vSphere 8

*** Nov 8, 2022 update *** VMware has declared this IA release as GA now. You don't have to change anything it magically becomes GA. ************************* A new major vSphere release is available for download today - vSphere 8. VMware previously announced this at VMware Explore in August, but now you can actually get the...

Change in automatic UNMAP in vSphere 7

For the past few weeks I've been testing some upcoming features in vSphere.beta. In so doing, I was seeing some odd UNMAP behavior. VMware did not appear to be honoring the different UNMAP values I set. So I opened a bug and I asked VMware development about it. After a couple weeks I was told...

PiTs with SRM and the SRDF SRA

I wanted to revisit this post on using point-in-time (PiTs) with SRM and the SRDF SRA having just demonstrated SRM with virtual and physical infrastructure. A dual purpose environment was the original impetus for adding the parameter IgnoreActivatedSnapshots so many years ago now, and as it has been four years since the post I thought...

vCenter 6.5 – 7.0 critical security issue

I normally don't cover the various security patches that VMware releases for different vCenter versions, but this one rises to the level of code red (9.8 out of 10). Some outside groups discovered that if they had access to port 443 on the vCenter, they could get unrestricted access to the underlying operating system. This...

SRDF SRA 9.2 and the SRM appliance

IMPORTANT: This post covers the SRDF SRA GA version 9.2. Since its release there has been a hot fix for the Dockers release only which resolves some known issues I cover here. You can read about that here. The SRDF Storage Replication Adapter (SRDF SRA) version 9.2 is now available for download. This release, as...

Sizing vROps with Dell EMC Storage Analytics

I thought I'd cover how you can size (vCPU, memory, and disk) vRealize Operations when using Dell EMC Storage Analytics (ESA). When you deploy vRealize Operations, VMware will offer sizing options in the deployment wizard ranging from Extra Small to Extra Large. The sizing options will dictate how many vCPUs are assigned and how much...

SRA 9.1 and SRM 8.2 Windows support

The SRDF Storage Replication Adapter (SRDF SRA) version 9.1 is now available for download. This release, as you might guess from the version, is associated with our new PowerMax 5978.444.444 release. In addition to the requisite support for the new PowerMax release, the SRA has a couple of new features as well as new support....

Using TF/SnapVX to copy cold virtual machines

For the past month I've been updating the VMAX/PowerMax/VMware TechBook for both our new releases and VMware's. It requires a lot of testing, screenshots, research, etc. so honestly it can get tedious. That's why I like when I come across a section to update that is worth sharing ahead of time (or at least I...

Dell EMC PowerMax

Today Dell EMC announced the latest high-end array to our family, the Dell EMC PowerMax. The PowerMax is an end-to-end NVMe solution. It's powerful and fast, period. The PowerMax is not a VMAX. It's a new platform with a new operating system, PowerMax OS. Dual-ported active/active NVMe drives (the only vendor to do so) means...

vSphere 6.7 automated UNMAP enhancements

Continuing from vSphere 6.7 post... So in vSphere 6.5 VMware introduced automated UNMAP for datastores. In so doing they offered users two option: on (default) or off. Rather than a checkbox, however, VMware has what appears to be a scale which would allow the user to decide how aggressive UNMAP should be. It didn't work...