-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Also check out these other great VMware websites:
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
VM Blog
Xtravirt
RTFM Education
Virtual Tricks
VM Professional
Virtualization.info
Vmweekly

VMware News:

Collection of ESXi links
Check out my growing collection of links on ESXi for everything you need to know about it.
Posted: 8/5/2008

Vmtn Community Experts Panel at VMworld

If you are going to be at VMworld 2008 in Las Vegas be sure and check out session PO1861 - Vmtn Community Experts Panel. A group of experts from the Vmtn community will be answering any and all questions from the audience. Here's your chance to meet some of the people that donate their time to assist others and help moderate the forums. The panel consists of some well-known senior forum members:

Thomas Bryant (Kix1979)
Ken Cline (Ken.Cline)
Steve Beaver (Sbeaver)
Edward Haletky (Texiwill)
Tom Howarth (Tom Howarth)
Eric Siebert (Esiebert7625)
Posted: 8/5/2008

VMware has updated there VI3 Security Hardening guide

From the VMware Security blog:

We have recently released an update to the VI3 Security Hardening guide.  The main changes are:

    • new content for ESX 3.5 and VirtualCenter 2.5, including VirtualCenter plug-ins
    • a section specific to hardening for ESXi
    • new sections for VM configuration as well as client software
    • a greater level of depth for the existing recommendations

To keep things simple, the new version uses the same URL as the previous version:
http://www.vmware.com/resources/techresources/726
Posted: 7/15/2008

More new Top 10 lists!
I've added 2 new Top 10 lists: Top 10 blogs that VMware administrators must read and Top 10 news and information websites that VMware administrators must visit. I've also revised several of the existing lists so be sure and check them all out.
Posted: 7/14/2008

Some interesting recent kb articles
Check out these recent kb articles that may apply to your environment:
mgmt-vmware restart script might not finish restarting the hostd
Slow performance of virtual machines that use vSMP when running on an ESX Server using certain hardware
After cold migration on ESX Server, virtual disk with snapshot has the wrong CID
Posted: 6/16/2008

New Top 10 List Released!
I've put together a new Top 10 list featuring the Top 10 free tools that should be in every VMware administrator's toolkit. Check it out!
Posted: 6/16/2008

So Many Links, So Little Time
Scouring the internet to collect links is hard, time-consuming work and it's difficult sometimes to always find the time. I've just added a batch of about 100 new links to the VMware Links page. I've started noting new links on the page and the date they were added. Enjoy!
Posted: 5/1/2008

VMware Launchpad Updated
The Launchpad has been re-organized and many new websites have been added to it, check it out. The Launchpad is your one stop shop for all the good VMware-related websites including news, blogs, reference and much more.
Posted: 5/1/2008

What I've been up to
I've signed up to be a regular blogger on Tech Target's SearchServerVirtualization.com website. Be sure and check out my blog posts over there. I've also been writing feature articles for SearchVmware.com, check out my latest articles on Snapshots: Part 1 and Part 2
Posted: 5/1/2008

Top 10 Lists have been updated
I've been updating most of the Top 10 lists so they reflect some of the newer content that is now available. Be sure and check them out, I'm also in the process of adding a bunch of new ones.
Posted: 5/1/2008

New VMware White Papers released
VirtualCenter Database Maintenance: SQL Server - http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/vc_microsoft_sql_server.pdf
Comparison of Storage Protocol Performance - http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/storage_protocol_perf.pdf
Performance Characteristics of VMFS and RDM using a SAN (ESX 3.5) -  http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/performance_char_vmfs_rdm.pdf
SPECweb2005 Performance on ESX Server 3.5 - http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/specweb_perf_final.pdf
Performance of VMware® VMI - http://www.vmware.com/pdf/VMware_VMI_performance.pdf
What's New in VMware Infrastructure 3: Performance Enhancements - http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/vi3_performance_enhancements_wp.pdf
Large Page Performance - http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/large_pg_performance.pdf
Posted: 2/23/2008

