VMTN Blog

[Updated below]

We're very proud to announce that VMware Infrastructure 3 version 3.5 [warning: sound] is now generally available.

• ESX Server 3.5, VirtualCenter 2.5, VMware Consolidated Backup 1.1 
• VMware Infrastructure SDK 2.5.0
• Guest SDK 3.5.0
• VMware Infrastructure Remote CLI
• A number of upgraded tools, including VMware License Server, CPU Compatibility Tool, and a number of backup integration modules. [hat tip to Scale the Mind]

First of all, let's get this right: the product is named "VMware Infrastructure 3 version 3.5". Not VI3.5 or 'virtual' infrastructure anything.

Mike Laverick has a very nice and comprehensive and administrator-oriented overview What's Different in VI3 v3.5 (see the Table of Contents at right). Highly recommended. It looks like this will be Appendix C of the new edition of VMware Infrastructure 3: Advanced Technical Design Guide and Advanced Operations Guide.  He concludes:

As you can see VMware have once again added new functionality to both ESX and VirtualCenter at no additional “upgrade” cost. Additionally, there has been some significant finessing of existing features which make the administration of VI-3.5 easier. The core product remains the same despite the introduction of DPM [Distributed Power Management], VUM [VMware Update Manager] and Guided Consolidation.

Gabrie has some first impressions on his experiences

• Installing Virtual Center 2.5 & ESX 3.5
• What's new in ESX 3.5 & VC 2.5?
• What’s new in ESX 3.5 & VC 2.5? (part 2)
• What’s new in ESX 3.5 & VC 2.5? (part 3)
• What’s new in ESX 3.5 & VC 2.5? (part 4)
• VMware Infrastructure Remote CLI
• VMware HA in ESX 3.5

And Bob Plankers is already weighing in with Things I Already Like In ESX 3.5/VC 2.5

• Round-robin multipath support.
• NTP configuration via VirtualCenter.
• Virtual machine MAC address configuration via VirtualCenter.
• Growing disk files via VirtualCenter.
• Paravirtualization options, even though it’ll probably be decades before any OS I run takes advantage of it.[0]
• The fact that you can VMotion between ESX 3.0 and 3.5 so the upgrade process looks almost brainless.[1]

(To be fair, he also has two things he already doesn't like.)

For further reactions and new tricks as people start to use this release, keep your browser tuned to Planet V12n, VMware Community Blogs, and the New Features in VI3 v3.5 Community.

[Update: rastix @ baeke.info, while admitting that his customers will be interested in Storage VMotion, Update Manager, and integrated Converter, also lists some of the features he likes:

• Integration of tools like Guided Consolidation and VMware Converter in the VI Client.
• Image customization of 64-bit guests. This is probably still based on the sysprep format for Windows Server 2003 and earlier. Remember that Vista and Windows Server 2008 use a different format (xml-based).
• Provisioning across datacenters. In previous versions, you had to have templates in each datacenter.
• Datastore browser that supports file sharing between hosts. You will be able to just cut and paste files between ESX hosts. Seems like a basic feature to have but in the past you had to do this from the console.
• Support for 256GB of RAM in the ESX host and 64GB of RAM for a guest. Interesting but I doubt there will be many customers who need more than 16GB for a guest. Gotta run the race though. ;-)
• Lockdown mode: the ability to prohibit management of a host when it is already managed by VirtualCenter.
• Limit the amount of remote console connections.]

VMware customers Chevron, BMC Software, Natixis, Wyse Technologies, and Curtin University, talk about the benefits of new features and enhancements in VMware's latest generation of its flagship virtualization software, VMware Infrastructure 3.

Customers provide commentary on ESX Server 3.5 and VirtualCenter 2.5, including Storage VMotion, Update Manager, Distributed Power Management, and the thin architecture of ESX Server 3i.

Pete has also added a lot of customer testimonials and has more in the queue, including the rest of the fun VMworld video contest entries, so if I were you I'd keep this this YouTube search for VMware handy. And he would like to remind you that Virtualized Hardware Hotel continues to ROCK:

David Davis at Petri IT Knowledgebase has been writing some good articles recently on VMware -- nice intros for the newcomer, and if you go take a look at the full list, getting into some advanced topics as well.

Link: How will VMware ESX Server 3i Change the future of Virtualization?

