A while ago, the folks at QNAP sent us one of their NAS devices for a test run around the block. You can read the article over here. Now, we were quite fond of the device and the capabilities and QNAP was pretty pleased with our review. So, a couple of weeks ago, a new package arrived in the mail here at VMguru and we were very pleasantly surprised to find a brand new QNAP Product in the box. In this article, we’re unboxing the NAS appliance and setting it up so we can go and test it with a VMware test server.

The box that arrived was actually pretty impressive. This seems to be a pretty big thing! After removing the shipping package, we saw a very nice box with an even nicer picture of the QNAP we’re going to put to the test. This is certainly not your average 2-disk or 4-disk NAS.  So, first of all, some specs to get you all warmed up. This NAS is a pretty all-round guy with a lot of support already build in.

The hardware specs:

• CPU: Intel^® Atom^™ 2.13GHz Dual-core Processor
• DRAM: 1GB RAM (Expandable RAM, up to 3GB)
• Flash Memory: 512MB DOM
• Hard disk bays: 8 x 3.5/2.5 inch drives, hot swappable and lockable
• LAN: 2 x Gigabit RJ-45 Ethernet port
• USB: 2x USB 3.0 port (Back: 2) 5x USB 2.0 port (Front: 1; Back: 4)
• eSATA: 2 x eSATA port (Back)
• Display: Mono-LCD display with backlight

(more…)

VMware is rapidly expanding the possibilities of their new management suite VMware vCenter Operations Manager (vCops) with their recent release of VMware vCenter Operations Manager for View. This new addition provides end-to-end visibility into the health, performance and efficiency of a VMware View virtual desktop infrastructure. With this new tool desktop administrators can proactively ensure the best end-user experience, avert incidents and eliminate bottlenecks.

VMware vCenter Operations Manager for View really simplifies the deployment and management of a VMware View infrastructure. Admins can do end-to-end performance monitoring of entire virtual infrastructure, perform user-specific infrastructure analysis and track the  health of various components in a view deployment.

The cool thing is, VMware vCenter Operations Manager for View automatically learns normal operating parameters for View infrastructure and user workloads. This means the thresholds are not based on some default parameter from a configuration or best practices guide. Instead it knows when your infrastructure is acting normal or is in trouble by constantly monitoring and evaluating the behavior of your environment.

(more…)

The VMUG is a pretty well known club. If you are just a virtualization enthusiast, a VMware fan or one of those nerdy bloggers, you all know the VMUG. Every country has it’s own instance of the VMUG and every now and then there is a gathering with all the nerds, enthusiasts and bloggers to talk nerdy to each other about virtualization for about a day.

Our friend Erik Schils from the VMUG in Belgium is organizing such an event on the first of June 2012. And guess what: it’s totally free! There are still about 30 tickets left, so hurry up! Read on how to get one.

(more…)

I often get several questions regarding how I started in IT, how I became an Enterprise Architect, how did I get where I am nowadays, what did you do in the past years and what my advice would be if someone wanted to get a job like mine. For the VMTN vExpert Spotlight I answered a few of those questions.

Want to know how I rolled into the IT business, when I got involved with VMware, why I am blogging on VMGuru.nl and was rewarded vExpert 2010, 2011 and and now recurring in 2012? Read it on today’s vExpert Spotlight on the VMware Communities VMTN Blog:

vExpert Spotlight: Edwin Weijdema

One last take away: if you see our top banner here on VMGuru.nl, you see:

“Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes, and having fun”

When you are trying to grow in your field of work and/or your life keep this motto in your mind and you will truly excel. If you love what you do, like us, you do it with passion and commitment.

Erik has been in the vExpert Spotlight last year you can read about his story here.

Red Hat Benelux is organizing a demo day for their virtualisation solution “Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization”.

During this day they will present the latest news, present the road-map and future releases. Also on the program is a demo of RHEV and the presentation of a customer case. Their will be Red Hat experts present for any questions you might have.

The event takes place on June 26th 2012 in Den Haag – Netherlands at the Louwman Museum. The agenda for the day:

12.15 – Registration
12.45 – Welcome and introduction by Rajiv Sodhi, Country manager Benelux Red Hat
13.00 – RHEV Features and benefits: what’s  in it for me?
13.40 – Customer case
14.20 – Coffee break
15.10 – RHEV demo by Koen van Bakel, Senior Solution Architect Benelux Red Hat
15.50 – Interactive discussion and closure
16.30 – Closing drink

After the sessions you get the opportunity to view the worlds oldest private collection of automobiles which is present in the museum.

For those interested in the event can register by sending an e-mail to redhat@artdcom.com with the subject “Registratie RHEV Demo Day – 26 juni”. For questions you can also use the mail address previously mentioned.

Last Friday Trend Micro released Deep Security 8.0 Service Pack 1. 

The most significant changes in SP1 are:

• On Demand scan agent based anti-malware on Linux. Supported versions are Red Hat Linux 5, 6 (64 bit only), Suse Linux 10, 11 (32 and 64bit)
• Protecting ESX 4.1/ESXi 4.1 hosts with Deep Security 8.Deep Security can now provide protection for virtual machines running on ESX/ESXi 4.1 and 5.0. You can use the same Deep Security Virtual Appliance in combination with the proper version of the Filter Driver.
• Improved anti-malware scan exclusions.Exclusions were only possible for files. Now directories, files and file extensions are supported for the anti-malware scan, either by listing them specifically or through the use of wildcards.
• More Localization. The manager is now also available in Japanese and Simplified Chinese. The agent and notifier are also localized in German, French, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese.

When you have installed Deep Security 8.0 it will automatically warn you that an update is available. Since it was only released a couple of days ago there is little  information available about the update. As with all updates, test it on a small scale before deploying it to your full environment.

VMware announced today that VMware View 5.1 will be available Q2 2012. Several new features and benefits will be included, like a good security enhancement to add two-factor authentication through Radius integration. Also the whole rewritten USB implementation rocks.

VMware View 5.1 Features and Benefits:
Enhancements and new features in VMware View 5.1 include:

• RADIUS Support – Support in VMware View 5.1 for RADIUS will enable greater choice for organizations looking to deploy two-factor authentication, while maintaining compatibility with existing choices.

• VMware View Media Services Enhancements: VMware View 5.1 Local Mode will add multi-monitor support and expanded USB device compatibility, improving the user experience by enabling more peripherals to connect seamlessly into VMware View virtual desktops.

(more…)

It is time for an updated version of our build numbers database.
Besides adding the new build numbers I also ‘repaired’ some errors.

If you think you’re missing products or  build numbers, please leave a comment below. I’ll do my best to add them to the list.