vmwarez.com
           -Where Virtualization is a Reality!

Read the details here. There's about 5 main points that it addresses. One pain-in-the-neck about it is that it requires new VMware tools to be installed on all the guests. Oh well... looks like we'll have a late night one of these weekends.

I've updated the original post about the IPCop test rig. If you've downloaded it before, you'll notice that I've re-numbered the network and updated some of the add-ons. You can read about it here at the original blog entry.

The add-ons that are already installed in this IPCop VM need a little more attention than I gave them in the first post, so here's some quotes from their website:

urlfilter - The URL filter add-on for IPCop

URL filter is an add-on module for the popular Linux based firewall distributions IPCopand SmoothWall, extending their functionality with the ability to block unwanted domains, URLs and files.

Key features of URL filter:
*The URL filter module is available for both distributions, IPCop and SmoothWall
*It's ready to use. Download, install, and run
*Seamless GUI integration for configuration and log viewer
*Very flexible, block categories are not hardcoded
*Works with all squidGuard compatible blacklists
*Automatic blacklist updates on a scheduled basis
*Time, category and client based constraints (IPCop only)
*No reboot required, neither for installation or deinstallation, nor during operation
*And ... it's free, even for commercial use

advproxy - The Advanced Web Proxy add-on for IPCop

Advanced Proxy is an add-on module for the popular Linux based firewall distributions IPCop and SmoothWall, extending their web proxy functionality with a lot of versatile and useful additional features.

Key features of Advanced Proxy:
*Seamless GUI integration for advanced web proxy configuration
*Local user authentication including group based user management
*LDAP authentication including Active Directory, eDirectory and OpenLDAP
*Windows authentication including Windows NT/2003 domains and Samba
*RADIUS authentication
*Extended cache management
*Web access control by IP and MAC addresses
*Time based access restrictions
*MIME type filter
*Blocking of unauthorized browsers or client software
*Automatic client configuration support (PAC and WPAD)

cre - Classroom Extensions for the Advanced Proxy add-on

The Classroom Extensions (CRE) for the Advanced Proxy Server will give you the ability to delegate administrative tasks to non-administrative users. Therefore, the CRE will create a new logical role between the Admin and the users: The Supervisor.

The Supervisor may now turn on and off web access for predefined groups (e.g. specific computers in a classroom) without the need of having administrative access rights to the IPCop GUI.

Key features of the Classroom Extensions:
*Group definitions by single IP addresses, IP ranges and/or subnets
*Supervisor access protected by password and/or network address
*No administrative IPCop privileges required for the Supervisor

All administrative CRE settings will accessible within the Advanced Proxy GUI.

calamaris - Calamaris Proxy Report Generator add-on

Calamaris v2 is a logfile parser and report generator, originally written by Cord
Beermann and distributed under the GNU Public License. This add-on
integrates Calamaris into the IPCop or SmoothWall GUI and gives you the ability
to create customized, detailed, menu driven Proxy reports.

Report features of the Calamaris add-on:
*Summary
*Request method (GET, HEAD, ...)
*Incoming requests (TCP and UDP)
*Outgoing requests
*Requested first- and second-level domains
*Protocol report (http, gopher, ftp, ...)
*Requested content-types and
file extensions
*Size based distribution of objects
*Performance in
defined timeranges

All reports can be exported or viewed within the
integrated log viewer.

Click here for more vmwarez.com pre-built VMs.

As much as I hate having to log on to read articles, this one looks like it may be worth it. They give you a teaser few paragraphs before requireing a logon to read the rest.

From my family to yours... Merry Christmas!

This is mostly bug fixes... Read all the details here.

Here's a list of books on the topic of virtualization / server consolidation and anything else that is helpful for an IT guy that works with this stuff:

• The Book of VMware: The Complete Guide to VMware Workstation
• Virtualization: From the Desktop to the Enterprise
• The VMWare Workstation 5 Handbook (Networking & Security)
• Rob's Guide To Using Vmware
• Virtualization with VMware ESX Server
• VMware ESX Server : Advanced Technical Design Guide

Amazon.com
There's only so much you can do by multitasking applications. Frequently, you just need another computer for testing software, trying out network configurations, or doing any of a dozen things that engineers and administrators need to do. VMware allows you to run several virtual machines on one physical computer, each completely independent of the others at all levels and each potentially running a different operating system. The Book of VMware provides full documentation on running both versions of this tremendously useful utility--Windows and Linux--and goes into great detail on how it goes about dividing the resources of a single physical box. If you want to know how the Linux version of VMware manages the file systems of a Windows guest operating system, or how USB devices are shared across multiple virtual machines, this book is the single best resource for you.

