After reading some preliminary migration documentation from VMware, true to my word, as soon as the new version was released I downloaded it and popped in my ESXi host’s CD drive.  The very first thing I noticed was the ease of upgrade from ESXi 4.1 to ESXi 5.  Not only was VMware’s documentation well written, the actual install worked as they said it would.  After backing up the recommended files, I booted from the CD and ran through the VMware installation wizard.  The wizard let me know that it found a previously installed version and it would be upgrading it.  After about 10–15 minutes, the new kernel was ready for action.   I simply updated my vSphere client, and I was off to the races.

After updating my VM’s to the latest hardware version 8, my first interaction with the new product was a noticeable difference in speed.  Specifically, the console view of a virtual machines console no longer had a dragging mouse and latent response – it was as if I was working on a local desktop application.  Additionally, RDP sessions to the VMs were also greatly improved – MMC’s opened significantly faster for example.

After poking around a bit to see what had changed, I turned to some online references to see what VMware had added under the hood.  The vShpere interface hadn’t changed that much at all, so I wanted to find out what else the product would do.  Rest assured I was quite happy to learn about the new features.

Prior to vSphere 5, the only way to access some of the best VMware features such as vMotion, DRS and storage vMotion, was to use shared storage.  This was a difficult requirement for SMBs as SANs can easily overrun a tight IT budget.  With the introduction of version 5, shared storage is now possible using direct attached storage.  This is facilitated using the vSphere Storage Appliance.   Hosts can use built in SATA or SAS drives AND have the ability to move VMs from one host to another.  Very cool and much less costly.

In regards to virtual machines, once upgraded to hardware version 8, they can now be equipped with 4 times the power from when they lived on an ESXi 4 host running hardware version 7– up to 1TB of RAM and 32 vCPUs.

Host deployment has changed dramatically which can save many hours of deployment time for large scale designs.  Hosts can be deployed automatically using VMware’s Auto Deploy.  An administrator literally plugs in a bare metal server, and using Auto Deploy (combined with PXE boot, Image Builder, Host Profiles, and an Auto Deploy server), the OS is installed and added to the existing HA cluster.  DRS can then take over and start moving VMs over to the new host to distribute the computing load.  This is all without administrator interaction.

The VMFS file system has been upgraded to VMFS5.  The new file format uses a fixed 1MB block size, so there is no need to choose this upon creating datastores any longer.  Personally, I’m happy about that as it was always a “best guess” on choosing the optimized size for the environment in VMFS3.  VMFS5 offers support for a single extent datastore up to 64TB and physical disk mappings greater than 2 TB.

vCenter also gets new features in this latest generation.  vCenter no longer needs to be run from a licensed Windows operating system, it can be run from a self-contained vCenter Server Appliance.  Authentication is still done via Active directory. The appliance allows up to 5 hosts and 50 virtual machines using this solution.  There is also a robust web interface that administrators can use on the fly, in cases where vSphere is not installed on the local workstation.

There are many other added features and changes in the new platform, too many to list here.

Although I haven’t played with Microsoft Hyper-V or Citrix XenServer, VMware is making such a compelling product, it will be hard to surpass by any vendor.

After the keynote speakers, we were able to choose from several breakout sessions.  We attended a session entitled “Challenges in Scaling Social Enterprises” that featured Blandine Antoine of EGG-Energy, a company that delivers power to low-income households in Africa using portable batteries; Conor French of Indego Africa, a non-profit that partners with female artisans in Africa to sell their products online and through retailers; and Miguel Granier of Invested Development, an investment firm that focuses on raising capital to fund innovative solutions that reduce poverty.  The session was moderated by Tracie Neuhaus of the Monitor Institute.  This session featured a great Q&A period and it was amazing to see how some of these companies are operating under adverse and sometimes hostile conditions.  The idea of scaling out an operation’s impact without scaling out the operation itself was very compelling.

The second breakout session that we attended was entitled “Sustainability in your Business: Emerging Best-Practices.” The main theme of the discussion was the need for a reliable means for consumers to know how the products that they are purchasing are impacting the world.  Members of the panel and the audience weighed the pros and cons of using product packaging and labeling, branding, and a standard system of rating or grading products.   The panel was led by Harvard Business School professor Robert Eccles, and featured Jeffrey Hollender, former CEO of Seventh Generation, and Mindy Lubber, the president of Ceres (a sustainability consultancy).

