Virtualware
Building a sandbox requires planning
Nov 14th
I mean it.
6 servers (5 operational as one is crashing itself repeatedly), 2 switches, and bandwidth.
This should be easy to do! I mean: what could go wrong?
vCloud Director 1.5 cannot upload files error
Sep 5th
Let’s say you have your vCloud Director cells behind a load balancer.
You try to upload your files (.iso and .ovf images for either a vApp or media and receive an error message like:
Error: Transferring files
On page 98 of the vdc_15_admin_guide.pdf you will find a paragraph pointing out that you need to fill in the API field for uploads to work.
During the initial configuration of each cloud cell, you specified an HTTP service IP address. By default, vCloud Director uses that address in the XML responses from the REST API and as the upload target for the transfer service (for uploading vApp templates and media). To use a different address, specify a public REST API base URL.
I had missed that in my new setup of vCloud Director 1.5 and a helpful VMware employee answered my questions in the Communities.
Install of vCloud Director 1.5 fails to set up ESXi 4.1U1 hosts
Sep 5th
According to the install documentation, VMware vSphere 4 ESX and ESXi 4.1 update 1 are supported.
Install or upgrade to vCloud Director 1.5 will fail with the following error when trying to add the provider vDC:
Could not retrieve state for sequence: seq_os
This is easily fixed by editing the database table [os_id] and inserting the relevant information.
vCloud Director Cluster got you down?
Apr 27th
vCloud Director – the VMware solution to building on-demand infrastructure for the enterprise and cloud computing…works.
But there are some trials you must encounter and complete before things work smoothly.
TL;DR: I failed at first but found the problem with the issue being firewall services blocking inter-cell communications. This post is about the log entry and how it isn’t very clear that there is an error to resolve.
Example cost: Virtual Private Cloud (updated)
Feb 10th
Back in September, 2009, I had written a post with a quick overview of what a private cloud (or infrastructure) looks like and some basic costs and information, including why it is a great product (I am biased).
Since then, Dell has retired the PE2900III model server and items change, this is an update for the basic configuration.
Reminder graphic:
2 Servers, 1 firewall
So, originally, the physical servers were configured as:
- Dell PE2900III (reasonably priced, very reliable, I have spares on the shelf)
- 4 ethernet ports (2 built in, 2 port card installed, more can be added)
- 2 73GB SAS drives mirrored together for booting VMware vSphere 4
- 32GB RAM (48GB is max for this hardware platform)
New servers look like:
- Dell PET610 (reasonable price, very reliable, spares to go onto the shelf)
- 4 ethernet ports (all built in)
- 2 80GB SATA drives mirrored together for booting VMware vSphere 4
- 48GB RAM (192GB max available – very expensive)
The reason for the RAM change is that I am seeing a 2:1 (or higher) ratio of RAM to CPU usage in terms of percentage, and 48GB is a good place for this sized system. Also, the newer Xeon 55xx series processors uses RAM sticks in 3s instead of 2 or 4 at a time. 48GB is 12 4GB sticks of RAM. The newer 55xx series of processors also has working hyper-threading (or H/T) and I am seeing very nice performance on servers deployed using this processor family in our network.
Cost difference? The original posting listed had estimated the cost at $1,600.00 per month (see previous post), and I estimate this to be very close, inching up to approximately $1,700.00 per month, and this number should be high. (for accurate pricing, please contact ipHouse sales people, they can run up a quote based on real numbers)