Brian Ward's prose style is pretty dry; you won't read this one from front to back, and it's unlikely you'll even read a chapter straight through unless you're encountering a problem and want to know everything potentially related to it. More likely, you'll use the index to locate Ward's coverage of FreeBSD disk-lettering schemes (or whatever) and read the several pages of text and illustrations he devotes to the matter. This is a specialized reference book, and a very good one. --David Wall

Topics covered:
All aspects of VMware 3.0 Workstation (from VMware Corporation) for both the Windows and Linux versions of the software. Coverage of the two variants is approximately equal. In addition to explaining how to install both kinds of VMware, the author shows how guest systems behave--in terms of disk usage, driver compatibility, device sharing, networking, and all other major systems--in both environments. There's great coverage of FreeBSD as a guest system.

Edouard Bugnion, Co-founder and Chief architect at VMware, Inc. "A great introduction to VMware Workstation. . . ."

Book Description
Creating a virtual network gives network administrators a way to maximize the usage of their servers. This will be the only book on the market that outlines how to manage all aspects of virtualization across an enterprise. Other books focus on single aspects of virtualization, without delving into the interrelationships of the technologies. Coverage of all aspects of virtualization, including virtual machines, virtual file systems, clustering, and virtualized storage solutions, will enable readers to understand which virtualization technologies may be right for their environment.

About the Author
Erick M. Halter was an educator for 3 years, winning multiple student retention and professional development awards. He currently works as a network engineer for a technology-based law firm where he is virtualizing the current network and optimizing system processes for the Web. Halter also configures and maintains infrastructure equipment for heightened security and performance. Halter has several industry certifications, a degree in English, and 10 years of network experience. He resides in Richmond, Virginia, with his wife and three dogs. Chris Wolf is an instructor at ECPI Technical College, as well as a leading industry consultant in enterprise storage, virtualization solutions, and network infrastructure management. He has a master's degree in information technology from Rochester Institute of Technology, and his IT certification list includes MCSE, MCT, and CCNA.

Book Description
VMware is the leading virtual machine software available today and it is the foundation for next generation computing as it allows users to run multiple operating systems simultaneously on the same PC. The VMware Workstation 5.0 Handbook teaches users the nuts and bolts of this powerful program, including how to install and upgrade VMware and use its guest operating systems. It gives administrators and developers everything they need to know in order to use VMware Workstation effectively, including how to configure, run, and troubleshoot virtual machines. Step-by-step tutorials allow users to work with the software as they read, and real-world examples and software screenshots reinforce the tutorials and make understanding this powerful new technology easy. With this book, users will learn all the skills necessary to use VMware effectively in corporate IT infrastructures.

About the Author
Steven S. Warren (Winter Haven, FL) is a Senior Technical Consultant for The Ultimate Software Group. He has written columns for well-known IT Web sites including Techrepublic.com, CNET, and ZDNET, and has published numerous articles. He holds MCDBA, MCSE, MCSA, CCA, CIW-SA, CIW-MA, Network+, and I-Net+ certifications, and was named a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP).

Book Description
The second edition of Rob's Guide to Using VMWare continues where the author stopped with the first edition. New topics covered in the book are VMWare ACE and VMWare GSX Server. The book now also contains information on VMWare and Linux. This new edition features an overview of the new version 5 of VMWare Workstation. Many topics which were included in the first edition have been updated and new topics have been added.

Book Description
A virtual evolution in IT organizations throughout the world has begun. It is estimated that currently 3% of all servers run virtually and that number is expected to grow rapidly over the next 5 years. VMware's ESX server is the enterprise tool that provides the platform on which a complete virtual infrastructure can be designed, implemented, and managed. ESX is the most powerful, resilient and customizable of VMware's three virtual platforms and this book explores many of the possibilities that a virtual infrastructure running on ESX Server provides.