New VMware-land sponsor
Vizioncore is now the exclusive sponsor of this website, I encourage you to check out some of their great products.
Posted: 2/23/2008

Updates to this website
I’ve been pretty busy the last month and have not had much chance to update this website. Over the next few weeks I’ll be re-vamping several sections of this website with more up-to-date information. The Top 10 lists will be updated, links will be re-organized, tips refreshed to reflect ESX 3.5 and new content will be added. So keep checking back often.
Posted: 2/23/2008

Updated VC 2.5/ESX 3.5 Upgrade Guide from RTFM Education
Mike Laverick has released an updated version of his guide featuring his experiences with upgrading to the new versions. Definitely a good read before upgrading.
Posted: 2/23/2008

Vizioncore releases new version of vConverter
Vizioncore has announced the release of version 3.0 of their P2V and V2V, vConverter. New to this version is a feature called vzBoost which is a kernel level driver that speeds up all writes to the VMFS to reduce bottlenecks and this results in increased speed to VMware ESX Server.

Check out more on it here, and also read a nice review by Infoworld on it here
Posted: 2/23/2008

More VMworld 2007 Sessions released to non-attendees (free VMworld registration required)
The new plan by VMware is to release 10 new sessions per week, below are the latest sessions that have been released. Currently only 70 sessions have been released out of the 246 total sessions. Two technical sessions that I highly recommend you check out are Understanding Host and Guest memory usage and ESX Server Cpu Scheduling.

ESX Server CPU Scheduling (VMworld 2007) - http://vmworld.com/vmworld/mylearn?classID=11026
Understanding Host and Guest memory usage - http://www.vmworld.com/vmworld/mylearn?classID=11638
Posted: 2/23/2008

New ESX Book Released, Edward Haletky’s book is finally available, VMware ESX Server in the Enterprise: Planning and Securing Virtualization Servers
If you know Edward from the Vmtn forum’s where he is known as Texiwill you will know that he provides incredibly detailed and knowledgeable responses to other forum users questions. He has a wealth of knowledge and experience on ESX, Linux and security topics and this book reflects it. The book is a must read for both beginning and experienced ESX administrators and system architects and contains items such as a security recipe for properly securing your ESX environment, an auditing recipe for auditing and also a monitoring recipe for monitoring your ESX servers. The book also contains numerous tips and tricks and even an experienced Vmware admin will learn a few things from this book.

Also be sure and check out this interview by John Troyer from the Vmtn Communities:

Below is a summary of the chapters of this book:
1) System Considerations
2) Version Comparison (between ESX 3 and ESX 2)
3) Installation
4) Auditing, Monitoring and Securing
5) Storage with ESX
6) Effects on Operation
7) Networking
8) Configuring ESX from a Host Connection
9) Configuring ESX from a VirtualCenter or Host
10) Virtual Machines
11) Dynamic Resource Load Balancing
12) Disaster Recovery and Backup
13) Epiloque – The Future of Virtualization
14) Appendix A – Security Script
15) Appendix B – ESX Version 3 Text Installation
16) Appendix C – ESX Version 3 Graphical Installation

Purchase the book here: Amazon or Barnes & Noble
Posted: 2/23/2008

New Links added:
Backups:
VMware Consolidated Backup - http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/vcb_best_practices.pdf
VMware Consolidated Backup: Improvements in Version 3.5: http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/vcb_35_new.pdf

Blogs:
treesum VM /ETC (Rich Brambley) - http://treesum.homeip.net/vmworld2007/
Yellow Bricks (Duncan Epping) - http://www.yellow-bricks.com/
Cretec’s Virtual Blog (Clint Eschberger) - http://blog.cretec-web.com/
vInternals (Stuart Radnidge) - http://www.vinternals.com/

CPU:
ESX Server CPU Scheduling (VMworld 2007) - http://vmworld.com/vmworld/mylearn?classID=11026
How to be a Good Guest – AMD - (VMworld 2007) - http://vmworld.com/vmworld/mylearn?classID=11698

