Some of the bluescreen are very tough to troubleshoot. It may point to different driver. After ruling out hardware issue, you can't tell which one cause it. If you rule out poorly written driver / programs, check the kernel stack usage. On Windows x86, there is only 12K kernel stack space. I believe it is 8K for old version of Linux and 24K for x64 Windows. Some admin wonder if increasing the memory can fix it. The answer is no. Kernel stack space has nothing to do with the RAM size. Check winmsd and see which spy driver can be removed. This is the only way to save kernal stack usage.
If Norton Antivirus is used, admin can follow suggestion from Norton to reduce the stack space usage by Norton Antivirus.
http://service1.symantec.com/support/ent-security.nsf/docid/2002071208532048?open&src=w
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Archiving and backup (DiskXtender)
A lot of my customer cannot distinguish between archiving and backup. They think archiving is the same as backup as well as safe them space on primary storage. This is wrong. Archiving is a process of moving inactive or infrequently accessed data from primary storage to other cheaper storage. For example, moving from a lun of Symmetrix to Centera. If settings in Centera are correct, it can reduce duplication of data being saved on the target.
Backup will save a secondary copy of information. Archive only moves the data to another storage media. You still have only one copy of the data. Use EMC DiskXtender as an example, if files are moved to secondary media and rules are setup properly, files that were moved to secondary storage can now be purged from the primary storage and leave a shortcut on the primary storage. The shortcut contains info about the location of the file in the secondary storage. When you click on it, the program will fetch the file back from secondary storage. You can also apply retention on the files if using NetApp / Centera. This can prevent files from being modified. If a moved file / shorcut (already moved to secondary storage) with no retention is deleted from primary storage, it will be deleted from the secondary stoarge too.
DiskXtender relies on extended attribute to locate the file in the secondary storage. Make sure the backup solution is full NTFS aware or you will regret! Besides, never try to overwrite existing shortcut / moved files on the primary storage by restoring from backup. This can cause the file in the secondary storage being overwritten by zero kb file. What that means ...... Data Loss! Please check all the guides before deploying the solution. Besides, archiving solution is for inactive or infrequently accessed files. If you plan to use it for frequently modified file, you should increase in primary storage space instead. Again, this is not a replacement for your backup software.
Backup will save a secondary copy of information. Archive only moves the data to another storage media. You still have only one copy of the data. Use EMC DiskXtender as an example, if files are moved to secondary media and rules are setup properly, files that were moved to secondary storage can now be purged from the primary storage and leave a shortcut on the primary storage. The shortcut contains info about the location of the file in the secondary storage. When you click on it, the program will fetch the file back from secondary storage. You can also apply retention on the files if using NetApp / Centera. This can prevent files from being modified. If a moved file / shorcut (already moved to secondary storage) with no retention is deleted from primary storage, it will be deleted from the secondary stoarge too.
DiskXtender relies on extended attribute to locate the file in the secondary storage. Make sure the backup solution is full NTFS aware or you will regret! Besides, never try to overwrite existing shortcut / moved files on the primary storage by restoring from backup. This can cause the file in the secondary storage being overwritten by zero kb file. What that means ...... Data Loss! Please check all the guides before deploying the solution. Besides, archiving solution is for inactive or infrequently accessed files. If you plan to use it for frequently modified file, you should increase in primary storage space instead. Again, this is not a replacement for your backup software.
Free Anti-virus Avira
Since I got my laptop, I need to look for a free anti-virus software that supports 64 bits Windows Vista. I find Avira anti-virus. It is very stable and doesn't take away a lot of memory as Norton. The GUI is pretty easy to follow and very user-friendly for non-technical user.
Bluescreen on T400
I got my Lenovo T400 last Christmas. However, Windows gave BSOD intermittently. Turn out it is the video card causing all these issues. I follow the link
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?sitestyle=lenovo&lndocid=MIGR-71851
I turn off Aero and the switchable graphic card in the BIOS. Instead just use the ATI graphic card. There is no more bluescreen after that.
Note: Check back on the site today and see there is an updated drive posted on April 28, 2009.
