Tips

Tips

• Compare the top 5 bare-metal hypervisors

  Hypervisors such as VMware vSphere, Microsoft Hyper-V, Citrix Hypervisor, RHV and Oracle VM Server for x86 provide value to enterprise-level data centers in different ways.  Continue Reading

• Virtualization cost-savings methods for IT administrators

  The biggest costs in any virtualization environment tend to be licenses, hardware acquisition, support and maintenance, so that's where you should look for ways to reduce expenses.  Continue Reading

• Manage Windows containers and Hyper-V containers with these tools

  You can use a number of tools for Windows and Hyper-V container management, including Docker and PowerShell, depending on your experience and skill set.  Continue Reading

• How to enable Hyper-V Storage QoS and VMware SIOC

  Storage QoS prevents a VM from consuming excessive storage IOPS, but the methods for enabling the feature vary from Microsoft to VMware environments.  Continue Reading

• AWS Firecracker microVMs provide isolation and agility

  Firecracker aims to bridge the gap between VMs and containers with microVMs, which are secure, lightweight instance types for stateless workloads.  Continue Reading

• Xen vs. KVM in 2019 is a no brainer

  Xen might have lost the hypervisor war against KVM, but that doesn't mean it's dead. Niche use cases such as the automotive industry are keeping the open source project alive.  Continue Reading

• Don't count out IBM virtualization on the Z platform

  A mainframe can house hundreds of thousands of VMs and a wide range of workloads. Also, IBM Z provides virtualization management via Dynamic Partition Manager and Wave for z/VM.  Continue Reading

• VMware vSAN and HCI offer secure shared storage for VMs

  Coupling vSAN's all-flash storage features and vSphere availability support with HCI can lead to better resource utilization and workload performance.  Continue Reading

• 5 Windows network drivers supported by containers

  NAT is the default network for container applications, but there are four other available drivers. Each container network driver poses some limitations and must be used carefully.  Continue Reading

• Multi-hypervisor environments provide cost savings, flexibility

  Adopting multiple hypervisors might make more sense than going with a single vendor, depending on cost, the types of workloads you run, and your performance and reliability needs.  Continue Reading

• Bare-metal vs. VM container deployment considerations

  Consider your performance requirements, portability needs and what level of isolation and security you want when deploying containers in your environment.  Continue Reading

• 4 branch office server management best practices

  Setting up a ROBO server involves specific hardware and software configuration considerations, such as ensuring redundancy and connectivity for remote management.  Continue Reading

• Use PowerShell Docker to manage Windows container components

  Take advantage of the PowerShell for Docker module to easily create and manage Windows containers in your environment with this step-by-step installation guide.  Continue Reading

• How to configure Windows container networking

  The default network setting for Windows containers is Network Address Translation, but you can also set up a transparent Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol or non-DHCP network.  Continue Reading

• Compare the pros and cons of container management tools

  From the ever-popular to the obscure, evaluate different container management options based on the user interface, documentation, ease of use, available features and integrations.  Continue Reading

• What container management software features are important?

  Because containers are easy to spin up, the infrastructure can quickly get out of hand. A tool that simplifies container management can help, if it provides certain capabilities.  Continue Reading

• Create Hyper-V containers in Windows Server 2016

  Once you enable the Hyper-V role and Windows container feature, install Docker Engine, container modules and a base OS image to prepare the host for Hyper-V container deployment.  Continue Reading

• Major I/O virtualization vendors and technologies explained

  Technologies that virtualize I/O components offer a number of additional capabilities, such as direct memory access remapping and network queuing for each VM.  Continue Reading

• GPU virtualization evolves with new chip types on the horizon

  GPU-makers Intel, AMD and Nvidia all provide virtualization support; the next step is to merge CPU and GPU functionality to handle both application and math/graphics-related tasks.  Continue Reading

• Understand hardware support for virtualization

  Intel, AMD and ARM processors optimize virtualization in a number of ways, from instruction set extensions to interrupts, via Intel VT, AMD-V, ARMv8, Intel APICv and AMD AVIC.  Continue Reading