Server Sprawl and escalating IT costs have managers and system administrators scrambling to find ways to cut costs and reduce Total Cost of Ownership of their physical infrastructure. Combining software applications onto a single server, even if those applications are from the same software vendor, can be dangerous and problems hard to troubleshoot. VMware ESX Server allows you to consolidate 15 to 20 or even more servers onto a single physical server reducing hardware, electrical, cooling, and administrative costs. These virtual servers run completely independent of each other so if one crashes the other are not affected. Planning and implementing a server consolidation is a complex process.

This book details the requirements for such a project, includes sample forms and templates, and delivers several physical to virtual migration strategies which will save both time and costs. You will easily be able to plan and deploy VMware's ESX Server and begin down the path of an evolved, virtual infrastructure in which costs, administration overhead, and complexity are reduced. VMware has provided the technology for a virtual infrastructure and this book shows you how to build it.

Book Description
Detailing the design and deployment of a VMware ESX Server environment, and written from the practical experience of proven VMware engineers, this book provides IT architects with the insight needed to tackle tough design issues such as ESX Server security, network and SAN design, host hardware selection, guest selection and configuration, management tool selection, ESX performance optimizations, and automated installs and provisioning. A linear progression is provided, starting at the basic architecture of ESX server and then moving on to server configurations, design alternatives for hardware, SAN configuration and management tools, the creation of guest operating systems, and strategy development for implementing this technology into a specific environment. Advanced topics such as unattended installs, integration with network management software, configuration options for high availability, and disaster recovery scenarios are also addressed.

About the Author
Ron Oglesby is the director of architecture for RapidApp. He is a VMware Certified Professional and a VMware Authorized Consultant. He is the coauthor of Terminal Services for Windows Server 2003. He lives in Chicago. Scott Herold is a senior network engineer for RapidApp. He lives in Chicago.

I just got this email from them announcing prices that are good untill December 31, 2005

1-9 $41.99 ea
10-24 $37.99 ea
25+ $35.99 ea

Click here to buy

Click here for more info

VMware has announced that they have chosen WebEx Support Center as their official remote support tool. This may not seem very exciting, but if you every NEED their help, this is one of the best ways to get it. Their remote support is bundled with their Gold and Platinum services.

I'm going to start maintaining a list of virtualization sites here... I started to do this in my favorites, but figured that they might-as-well be posted. If you'd like to see your site on here, drop me an email.

http://www.virtualization.info/
The blog about virtualization technologies, products and market trends

http://sanbarrow.com/
VMware hacks, custom apps/utilities

http://www.vmts.net/
Info on virtual machines and terminal services

http://chitchat.at.infoseek.co.jp/vmware/
VMware's back - many utils including the Virtual Floppy Drive

http://citynav.com/vsplus/index.htm
VSPlus for MS Virtual Server 2005

http://vpc.visualwin.com/
The unofficial list of what OSs work w/ MS Virtual Server

http://www.run-virtual.com/
Another virtualization blog...

http://www.alt64.se/forum/
VMware scripting board

http://www.virtualserver.tv/
Your resource portal for Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 and Virtual PC

http://petruska.stardock.net/software/VMware/
Tools for creating virtual machines that work with VM Player

http://atucker.typepad.com/
Andy Tucker's Blog - On virtualization, operating systems, software development, and communities.

http://www.vmguru.com/
Home of the Virtual Machine Gurus

http://www.vmwareprofessional.com/
A source of valuable info if you are taking the VCP test.

http://x86vmm.blogspot.com/
Keith Adams' Blog - an engineer at VMware

http://trivore.com/vmware/
Trivore VMware ESX Server hits 'n' tips

Looks like they're somewhat on the same track as many of us in terms of re-centralizing our desktops. Remember the dumb terminal days? that was before desktops... which was before terminal services, which was before desktops, which was before hosted desktops... seems we keep going back to our roots. Maybe now we've perfected it.

Link to article

UPDATED: 9/14/2006:
IPCop is now version 1.4.11 (details), URLFilter 1.7.1, ADVProxy 2.0Beta 4, Calamaris 2.1.0 and BlockOutTraffic 2.3.1 Build 2.

