ie: give me a test environment), give them your best efforts/milage may vary disclaimer, and proceed accordingly. In my clients case, upgrades have been so counterproductive that they have finally decided to do something about it... and what a better way to do it than with VMs! :)

NexentaStor hardware recommendations + Nexenta Support tip

I'd like to shout out to Dave who contacted me yesterday. Good to see people excited about this product, and it reminded me to keep posting up stuff on Nexenta and NexentaStor since it is a new product, and there isn't a heap of information out there yet.

I find great tips and solutions to problems daily via blogs and forums, so best I stay ontop of my work related blogging and give back to the community!

So part of this post is to document the hardware that I know works, and or, is in production with NexentaStor.

If you are currently researching the OpenSolaris HCL, it is a good start for picking out your hardware. From here, I would stick to this:

• Intel mobo and nic chipsets
• LSI controller cards

Here is a list of what I have in production with NexentaStor:

Motherboards:

• SuperMicro X7SBL-LN1

SAS/SATA Controllers:

• LSI SAS #SAS3081E Controller - set in JBOD mode

Drive Chassis:

• Supermicro SC836E1-R800B 16Bay Server Chassis (2 chassis daisy-chained via backplanes)
  
  • Coupled to Seagate ST31000340NS 1TB SATA drives

Network Cards:

•  Intel PRO/1000 PT Quad Port Server Adapter

Finding the correct cabling for backplanes and controller cards can be a real PITA sometimes, and I highly recommend you talk to these guys to get exactly what you need to hook up all the chassis, backplanes, and controller cards - http://www.cs-electronics.com

Finally, a Nexenta Support tip. If you wish to contact Nexenta support, the quickest and most efficient way to get to them is via the built in support ticketing system from within the web interface on your NexentaStor box (can also send one via command line). What it actually does, it will send Nexenta Support a breakdown of your setup as an attachment, and auto generates a ticket in their system. Don't bother emailing them, it takes much much longer that way - do it via the system they nicely provide coded right in the product.

SharePoint Services WSS 3.0 + Windows 2003 R2 + indexing / searching broken?

The problem of search and or indexing that is broken on a Sharepoint site running on a Windows 2003 R2 box, had a bazillion different "solutions". I searched everywhere on the net for a way to fix this annoying problem. Nothing seemed to make it work. I finally lucked out (on my n-th attempted of fixing this) and came across this blog entry:

http://mysharepointblog.com/post/2007/01/Windows-SharePoint-Services-%28WSS%29-30-Search-Setup-Notes.aspx

I have no idea why the indexing died in the first place, but since I'm not a huge fan of the product in the first place (I'm a Google Apps fanboy!), I'm just going to notch it down to inherent complexity of Sharepoint and leave it at that! Lucky for my client, they are just using Sharepoint for their intranet and not their main file store!