Tonight’s event was in the Solutions Exchange. This is where all of the vendor booths were set up. As usual there was a lot of demos and a lot of schwag.

I’ve heard a lot of people grumbling about the event, but I didn’t think it was that bad. Honestly, there is only so long you can spend listening to product demos and running around trying to get a card punched so that you can try to win a GPS.

I have to admit thought, I liked the food. The lines were a little long, but the Sushi was OK and the taco’s were tasty. It was a lot better than last night where they sent us to an open bar and failed to feed us. That’s just a recipe for disaster!

Tags: VMworld 2006

Session name: “Vmware and Hardware Assist Technology (Intel VT and AMD Pacifica)”

This was actually a great session. The presenter drilled down into exactly how VMware has been able to allow the OS to run efficently without actually running at CPU Ring 0.

Typically, Ring 0 is a priveleged mode that the OS runs in. Applications then run in Ring 3. VMware has been using a technique called Binary Translation (BT), to allow the OS to run in Ring 0 with out actually running there. They are then using the concept of Direct Execution to allow the applicationt to run in Ring 3.

What these new CPU virtualition technologies do is create a new CPU mode called “Root Mode”. This new mode allows the VMM to run at a “Ring lower” than the Guest OS. Essentually this allow the Guest OS to run in Ring 0, while the VMM runs below it and eliminates the need for BT.

Currently, VMware’s BT technology is faster than root mode which is why they are not currently using it. However, with the next generation of virtualization chips coming out this will change.

Tags: VMworld 2006

Suprise, suprise. A blogger from Technet wasn’t impressed with Dianne Greene’s keynote this morning. They were demo-ing VDI onstage while the “employee” was “working”. (Personally I want a job that let’s me play Windows 3d Pinball and watch “Office Space”.) He also said that Dianne didn’t deliver an “ah-ha” moments.

True, Dianne isn’t a “great” public speaker. When I say that, I mean she doesn’t excite people. Neither speech yesterday or today excited me. That being said, her speech finally sold me on Virtual Appliances.

Why buy a separate OS and application? The OS will need to be tweaked to work optimally for your hardware, and the app for the OS. Instead, give me a Virtual appliance where the application and OS are optimized specifically for each other. No competing processes, just performance. Honestly, isn’t that the point of an OS? To provide applications optimized access to hardware resources? Why do I always need to deal with all of the “optimizations” that Windows (or Linux) plugs in if I don’t need them?

Obviously Microsoft wouldn’t be excited by this. Virtual Appliances only stand to lower the “value” of Windows. Of course, we all know my feelings about Microsoft.

You can read the technet post here.

Tags: VMworld 2006

Note: The session title was “Tips for Troubleshooting VMware ESX Server Faults”

At first I thought this session was just going to be a bunch of fluff. The session started of identifying 5 general areas of trouble: Hardware, Host, VMM, Guest O/S, and Application.

Hardware faults were defined as simply errors with the hardware. Host faults were defined as faults with either the Service Console of the VMkernel. VMM (Virtual Machine Monitor) was identified as virtual hardware errors. Guest O/S was defined as a fault with the Guest Operating System. You can figure out what Application Faults were defined as…

At first the presenter spoke about basic troubleshooting, and how it relates to the defined 5 areas. However there was some GREAT information that came from this session. Here’s a kind of brain dump of some of the things I took from it:

* If you are having errors in the VMM layer you should review the vmware.log file. This will have clues as to what caused the problem.

* If you are experiencing a repetative problem with a Guest O/S, he recommeneded VMotioning the VM to another ESX server and see if the problem is isolated to the single ESX server.

* After a PSOD (Purple Screen of Death) you should reboot the ESX server. A coredump file should be placed in the /root directory. Run “vmkdump -l <coredump>”. This will extract a vmware-log.1 file that you can use to try and identify the cause of the PSOD.