• Evaluate remote office/branch office technology trends

  Traditional data center technology, including SD-WANs, HCI, and virtual backup and disaster recovery devices, often supports remote and branch offices.  Continue Reading

• How NFV architecture works

  NFV enables organizations to virtualize operations and replace network equipment such as routers and switches. It's built on three components: VNFs, NFVI and the MANO framework.  Continue Reading

• How to configure a gMSA for Windows containers

  You must start Windows containers with a CredentialSpec file and gMSA name to enable applications to use gMSA credentials in place of local system and network service accounts.  Continue Reading

• Top 5 SCVMM PowerShell commands

  Manually making changes to Hyper-V hosts and VMs is very time-consuming. Manage System Center Virtual Machine Manager with PowerShell commands to make administration easier.  Continue Reading

• Use branch office servers to support infrastructure expansion

  A remote office setup requires infrastructure that meets performance, cost and space demands. Depending on the vendor, a microserver will likely provide the best compromise.  Continue Reading

• Kata Containers, gVisor offer more secure container strategies

  Kata Containers and Google gVisor present different approaches to using VMs for container security. Evaluate their advantages to get insight into the future of container security.  Continue Reading

• Troubleshoot Host Guardian Service with guarded fabric diagnostics

  Take advantage of the built-in guarded fabric diagnostic tool to discover and resolve common issues that can afflict Host Guardian Service and guarded fabric deployments.  Continue Reading

• Hyper-V Integration Services and VMware Tools improve OSes

  Hyper-V Integration Services and VMware Tools are similar utilities with a few small differences. One is that Hyper-V Integration Services supports fewer guests than VMware Tools.  Continue Reading

• 5 skills every Hyper-V administrator needs to succeed

  Windows Server skills aren't complete without these five Hyper-V skills, which range from failover clustering to storage, and remain essential for virtualization administration.  Continue Reading

• Manage large volumes of VM data with these storage tactics

  Admins can effectively virtualize large servers with storage tiering and disk allocation, but they must be wary of potential IOPS and redundancy issues.  Continue Reading

• AIOps use cases address complexity in virtual data centers

  The ever-growing complexity of virtual infrastructures is making management a struggle, but an AIOps platform can enable admins to transform raw data into useful information.  Continue Reading

• Meet Hyper-V cluster requirements to maintain high availability

  Hyper-V high availability is important for failover, so check that Hyper-V clusters meet the proper requirements, which range from hardware management to network configuration.  Continue Reading

• Meet data center compliance standards in hybrid deployments

  Data center compliance is a moving target that shifts with standards and technologies. Don't get sidetracked by the complexity -- prioritize performance while maintaining compliance.  Continue Reading

• Cloudlets extend cloud power to edge with virtualized delivery

  Cloud computing power for IoT and mobile devices is within reach due to the capabilities of cloudlets, which use virtualization and small data centers to extend computing power.  Continue Reading

• Design data center redundancy based on cloud outage lessons

  Public cloud providers have had catastrophic outages, but IT administrators can learn from cloud redundancy failures and successes -- and apply them to on-premises infrastructures.  Continue Reading

• Manage host, VM access with a Hyper-V administrators security group

  Use Hyper-V roles to limit users to predefined levels of access. By creating security groups and managing them with PowerShell, you can implement role-based security at scale.  Continue Reading

• Generate a Hyper-V report to track clusters, nodes with PowerShell

  It's difficult to navigate all the information related to Hyper-V nodes and clusters, so use PowerShell commands and scripts to generate reports and automate information retrieval.  Continue Reading

• Disaster recovery vs. backup: Plan for and prioritize VM workloads

  Before admins design a recovery plan, they must plan out which VM workloads need a disaster recovery environment and which need backups. Weigh these factors before making the call.  Continue Reading

• How to realize server virtualization energy savings

  Virtualizing servers is one of the most effective steps to reduce energy consumption, especially when the hypervisor and VM placement are taken into account.  Continue Reading

• Hyper-V VM template creation made easy

  Creating Hyper-V VM templates is a straightforward process, but there are a few things you should consider, such as template creation source and administrative password assignment.  Continue Reading

