Indicium Blog

The Business Case for ESXi5

Thu, 24 Nov 2011 09:15:44 +1100

When ESX 5 was released in July this year, VMware displayed once again why their product is highly regarded and used in organisation large and small though out the world. A number of improvements on the existing platform and a range on new features makes ESX 5 even more attractive than previous versions.

Some attractive features include:

New virtual hardware – ESXi 5.0 introduces and new generation of virtual hardware which allows the running of more CPU intensive workloads on the VMware platform, utilising up to 32 virtual CPUs and 1TB of RAM. If you thought that some of your physical servers could not be virtualised, think again

The ability to hot add VM vCPUs and memory, to grow VMFS volumes, to hot extend virtual disks and to hot add virtual disks means less downtime for your production environments.

New ESXi Firewall – the ESXi 5.0 is protected by a service-oriented and stateless firewall. The new firewall which also protects the VMs is now easier to configure and maintain, so security can now be easily managed in the VMware environment.

VMs can be migrated from one host to another even though they have snapshots. If one host fails the VMs will still fail over to another host.

vCenter is now available as a preconfigured Server Appliance, so you can manage your ESX farm from a dedicated device rather than a Windows server. Your VM management platform will no longer require Microsoft patches or antivirus updates

The new virtual hardware also allows you to utilise Windows 7 features by using Windows Aero desktops and running 3D applications in virtual machines. These nice to have features of a physical desktop and be enjoyed in a virtual desktop too.

vSphere Autodeploy - A new set of command line utilities allows administrators to create custom ESXi images that images that include specialised hardware. This allows for an even faster deployment of new hosts enhancing the ability to quickly grow your ESX farm

There were many other value add features offered in ESXi4 and 4.1, so if you are still using ESXi3.5 you may wish to ask one of our consultants what additional benefits are available by upgrading your virtual environment.

The Business Case for Windows 7

Mon, 19 Sep 2011 15:00:44 +1000

Considering that Windows XP is 9 years old (which is somewhat archaic in software and Operating System world!) and Microsoft stopped mainstream support and development on XP in 2009 the adoption for Windows 7 is gaining momentum in corporates around the world. Does your organization have a strategy for implementing Windows 7 in your environment and realizing the benefits that it can bring?

For the savvy organization Windows 7 can unlock the following benefits:

Faster Performance and More Reliable – 64bit would be my preference considering that this is where the application world is moving. Also I have only had to restart my Windows 7 machine once in the last 6 weeks for a critical patch!
More Productive and Intuitive Interface with better more context sensitive menus so users can use more of the features.
For the travelling exec Windows 7 has a longer battery life and makes it easy to connect wirelessly when in hotels and cafes to gain Internet access.
Full Application Compatibility with XP so unless you have really old 16 bit apps you rest assured that all your apps will work. Microsoft even provide tools to migrate your data and favourites etc to Windows 7.
More manageable with Windows 2008 server – allows for IT Administrators more options for management and application deployment with a Windows 7 fleet thereby making supporting users easier and effective. In fact considering that Microsoft are no longer providing mainstream support for XP, there are risks with NOT moving to Windows 7.

So if you aren’t already trialling or using Windows 7 in your organization, I would suggest that you grab a test machine and begin testing so that you can start realizing the benefits it promises.

Use of Cloud tip 52: Enabling Disaster Recovery

Wed, 17 Aug 2011 16:15:51 +1000

Word is certainly getting around town that Cloud Computing is a phenomenon that requires some attention in your business. The question is not anymore whether you consider Cloud Computing but rather how best you utilise it to realise the benefits that it can bring to your organisation. In my opinion one of Cloud's heavyweight benefits is as an enabler of Disaster Recovery solutions. Many a times I have seen that organisations rely on a backup tape to be their saviour should the ultimate crisis cause them to lose access to their production environment. However the time (Recovery Time) it can take to restore this data after sourcing appropriate infrastructure to restore it on can be significant. Even if one is succesful after an arduous effort, data is as current as your last good backup (Recover Point) and one could be a week behind at this stage! The truth is that most businesses probably aren’t geared to match what their business defines as an acceptable Recovery Time Objective or Recovery Point Objective and there are ample stats to prove that most businesses do not survive if they suffer a complete loss of their production environment for an extended period of time (Gartner claim this to be 3 days!!!). But one can easily find themself between undesirable benefits...to mitigate the risk from an unlikely large scale disaster event may require a substantial investment in a DR environment similar to the production environment including all the Microsoft software...unless of course the license was purchased initially with Software Assurance and I can only assume that this is highly unlikely.