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?sitestyle=lenovo&lndocid=MIGR-71851
I turn off Aero and the switchable graphic card in the BIOS. Instead just use the ATI graphic card. There is no more bluescreen after that.
Note: Check back on the site today and see there is an updated drive posted on April 28, 2009.
Monday, January 12, 2009
ESX 3.0 Patches
The drawback of ESX 3.0 is the lack of patch management. To update patches in ESX 3.0, there is a utility called esxupdate.
Patches for ESX Server 3.x can be applied in any order on ESX Server 3.0 hots with patch ESX-1000074 and ESX Server 3.0.1 hosts with patch ESX-5874303. Later version of ESX Server will include this fix and will not need a patch.
To get a list of all installed updates, execute this command in the ESX Server console:
esxupdate query
Listing Details of Updates:
esxupdate info
esxupdate -l info
Assume NFS installed on a server
mount –t NFSserver:VMBackup /mnt/updates
esxupdate -r /mnt/updates/updatename update (assume updatename is untar)
Patches for ESX Server 3.x can be applied in any order on ESX Server 3.0 hots with patch ESX-1000074 and ESX Server 3.0.1 hosts with patch ESX-5874303. Later version of ESX Server will include this fix and will not need a patch.
To get a list of all installed updates, execute this command in the ESX Server console:
esxupdate query
Listing Details of Updates:
esxupdate info
esxupdate -l info
Assume NFS installed on a server
mount –t NFSserver:VMBackup /mnt/updates
esxupdate -r /mnt/updates/updatename update (assume updatename is untar)
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Difference between backup and archiving
Archiving is a process of moving inactive or infrequently accessed data from primary storage to other tiers of storage. Usually, it is moving from expensive to cheaper storage. For example, from expensive SAN lun to a NAS device or optical media. The primary information is moved to other media in this case. Backup will create a second copy of the information in another media such as tapes. So archiving the data does not eliminate the need to backup the data.
You can setup rule to archive you data. It maybe based on last access time, file type, etc. Once the file are written to secondary storage, a stub (file tag) is left on the primary storage to point to the secondary storage. Thus, space is freed up from the primary storage. When user accesses the file, the archiving software will retrieve the file from secondary storage. The stub has all the info about the location of file on the secondary storage.
Therefore, administrator should have a backup strategy on backup because archving does not keep a second copy of the file. Depending on the secondary storage, they can backup the secondary medias or running incremental backup on the primary storage. Check and make sure the backup software is compatible with the archiving software. Some of the backup software are not extended attributes aware and will cause a lot of issues.
You can setup rule to archive you data. It maybe based on last access time, file type, etc. Once the file are written to secondary storage, a stub (file tag) is left on the primary storage to point to the secondary storage. Thus, space is freed up from the primary storage. When user accesses the file, the archiving software will retrieve the file from secondary storage. The stub has all the info about the location of file on the secondary storage.
Therefore, administrator should have a backup strategy on backup because archving does not keep a second copy of the file. Depending on the secondary storage, they can backup the secondary medias or running incremental backup on the primary storage. Check and make sure the backup software is compatible with the archiving software. Some of the backup software are not extended attributes aware and will cause a lot of issues.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Installation of VMWare
I try to install VMWare ESX Server on my HP DL360. I got it from ebay for CDN 800 with 4GB of RAM. Installation is very similar to Linux. However, I got a strange error message about checking BIOS settings.
vmkernel: 0:00:00:00.000 cpu0) ALERT: Chipset: 433: no PCI entries in MPS table - check BIOS settings
I remember I change the BIOS settings for OS to Linux. Doing some research on Google and find this VMWare doc. After change the OS back to Windows 2000/2003, the error message disappears.
Details
HP ProLiant servers (and pre-merger Compaq ProLiant servers) require specific BIOS settings in order to be fully compatible with VMware ESX Server. Use of BIOS settings with values other than those identified below might result in operational instability.
If the MPS Table Mode setting within the ProLiant BIOS is not properly configured for ESX Server, the BIOS might not fully populate the PCI interrupt routing entries in the MP Configuration Table (part of the Intel MultiProcessor Specification). An incomplete MP Configuration Table might result in failure of an initial installation of ESX Server, failure to complete the boot process, or instability during normal operation.