• Enable and disable Hyper-V secure boot with PowerShell

  The manual process of enabling secure boot is time-consuming, so use PowerShell cmdlets and scripts to make it efficient to use secure boot in Hyper-V.  Continue Reading

• Understand the ins and outs of private cloud architecture

  Private clouds are based on server virtualization, but they aren't the same. Organizations must consider private cloud's specific use cases in comparison to server virtualization.  Continue Reading

• Use Microsoft SCVMM to clone a VM

  There are some requirements you must meet to clone VMs with SCVMM, but the steps to clone an existing VM -- whether it's running, paused or shutdown -- are fairly simple.  Continue Reading

• Direct NVMe performance with virtualization and storage tiers

  Non-volatile memory express technologies have a host of benefits, but admins must use virtualization and storage tiers to best target NVMe performance boosts.  Continue Reading

• Hyper-V vs. vSphere high availability features

  Compare VMware vSphere and Microsoft Hyper-V HA approaches to see how they keep VMs and other workloads online when a host server crashes.  Continue Reading

• Top server sizing strategies for VMs

  How many VMs can you put on a server? That depends on whether your hardware and virtual environment are well-matched. This tip offers four criteria to select the right servers.  Continue Reading

• Get to know the Hyper-V processor compatibility mode feature

  Hyper-V processor compatibility is relatively easy to use, but it disables some advanced CPU features and is only intended for specific circumstances on a temporary basis.  Continue Reading

• Incorporate NIST security and virtualization recommendations

  Review NIST virtualization security recommendations with this overview of hypervisor security guidelines, including tips on VM lifecycles and hypervisor platform management.  Continue Reading

• Top five SCVMM 2016 features to look out for

  SCVMM 2016 provides new features, such as Nano Server management, and enhancements to existing networking and security features to better manage the entire virtualization stack.  Continue Reading

• Design a custom Hyper-V Integration Services component

  The steps for creating a new component of Hyper-V Integration Services include registering an app, creating and binding a Hyper-V socket, and compiling server and client apps.  Continue Reading

• Use VMware vSphere templates to manage VMs at scale

  VM templates in vSphere enable IT administrators to manage large environments by rapidly deploying fully configured VMs using the content library interface.  Continue Reading

• Create VM templates without encountering errors

  Creating a VM template is a fairly straightforward process. Even so, it's a good idea to familiarize yourself with Microsoft's documentation to avoid common mistakes.  Continue Reading

• Mix test and production environments with hyper-convergence

  Despite the enhanced separation that hyper-converged infrastructure can offer, it's better to mix environments and use rules to create a hardware-independent workload balance.  Continue Reading

• Build an IT maintenance plan around infrastructure needs

  Don't delay maintenance reboots. It's easy to forget to reboot hosts, tools and drivers, so use a reboot schedule to ensure your infrastructure remains functional.  Continue Reading

• Incorporate virtual private clouds in a hybrid IT environment

  Don't let the added complexity of VPCs deter you from integrating them with your hybrid cloud. Simply keep these configuration factors in mind to ensure seamless interoperability.  Continue Reading

• SCVMM PowerShell commands for server health checks

  Perform regular SCVMM health checks -- such as monitoring clustered shared volume utilization and host participation in SCVMM placement -- using simple PowerShell commands and scripts.  Continue Reading

• XCP-ng offers new hypervisor option for cost-conscious shops

  A new open source fork of Citrix XenServer includes many features proprietary hypervisors offer, but it's not likely to displace market leaders any time soon.  Continue Reading

• Manage VMM library servers with PowerShell

  Using PowerShell commands can save you time when searching for all the shares on a VMM library server, exporting and importing VMM library resources, and checking for VMM templates.  Continue Reading

• Troubleshoot common VM live migration errors

  VM live migration errors in Hyper-V include connection issues, virtual switch mismatches and incompatible hardware. Learn more about these common errors and how to resolve them.  Continue Reading

• Should you virtualize an edge computing server?

  The need to pack a lot of compute power into a small package leaves many wondering whether containers and serverless frameworks could replace virtualization at the edge.  Continue Reading

• SCVMM vs. Hyper-V Manager: Which tasks are best suited to each?

