[NTLUG:Discuss] NTLUG workshops

[CoryC]

> Well... 11am - 2pm is probably not all that great... but
> it's something.  Could
> be difficult time wise.

Figure we're going to need at least 4 hours, so 9-1:30 would give us time to answer questions and get everything put away. 


> ESXi 4, as others have mentioned is VERY VERY VERY VERY
> hardware specific (Xen
> and kvm are much much much much less so).  Would Cory
> be willing to do one on
> Xen or kvm (not RHEV-H though)?

Sorry, don't know anything about those technologies, only the ESXi that I use for my day job.


> However, a truly "enterprising" idea would be to test/spec
> an AVAILABLE piece of
> hardware (or more than one)... so that attendees could also
> obtain a requisite
> box for the ESXi "class".  The VMware community
> whitebox/other HCL isn't always
> the most up to date.  Nice to know what already made
> machines will handle ESXi
> well (just remember that VMware HAS been known to make the
> next
> UPDATE... yes... UPDATE... not work when not using official
> HCL equipment, which
> means the community HCL isn't normally recommended for
> serious stuff).

Not opposed to the idea but prefer to not have that going on while trying to teach the workshop as we wouldn't get done in our time constraints. I suggest this happen the month before the actual workshop so that we know beforehand who has equipment that will work. Any machine being tested would need 2GB of ram minimum and probably not older than 2-3 years. 


> I'll admit... ESXi... might be one of the toughest ones to
> do for successful in
> class installs.  ESXi 3.5 works better... apparently
> it's still available.  Not
> saying it will work well either... just better chance with
> more hardware (just
> not with the very very latest hardware).

I've actually had worse luck with 3.5 than I have 4.1.


I have VMWare test lab with two ESXi hosts that I can bring consisting of:
Intel BOXDQ45CB LGA 775 Intel Q45 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor 
2 x Kingston ValueRAM 4GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) 
HP V165w 8GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive Model P-FD8GBHP165-EF
250GB internal hard-drive

I have an mini-ITX NFS server for centralized storage.

I envision the workshop running as such:
1. One person for every 1.5GB of ram in VMWare host.
2. Use provided CD to install ESXi to thumbdrive on host. 
3. Configure host IP address, root password, & management NIC.
4. Split up individually and install VMWare client software on Windows laptops (or virtual box VM running on Linux laptop).
5. Connect to assigned host with client software, login as root. 
6. One person from group adds NFS server to groups assigned host. 
7. Each person creates a virtual machine on local storage (if present) and installs software from ISO stored on NFS server. 
8. Each person creates a virtual machine on central NFS server and installs software from ISO stored on NFS server. 

I wouldn't try to explain VCenter, VMotion, Fault Tolerance, or any of the other bells and whistles of VMWare that actually cost money as time would be short. Anybody wishing to discuss in-depth virtualization concepts, hardware, technologies, etc. would need to be referred to someone with more experience as I really only know how to use it and don't necessarily understand how it all works. 

There's probably something I'm missing but as long as people didn't stray from the workshop roadmap then it shouldn't take too long. 

Thanks,

Cory