You are probably already familiar with what VMware ESX Server is, how it is revolutionary, and how virtualization is changing server infrastructure forever. Perhaps you are already an ESX Server user, perhaps not. Either way, the latest version of ESX Server, 3i (currently in Beta) could go even farther than ESX Server 3, in changing the face of your server infrastructure. Let me show you how...

Link: How to choose the right VMware Infrastructure ESX Edition for you.

In our previous article, "VMware Versions Compared", we compared the various products in VMware's product line. For example, the difference between VMware Server, Workstation, and Server ESX. In this article, we will focus specifically on the VMware ESX product line and the VMware virtualization suite called VMware Infrastructure. With a variety of VMware Infrastructure suites and ESX Server product options, it is difficult to know which is right for you. Let's find out...

Link: How to Secure your VMware ESX Server.

As VMware ESX is loaded directly on hardware and is its own virtualization operating system, there are a number of factors to consider when securing it. While, due to its design architecture, ESX is inherently secure, there are still a number of security factors to consider. In this article we will cover the vulnerability points of ESX and how you can ensure that your ESX Servers are as secure as they can be.

Link: How can the new features in VMware Workstation version 6 help me?.

In summary, VMware Workstation is, in my opinion, the most powerful desktop virtualization package available. The new features in version 6 just "up the ante". While it isn't free, like VMware Server is, Workstation has enough features to justify the cost. The more I use virtualization software, the more I find uses for it. It has gotten to the point where I don't know what I did without it. Try out VMware Workstation and I think you will come to the same conclusion.

Link: 3 VMware Consolidated Backup (VCB) utilities you should know.

In our previous article, "What you need to know about VMware Consolidated Backup (VCB)", we provided an overview of how VCB can help you. In this article, we will explore the command line utilities provided with VCB. There is no GUI interface for VCB so these tools are THE tools that you get with VCB. Because of that, if you are using VCB, you must know how to use these CLI tools well. Let's take a look...

Good stuff.

We all know you can run ESX Server in a VM (you know that, right?). Thomas Bishop already has the ESX Server 3i beta working in Fusion, and Eric Sloof has it going in Server. Thomas also has an interactive shell running at boot. See this forum thread for all the acrobatics, where pbraren and others are contributing. It's quite a fascinating mix of technical step-by-step investigation and rumination on the significance of 3i and where the hypervisor is going.

Also, the ESX Server 3i session presentation from VMworld is available from us. (hat tip to Mike Laverick, who knew about it before I did. I can tell you that the rest of the VMworld presentation pdfs should be available on the new VMworld.com very soon, and most of the streaming sessions are already available. You must have a conference login to view them for now.)

A bit of commentary as well. J Hicks says in the comments on the last 3i post:

Don't get me wrong, 3i is a great next step. Avoiding the RH based service console and the associated patching is fantastic. However, what really matters is not just the hypervisor itself, but the way its managed. And 3i = 3, same code, different delivery, same management (VC). ...

Its very interesting to see the corner we're turning here. Initially VMware was touting "repurpose the hardware you have" - but now the hardware vendors are delivering boxes that may only make sense for virtulized hosts. (not that that's a bad thing, just something to ponder).

And the always-insightful Massimo Re Ferre has an essay on what he sees as the significance of ESX Server 3i -- in short, it's a step forward in the natural evolution of the product, but for now it's still the ESX Server we know and love.

Link: What (really) VMware ESX 3i is (to me)

So what does this buy you as an end user? Yes me too I think... not so much. Sure it has a much smaller attack surface for viruses and security vulnerability that means less updates so less troubles for system administrators. Also it finally allows to get rid of these legacy 2 hard disk drives in rack servers and more importantly blades transforming them in true stateless devices ... as they should be. Yet not really something you would go through the streets of San Francisco screaming "oh boy what they managed to invent!?!"

In conclusion, I didn't certainly want to diminish the value that 3i is bringing into the industry. I am very excited about it because I think it's a step towards the right direction. However I think it is important to clarify some of the rumors and misinformation that have been circulating and that I am sure will circulate even after the details are disclosed.

Massimo is worried that an excited sales force will be overhyping 3i as the ultimate hypervisor. I saw a lot of science fictional speculation before the announcement, but the reporting post-announcement has been pretty sober -- pointing out the clear advantages in deployment and patch reduction and architectural simplicity, but not proclaiming that we've reached the promised land. So don't worry, Massimo, you can be excited about 3i without overhyping it. You know VMware is not a company given to too much hype -- but as kimono says in the discussion thread, 3i is "a seriously hot piece of kit."