  Although SCVMM offers capabilities far exceeding those of Hyper-V Manager, Hyper-V Manager has the advantage of being simpler to use and not requiring an additional license.  Continue Reading

• Support a guest security policy with endpoint hardening

  Guest security relies not only on a series of tools and best practices, but also on a security mindset that starts with endpoint hardening and follows the deployment of every VM.  Continue Reading

• Serverless infrastructure demands new roles for IT admins

  Serverless technology is going to disrupt the data center, and IT administrators will need to shift their expertise from management to configuration and from servers to services.  Continue Reading

• Make the jump from a VMware SDDC to a hybrid cloud environment

  Get a handle on hybrid basics, such as new SDDC roles and VMware Cloud on AWS infrastructure, pricing and integration before taking your VMware environment to the cloud.  Continue Reading

• Fail at scale: Build failure into virtual infrastructure design

  It's better to be over-prepared than surprised. Design virtual infrastructure around the possibility that it might fail and have a plan in mind for when it does.  Continue Reading

• Manage all your Hyper-V snapshots with PowerShell

  Using PowerShell commands to take and remove Hyper-V snapshots, and to restore VMs to a previous state is easy and efficient, especially when working with bulk VMs.  Continue Reading

• Manage Hyper-V containers and VMs with these best practices

  Containers and VMs should be treated as the separate instance types they are, but there are specific management strategies that work for both that admins should incorporate.  Continue Reading

• Set up Hyper-V nested virtualization for production

  There are several considerations for using nested virtualization in Hyper-V production environments, including system requirements, networking, storage and memory considerations.  Continue Reading

• Use an IT outage communication plan to recover from a host crash

  Efficiently recover from a host crash by maintaining transparency for your stakeholders and evaluating the resources available for a full root cause analysis.  Continue Reading

• Build an IT infrastructure plan from the ground up

  IT infrastructure improvements require careful planning that includes evaluating new technologies, such as converged and hyper-converged, and building for future flexibility.  Continue Reading

• Consider Hyper-V live migration requirements before configuration

  An effective live migration setup is key to a complete Hyper-V configuration. Consider these expert recommendations, such as limiting concurrent live migrations, to ensure success.  Continue Reading

• Prepare a Hyper-V configuration report with PowerShell

  Generate a report with valuable Hyper-V configuration information, such as the virtual disk path, using a PowerShell script to ensure your server settings match the design documentation.  Continue Reading

• KVM troubleshooting in six simple steps

  To troubleshoot common KVM issues, start by checking the logs. Then, isolate the issue and check the VM status using virsh commands. Finally, check the disk space, memory and networking.  Continue Reading

• Manage Switch Embedded Teaming in Windows Server 2016 Hyper-V

  You can create and manage a Switch Embedded Team in Hyper-V using just a few PowerShell commands, but there are specific requirements and limitations you should be aware of.  Continue Reading

• Use Sysprep to generalize Hyper-V VMs for rapid deployment

  Microsoft's Sysprep tool enables rapid Hyper-V VM configuration and deployment through image generalization. Use commands to speed up configuration and disaster recovery.  Continue Reading

• Small-scale infrastructure testing requires transparency

  Use small-scale tests for a cheaper alternative to expensive, duplicate test environments, but be wary of limitations, such as hardware functionality and performance.  Continue Reading

• Enable rapid provisioning of VMs with SCVMM SAN copy

  Achieve VM rapid provisioning with SCVMM by creating a SAN copy template from either an existing or new VM. Then select the required options when deploying the template to the host.  Continue Reading

• Evaluate private cloud service providers in the market

  Red Hat, Microsoft and VMware all provide private cloud environments that offer security and compliance, but it's important to consider other business needs, as well.  Continue Reading

• Top 5 features to look for in private cloud services offerings

  When evaluating private cloud services, consider offerings that provide an intuitive self-service portal, RBAC, capacity planning and policy enforcement for tenant workloads.  Continue Reading

• Amazon Virtual Private Cloud 101: Features, pricing and more

  Evaluate the key features of Amazon Virtual Private Cloud, learn about its advantages and disadvantages, and consider pricing and best practices before implementing the platform.  Continue Reading

