vSphere Update 1 is out!
Apparently as I lay in bed in dreamland last night VMWare released vSphere update 1 - took long enough!
Update 1 brings several notable improvements:
• vSphere client works in Windows 7 - without a hack!
• You can run Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 as guest operating systems.
• View 4.0 support.
• Improved MSCS support.
• PVSCSI for 2003 and 2008.
• Improved dvswitch performance.
• 25 vCPU's per core!
• Support for Intel Xeon 3400 Series.
• And a whole lot of bug fixes.
No USB pass-through fix, and it seems like there are more known issues than fixed. To be fair, one of my VMWare colleagues mentioned that there were more known issues when 4 released than now, and most of these have existed since then.
For those of you with ESXi free, it's not available yet. No word on when it will be released - sorry!
Reports are already coming in of successful deployments, and I will probably update myself during next week’s rather large maintenance window (read: Thanksgiving).
Cisco AnyConnect, LDAP, and you.
I recently discovered that Cisco had released a much cheaper version of their AnyConnect client alongside their ASA 8.2 release. AnyConnect Essentials runs $150 (list price, so for Cisco, chop off an average of 35%) and allows for up to 250 concurrent connections on my ASA 5510. Previously you either had to settle for their IPSec client or their Premium AnyConnect license. From my own impressions, Cisco had given up on their IPSec client... no 64 bit client? Hello? Their more expensive AnyConnect license included features that I didn't need and was something obscene like $150/user.
Enter AnyConnect essentials. You can install it by going to your ASA's IP address and logging in. It downloads the client which is about 1.5MB compressed, and connects you. Bam! Instant SSL encrypted VPN tunnel. In testing it appears to work really well. I've tried the client on XP, Vista, 7, and Linux and I like it. I'll be deploying this to my company very soon.
Like most things Cisco, just because you can do it doesn't mean it's easy to do (or easy to find relevant information for). In my case, I wanted to implement the AnyConnect software with LDAP and allow different groups access to different resources depending on Active Directory group memberships.
After an hour or so of using Google, I found a few documents that really helped me (and hopefully you!):
Configuring AnyConnect VPN Client Connections
ASA 8.0: Configure LDAP Authentication for WebVPN Users
PIX/ASA 8.0: Use LDAP Authentication to Assign a Group Policy at Login
I hope that helps - if you need any help, leave a comment and I'll see what I can do
Windows 7 is not bad.
Windows 7 - what a breath of fresh air!
I've been using Windows 7 since the beta was released on Technet and like a lot of people I believe it's everything Vista should have been. My only real problem with it is it's a couple years late.
Whoever Microsoft has in charge of usability did a really good job. The interface improvements have increased my efficiency, and more importantly (and very much unlike Vista) the improvements are far beyond cosmetic. For example, being able to effectively split screen applications by dragging them to right/left sides and the stacked taskbar with thumbnails.
For my home environment, I have found that homegroups are a great way to share media, such as music, between rooms and my HTPC. Remote desktop and various other applications that remember the last connection or documents you have opened in the past.
At my job, there are even more improvements. I chose to skip Vista, we will not be skipping Windows 7. Bitlocker - good bye PGP whole disk encryption? That alone will save us $150 per FTE. DirectAccess could potentially replace our Cisco ASA firewalls. The search feature may actually mean that I don't have to deal with employees installing Google Search and the associated privacy issues.
Oh, and it's faster too.
I guess it goes without saying that if Windows 7's launch went as bad as Vista's Microsoft would have been in a heap of trouble. I think that Microsoft not only dodged a bullet, but managed to create a great product.
Well done!
VCP – VMWare Certified Professional
Recently, I had the opportunity to complete a VMWare-run week long "bootcamp" style class in San Francisco. For those of you that are familiar with VMWare training, the class was the brand new FastTrack for vSphere.
The class ran from 8AM until 6PM - with lunch usually consumed sitting at a computer working on a lab.
The two instructors were fantastic and the course was chock full of information. I'd recommend it for any level of knowledge, though you may want to stick to a slower paced Install, Configure, and Manage (ICM) course if you are totally green.
At almost $5000 the class is expensive, but you have to attend an official VMWare training in order to qualify to take the VCP (VMWare Certified Professional) exam. Obtaining the VCP was my primary goal of the class, but I won't lie to you and say I didn't learn anything.
After the week long class was over, I spent the weekend studying and reviewing with a friend of mine and then on Monday I took the exam.
I passed!
I'm still waiting for my certificate and the rights to use the VCP logo, so that will need to wait for awhile, but I am an official VCP 4!
Butter Chicken
I've been married for 3 years and I only cook once in a blue moon. Which means I've cooked 3 times total. For good reason really, my wife is a much better cook than I am.
For some reason, I was thinking about Indian food last night and came up with the idea to make butter chicken.
Roughly 24 hours later, I'm full and find myself thinking: there's a lot of pleasure to be found in providing a service to others... one of the reasons why I enjoy being in IT.
Obligatory picture:
Ridiculously good.
Recipe can be found here.
(Note: There's probably about 10 million or so versions. I only tried this one 