Note: If you have read this article earlier, please read this revised version of it as after getting multiple comments from different readers I have noticed that although the over all statement of the article was correct the calculation example was not fully accurate so I have gone through the Microsoft Licensing and the comments all over again and accommodated for this in my revised version.

In this post, I will show you a secret that you need to know if you are already using VMware vSphere or if you are planning to buy VMware vSphere. One call to Microsoft to recalculate your Windows/SQL licenses can give you a licenses cut on Microsoft licenses that will pay for VMware vSphere Enterprise Plus and still save you tons of money a side. That means you don’t show management that you got vSphere Enterprise Plus for no Extra cost, but as well saved them a huge amount on Microsoft Licenses renewal. I was going to name this post:

How to get VMware vSphere Enterprise Plus for Free!!

Though I was worried of being misunderstood. OK, I have written a post more than a year back: Be Smart & Save huge on Microsoft Licensing with Virtualization.… Read More

I know many of you out there want to practice on many VMware products specially vSphere & would like to build your own lab but without breaking the bank.

I have been able to build my own Home Lab for less than $600 buying the parts in Kuwait, which probably end up even cheaper on your side. Further, I thought I will share my VMware ESX White Box Configuration for others who want to build their own ESX white box, but they don’t want to risk it will not work. This configuration has been tested and it work perfectly with both VMware vSphere ESX 4.0/ESX 4.1/ and even ESX 4.1 U1.

Cut it short below is my Lab ESX white Box configuration:

– ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO MotherBoard

– AMD Phenom(tm) II X4  925 Processor (Four Core at 2.8 GHz)

– 16 GB DDR3

– 2 X 7200 RPM 500GB HDD

– 2 X Intel PRO 1000 GT NICs.

Believe it or not getting a compatible NIC cards is what took me the most. You should mostly look for Intel/Broadcom cards unless if you are ready to compile the driver for your NIC cards which is not that difficult for many cards out there, but I wanted to have a fully supported configuration in my lab.… Read More

vSphere 4.1 Update 1 has been released on Feb 10th. Below is what’s included in this update:

VMware ESX/ESXi Enhancements:

• Support for up to 160 logical processors
• Inclusion of additional drivers (ESX 4.1 Update 1 includes the 3ware SCSI 2.26.08.036vm40 and Neterion vxge 2.0.28.21239-p3.0.1.2 drivers, which were provided as a separate download in earlier releases.)
• Enablement of Intel Trusted Execution Technology (ESXi only)
• Additional guest operating system support (ESX 4.1 Update 1 adds support for RHEL 6, RHEL 5.6, SLES 11 SP1 for VMware, Ubuntu 10.10, and Solaris 10 Update 9 guest operating systems.)
• Bug and security fixes (For more information on Bug fixes included in this release, you can check vSphere 4.1 Update 1 Bug Fixes

 VMware vCenter Enhancements:

• Additional guest operating system customization support
• Additional vCenter Server database support

For more information on this update & how to carry up the update, please visit:

VMware ESX 4.1 Update 1 Release Notes

I have been asked lately if NPIV could be used to attach a tape library to a VM, & as attaching tape libraries to a VM has never been well documented. I have decided to write a small post about it. I don’t want to be a smart A**, but I will start by asking why would you want to attach a tape to a VM? Why not utilize VMware Storage API for backup & move on with it. As any method that can be utilized to connect a tape Drive/ Tape library to a VM running on ESX will compromise on many feature & introduce many restrictions to your environment. That have been said let’s see what options are available & what option is just confusing people.

– As the question was about NPIV & most people are mostly confused by it, I will start by saying NPIV will not help you add a tape library to a VM. NPIV is mainly useful when attaching LUNs & dealing with storage devices. It does not deal with tape libraries.

Ok, now that we had got NPIV confusion out of the way we still left with the question is it possible to attach a tape Library/Tape drive to a VM running on ESX/ESXi?… Read More

I can see the above title bringing a lot of our competitors to read my blog for the next few days. I know many of them are already monitoring it daily, & as many of them still believe that there is still no upgrade path from our vSphere Essentials Kit & vSphere Essentials plus Kit might think I am shooting my self in the foot. I would love to disappoint them hard this time & point out that since vSphere has came out and the upgrade path from vSphere Essentials Kit & vSphere Essentials plus Kit has been available!!!!

I know it has been there for a while, but it seems many of VMware partners & customers still not aware of it. Its sad to say even some of  my colleagues have not been aware of it yet as they have been busy with all the new great products VMware has been releasing lately. I thought I will share the news & the proofs for that in here to stop our competition of visiting SMB customers & telling them that VMware vSphere Essentials Kit & Essentials Plus Kit are dead ended packages. They are not.

I love VMware marketing team. They have always made the right changes at the right time.… Read More