Exchange:
Virtualizing Exchange 2007 – The Final Frontier? (VMworld 2007) - http://vmworld.com/vmworld/mylearn?classID=11043
Exchange and SQL on ESX Server (VMworld 2007) - http://vmworld.com/vmworld/mylearn?classID=11659

ESX:
ESX Server Architecture (VMworld 2007) - http://vmworld.com/vmworld/mylearn?classID=11631

Getting Started:
Dispelling Virtualization Myths (VMworld 2007) - http://vmworld.com/vmworld/mylearn?classID=11632
TCO Calculator - http://www.vmware.com/products/vi/calculator.html
Virtualization hardware sizing (quick and dirty approach) - http://it20.info/blogs/main/archive/2007/11/26/83.aspx

HA:
Virtual Machine Failure Monitoring - http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35_25_vmha.pdf

Hardware:
New Technology Directions in the Virtual Hardware Platform (VMworld 2007) - http://vmworld.com/vmworld/mylearn?classID=11051

Licensing:
Difference between a License Administrator and Support Administrator - http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003304
How to combine FlexLM License Files - http://kb.vmware.com/kb/8996281
Changes in licensing for VI3 Standard Edition When upgrading to VI 3.5 - http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003301
Updates to your VMware VI3 Starter Licenses - http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003299
How to License Microsoft’s Products (VMworld 2007) - http://vmworld.com/vmworld/mylearn?classID=11588

Memory:
Memory Provisioning Recommendations for VI3 -  http://www.kingston.com/branded/pdf_files/Memory_Provisioning_Recommendations_VI3.pdf
Understanding Host and Guest memory usage - http://www.vmworld.com/vmworld/mylearn?classID=11638

Networking:
Firewall Configurations for Backup Clients on ESX Server 3 - http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35_25_vcb_firewalls.pdf
Enabling Netflow on Virtual Switches - http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35_25_netflow.pdf
Configuring and Troubleshooting N-Port ID Virtualization - http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35_25_npiv_config.pdf
VLAN Configuration on VI3: VST, EST VGT Tagging Tips - http://searchvmware.techtarget.com/tip/0,289483,sid179_gci1283036,00.html

Performance:
Performance Trends (VMworld 2007) - http://vmworld.com/vmworld/mylearn?classID=11050
Performance Aspects of x86 Virtualization (VMworld 2007) - http://vmworld.com/vmworld/mylearn?classID=11685
VMware ESX Server Storage Performance – A Scalability Study (VMworld 2007) - http://vmworld.com/vmworld/mylearn?classID=11603
VMware ESX Server: Best Practices for Performance -  https://140.110.8.180/king/modules/userupload/upload/ets2007/vmware.13.pdf
SPECweb2005 Performance on ESX Server 3.5 - http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/specweb_perf_final.pdf
Performance of VMware® VMI - http://www.vmware.com/pdf/VMware_VMI_performance.pdf
What's New in VMware Infrastructure 3: Performance Enhancements - http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/vi3_performance_enhancements_wp.pdf
Large Page Performance - http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/large_pg_performance.pdf

Scripting:
Beginner’s Guide to the VMware Infrastructure Perl Toolkit (VMworld 2007) - http://vmworld.com/vmworld/mylearn?classID=11690
Introducing Monet - http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/virtualization-pro/introducing-monet/

SQL Server:
Exchange and SQL on ESX Server (VMworld 2007) - http://vmworld.com/vmworld/mylearn?classID=11659

Storage:
All-in-one Storage and Virtualization Learning Guide - http://searchservervirtualization.techtarget.com/guide/allInOne/0,296293,sid94_gci1273251_idx0_off1000,00.html
What is new in Storage in VI3 Release 3.5 - http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/new_storage_features_3_5_v6.pdf
Comparison of Storage Protocol Performance - http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/storage_protocol_perf.pdf
Round Robin Load Balancing - http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35_25_roundrobin.pdf