But this is precisely where Cloud Computing can assist! Well for one an organisation does not need to acquire hardware for this objective and can have it ready and available on demand. Moreover if the backups are kept close to and in a format that allows for direct import into a Cloud providers environment then essentially this can assist in getting around the requirements for owning duplicate licenses for software just for DR purposes. So I vote strongly in favour for Cloud... if not for production then definitely for executing a DR strategy as it can result in significant savings whilst solving a diffficult yet critical business challenge

Log a Support Request Online and win 1 of 2 Logitech Remote Controls

Fri, 15 Jul 2011 11:10:16 +1000

My team and I are constantly being challenged by new technologies and whilst this is certainly an enjoyable aspect of our work, we need to be cognisant of ensuring that new applications and systems are supported well for our clients…YOU! We have been reviewing and analysing the support calls that we receive via email, phone and online and have noted that the calls logged via http://www.indicium.com.au/support/index.php provide the most accurate information about the problem or the change that you want to implement. Logging support requests via our online support form also means less clarifying emails or phone calls from our support team leaving us more time on your challenge. Our brand charter is Breathe Easy and my team and I are certainly committed to this cause so the information on our simple online support form will help us to help you better!

And here is another reason to use our online support form…for the months of July and August, we want to reward two lucky people with a Logitech Harmony One Remote Control valued at $299 (http://www.logitech.com/en-us/remotes/universal-remotes/devices/6441) which will help you to unclutter from the myriad of remote controls you have and to simplify your TV/Media viewing experience at home! We have two of these to give away and all you have to do is to use the online support form at (http://www.indicium.com.au/support/index.php) when logging your next support call with the words Breathe Easy in the Equipment/Device Affected field. Winners will be announced in our next edition of the newsletter.

Moving into the Cloud

Wed, 13 Jul 2011 15:22:37 +1000

Ok now that your company has decided to embark on the Cloud journey in the near future (and all statistics suggest that you are definitely in the majority)…what next? Apart from selecting the appropriate Cloud platform, how would you migrate your applications, users and data ensuring that none of this is compromised whilst ensuring that there is no downtime suffered during the migration. As simplistic as the Cloud model appears there are real considerations and challenges to overcome before an organisation can realise its benefits… “As for the future, your task is not to forsee it, but to enable it.”- Antoine de Saint Exupery, poet and pilot (1900-1944). And enable it you shall with some meticulous planning!

And planning for Cloud enablement (or Onboarding as the industry refers to it) is essential for success. Certainly the task is made easier if your environment is already virtualised as it will generally allow for easy porting. However where it’s not, it’s important to consider how your backup methodology can complement the Onboarding process.

Another important consideration is the area of application compatibility. Often the Cloud means more current systems than presently in use in your organisation including newer versions of Windows Server and Microsoft Office so application compatibility supported by some comprehensive test plans can save the nightmare of Monday morning cutover issues!

Other considerations like security and sharing of administration tasks will present your internal IT resource with the opportunity to divest these tasks in favour for more time on the business and technology alignment strategy.

Onboarding methodology also needs to encompass some sort of user training and often needs to be carried out well before the “go live” date. This has certainly proven to be the case and for our clients has resulted in a better adoption of the change.

Whilst we are not Amazon…our Cloud matters

Wed, 22 Jun 2011 15:16:11 +1000

There has been much hype around the industry and Cloud Computing has been touted (even in CeBIT) to revolutionise the way businesses are going to approach their infrastructure and application requirements in the very near future. For the saavy businesses, the Cloud holds the following benefits:

Reduced Cost - Cloud technology is paid incrementally, saving organizations money and significantly reducing investment in capital assets;
Flexibility – Cloud Computing can offer much more flexibility since organisations are not hampered by legacy infrastructure often seen as the hurdle for flexibility;
Mobility – Access the Cloud from anywhere using any device securely;
Allows IT to Shift Focus – As keeping the underlying infrastructure and some of the application layers supported and updated are features of the cloud providers, local IT resource can be deployed more strategically within the organisation;
Increased storage and other resources – As a growing concern and requirement, the Cloud offers increased scale when it comes to storage and other infrastructure resources often on short notice.

Sure not all Cloud providers are Amazon but that doesn’t mean that these solutions aren’t relevant. For most small to mid-sized corporates cloud solution providers such as Indicium provide a “real” solution over the abstract utility based concept that Amazon provides. In fact for these corporates a Cloud offering consisting of a combination of highly redundant hardware, business specific applications, proactive support services and communication links out of a quality data centre can help to realise these benefits.