• Expedite Ansible KVM provisioning with automation

  Creating KVM virtual machines with virsh and virt-install can be onerous. Use Ansible to automate deployment with templates and modules or to extend to functions like cloning.  Continue Reading

• Manage KVM at scale with these best practices

  KVM management is easy when VM density is low, but managing hundreds or thousands of VMs can present a challenge. Plan ahead, configure the right drivers and optimize for scale.  Continue Reading

• Understand major private cloud services advantages

  Consider the benefits of private cloud services before jumping on the public cloud bandwagon. There's more to private clouds than control over infrastructure and better security.  Continue Reading

• Limit the size of VMware hosts to control VM density

  Large VMware hosts can be advantageous, but VM density can have unforeseen consequences during a system failure. Evaluate VM functionality to ensure you're ready for a disaster.  Continue Reading

• Create a private cloud in SCVMM with these factors in mind

  The process of creating a private cloud with System Center Virtual Machine Manager starts with getting to know major private cloud components and calculating resource requirements.  Continue Reading

• Compare virtual private cloud server providers

  Cost is an important factor to consider when evaluating different VPC providers, but the kind of hardware and data lines the providers offer plays a role, too.  Continue Reading

• Virtual private cloud vs. private cloud differences explained

  Virtual private clouds and private clouds differ in terms of architecture, the provider and tenants, and resource delivery. Decide between the two models based on these distinctions.  Continue Reading

• Hybrid cloud vs. private cloud: What's the difference?

  Private clouds, which are owned and operated by the business, provide security, but they have certain limitations. Hybrid clouds incorporate both private and public cloud deployments.  Continue Reading

• Hybrid cloud advantages and disadvantages explained

  Hybrid cloud is touted as providing the best of both private and public clouds, but this type of infrastructure comes with its own pros and cons, such as flexibility and complexity.  Continue Reading

• Best practices for sizing a server

  Serving sizing requires a number of comparisons, especially between having a few large servers or many popcorn servers. Compare use cases to find what fits.  Continue Reading

• Overcome hybrid cloud deployment challenges

  Before adopting a hybrid cloud, think about how it will benefit the business and the ultimate goal. Also, hire IT staff with the appropriate level of expertise and start small.  Continue Reading

• Manage private cloud performance and troubleshoot issues

  Management tools intended for private clouds are key to troubleshooting performance issues because they provide insight that traditional virtualization management tools might not.  Continue Reading

• Enable resource metering in Hyper-V to collect usage data

  Easily monitor resource utilization for your Hyper-V VMs by first enabling the resource metering feature and then collecting data with a few PowerShell commands.  Continue Reading

• Hybrid cloud providers offer different architecture types

  Hybrid cloud means different things to different vendors; some set aside part of the public cloud for private cloud purposes and others simply support an on-premises private cloud.  Continue Reading

• Migrate virtual machines from development to production

  Administrators must prepare carefully before moving test or development VMs to production. Check connectivity, security, compliance and licensing before beginning a migration.  Continue Reading

• Hunt zombie VMs and control virtualization sprawl

  VM tagging is an effective tactic for discovering and eliminating zombie VMs. Cut useless VMs, redundant data and confusing configurations to enable efficient resource consumption and limit VM sprawl.  Continue Reading

• Hyper-V Manager update in Windows Server 2016 replete with features

  Microsoft developed several improvements to Hyper-V Manager in Windows Server 2016. These new Hyper-V features improve VM management with added security and flexibility options.  Continue Reading

• Considerations for creating a VM for a development environment

  Just because admins are working in a test/dev environment doesn't mean they can be lax about creating VMs. There are several items to consider, including licensing and compliance.  Continue Reading

• Add virt-manager to your set of KVM management tools

  KVM virt-manager provides a useful and simple VM management GUI. The console enables VM creation, deletion and troubleshooting. Learn the basics of its management and installation.  Continue Reading

• Get cloud computing certified, but don't abandon virtualization

  Cloud certification training can help an IT administrator's career, but it's only practical if it aligns with your company and you don't forgo virtualization upkeep.  Continue Reading