Storage vMotion:
Storage Vmotion Script - http://vmprofessional.com/index.php?content=vmpmotion
VI 2.5 Client Plug-in for Storage vMotion - http://www.lostcreations.com/code/wiki/vmware/viplugins/svmotion
GUI for Storage vMotion - http://communities.vmware.com/thread/122847

Troubleshooting:
VI3 Advanced Diagnostics Logs Analysis (VMworld 2007) - http://vmworld.com/vmworld/mylearn?classID=11483

VirtualCenter:
VirtualCenter, License and Database on one server - http://communities.vmware.com/message/664591
VirtualCenter and License server on ESX Server - http://communities.vmware.com/message/700188
After upgrading to VirtualCenter 2.0.2, Update 1 or Update 2 the VMware VirtualCenter 2 Welcome page does not render completely - http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1002858
Sending VirtualCenter logs to Local7 - http://searchvmware.techtarget.com/tip/0,289483,sid179_gci1289318,00.html
VirtualCenter Database Maintenance: SQL Server - http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/vc_microsoft_sql_server.pdf

Virtual Disk:
How is vmkfstools different then using scp to copy vmdk files - http://communities.vmware.com/message/810921
Performance Characteristics of VMFS and RDM -  http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/vmfs_rdm_perf.pdf
Performance Characteristics of VMFS and RDM using a SAN (ESX 3.5) -  http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/performance_char_vmfs_rdm.pdf

Virtual Machine:
Installing Windows XP on ESX - http://virtrix.blogspot.com/2007/09/vmware-installing-windows-xp-on-esx.html
Virtual Machine seems to install VMware Tools but Tools never get installed - http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2277

vMotion:
VMware Vmotion and CPU Compatibility - http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/vmotion_info_guide.pdf

Websites:
Virtualization Sys-con - http://virtualization.sys-con.com/
VMware Infrastructure Plugins – http://viplugins.com

Posted: 2/23/2008

New RSS Feed available for VMware-land!
The style of the main page has been changed to be more of a blog format and a RSS feed has been added. The RSS Feed link is http://vmware-land.com/feed.xml
Posted: 1/1/2008

Additional ESX 3.5 & VC 2.5 essential links posted
Additional ESX 3.5 & VC 2.5 links posted. In particular be sure and read the kb article and forum thread on required permissions for the VC SQL database. Many users have inadvertently wiped out their database when installing VC 2.5.
Posted: 12/17/2007

Six new technical papers released by VMware
VMware has released six new technical papers most of them dealing with new features in 3.5, check them out!
Enabling Netflow on Virtual Switches - http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35_25_netflow.pdf
Configuring and Troubleshooting N-Port ID Virtualization - http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35_25_npiv_config.pdf
Round Robin Load Balancing - http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35_25_roundrobin.pdf
Virtual Machine Failure Monitoring - http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35_25_vmha.pdf
Firewall Configurations for Backup Clients on ESX Server 3 - http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35_25_vcb_firewalls.pdf
Performance Characteristics of VMFS and RDM -  http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/vmfs_rdm_perf.pdf
Posted: 12/17/2007

Vmtn forum member status levels
Most of you are probably members of the Vmtn forums, have you ever wondered how many people use the forums? As you probably know the forums are designed to work on a point system that lets the author of a thread assign points to users for helpful answers. 1 point is given to any user for creating a new thread or response to a thread, 6 points are given to Helpful responses to a thread (2 helpful answers per thread max) and 10 points is given to a Correct response to a thread (1 correct answer per thread max). Here are some statistics on the forum users as of 12/12/07.

