Virtually all I know is…
Can I vMotion a VM from an Intel to AMD server? It’s one of the big things that you have to learn about a VMware cluster, that vMotion cannot be performed between an AMD and Intel CPU – but this is only true when the virtual machine is running. If… Continue Reading vMotion between AMD and Intel CPUs
Christian WickhamWhat is the difference between ESXi and vSphere? I get a lot of confusion from customers about the right terminology for VMware products. I’m not surprised, because VMware frequently re-brand and re-name products and we all get confused. VMware’s Hypervisor Here’s the key one. When you download VMware’s Hypervisor from… Continue Reading VMware product name glossary
Christian WickhamI have been asked a few times, how do I upload files to a datastore, using the vSphere Web Client? I thought that it would be as easy as it is in the C# (Windows) client – but if you want to upload an ISO or VMDK directly to a… Continue Reading Upload files with the vSphere Web Client
Christian WickhamThe VMware vSphere Web Client console can be customised to meet your needs. It’s an often un-noticed capability, but you can move around all the windows within each pane for objects within the vSphere Web Client. Just drag and drop, holding the top of the block. There’s no standard terminology… Continue Reading Customise the web client
Christian WickhamHow do you make VMs automatically start after an outage? You may want a virtual machine to start by itself when a host is powered on, to maintain availability of the service of that VM – particularly if you don’t have a VMware High Availability cluster (like a single ESXi… Continue Reading Configuration of VM auto-start options for Service Machines
Christian WickhamHow long does it take you to boot up a server? I don’t just mean the time it takes to start Windows or Linux, I mean the time it takes the hardware to begin starting Windows. Next time you reboot a physical server, go and time it – you won’t… Continue Reading Hidden benefits of virtualisation – reboot time and the impact on server availability and regular operations
Christian WickhamVMware are often focussing on the latest and greatest features and capabilities offered by their newest software. Of course, they are always driving forward and the next version’s enhancements and benefits are forefront of their minds – but there are still some people out there who are just starting on… Continue Reading Hidden benefits of VMware – uneven hardware
Christian WickhamIn my interaction with new and existing VMware customers, it strikes me how often people forget one of what I consider to be one of the best benefits of a VMware based clustered solution. It is often pleasant news for people planning or implementing a new VMware virtualisation solution to… Continue Reading Hidden benefits of VMware – pick and mix
Christian WickhamIf you build a cluster for a VMware virtualised infrastructure, you can use almost any compute resource that you have available. Do you want to mix a Dell R710 dual CPU host with 32 GB of RAM with an IBM BladeCenter Hx5 with a single CPU and 96GB – sure,… Continue Reading SDDC drives mix and match hardware
Christian WickhamHow can I get my server ready for the transformation from a physical server to a virtual server? The physical to virtual conversion can be done with a suite of tools, but need to be prepared carefully. Many people don’t know how to prepare for a P2V – or even… Continue Reading The right way to prepare for P2V
Christian WickhamI have been working in IT for 22 years, and during that time there have been changes – more than a few. In the early nineties, I did a bachelor honours degree in IT – and my dissertation (thesis) was about user interface design. The main conclusion was along the… Continue Reading User interface design – evolving with consumption
Christian Wickham