Eric Sloof has some of the first notes in the wild talking about booting his ESX Server 3i that he got at VMworld. I believe many of the details are under NDA, but here's a peek:

• Loading Vmware Hypervisor
• ESX 3i Time Configuration

Also Dell has been talking about its forthcoming VESO servers:

• VESO: How Dell Will Simplify Virtualization (at Direct2Dell Blog, this is a nice video of the demo system used at the VMworld 2007 keynote) [via DABCC]
• uberpulse posts a pic inside the box with a quote from a Dell product manager: "this is not your typical 2 sockets server"

Although this is not a hardware blog, I'm happy to pass along tidbits from other OEMs who will be shipping ESX Server 3i -- and I'm talking to you, HP, IBM, Fujitsu, and NEC.

hicksj has taken a look and is already jaded in this thread at the VMTN Community.

VMware's Richard Garsthagen: VMware introduces ESX 3i

The real cool thing I like about ESX 3i is that it has support for SATA disks!! meaning it runs on your notebook Jippie!!!! I have successfully tested ESX 3i on my older Dell laptop and it works awesome on my IBM x60. The IBM has a really good SATA controller, that by default is not even supported by Windows XP, but ESX 3i has no problem what so ever with it   Also the notebook NICs seem no problem for ESX 3i.

Gordon Haff: Embedding Hypervisors

Expect all this activity to kick off another round of “Where does the hypervisor live?” Microsoft, in particular, is still determined to own the entire software stack from the VMM to the application. As a result, they’re still promoting Viridian—however delayed. It’s a misdirected quest. Although a VMM intermediates between the hardware and the operating system—and usurps some low-level functions—it hardly replaces the OS. The APIs and libraries of the OS are still the “application contract” that underpins the software that users actually care about. And Microsoft sells a lot of that higher-level software as well. In other words, it’s hard to see why Microsoft really needs to own the VMM any more than it needs to own a server’s BIOS firmware or hardware. In fact, software that abstracts messy hardware details from Windows would simplify Microsoft development in a number of ways by reducing myriad complexifying hardware dependencies. And, in any case, playing King Canute seems an increasingly pointless exercise as the tide of embedded hypervisors starts to wash in.

Drue Reeves: ROM-based Hypervisors: The New Data Center Operating System

Write down September 11, 2007 on your calendar as a landmark day for virtualization.  ...By shipping the hypervisor on bootable flash within the server, it fundamentally changes the way we buy applications, operating systems and hardware platforms. In this scenario, the hypervisor becomes the operating system, while traditional operating systems become application run-time environments. Thus, in the future, we won't buy servers with traditional OSes pre-installed on the hardware platform. Customers will buy servers that are virtualization-ready, customizing their purchase with wide variety of pre-configured VHDs that bundle the application and the operating system as a solution. You may hear these bundles called "application blades", "software blades" or "virtual appliances". Whatever you call them, they represent a new way IHVs will deliver OSV and ISV solutions.

Joe Hernick: Honey, I Shrunk the Hypervisor

So be on the lookout for the new thin hypervisor from your favorite hardware vendor. Saying that this will change the landscape in an already quickly shifting market is an understatement. If you haven't started a virtualization project in your enterprise, an embedded hypervisor that requires no installation and yields a short order infrastructure deployment should making it that much harder to stay away.

The Inquirer quoting VMware's Steve Jackson: VMware's ESX Server 3i does support AMD's nested paging tables

To clarify the situation with regards to VMware’s support for AMD’s Barcelona chipset, I would like to say that I made an error in describing the level of support that is present for Nested Paging Tables, or Rapid Virtualisation Indexing as AMD is now calling this feature, within VMware’s product line-up and particularly within VMware ESX Server 3i. ESX Server 3i does support the new feature, and customers will automatically benefit from support for RVI when they buy any server with the Barcelona chipset and ESX Server 3i installed. ESX Server 3i is shipping later in the year as part of servers from the likes of Dell, IBM, HP and Fujitsu Siemens as well as other hardware vendors.

InformationWeek's Charles Babcock interviews VMware founder Mendel Rosenblum. Stay turned for Mendel's keynote Thursday morning -- it's always a fun ride. Link:

InformationWeek: VMware put ESX Server on a weight loss plan to get it down from two gigabytes to 32 megabytes in the just announced, embeddable, 3i version. How did you do that?