Total # of Users		Status Level	Point Range
5		Guru	20001 – 50000 points
8		Champion	10001 – 20000 points
18		Virtuoso	5001 – 10000 points
39		Master	2001 – 5000 points
103		Expert	751 – 2000 points
316		Hot Shot	251 – 750 points
1,618		Enthusiast	51 – 250 points
366,893		Novice/Lurker	0 – 50 points

In general it seems that most users who are Hot Shots or above are usually the ones answering questions on the forums, most users Enthusiast or below are usually the ones asking the questions on the forums. So a tiny fraction of the users, about half of one percent, are responsible for making the forums the premier VMware user support site that it is. But it's not just VMware users participating in the forums, there are many VMware employees (identified by a VMware logo by their name) that also help out. Many new users to the forums are overwhelmed by the speed, number and quality of the responses they get to their questions. The forums are truly one of VMware's best support assests and also a great place for VMware users to communicate, collaborate and educate one another. Check out more about some of the forum users in the Vmtn Member Spotlight.
Posted: 12/12/07

Huge collection of ESX 3.5 & VC 2.5 essential links
Check out my new huge collection of ESX 3.5 and VC 2.5 links, includes documentation, guides, blogs, kb articles and more! It's highly recommended to read through these before attempting to upgrade to the new versions. There are a few little surprises or gotcha's that could ruin your day while upgrading.
Posted: 12/12/07

RTFM Education releases their What's New with VI 3.5 Guide
Mike Laverick from RTFM Education has released his What's New with VI 3.5 guide as promised, be sure and check it out.
Posted: 12/12/07

Veeam Software releases new version of Reporter
Veeam Software has released a new version of Reporter (2.5). New features include a Storage Capacity Report that you can export to Excel, read more about it here and download a trial version here.
Posted: 12/12/07

ESX 3.5 and VirtualCenter 2.5 finally released!
The anxiously awaited new versions of ESX (3.5) and VirtualCenter (2.5) are finally released! If you happened to download them from the links posted last week be warned those were not the final builds (at least for ESX) and are missing some critical last minute fixes.

Download ESX 3.5 here and VirtualCenter 2.5 here. VMware Converter 4.0 is now integrated in VirtualCenter 2.5, there are still separate downloads for the Boot CD ISO and the new Linux CLI (available to Enterprise customers only). Be sure and read the Release Notes first. Also be aware that the new Storage Vmotion feature is not included in these downloads and must be downloaded as a separate component. Migrations using Storage VMotion must be administered through the Remote Command Line Interface (Remote CLI), which is available for download here.

Also a new forum has been created on Vmtn to talk specifically about ESX 3.5 and VC 2.5. Mike Laverick from RTFM Education has also promised to release his What's New guide the day it went GA so be sure and check his website for it.

Original builds posted last week:
ESX Latest Released Version: 3.5.0 - Released 12/03/07 - Build #64557
VirtualCenter Latest Released Version: 2.5 Released 12/03/07 - Build #64201

New updated builds posted this week:
ESX Latest Released Version: 3.5.0 - Released 12/10/07 - Build #64607
VirtualCenter Latest Released Version: 2.5 Released 12/10/07 - Build #64201

Here's a summary of the what's new in this version:
* Storage VMotion
* Swapfiles-less VMotion
* Update Manager
* Server consolidation advisor
* Lockdown Mode
* Distributed Power Management (DPM)
* Guest OS disaster recovery capability
* Provisioning across datacenters objects
* Integration with VMware Consolidate Backup (VCB) and VMware Converter 4.0
* Integration with Wyse multimedia redirection engine
* Support for VMware Server 2.0
* Support for AMD Rapid Virtualization Indexing (formerly Nested Page Tables or NPT)
* Support for Cisco Discovery Protocol (CDP)
* Support for InfiniBand network cards
* Support for 10Gbit Ethernet network cards
* Support for TCP/IP Offload Engine (TOE) network cards
* Support for network load balancing algorithms
* Support for N_Port ID Virtualization (NPIV)
* Support for VCB over iSCSI SANs
* Support for IPv6 in virtual networking
* Support for para-virtualized Linux guest OSes
* Support for Intel I/O Acceleration Technology (IOAT)
* Support for Jumbo Frames
* Support for Open Virtual Machine Format (OVF)
* Support for SATA storage devices
* Support for 200 hosts and 2000 virtual machines
* Support for 128GB RAM per host and for 64GB RAM per virtual machine
Posted: 12/10/07

