How do you work out what data you need to capture for a system? This is a question not often asked, at least not in the right way. Designing data entry for a system should be driven by the wants and needs of the output. It’s no good gathering data if… Continue Reading Designing data entry for a system

I frequently get contacted by my customers with concerns that their vC Ops licensing is not working, or that they key they have is not recognised. It’s important to acknowledge the order of installation for vCenter Operations Manager so that the license is applied and acknowledged. Is your vC Ops… Continue Reading vC Ops licensing not working? Common vC Ops licensing mistakes

Some people will just jump straight into Disaster Recovery Planning, without considering what they are planning for – how do you categorise a disaster? Who  decides, and what information do they need to make a decision? What parts of your business can continue to operate using other means – that… Continue Reading Disaster Recovery planning to do before the planning

Commonly, a vCenter integrated with Active Directory through SSO will provide authentication for users accessing vCenter. Creating vSphere SSO groups will achieve far more than you expected. So, if you want to integrate multiple Active Directory domains and LDAP directories or leverage local vCenter users and groups in conjunction with… Continue Reading Creating vSphere SSO groups

With VMware vCenter Operations Manager, you can create custom dashboards that provide at-a-glance information on custom parameters that have been gathered by the vCOps system, enabling in-depth visual analysis of information that is not represented in the default views. The custom dashboard functionality is a value-add feature only available in… Continue Reading Free customised vC Ops dashboards with Standard edition

What is the difference between DR and BCP? For that matter, what is the difference between Backup, Disaster Avoidance, Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity? It’s a mistake to consider all of these as lumped into the same concept, as that leads to further mistakes such as skipping steps. Mistake 1:… Continue Reading 9 big mistakes in disaster recovery planning (DRP)

I regularly have to provide guidance on sizing new hardware for a project, utilising VMware vSphere for the virtualisation platform. The question of sizing VMware hosts does not have a simple answer, as the answer depends upon the needs of the applications being put on the hardware. For example, a… Continue Reading Sizing your vSphere hosts

You may know that with Microsoft’s inclusion of User Account Control, starting from Windows Vista, you need to “elevate” your permissions so that you can do system wide actions that make changes. This simply means that for most tasks, like installing software, you need to open the installer with “Run… Continue Reading Install MSI as another user

Without exception, every organisation I have worked at (or for) has had concerns over coping with the disaster of data loss or being unable to use their systems for business. It’s not surprising as it is reported that 60 percent of businesses that suffer data loss will end up failing… Continue Reading The silver bullet for a perfect DR plan

Sometimes I get asked, where can I download the client integration plugin for Firefox or Internet Explorer? The simple answer is that it is on your vCenter server. However, let’s answer some questions first; Why do I need the Client Integration plug in? You can do many tasks in the… Continue Reading Download Client Integration Plugin for Webclient

According to Moore’s Law, the number of transistors on an integrated circuit chip will double every two years (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moore’s_law). This loosely translates into new CPUs released every year, and not only do those CPUs perform faster, but also have more features. One of the best capabilities of a VMware based… Continue Reading Which EVC mode should I use?

Running release N minus 1? What about release N plus 45 days? Software update best practice should mean that patches and updates are tested, but not held back when it provides known fixes. It is common practice for risk-averse companies to not run the very latest release of software, instead… Continue Reading n-1 is dead, long live N+45

What is the difference between ESXi and vSphere? I get a lot of confusion from customers about the right terminology for VMware products. I’m not surprised, because VMware frequently re-brand and re-name products and we all get confused. VMware’s Hypervisor Here’s the key one. When you download VMware’s Hypervisor from… Continue Reading VMware product name glossary