Whilst looking into making The SLOG available on mobile devices i came across something that i had seen in CSI and also in the magazines of a recent flight. Its called a QR Code (QR = Quick Response).

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I really could have done with this information when i had An error occurred during configuration of the HA Agent on the host rather than having to trawl through loads of discussions on the VMware Communities.

There are now two really useful documents which can be found at the VIOPS website, one is called ESX 3 Server Log Map and the other is VirtualCentre 2 Logs. These documents contain all the information you need to know about VMware ESX 3.* and vCenter 2.* log files and their locations.

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I’ve just installed a plug-in that will now allow The SLOG to be read on mobile devices, so you can now read my Blog where ever you have WIFI or Phone Network Coverage.. You Lucky people!!
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Last week was my second TechXpress seminar held in Auckland. The presentation was about Virtualising T1 Apps, specifically SQL and Exchange.

It coincided well with the VMware Communities Round Table Podcast #42 where virtualising SQL was discussed at length. Prior to the Podcast John Troyer set the panel and listeners some homework to read a recently released White paper, so over the last week my head has been well and truly crammed with virtualising SQL information.

Once again, great presentation and nice relaxed atmosphere.

I have just sumbled across “TWO” really easy to understand video thanks to Mike D Petrillo’s Blog and @HighTechDad on Twitter. I’m starting to hear more and more people talking about the Cloud and i’m finding that a lot people are not really exactly sure what “Cloud Computing” is.

As part of my new Blog, i have introduced a section called My Top 5 Twitter Users. Currently it has a list of 5 users that i regularly find myself reading their Tweets.

As of today i am going to “Favor” all the Tweets that i find interesting, funny and generally useful to me. At the end of the Month i will add up all of my Favored Tweets and put the Top 5 Twitters that appear in that list onto my Blog.

Unfortunately there isn’t a prise or anything lined up for the winner of each month, I’m really just doing it to keep my Blog content dynamic and to let me readers know who  in my eyes  is worth following on Twitter.

You’ll also be pleased to hear that I’ve excluded myself from this list. Clearly all of my Tweets are interesting, funny and generally useful and it wouldn’t be fair on all of the Twitter Users if i was to win every months. 🙂

If you arn’t following me then please feel free to add me: @SimonLong_

Whilst reading a VMware document on using SQL inside VMware Virtual Infrastructure i realised that i wasn’t 100% sure on what the Hard Abstraction Layer ( HAL) actually is, so i decided to do some reading up, here is my take on it.

What is the Hardware Abstraction Layer or HAL?

The HAL is a part of an Operation System that talks directly to the machine’s Hardware.

The Windows OS is able to support multiple hardware platforms without having to have different OS versions for each hardware platform thanks to the HAL. During the installation of an OS the HAL is chosen depending on the hardware platform, because of this you are normally unable to remove the HDD from one PC and move it to a PC which has different hardware.

A HAL tip when you are installing VMware VM’s using  Windows Server 2003

Windows 2003 Server unlike Server 2008 doesn’t have the ability to dynamically adjust the HAL to accommodate extra vCPU’s after installation. So if you’re creating a new VM which may possibly need to have an extra vCPU added to it in the future, it is best practice to install the OS on a VM with 2 vCPU’s as this will install the SMP (Symmetric Multiprocessor) HAL rather than the UP (Uniprocessor) HAL. Once your install of 2003 server is complete you can change your VM’s vCPU’s back down to one. You now have the option to add another vCPU whenever its needed.

*If i have misunderstood what the Hardware Abstraction Layer is, please message me direct or leave a comment.

Is this a familiar story?

• You created a new Email
• You added the Recipients
• You added the Subject e.g. HR Spreadsheet
• You wrote a nice passage telling them you have attached the spreadsheet they requested
• You hit Send

2 Mins later you get this reply… “Sorry i cant seem to find the attachment.”

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As The Slog is mostly Virtualisation orientated i have decided to add another Catagory called “General IT“. This is a place where i will post Non Virtualisation specific posts.

I’m also going to use this area to aid my learning. I’m always learning and looking to improve my knowledge, so if there something mentioned in conversation or documentation that i dont understand 100% i will research it and write it up in this section.

All comments on my write ups are gratefully received as I’d rather know when I’m wrong or heading off in the completely wrong direction.

If you subscribe to my Blog and don’t want these posts, please let me know and i will try arrange the feeds to not include these posts. Just drop me an email via my Contact page if this is the case.

Simon

Alan Renouf over at Virual-Al.net has come up with the idea of creating a VMware Virtual User Group.  I had no idea what this was until i read Alan’s post.

I was contacted and asked if it was a good idea to start a VMware Virtual User Group, I think this is a great idea and it would compliment the already existing physical user groups and podcasts which exist.

Sounds good to me!

Alan is asking everyone to fill in a simple one page survey so he can get a better idea of what you Virtual guys would like to see at the VMware Virtual User Group.

So please take 2 minutes to fill out this single page survey and help pave the way for the virtual user group…

Click here to take our Online Survey