Solution
ESX Server requires a BIOS MPS Table Mode setting of Full Table APIC. With the exception of the specific systems referenced below, the following BIOS settings must be applied in order if available:
System Options > OS Selection: Select Windows 2000.
Advanced Options > MPS Table Mode: Select Full Table APIC.
When presented with multiple Windows options (Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003, Windows .NET, and so on) select Windows 2000. If both BIOS settings are available and can be modified, both must be set correctly. You should confirm these settings after any BIOS upgrade operation.
For the HP ProLiant DL 740 and DL 760 servers specifically, set the OS Selection BIOS setting to Linux to allow for proper operation when hyperthreading is enabled. The remainder of the BIOS settings, and the order in which they are applied, are as specified above.
If any BIOS setting is incorrect, you might see one or more messages in /var/log/messages or /var/log/vmkwarning on the Service Console similar to the following:
May 11 22:36:30 esx101 vmkernel: 0:00:00:00.00 ALERT: Chipset: 303: no PCI entries - Check BIOS Settings
May 11 22:36:30 esx101 vmkernel: 0:00:00:00.000 cpu0) ALERT: Chipset: 433: no PCI entries in MPS table - check BIOS settings
May 11 22:36:30 esx101 vmkernel: 0:00:00:00.000 cpu0) WARNING: IOAPIC: 986: no PCI entry for busID 2 busIRQ 8 - trying ISA irq 15
You might also see unnecessary hardware interrupt sharing, which is explained in detail in knowledge base article 1290 at http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1290.
You might need to use the ROM-Based Setup Utility (RBSU), SmartStart CD, or other BIOS configuration tool to make these adjustments. Hewlett-Packard's Web site includes extensive documentation on how to adjust BIOS settings on HP and Compaq systems, including generalized RBSU guides which may be found at http://search.hp.com/query.html?qt=title%3A%22ROM-Based+Setup+Utility+User+Guide%22.
The "OS Selection" section of the HP RBSU User Guide notes that, in certain circumstances, adjusting the OS Selection BIOS setting might result in an automatic change of the MPS Table Mode BIOS setting (emphasis added):
The OS Selection option allows you to select the primary OS for the server. A list of supported OSs for the server displays on the menu, with the ROM defaulting to Microsoft Windows 2000 when the server supports it. Default server Multi Processor (MP) settings and PCI Hot Plug reservation settings are automatically set based on the OS selected.
Although an automatic change might occur, the individual BIOS settings should be confirmed explicitly. For additional assistance in making these changes, please contact HP Technical Support.
vmkernel: 0:00:00:00.000 cpu0) ALERT: Chipset: 433: no PCI entries in MPS table - check BIOS settings
I remember I change the BIOS settings for OS to Linux. Doing some research on Google and find this VMWare doc. After change the OS back to Windows 2000/2003, the error message disappears.
Details
HP ProLiant servers (and pre-merger Compaq ProLiant servers) require specific BIOS settings in order to be fully compatible with VMware ESX Server. Use of BIOS settings with values other than those identified below might result in operational instability.
If the MPS Table Mode setting within the ProLiant BIOS is not properly configured for ESX Server, the BIOS might not fully populate the PCI interrupt routing entries in the MP Configuration Table (part of the Intel MultiProcessor Specification). An incomplete MP Configuration Table might result in failure of an initial installation of ESX Server, failure to complete the boot process, or instability during normal operation.
Solution
ESX Server requires a BIOS MPS Table Mode setting of Full Table APIC. With the exception of the specific systems referenced below, the following BIOS settings must be applied in order if available:
System Options > OS Selection: Select Windows 2000.
Advanced Options > MPS Table Mode: Select Full Table APIC.
When presented with multiple Windows options (Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003, Windows .NET, and so on) select Windows 2000. If both BIOS settings are available and can be modified, both must be set correctly. You should confirm these settings after any BIOS upgrade operation.
