Virtual Updates 2020-02-17

VMware Licensing Change – Per CPU and Per Core
VMware is pushing out a change on how it licenses ESXi.
We are all familiar with the per CPU Socket model that has been in existence for some time (since the release of ESXi 1.x).
Well, now they are moving to per CPU with a max of 32-cores.
While that may not impact you right now, as CPU core counts go up, this will be something you have to deal with…maybe the next year or two.
What happens when you get a 36-core CPU? you will need 2 x CPU licenses to run ESXi on that.
Why don’t they just change their licensing to strictly be per core?
I don’t know…they didn’t ask me.
I truly believe if they want to start addressing cores, then just go straight core, and forget the CPU socket count. They already have figured out how much per core licensing would cost (~$118 or so, given the cost of ESXi Enterprise Plus per CPU socket licensing). Why not just do per core then?
With a mix of CPU socket and Core Count, I can see the nightmare coming….just like the vRAM Tax fiasco of the vSphere 5.0 release.
Remember that?
Having to do different designs for each solution to figure out the most cost effective way to deliver a mix of CPU and memory and determining how many hosts in each too.
I have no problem changing the licensing from CPU Socket to core, if that’s what you want to do.
I do have a problem with keep CPU Socket licensing, and limiting the number of cores to 32 per socket. Adding unnecessary design constraints to something in this manner will be a pain….again, not today, but next year & forward. If you run the new AMD chips (with 64-cores), you now have twice the expense to run ESXi on it…..
This happens on April 2, 2020.
Read the VMware News Post here.

Intel – another CPU vulnerability
Got another one to be aware of now.
Bob Plankers put out a post about these new vulnerabilities.
Nothing for us to do yet, as Intel hasn’t shipped a code-fix, but as long as you are patching your vSphere environment, you should be covered.

Continue reading “Virtual Updates 2020-02-17”

Virtual Updates 2020-02-03

Microsoft LDAP Changes…cont
This is an important one, and it was first highlighted here 2 weeks ago.
The VMware Blog post highlighting this is here.
so I’ve done some of the changes recommended…

vSphere Certificates Expiry
Short version?
VMware electronically signs software release as they come out.
Software released recently have had 2 certificates….an old and a new.
The old certificate expires 12/31/2019
The new certificate expires 6/2037
This impacts your upgrade path, and given that there is still quite a bit of vSphere 6.0 out there about to be upgraded, you may hit this snag.
This means to go from vSphere 6.0 to 6.7, you may have to do a multiple-step upgrade, even though you can infer that an inlace upgrade is supported.
VMware Blog post is here.

Continue reading “Virtual Updates 2020-02-03”

Virtual Updates 2020-01-20

vSphere 6.0 – End of Support March 2020
We all have heard that support is ending….
March is only 2 months away!
This VMware Blog Post will be linked here for the next 2 months….
Here’s a direct link to VMware Product Lifecycle Matrix for products.
Let’s not forget that vSphere 6.5 & 6.7 have end of support for 2021/11/15

Microsoft LDAP Changes
This is an important one!
For all of us who grant vCenter permissions with AD over LDAP…
A change is coming in Microsoft software in March 2020.
This affects lots of software, not just VMware…
If you are using ldap://domain.com:389 in vSphere (or other), please read.
The VMware Blog post highlighting this is here.

CVS 10-year anniversary with WEI
Awesome news. (I’m biased a bit, as I work at WEI.
CVS has recently posted this to their website.
Its a short glimpse into their diversity program, and the have a video made that highlights WEI (a nice 4-minute video), our teams, and what makes WEI special.

Continue reading “Virtual Updates 2020-01-20”

Virtual Updates 2020-01-06

vSphere – Where did the name come from?
Light reading to start off 2020…
We all use the term vSphere.
We know it refers to an infrastructure with vCenter & ESXi.
How did it come to be?
This VMware Blog post covers the story of then name vSphere.

Short Week of News
Well, the end of the year has been quiet.
This has got to be the shortest update ever.
At least the first story is fun….

Continue reading “Virtual Updates 2020-01-06”

Virtual Updates 2019-12-23

VMware Turtles
Anyone who follows VMware on any media, at some point, has probably seen a reference to the VMware Turtles.
Who are they?
Well, they are Turtles (obviously) that live in the ponds at VMware’s corporate campus in Palo Alto, CA.
This past week, VMware Blog has a post about their origins.
Nice light reading for the end of the year!

VMware Skyline Update – 12/2019
For those who don’t know about Skyline….
Free advisor for those with Production Support for vSphere.
ABSOLUTELY RECOMMENDED!
Already installed?
If auto-update is on, you’ll get the new features.
If not, update when you can.
VMware Blog post covers the new update.

Continue reading “Virtual Updates 2019-12-23”

Virtual Updates 2019-12-09

HPE SAS SSD Drive Failure Imminent!
This sounds bad.
Taken right from the linked document….
Bulletin: HPE SAS Solid State Drives – Critical Firmware Upgrade Required for Certain HPE SAS Solid State Drive Models to Prevent Drive Failure at 32,768 Hours

VMware Project Pacific
I keep posting on this, but I’m just trying to stay on top of it…
Cormac Hogan did a great writeup that takes 5-10 minutes to read & comprehend the solution.
Of course, William Lam tweeted about a few VMworld sessions (2 of which were new to me) that are worth watching. You will need a VMworld account to get access to these.
HBI1452BE – Supervisor Cluster
HBI4500BE – Guest Cluster
HBI4501BE – Native Pods

Continue reading “Virtual Updates 2019-12-09”

Virtual Updates 2019-11-25

vSphere & Intel JCC, TAA, and MCEPSC/IFU: What You Need to Know
This post is all about CPU vulnerabilities & remediation in vSphere.
This doesn’t tell you what to do, but rather provides options for what you can do. Here this from customers often enough, that these posts are worth referring back to.

VMware Project Pacific – Beta open
Can’t wait for the release?
Get in on this beta.
The announcement of the beta program states it is limited access.
It provides a link to request access.

Continue reading “Virtual Updates 2019-11-25”