Sometimes things happen for no reason. I am working in a new, inherited environment these days and a lot of my time is spent investigating, gathering data and information, and of course putting out fires here and there. The last system administrator had left before I started and so I am flying blind a bit, but that is alright. [Read more…] about How to fix vCloud VMRC connection issues
How to update Qlogic HBA Firmware on VMware ESX
Recently I ran into an issue with a VMware server running ESX 4.1 U2. The server started crashing randomly. Working with Dell we did a lot of troubleshooting and they replaced a lot of hardware during the process. Dell could not pinpoint the faulty part and so they started replacing motherboard, CPUs, RAM, Memory Riser Cards, the motherboard (again), and the 2 Qlogic HBAs. At that point Dell required that the HBA Firmware needs to be upgraded due to the replacement parts not being on the latest version. And that’s where things became ugly. [Read more…] about How to update Qlogic HBA Firmware on VMware ESX
How Fast is Your Web Hosting?
Unless you are living under a rock you have probably heard by now how important it is for a website to load fast. Search engines like Google and Bing have adjusted their search algorithms to include load speed of a website into the decision of how a website ranks. But a fast loading website is not only important for search engine rankings, it is also important to provide the best possible user experience. [Read more…] about How Fast is Your Web Hosting?
PowerCLI Clone VMs Script
One internal customer I have been working with for a while never stops to throw new challenges at me. Initialy the task was to set up 30+ VMs for the customer. Then we had to work through a situation where they wanted to take snapshots, but keep them for months at a time. Snapshots under my watch are not being kept that long. If a customer needs a snapshot for that long, we’d rather take a backup or clone the VM as needed. [Read more…] about PowerCLI Clone VMs Script
Clone Your Windows Hard Drive with Ease
I currently have 2 computers in my house that are quite old, but are working just fine. One is a Dell E4200 Workstation that I bought 6 years ago. Currently my wife uses it as her main computer. 2 Years ago I removed Windows Vista and installed Windows 7 on it. The second computer is a Dell OptiPlex workstation that runs Windows Server as the main OS. It is my main file and print server. It is 5 years old and I bought it as a refurbished unit from Dell. [Read more…] about Clone Your Windows Hard Drive with Ease
SAN Cleanup with PowerCLI
Recently I had the need to do some SAN storage cleanup. We had VMs that were changed in regards to criticality and accordingly needed to be moved (storage vmotion) to different LUNs. In the environment I currently work in, storage has several tiers and it depends on the VM criticality where it fits in. As an example a development or test VM would be on different storage compared to a production server. [Read more…] about SAN Cleanup with PowerCLI
How to install VMWare Drivers from VMWare Driver ISO for ESXi
Last night I was working during non-business hours patching and upgrading several ESXi hosts (HP Blades BL460 G7). Everything was going well, so I thought. However, upon having all patches and update packages installed I noticed that my storage was gone. A quick check on the configuration screen in vCenter revealed that the Emulex NC553i 10GB 2-Port Card was not existent anymore. Initially my thought was that it died on me, but checking a second host that I was patching, revealed the same problem. My thought process immediately switched to drivers for the resolution. [Read more…] about How to install VMWare Drivers from VMWare Driver ISO for ESXi
Hostgator Web Hosting Review – What Do They Really Have to Offer?
Hostgator is one of the world’s top web host and domain register company. They claim to provide the 99.9% of server uptime for the clients. Interestingly, they provide the opportunity to have the shared server, reseller server and the dedicated server as well. [Read more…] about Hostgator Web Hosting Review – What Do They Really Have to Offer?
Complete how-to guide to setup your first web site with GoDaddy
Setting up a site is really quite easy if you have the right kind of tools and services before you. To be able to accomplish the task of building a website , you will need a reliable web design service provider catering to web page conceptualization, web hosting and domain registering . These days, such site is not hard to find. [Read more…] about Complete how-to guide to setup your first web site with GoDaddy
How to Find a Cheap Reliable Web Host ?
When you want to get a website up and running for all to see on the internet, there are certain tools that you must use to go about doing this. One of these is known as finding a ‘host’. Hosting basically means physically storing the files for your website , and their software makes your pages available to others on the World Wide Web . [Read more…] about How to Find a Cheap Reliable Web Host ?