ESX 3.5 and VirtualCenter 2.5 rumored to be released today
Well the long awaited ESX 3.5 and VirtualCenter 2.5 were rumored to be released today but that never happened. Vmware has stated they will be released this month, one user reported a possible release date of 12/10/07. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
Posted: 12/06/07

Two new Guru's in the Vmtn forums
There are 2 new Guru's in the Vmtn forums, Oliver Reeh (Oreeh) and Steve Beaver (Sbeaver), they are both also Vmtn User Moderators. This is the top status level in the forums and has only been achieved by 5 people, Guru status requires 20,000 points on the Vmtn forums. If you see them in the forums be sure and congratulate them for all their hardwork and dedication helping others in the forums, there are threads for this here and here. I know both of them well and can tell you they are both great individuals. More on them here.

The Vmtn status levels based on reward points (6 or 10 points are usually awarded for helpful/correct answers):
Lurker: 0 – 5 points
Novice: 6 – 50 points
Enthusiast: 51 – 250 points
Hot Shot: 251 – 750 points
Expert: 751 – 2000 points
Master: 2001 – 5000 points
Virtuoso: 5001 – 10000 points
Champion: 10001 – 20000 points
Guru: 20001 – 50000 points
Posted: 12/06/07

Virtualization Product Feature Comparison
Massimo Re Ferre has put together a great enterprise virtualization product feature comparison, check it out here.
Posted: 12/05/07

New Vmtn Community Manager
There's a new Vmtn Community Manager to replace the position vacated when Darryl Swager left the Vmtn forums and VMware in May to pursue other things. His name is Badsah Mukherji and his title is Senior Community Manager. Here's a bit of info on him:

Quick rundown of my background: worked as a consultant out of college for Andersen/ Accenture; then moved to product management at Oracle for ERP/CRM/E-Commerce applications; lastly, ran product management for a small, privately-held Internet services and software company in Palo Alto, before joining VMware. I love the democratic and interactive nature of "Web 2.0," and look forward to future possibilities.
Posted: 12/05/07

New members added to the Vmtn Member Spotlight page
The Vmtn Member Spotlight has been updated to include Tom Howarth, Massimo Re Ferre (king@it.ibm.com) and Michael Fiorini (Rsa911). All great contributors to the Vmtn forums.
Posted: 12/04/07

Cool new utility to show off Vmotion
Richard Garsthagen from Run-virtual has released his cool VMJuggler utility. A simple program that moves a VM between 2 ESX hosts with Vmotion every 10 seconds. Great to show off the awesome power of vMotion. Read more about it here and download it here.
Posted: 11/29/07

VMware Launchpad new design
My newly designed VMware Launchpad has a sleek new look, check it out! As always if you have any suggestions for additions to it just let me know.
Posted: 11/29/07

New Links Added:
The following new links have recently been added to the VMware Links section:
Backups:
How to backup VMware ESX 3.0: File level and raw file backup - http://searchvmware.techtarget.com/tip/0,289483,sid179_gci1276253,00.html

Blogs:
The Lone Sysadmin (Bob Planke)- http://lonesysadmin.net/
Scale the Mind (Thomas Bishop) - http://scalethemind.com
Blog.RichardMcDougall.com (Richard McDougall) - http://blog.richardmcdougall.com/
Mister VM (Jae Ellers) - http://blog.mr-vm.com/
NetApp Storage Nuts and Bolts - http://blogs.netapp.com/storage_nuts_n_bolts/
Virtualization for Everyone (Tarry Singh) - http://tarrysingh.blogspot.com/
Virtualization Pro (J. Foran/A. Kutz) - http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/virtualization-pro/
Planet V12n (Collection of blog posts) - http://www.vmware.com/vmtn/planet/v12n/
IT 2.0 (Massimo Re Ferre) - http://it20.info/
Virtually Speaking (Dan Kusnetzky) - http://blogs.zdnet.com/virtualization/

