Tag Archives: vsphere

ESX 4 (vSphere) – installation issues

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I’ve had a couple of installation issues with ESX4

One was particularly strange, the install process would freeze every now and again until i pressed a key on the keyboard. This was related to AMD’s power saving C1 mode – disable this in the bios to fix this problem.

Secondly it was a problem with my nic. Essentially i didn’t have card that was supported (realtek). After inserting a intel card all was well. This fires up a ambiguous error and cans the whole install. (lvmdriver error)

It was nice to see that my pata drive was supported – i’ve been using it for quick tests but was unsure if it was supported in vSphere. Note: i’ve got a flash card enclosure that i’m planning on using in the future, just awaiting the card.   (hopefully this saves me some power)

Citrix XenServer 5.5 – First impressions

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I had decided to try out Citrix Xen Server at home since i work a lot with vmware during my working week and felt like a change. It all seemed well… That is until i had to deal with snapshots. I suppose i have taken for granted almost all other virtual host software that provides a simple “revert to snapshot” option. From what i can tell this is totally absent from Citrix XenServer 5.5.

There are comments from within Citrix that they are working on this as a feature, but it has yet to make it to fruition. Unfortunately for me with the type of work i do (testing / proof of concept etc) this is a deal breaker. Looks like i’m gunna have to try out vSphere at home. (currently only using 3.5 at work)

Least vSphere has thin provisioning now, so nothing (feature wise) i’ll be missing from Citrix’s Xen Server.

Updated : 28/07/2009

I’ve actually got no choice but to stay with Citrix Xen for now, looks like the sata controller and network chip on my motherboard is not supported by either 3.5 U4 or vSphere. Doh! (i should have checked the HCL but sometimes just like to try my luck)