UPDATED: 5/25/2006:
New versions of URLFilter & ADVProxy are now included in the VM.

UPDATED: 3/3/2006:
Now includes BlockOutTraffic. Click here for details.

UPDATED: 12/29/05:
Upgraded Calamaris Proxy Report Generator to v2.0
Added Classroom Extensions for the Advanced Proxy add-on v1.0
Changed IP Addressing scheme... see readme in zip or download PDF
-------------------
I use IPCopfor testing all sorts of stuff. I used it when I was demo'ing the 2x thin client solution... it made a great virtual router for running another segment with dhcp that specified different PXE info than i wanted running on my production network... I've used it as a "more advanced NAT" than the basic vmware nat for when testing stuff. It will also do some level of bandwidth shaping and QoS. As a virtualized "DSL router" it does way more than any linksys out there... it passes GRE... lets you define source IP lists for your inbound NAT so that you're not leaving your network open to the whole world.

You can find all the official info about IPCop at http://www.ipcop.org/

This little gem can be used for all kinds of things. I've included a network diagram of how it will look on your PC: Click on it for a full sized PDF.



The IP addresses, may need to be changed to fit your network. You can do that by logging on as root and running "setup" from the prompt.

The root and admin passwords are both "vmwarez" and the url to the web interface is http://ipaddress:81 .

You can download this vm here. (about 65mb)

There's also a readme file that will give a little more info... along with the full size PDF of the network diagram and the VM --- all in the zip file.

Click here for more vmwarez.com pre-built VMs.

At long last, VMware has released its Player product. Like Microsoft lets people download their free viewers for Word or Excel, VMware Player is sort of a "viewer" for virtual machines.

You can download it here:

http://www.vmware.com/download/player/

It comes as a windows .exe or a linux rpm or tarball.

The windows installer is about 28mb.

Features:

• Runs any VMware virtual machine (ESX, GSX, Workstation), any MS virtual machines and also Symantec's LiveState Recovery disks
• Accesses the Host's hardware - USB devices, NICs, CD/DVD drives
• Copy & Paste between host and guest
• Drag and drop between host and guest
• Flexible networking - can use a virtual NAT'd network, complete isolation or bridge w/ the host's NIC.
• run 32 & 64bit OSs at the same time on the same host. 64bit OSs that work include certain MS Windows, Red Hat, SuSE & FreeBSD.
• Adjustable memory configuration...
• Shutdown options include automatic suspend or power off.
• and get this... integrated google search! that one came out of no-where.

This is a great way to get into the vm world... Many prebuilt OSs are going to be made available at http://www.vmware.com/vmtn/vm/ Besides commercial ones, there's a new "Community Virtual Machines" section where users can submit their own VMs for download. I'll have one up there soon, I hope.

You can also create your own VM for use with player by going to any of the following websites:
http://www.consolevision.com/members/dcgrendel/vmxform.html
http://petruska.stardock.net/software/vmware/
http://sanbarrow.com/vmxbuilder.html

More on those later...

Take care if you're interested in this... it seems that someone doesn't know what they have - or it is fake. One of the two.

Here's the text of the auction:

VMWare - ESX Server 2 (v2.5) - ESX2-CP DataCenter Class - NIB
- New, NEVER OPENED!
- Create virtual servers to reduce costs in your datacenter
- CD included along with manual
- Part number: ESX2-CP

Click here to view it

It seems that virtualization is really picking up steam. Every day more and more companies are getting on board in one way or another. A lot of die hard vmware fans may get a little testy when they see things like this, but I'm a big fan of compitition. Don't get me wrong... vmware is still the king, in my opinion.

Parallels (never heard of them before today, but that may just show you how little I used to pay attention) just released version 2.0 of their workstation product. Like its name might lead you to believe, it is a direct competitor to vmware workstation. I don't see a lot of features in it like you get for teams, fancy network stuff, cloning, etc, but I haven't demo'd it yet. I'll post about it again after I try it.

