Furoris News

We virtualised more non-Windows physical servers last week - the more Unix/Linux hosts we virtualise, the more the strategy is reinforced; there is no straightforward process that works for every flavour of Linux/Unix currently supported by VMware as a Guest OS.

For example, a while back we P2V'd some Scientific Linux servers, and despite not being officially named on the 'Guest OS' guide, they are basically Red Hat - they even look like Red Hat, the servers run fine. How we P2Vd them, for one reason or another was not straight forward.

For those wanting to patch 1 or 2 ESX 3.5 hosts, without the luxury of Virtual Centre and Update Manager etc.

• Download all the ESX350-YYYYMMxxx-xx.zip files AND equally importantly, the latest ESX-3.5.0-contents.zip from the VMware web site.
• Expand all the files to the following hierarchy:

/ESX350_updates
           contents.xml
           contents.xml.sig

With a planned upgrade to 3.5, and the knowledge that 3i is the future, how close can you get to that future - now? Not close enough it would seem, checkout the HCL for 3i and the list of supported systems is pretty slim - a handful of servers, pretty much one from each vendor. Clearly as things move on, 3i in the box will become the 'norm' - however, for companies seeking to make the best out of the kit they have and upgrade, the idea that 3i may be available sometime soon for a USB upgrade to their blades/servers is I think somewhat on the hopeful side.