Books/Documentation/Learning Resources:
VMware Infrastructure 3 Advanced Technical Design Guide - http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&EAN=9780971151086&itm=3
Mastering VMware Infrastructure 3 - http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&EAN=9780470183137&itm=9
VMware ESX Server in the Enterprise: Virtualization Best Practices for VMware ESX Server - http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&EAN=9780132302074&itm=2
Virtualization Security: Securing VMware, XenEnterprise, Virtual Iron - http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&EAN=9780470177068&itm=1
How to Cheat at Configuring VMware ESX Server - http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&EAN=9781597491945&itm=4
ESX3 VM Reference Card - http://www.vmreference.com/

Converter:
VMware Converter Best Practices (VMworld 2007) - http://www.vmworld.com/vmworld/mylearn?classID=11610

Disaster Recovery:
New Trends in Disaster Recovery for VMware (VMworld 2007) - http://www.vmworld.com/vmworld/mylearn?classID=11120
Disaster Recovery Solution Architecture for VMware (VMworld 2007) - http://www.vmworld.com/vmworld/mylearn?classID=11018
Tips and Tricks – Disaster Recovery in a Box (VMworld 2007) - http://www.vmworld.com/vmworld/mylearn?classID=11316

ESX:
Tools Status is Reported Incorrectly After Host Upgrade to ESX Server 3.0.2 - http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1002856
How to get VMware ESX virtual machine redundancy without VMware HA or vMotion - http://searchvmware.techtarget.com/tip/0,289483,sid179_gci1283958,00.html
How to script one VMware ESX virtual machine for failover - http://searchvmware.techtarget.com/tip/0,289483,sid179_gci1284061,00.html

General:
Understanding Full Virtualization, Paravirtualization and Hardware Assist - http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/VMware_paravirtualization.pdf
Microsoft embraces 3rd party virtualization platforms - http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9048260
Should VMware lower pricing of ESX Server? - http://searchservervirtualization.techtarget.com/tip/0,289483,sid94_gci1271493,00.html
Server selection and VMware: Physical boxes or virtual machines - http://searchvmware.techtarget.com/tip/0,289483,sid179_gci1280555,00.html
An Introduction to Virtualization - http://softwarecommunity.intel.com/isn/downloads/virtualization/pdfs/An_Introduction_to_Virtualization.pdf

HA/DRS/Resource Management:
VMware HA Guidelines and Best Practices (VMworld 2007) - http://www.vmworld.com/vmworld/mylearn?classID=11016
What should trigger a HA event? - http://communities.vmware.com/thread/114735?tstart=0
HA Failover Capacity - http://www.vmwarewolf.com/ha-failover-capacity/

Hardware:
Virtualization hardware sizing (quick and dirty approach) - http://it20.info/blogs/main/archive/2007/11/26/83.aspx
Hardware for Virtualization: How to get more from servers, HBA’s and more - http://searchservervirtualization.techtarget.com/tip/0,289483,sid94_gci1283032,00.html

Licensing:
vMotion violates Microsoft Server 2003 EULA - http://communities.vmware.com/thread/81320
Licensing Microsoft Server Products with Virtual Machine Technologies - http://download.microsoft.com/download/6/8/9/68964284-864d-4a6d-aed9-f2c1f8f23e14/virtualization_brief.doc
Microsoft Volume Activation 2.0 virtualization support document - http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=9893f83e-c8a5-4475-b025-66c6b38b46e3&DisplayLang=en
End of the Line For Licensing - http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=204400240

Networking:
VI3 Networking – Concepts and Components (VMworld 2007) - http://www.vmworld.com/vmworld/mylearn?classID=11280
ESX Server Requirements for Link Aggregation - http://kb.vmware.com/selfservicekb/1001938
Configuring VLAN's in VMware Infrastructure 3 - http://searchvmware.techtarget.com/tip/0,289483,sid179_gci1280449,00.html
VI Client loses connectivity to the ESX Server Host after you add a new network adapter - http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2243