They brag about being the world's first virtual pc product that is hypervisor powered:

"Parallels Workstation 2.0 is the first desktop virtualization solution to
include a lightweight hypervisor, a mature technology originally developed in
the 1960s to maximize the power of large mainframes. Hypervisor technology
dramatically improves virtual machine stability, security and performance by
using a thin layer of software, inserted between the machine’s hardware and the
primary operating system, to directly control some of the host machine’s
hardware profiles and resources. It not only makes Parallels Workstation-powered
virtual machines secure, stable and efficient, but also empowers users to
immediately realize the benefits associated with Intel VT hardware
virtualization architecture."

Sounds good to me.... again, I'll write a follow-up post after trying it out.

Other features include:

Wide support for guest operating systems
Windows 3.1 through Windows 2003
Lots of Linux flavors including Red Hat SuSE, Mandriva, Debian, Fedora Core
dos, eComStation and get this: OS/2 :) those were the days...

Windows or Linux Hosts

Hardware virtualization optimized... full support for Intel VT and coming support for AMD's Pacifica

$49 per license !!! that's gotta hurt, however, that may just be a way to counter the free vmware player.

At vmworld 2005 this was a pretty hot topic. Running ESX in your enterprise and hosting virtual machines running windows XP... thin clients at the desk and poof - an awesome solution for oh so many problems.

I was a bit surprised to see that this was such a popular topic of conversation because I thought that we* were MIS-USING ESX by doing this :) only to find out that we were ahead of the game.



We had a need for a computer for a new employee on short notice.... so we thought to ourselves, why don't we just deploy XP on a vm... and then put one of our old crappy PCs at the new guy's desk... he can boot up into XP and the RDP to the vm. So we did it. About a week later, we did it again for another new employee. Now we're doing it when it is time to replace old PCs around the office. The only time this doesn't make sense is when the end user needs physical devices or the ability to run VM Player or the like.

One of our biggest problems was that we did not have or know (and still don't) know of a source for cheap thin clients. Our old PCs were fine, but the thought of burning another XP license just to remote desktop really burned me... It is very difficult to find a thin client for less than $300 or $400... so what do you do? the old PC and a $170 xp license isn't that bad of a deal after all, right? Wrong! There's management with every PC that is deployed. That XP box should have antivirus software on it, right? It should be on the domain, right? It should not be used for anything but RDPing to the vm, right?** Sheesh. What a pain. Why can't we find a cheap thin client?!?!?!

Well, we did. After going to vmworld and sitting in on all the hosted desktop sessions we could and asking several times to the vmware folks about what to do for a cheap thin client, we were still at square one. I figured that as long as they were going to be pushing this solution they should probably partner with Wise or someone to get the prices down. All the vmware employees we talked to agreed that something should be done and that as time went on, surely something would be figured out.

Well, it was. As I was looking for material to talk about on this blog, I found an interesting website. From there, they linked to an advertiser who was selling software for securing a terminal server. I thought that was interesting, because I've often wondered why some of these features were not built into windows... anywho... turns out these folks have a product called "ThinClientServer" Their website is www.2x.com. How cool is that? A two letter domain :)

This software runs on a windows or linux server and allows old PCs or even thin clients to PXE or etherboot an image of a thinclient-only linux build that does nothing but RDP or Citrix ICA or NX to a terminal server. So I thought to myself... I wonder if that will work for RDPing to a vm XP box. Sher'nuff... It handles authentication and control over what user can connect where using a very nice web interface. The install was easy. I setup a whole 2x system in VMware Workstation in about an hour. This comprised of one xp box to rdp to, one xp box to run their server software on, one vm running IPCop (to provide the dhcp (and modified to offer the correct pxe info)) and one vm that did nothing but pxe boot. It worked like a champ... first time!

After seeing how well it worked, we re-did the whole thing, but told it to authenticate users to our domain and actually rdp to one of the XP virtual pcs on our esx stuff... again, it worked like a champ.

Here's the best part: If you get the trial of their software, it gives you a 10 client license... FREE. If you need more than 10, you have to start with a 25 pack @ about $500. That is the cheapest thin client yet... and it is managable too.

*When I say "we" or anytime I speak of "my" or "our" or "I" when talking about "our" installation of ESX, I'm speaking about my day job.... I don't own it, but I am the network admin at a place that uses it and I do rely heavily on "our" Sys Admin's help. vmwarez.com does not have an ESX installation, but it is hosted on a win2k3 server that is virtualized on "our" ESX servers.