* Many times with a PSOD, either on the PSOD screen, or in the log file you will find a CPU Exception. Some of the “codes” are:

8 - Double Fault
10 - Invalid Task Switch
12 - Stack Segmentation Fault
13 - General Protection Fault
14 - Page Fault
17 - Alignment Check

You should also look for Machine Check Exceptions (MCE). These can be caused by:

CPU Errors
Cache Errors
Bus Control Errors
RAM Errors
(On AMD systems) PCI NorthBridge Errors
I/O Access Errors

* If a PSOD was caused by a MCE, then most of the time it is unrecoverable and you should contact your hardware vendor.

* If you are dealing with a BSOD, there will be a Memory.DMP file in the Windows VM. This is a memory dump, and you can use WinDB to debug it.

Where’s the coffee?

Every other tech event like this I’ve been to has tables all over serving coffee all day. There are a lot of people who are here from different time zones and could use the chemical boost.

Heck, I live in this timezone and need it.

Tags: VMworld 2006

Note: The full title of this session is “The Future of VMware ESX Server Storage: A Pluggable Storage Architecture”.

This session was targeted around where the future of ESX storage is going.

One interesting idea that was announced was a redesign to the storage design. This new design will include a “Multipathing Plugin” layer that will allow storage vendors to create their own multipath software for use in ESX.

One of the nice things about ESX is that you currently do not need to pay $1000+ for multipath software like Powerpath. However, this will allow for specific vendors to write plugins optimized for their array. It will also allow VMware to “support” more arrays in a more timely manner.

It would also be nice to be able to leverage Powerpath in ESX.

Tags: VMworld 2006

Has anyone actually been able to get on the wireless network and gain access to the internet?

I haven’t, the guys I’m here wirh haven’t, and this poor guy sitting next to me hasn’t. I’m just glad I have a Verizon Wireless cell card.

I know it sounds like I’m complaining a lot, so in VMware’s defense it’s hard to provide services to 7000 people. There will be limited food choices, WI-FI services will be taxed, etc…

Tags: VMworld 2006

I’m hearing a lot of grumbling about the session registration process. Prior to the start of VMworld, VMware sends out a link so that you can register for sessions. If you do not register for a session, you might not get in.

At conferences like EMC World, and Novel’s Brainshare this kind of policy only applies to the hands on labs. Otherwise, they provide a tool that allows you to create a schedule of the sessions that you’d like to attend, but there is no “velvet rope”.

This also kills the ability to be flexible with the sessions you attend. For example, if I’m registered for a session and a peer comes out of it and says the session stunk I want the ability to go to a different session.

As I walked through the convention center heading to room 515B, all I saw was long lines of people trying to get in to sessions.

The solution? Double the number of sessions. Each presentation should be hosted 2 to 3 times, on different days and at different times. Also, bigger rooms for more popular sessions. This will allow more people in, even if they have to sit on the floor or stand in the back.

Tags: VMware, VMworld 2006

A spokesman from Pacific Gas and Electric just spoke during Dianne Greene’s VMworld keynote and announced that PG&E will pay a rebate of $100 to $300 per server removed from your environment with a cap of 4 million dollars.

WOW!

Got It Solutions reports a different per server rebate. The official statement says:

“PG&E will reimburse 50% of the costs of a server consolidation project, including software, hardware and consulting, up to a maximum of $4 million per customer.”
Tags: VMworld 2006

I’m sitting here in Dianne Greene’s keynote this morning and I’m listening to here talk about a new concept behind virtual appliances. VMware is selling this new idea of getting away from the old standard of installing an operating system to host your applications.

Instead they are promoting this new idea of working with ISV’s to develop Virtual Appliances that you can install. You no longer need to purchase an OS and then tune it to work efficiently with a specific application. When you buy your application you get a virtual appliance that you can just plug into your virtual infrastructure. This is also exciting when you talk about debugging problems. Now you can just ship the VM to support.

Tags: VMworld 2006