For the HP ProLiant DL 740 and DL 760 servers specifically, set the OS Selection BIOS setting to Linux to allow for proper operation when hyperthreading is enabled. The remainder of the BIOS settings, and the order in which they are applied, are as specified above.
If any BIOS setting is incorrect, you might see one or more messages in /var/log/messages or /var/log/vmkwarning on the Service Console similar to the following:
May 11 22:36:30 esx101 vmkernel: 0:00:00:00.00 ALERT: Chipset: 303: no PCI entries - Check BIOS Settings
May 11 22:36:30 esx101 vmkernel: 0:00:00:00.000 cpu0) ALERT: Chipset: 433: no PCI entries in MPS table - check BIOS settings
May 11 22:36:30 esx101 vmkernel: 0:00:00:00.000 cpu0) WARNING: IOAPIC: 986: no PCI entry for busID 2 busIRQ 8 - trying ISA irq 15
You might also see unnecessary hardware interrupt sharing, which is explained in detail in knowledge base article 1290 at http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1290.
You might need to use the ROM-Based Setup Utility (RBSU), SmartStart CD, or other BIOS configuration tool to make these adjustments. Hewlett-Packard's Web site includes extensive documentation on how to adjust BIOS settings on HP and Compaq systems, including generalized RBSU guides which may be found at http://search.hp.com/query.html?qt=title%3A%22ROM-Based+Setup+Utility+User+Guide%22.
The "OS Selection" section of the HP RBSU User Guide notes that, in certain circumstances, adjusting the OS Selection BIOS setting might result in an automatic change of the MPS Table Mode BIOS setting (emphasis added):
The OS Selection option allows you to select the primary OS for the server. A list of supported OSs for the server displays on the menu, with the ROM defaulting to Microsoft Windows 2000 when the server supports it. Default server Multi Processor (MP) settings and PCI Hot Plug reservation settings are automatically set based on the OS selected.
Although an automatic change might occur, the individual BIOS settings should be confirmed explicitly. For additional assistance in making these changes, please contact HP Technical Support.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Windows 2000 in VMWare Server 1.06
I rebuilt my machine with Windows 2000 and installed VMWare Server 1.06. After that, I would like to create a VM with Windows 2000 for browsing and software testing. After completing installation and reboot, bluescreen comes up with inaccessbile boot device error. I figure out I have setup the HDD with LSI controller. To fix the issue, go to lsilogic website and download the Windows 2000 driver for LSI 20320-R driver. Press F6 when booting from bootable CD / Windows 2000 bootdisk 1. Insert the driver FDD when you are asked. The same applies to XP and Windows 2003.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Microsoft cluster with VMWare Server 1.06
Recently, I have changed job, and a lot of the works are related to Microsoft cluster. Setup is not difficult at all. The most important is to edit the vmx files (VM offline) for the two nodes. Add these lines
scsi1.sharedBus = virtual
disk.locking = "false"
diskLib.dataCacheMaxSize = “0”
On the second node, make sure you select using existing virtual disk and choose the right vmdk file (quorum disk created with node 1). Put the quorom disk on bus 1. If you put the quorum disk in other bus, change the scsi[x].sharedBus = virtual.
It makes our life a lot easy with testing and trying software in cluster environment.
scsi1.sharedBus = virtual
disk.locking = "false"
diskLib.dataCacheMaxSize = “0”
On the second node, make sure you select using existing virtual disk and choose the right vmdk file (quorum disk created with node 1). Put the quorom disk on bus 1. If you put the quorum disk in other bus, change the scsi[x].sharedBus = virtual.
It makes our life a lot easy with testing and trying software in cluster environment.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
How to test BES email
We have trouble running SP4 update for our BES server. It stuck at updating the mdss database which is useless to us. However, it requires you updating it. Eventually, I talk to Blackberry support. Uninstall and reinstall SP4 without mdss. Now, it works flawlessly. However, I am not a BES user. How can I test it? Send an email to a BES user with subject confirm and the < > around the subject . If it is sent to the user Blackberry, you will receive a reply with subject "Blackberry Delivery Confirmation". Then you can tell if the email is delivered to Blackberry.
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