**Before we found our thin client solution, we overcame a lot of the management issues of the old xp box... a product called DeepFreeze from www.faronics.com. This is THE magic pill for sooo many problems. I found it because I teach the computer class at a local private college and their computers were always getting hosed by software getting installed, spyware, viruses,etc. Anyway, what it does (to put it in terms we vm people can understand) is basically put the drive in non-persistent mode.

IT Week names SWsoft to the top 50 innovators for 2005...

I've always known they have great software. This Virtuozzo virtualization isn't as neato as vmware, in my opinion... but I think it does have its place.

Here's the Press Release:

SWsoft Receives Top 50 Technology Innovator of 2005 Award from IT Week Magazine
December 5, 2005

Virtuozzo Software Cited for Industry Leading Approach to Server Virtualization

Herndon, VA — December 5, 2005 – Today, SWsoft, an established leader in server virtualization and automation and software, announced that IT Week, the news weekly for more than 100,000 qualified IT professionals, has recognized the company as a Top 50 Technology Innovator of 2005, a listing of the 50 companies that have been the most innovative on the technology front in the last year. SWsoft was chosen for the innovations it has brought to the enterprise and service provider markets through its unique Virtuozzo (www.virtuozzo.com) server virtualization solution.

“It was very difficult to select a small number of winners with so many outstanding products in the market, but in the end we chose technologies and solutions that demonstrated true innovation and impact in the past year,” said Ken Durham, editor of IT Week magazine. “IT Week is very pleased to recognize these standout products and companies for their technical prowess and true excellence."

“We are honored that IT Week has recognized our unique operating system-level approach to server virtualization and automation,” said Serguei Beloussov, CEO of SWsoft. “Virtuozzo’s class-leading performance, multi-platform support and powerful management tools continue to deliver clear benefits to a rapidly expanding base of enterprise and service provider customers.”

About Virtuozzo
Virtuozzo for Windows and Virtuozzo for Linux radically increase the power of enterprise servers by turning a single physical server into multiple isolated virtual private servers (VPSs). Virtuozzo has delivered more than 300,000 Virtual Private Servers (VPSs) into production worldwide.

Customers leverage Virtuozzo to enable server consolidation, disaster recovery, business workload and agility, capacity planning and management, smart configuration, patch testing and remote management. Companies recently selecting Virtuozzo include Adaptive Instruments, AT-Link, Bertelsmann AG, Bull Technologies, Gilbane, HCT, Interdominios, Jack Henry & Associates, SMS Central, TekTonic, WebCT and hundreds others across North America, Europe, Asia and beyond.

About Possibility Media
Possibility Media is a privately held Florida corporation and was established as the result of several acquisitions of various web sites and media properties, together with Virtual Trade Shows and the technology behind the shows. Although based in Miami, the company has people all over the globe including the U.K., Australia, South Africa, India, Ukraine, The Netherlands and other Eastern European nations.

About SWsoft
SWsoft is a recognized leader in server automation and virtualization software. With more than 10,000 customers in over 100 countries, SWsoft's suite of products delivers proven performance, reliability, manageability and value. Headquartered in the Washington, DC Technology Corridor with offices around the world, SWsoft is growing at more than 200 percent per year and is funded by Bessemer Venture Partners, Intel Capital and Insight Venture Partners. For more information about SWsoft, visit www.swsoft.com.

______
Source -- SWsoft Press Releases

Looks like they've written a usable front-end for Xen (called Xen Optimizer) and are offering it for sale. I've never messed with Xen much, but maybe it is time. I'll post my findings as I find them.

http://www.xensource.com/

XO in the News:
Open Source Firm to Challenge VMWare
Open Source Enters VM Space
Is Xen Ready for the Data Center?
XenSource Launches XenOptimizer, Xen 3.0

Vmware chases big dollars - A story from AustralianIT

I'm confused... is that a typo? Forget the visualisation word for a sec... since when is VMWare a storage company? I understand that they are owned by EMC, but I think that this just shows how little virtualization is truely understood by the masses.