The final session was a departure from our normal focus on business and technology, but it just sounded too interesting to resist.  The session was entitled “Geoengineering: Can we do it? Should we do it?.”  It focused on large-scale solutions that could alter our global climate system.  Scientists and engineers in numerous countries are currently working on projects that could reshape our climate and impact the global economy in the process.  These projects include releasing reflective material into the atmosphere to reduce the temperature of certain areas and seeding large algae blooms in the ocean to absorb massive amounts of carbon.   This session featured Eli Kintisch, science reporter and author, Ben Kravitz, Postdoctoral Research Associate at Carnegie Institution for Science at Stanford University, and Justin McClellan, the Aerospace Analysis Group Lead at Aurora Flight Sciences.  The panel was moderated by Kerry Emanuel, a Professor of Atmospheric Science at MIT’s Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences.

Karen Ireton’s keynote speech closed the event.  Ms. Ireton is the Director of Sustainability Management at Standard Bank and discussed how sustainable business practices can drive long term bottom-line gains.  The summit was a remarkable day and we covered a lot of ground.  We had a chance to mingle with the event organizers, presenters and MIT students.  We’ll be looking forward to attending next year’s summit!

The bottom line is that this platform is already giving Microsoft a run for their money in the cloud space, but also stands poised to cause serious disruption as companies begin evaluating their next round of hardware and software upgrades.  Adding to this disruptive potential is the coupling of Google’s Android OS with Motorola’s Webtop platform.  As TechRepublic’s Jason Hiner details here, the pairing of these technologies, in conjunction with the power of Google Apps and Citrix compatibility could allow Google to bridge the gap between phone and PC, creating a truly unified device and interface that will integrate securely and seamlessly with cloud apps and legacy apps alike.  It will be interesting to see if Microsoft can bring together Office 365 and Windows 8 in a similar fashion and whether they’ll be able to find a hardware platform that has as much exciting potential.

Recent power outages crippled oper­a­tions for many busi­nesses in Boston. Unex­pected disasters like the recent NSTAR outage can result in computer system crashes and data loss. Does your company have a reliable data backup and disaster recovery plan? Welsh Consulting specializes in helping clients backup their data reliably and securely and can help you develop a detailed plan to prepare your computer systems for the unex­pected. We encourage you to contact us should you have any ques­tions regarding data backup, disaster recovery and high avail­ability. Don’t let the lights go out on your company’s critical data.

Check out the map below from NSTAR and the Boston Globe to see exactly what Boston addresses lost power:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/security/bulletin/ms12-020

OR

http://securitywatch.pcmag.com/software-patches/295324-patch-tuesday-microsoft-fixes-critical-remote-desktop-flaw

The idea to dedicate a workday for community service came from an employee and the suggestion to volunteer at Community Servings came from a Welsh client, according to Jason Baron, Partner and Director of Consulting Services.  “It was a collaborative process and proved to be a great fit for our organization,” he said.  “We all enjoyed having a tangible way to contribute to the community, especially through such a dedicated and professional non-profit organization as Community Servings.”

The regulations require any business that handles sensitive personal information of state residents to encrypt the data while it’s being transmitted over public networks or stored on mobile devices such as laptops, handhelds and memory sticks.

While some businesses have already implemented the requirements of earlier phases of the regulations, many companies, stressed by the recent economic environment, have ignored or delayed a thorough a review of their IT responsibilities under the new law.

At Welsh Consulting, we conduct customized audits that evaluate password policies, user access controls, data storage methods and monitoring abilities.

If your firm has not yet evaluated its current practices relative to 201 CMR 17.00, we recommend that you call us to arrange for a customized audit and recommendations for compliance.

Please contact us to learn more about how Welsh Consulting can help you protect your data to comply with the new regulations.

However, as an in-depth article by McAfee article points out, this could be bad news for authorities looking to redirect traffic destined for sites with illicit content, such as pirated software and movies.  The level of trust and authority that would need to be granted to agencies looking to protect such copyrighted material would have to be extended across geo-political borders.  This higher level of oversight could put agencies at odds with foreign governments and free speech advocates who may view this attempt to suppress the exchange of certain material as an infringement on their sovereignty or on the freedom of citizens.

It will be interesting to see if 2012 finds Comcast in the vanguard as other ISPs begin adopting this new layer of security, or standing alone as others take a different approach.