Performance:
VMware Infrastructure 3 – Best Practices for Performance (VMworld 2007) - http://www.vmworld.com/vmworld/mylearn?classID=11048

Scripting:
Managing your Virtualization through the VMware API’s (VMworld 2007) - http://www.vmworld.com/vmworld/mylearn?classID=11689
Using the VIX API (VMworld 2007) - http://www.vmworld.com/vmworld/mylearn?classID=11691
Managing VI3 with Windows PowerShell (VMworld 2007) - http://www.vmworld.com/vmworld/mylearn?classID=11465
Scripting VMware getting easier - http://searchvmware.techtarget.com/tip/0,289483,sid179_gci1280391,00.html

Security:
Does Virtualization subvert security? - http://servervirtualization.blogs.techtarget.com/2007/10/25/does-virtualization-decrease-security/
Virtualization Security - http://kerneltrap.org/OpenBSD/Virtualization_Security
ESX Security Console (vSwitch) Issue - http://communities.vmware.com/thread/107653
How to find and fix 10 real security threats on your virtual servers - http://www.cio.com/article/154950
Security in a Virtualized Environment (VMworld 2007) - http://www.vmworld.com/vmworld/mylearn?classID=11276
Security Architecture Design and Hardening VI3 (VMworld 2007) - http://www.vmworld.com/vmworld/mylearn?classID=11047

Storage:
A look at the ESX I/O Stack - http://blogs.netapp.com/storage_nuts_n_bolts/2007/11/a-look-at-the-e.html
Network Appliance and VMware ESX Server 3.0 Storage Best Practices - http://www.netapp.com/library/tr/3428.pdf
Network Appliance and VMware ESX Server 3.0 Building a Virtual Infrastructure from Server to Storage - http://www.netapp.com/library/tr/3515.pdf
How to create an inexpensive iSCSI SAN for VMware ESX - http://www.petri.co.il/iscsi-san-vmware-esx.htm
iSCSI Design Considerations and Deployment Guide - http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/iSCSI_design_deploy.pdf
Why VMware over NetApp NFS - http://viroptics.blogspot.com/2007/11/why-vmware-over-netapp-nfs.html
Using VMware ESX Server with Hitachi Data Systems NSC or USP Storage - http://www.vmware.com/pdf/hds_svd_technote.pdf

Utilities:
VMJuggler (misc) - http://www.run-virtual.com/?page_id=201

Virtual Machine:
Identify ESX Server from inside a VM - http://communities.vmware.com/message/803862
How to install VMware Tools with Group Policy - http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/virtualization-pro/how-to-install-vmware-tools-through-windows-group-policy/
Add second SCSI controller to VM - http://www.vmware.com/community/thread.jspa?messageID=621097
Large I/Os Are Split into 64KB Units When Using LSILogic Driver - http://kb.vmware.com/kb/9645697
VM Communication Interface – An Inter-VM Communication (VMworld 2007) - http://www.vmworld.com/vmworld/mylearn?classID=11688

VirtualCenter:
Bulletproof VirtualCenter (VMworld 2007) - http://www.vmworld.com/vmworld/mylearn?classID=11017

New Tips Added:
The following new tips have recently been added to the VMware Tips section:
How can I reset a forgotten root password on my ESX Server?
How can I recover from vmnic re-numbering on ESX servers?
What TCP/IP ports are used by ESX, VirtualCenter and the License Server?
How can I migrate my VirtualCenter database from MSDE to SQL server?
How can I find out information about my VirtualCenter SQL database?
How can I clone a VM without using VirtualCenter?
Posted: 11/29/07


VirtualCenter 2.0.2 Update 2 Released
On the heels of VirtualCenter 2.0.2 Update 1 VMware has just released VirtualCenter 2.0.2 Update 2. Be sure and check out the Release Notes for this new release, you can download it here. Be aware of a bug with both 2.0.2 Update 1 and Update 2 that effects web access operation. Read more about this here.
Posted: 11/26/07