Tips for moving a Sharepoint database to a new database server.
Squeezing out every bit of performance out of ESXi 4 is important, particularly when you work with iSCSI. One of the easy ways to make sure that your network isn’t being bogged down in performance is to enable jumbo frames from end point to end point in your virtual server network.
The following components are required to enable jumbo frame support:
Steps required to enable jumbo frames in your virtual network:
1. Login to the ESXi host via SSH (SSH access enable)
2. Add a new vSwitch with the following command:
esxcfg-vswitch -a vSwitch1 (number accordingly)
3. Set the new MTU value for vSwitch1
esxcfg-vswitch -m 9000 vSwitch1
4. Add a new PortGroup
esxcfg-vswitch -A “iSCSI” vSwitch1 (name accordingly)
5. Add the VMKernel Interface for
esxcfg-vmknic -a -i 172.25.25.20 -n 255.255.255.0 -m 9000 “Software iSCSI”
6. Attach vmnics
esxcfg-vswitch -L vmnic5 vSwitch1
esxcfg-vswitch -L vmnic8 vSwitch1
7. Check if all is configured ok
esxcfg-vswitch -l (that’s a lowercase L) should show the vSwitch’s MTU is now 9000.
esxcfg-nics -l (again, a lowercase L) should show the MTU for the NICs linked to that vSwitch are now set to 9000 as well.
8. Ping SAN with a package size of 9000 to see if everything Works
Vmkping –s 9000 172.25.25.2
PING 172.25.30.2 (172.25.30.2): 9000 data bytes
9008 bytes from 172.25.30.2: icmp_seq=0 ttl=64 time=0.531 ms
9008 bytes from 172.25.30.2: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=0.452 ms
9008 bytes from 172.25.30.2: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=0.451 ms
Just wandered through the labryinths of VMware.com’s website and wanted to make a quick note for those searching for the bits and pieces necessary to upgrade their ESXi 3.5 server but don’t have VMware Upgrade Manager available to them.
The pieces you need:
the ESXi 3.5 U5 .zip file - (currently not posted under the Downloads)
http://download3.vmware.com/software/vi/ESXe350-200911201-O-UG.zip
the ESXi 3.5 Remote CLI U2 for Windows/Linux
http://downloads.vmware.com/d/info/datacenter_downloads/vmware_esxi/3_5#drivers_tools
reference documents for installation/upgrade for ESXi 3.5
http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi3_35/esx_3i_i/r35/vi3_35_25_3i_i_setup.pdf
In a nutshell, the following steps will get you updated to the latest release:
vihostupdate.pl -server SERVERIP -username root -password PASSWORD -i -b PATH/TO/UPGRADE.zip
Let the update run and reboot the server.
I ran into this problem where assigning quotas to user home directories would not display the correct available/used disk space statistics:
According to the FSRM Program Manager, Georgi Matev, the problem is a deficiency in the SMB (CIFS) protocol that causes all free space queries to be done on the root of a share. This means that if the quota is set on the root of the share, then the mapped drive will correctly show the quota aware free space.
I upgraded the RAM on my Cisco Pix 515E at work today. The twist is that I didn’t pay out the nose prices for what was simply a pair of 168 pin, SDRAM modules. Instead, I salvaged a pair of low profile 64MB SDRAM modules, tested them with memtest to make sure they tested error free, then replaced the single 32MB module that was already installed. With the Unrestricted license, my Pix 515E with OS version 6.3(5) now shows that I have a full 128MB available.
Update: did the 7.2(3) upgrade and from what I’ve read, there’s not a whole lot I would gain from going up to 8.x at this point. I’ll have to revisit this in a few months to see what changed. One nice result of the upgrade though is that Mac OS X, Windows XP, and Windows Vista clients can all VPN over L2TP/IPSec!