Rosenblum: We've typically included a version of Red Hat Linux in ESX Server. That's because the hardware manufacturers put little embedded processors to control the fans and other elements of their servers. They have agents reporting on their operation. They wouldn't write software that would allow those processors to interface to ESX Server, but they had to do it for Linux. So we shipped a full Red Hat operating system as our management console. ...

InformationWeek: Will virtualization as a feature of the hardware become the dominant way of distributing hypervisors, over, say, virtualization as a feature of the operating system?

Rosenblum: That's been my vision of how virtualization could be deployed in the industry. With multi-core processors, it would be weird not to. There'd be too few workloads that could run on them [and take advantage of all the processing power] without virtualization.

InformationWeek: What's wrong with distributing virtualization as part of the operating system?

Rosenblum: The existing modern operating systems will want to stay in their privileged position and will bundle [virtualization] into the operating system. I think, technically, the right way to do it is the way we're doing in ESX Server 3i, as an embedded feature in the hardware.

Mike Laverick writes at RTFM Education: Vi3 Authors release sample chapter.

Myself, Ron Olgesby and Scott Herold have released a FREE sample chapter of our eagerly expected book. The PDF is free, and a hard-copy can be bought for a nominal fee. Remember this is not the full book just a free sample chapter. Enjoy!

http://www.lulu.com/content/1115401

It's actually 3 chapters, VirtualCenter and Cluster Design, Recovery and Business Continuity, and Installing ESX 3.x. The hard-copy is $6.73 to cover the cost of printing the 110 page excerpt, which will take 3 weeks to arrive in your mailbox.

Good bedtime reading and a good way to prep for VMworld.

The site for the book is www.vi3book.com.

Long ago in January, richard6121 started a thread in the VMware Forums suggestion box entitled Ability to run ESX as a Workstation guest. VMware's own Petr confirmed that with just the right knob twiddling and the right chip, you could convince Workstation 6.0 to run ESX Server inside of it. The race was on and the next few months were filled with through-the-looking-glass moments (yes, it even works on Fusion) and probably a bit of actual work as well -- you probably wouldn't want to run your production servers on it, but it's great for training, configuring, demos, and experimentation.

In June, the gentlemen behind the always-excellent xtravirt.com unveiled their own whitepaper in this thread.

Now they've just released their follow-on paper in this thread:

I've written a follow up white paper to the Xtravirt "ESX3 on Workstation 6" white paper, outlining the steps to install an iSCSI Enterprise Target Server in a VM and configure your ESX3 VMs to use this iSCSI storage for a 'VI3 in a box' configuration.

Great if you want to demo VI3 Enterprise features like VMotion, HA and DRS without having demo server kit available - you can run all of the required compenents on a single physical machine. This will also run on well specced laptop for mobile demonstrations.

Enjoy.

Link: Assorted VMware Tools » blog.scottlowe.org.

Over the past few weeks, a number of VMware-related tools have been released.  All of these tools are third-party tools written by avid VMware fans or ISVs, and as far as I am aware all of these tools are available at no cost.

Scott lists:

• VMX Extras
• VCplus
• Veam EsxDiag
• VMware MKS Client

More on MKS client from Mike Laverick at RTFM Education:

This tool prompts you for you VC username and password - and lists in the menu the VMs you have rights to. All it does it allow to open a “Remote Console” session on the VM and login, and interact with it.

I just installed it on my laptop and it worked straight away - which is good sign. Its a pretty cute tool, which might make me move away from using RDP to manage my Windows VMs.

[Update: via VMblog, a new release of ESXguide's ESX Manager 2.1:

Virtual Center independent
Keeps track of Virtual Machine Host Registration, Migrations and Status
Manage Virtual Machine Configuration
Display and work in the Virtual Machine Console
Kill Virtual Machine Process (if the VM can't be powered off)
Rename Virtual Disks of registered Virtual Machines
Move Virtual Disks and keep the disk attached to the Virtual Machine
Virtual Machine Registration, Start , Restart , Reset, Power Off, Suspend
Extend Virtual Disks
View-Search-Filter Logfiles on the ESX Host.
Define and save custom SSH commands with Parameter handling
Publish and share custom SSH commands with other ESX Administrators

Enjoy. -jmt]