VCB with Windows 2008 R2

Recently, I got a question about backing up VM with Windows 2008 R2 as guest.  They mention to me why FULLVM works but File level fails.  Run some test and find out it is caused by the reserve partition configured at the beginning of the 1st Virtual HDD.  Try to assign a drive letter and think it will work.  Nope!  The error indicates it can't find Windows System folder and registry.  As of today, ESX 4.0 U1 release notes indicate it is not supported.  

Most encountered backup issue

Guess what most of the issue you will see on backup.  Name resolution and drive ordering.
I can say 70% of the time related to name resolution.  If you tell them it is DNS, they will answer you no.  Add it to host table, it works.  Guess what, different DNS server gives you different result. However, they will keep on telling you it is not their DNS server.
The other issue is drive ordering.  How come some of the drives do not start backup?!  The drive ordering is not correct.  Most of the time due to reboot.  For example, drive with SN 501 is configured as \\.\Tape0 (the first one) then drive with SN 502 is \\.\Tape1....  After reboot, now, drive with SN 502 is discovered first and become \\.\Tape0.  When you attempt to mount a tape on \\.\Tape1, (because the order the drives discovered is not the same, \\.\Tape1 is discovered first) you will get an error eventually.  If you are using FC Tape library, configure persistent binding!!!  Otherwise, you will end up wasting time to reconfigure your library everytime you reboot your backup server.

Conversion wizard of VMware Workstation

One of the benefit of becoming a VCP is to get a free copy of VMware workstation. I finally receive the permanently license key from VMware education. Installing it on my laptop running CentOS. The reason why I use VMware workstation instead of Virtualbox is NetWorking option. In Virtualbox, you cannot set static IP for your VM if the virtual NIC is run under NAT.

With VMware Workstation for Linux, there is no Conversion Wizard. It is only available for Windows version. So, I use the Clone option instead. Starting with VMware 6.5, you can install VMware ESX as VM, so I can get rid of my DL360 now. It is really noisy to run at home.

rdesktop

I am happy with my lenovo running CentOS 5.4. However, I have trouble running remote desktop to my Windows server at work. So, I install rdesktop-1.6.0-3 and it works perfectly fine.

Wireless on T400 running CentOS 5.4

Finally, I forced myself to learn Linux by formatting my laptop and installed CentOS 5.4.  Only leave an old and slow desktop for vpn.  Everything runs fine except the wireless.  Google and find Kurt's blog (Thanks Kurt).  

Steps:

First make sure the RPMForge repo is installed

rpm -Uhv http://apt.sw.be/redhat/el5/en/x86_64/rpmforge/RPMS/rpmforge-release-0.3.6-1.el5.rf.x86_64.rpm
yum clean all
yum update

Next install the driver for the PRO/Wireless 5100 AGN[Shiloh] card from Intel

yum install iwl5000-firmware

The wireless device should now be working, and you can enable the NetworkManager to start using it

chkconfig NetworkManager on
service NetworkManager start

and you may want to save yourself some wait time at boottime by disabling the network since you don't need that anymore

chkconfig network off

Next you need to configure your wireless connection settings by going to System > Preferences > More Preferences > Network Connections

Installing Solaris 10 64 bits in VMWare Workstation 6.5.0

To install Solaris 10 64 bits, make sure your CPU is 64 bits with VT enable in BIOS.

Even you run the Processor Check for 64-Bit Compatibility and the result is compatible, it may still fail because VT is not enable in BIOS.

For my T400 laptop with Intel 9400, press F1 to goto the BIOS (Config -> CPU).

Enable the following settings
Intel (R) Virtualization Technology
Intel (R) VT-d feature

Save Settings -> Poweroff -> Startup

I have VMWare Workstation 6.5.0 installed on Vista 64 bits Business. When I install Solaris as a guest OS, it will attempt to install as 64 bits. It goes flawlessly. After installation completes and reboots, you should see it start at 64 bits. If you miss that, run isainfo -v (not uname -a).

You can see that this Solaris machine is capable of running 32-bit as well as 64-bit applications.

P.S. The media I use is Solaris 10 update 5. Please check VMWare website for OS support.

Expand luns in Clariion

Not sure about new Flare, a lun can only be expanded for a maximum of eight times in Flare 19 or earlier. Besides, there are limitation as well. The component(s) has to be the same size as the source lun. For example, you have a lun of 10 GB and want to expand it to 30 GB. You will need to create 2 luns of 10 GB first (you cannot add a 20 GB lun as component to a 10 GB source lun), then expand the lun. Of course, lun expansion in EVA is different.

A caution: if you use existing lun as component(s), make sure you don't need the data in those components. Data in the component will be destroyed right away if stripping is chosen.

Random bluescreen on Windows server

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

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.

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.