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**leo-rcc** · July 16, 2009 at 12:32 am

VMware does the same. the hypervisor is free, there is a license required for the add-on stuff like HA and vmotion.

**Tiberius** · July 16, 2009 at 9:55 am

Also, on the download page (if you click "download a trial") it says:

Citrix XenServer – Free download
Download a copy of the game-changing Citrix XenServer for enterprise-class, cloud-proven server virtualization powered by Xen at no cost.

**Kyuuketsuki** · (This post was last modified: July 17, 2009 at 6:05 am by Kyuuketsuki.)

OK,

So me and FreeNAS didn't really get on! I've read the manual and I can't get it to work so I decided to try OpenFiler instead.

OpenFiler:
I like the GUI based install though the rather sparse webGUI is a bit weird! I'm fairly sure I created and configured a 1TB software RAID drive but now I can't do much (sparse webGUI). Looking at their web site OpenFiler looks semi-commercial, looks to me like you might have to buy the Admin Guide ($40) ... is that in the spirit of open source?

I'm beginning to wonder if it wouldn't be easier to create a bog standard Windows server with lots of disk space!!!

Kyu

(July 16, 2009 at 9:55 am)Tiberius Wrote: Also, on the download page (if you click "download a trial") it says:

Citrix XenServer – Free download
Download a copy of the game-changing Citrix XenServer for enterprise-class, cloud-proven server virtualization powered by Xen at no cost.

Ah! If I'd have clicked the link I'd have found that out wouldn't I! Clever Worship

So, OK ... do you think I can run it as a virtual machine? My Host server's a bit preoccupied with VMWare ESXi Smile

Kyu

**Kyuuketsuki** · July 20, 2009 at 4:57 am

So ... open sources NAS's are fun aren't they?

I had a whole bunch of problems with FreeNAS and got somewhat irked with some ass of a moderator on their forum (a*** tw**!) so I ditched it for OpenFiler. That turned out to look & feel friendlier but despite the open source moniker yoi had to pay $40 for a manual ... that made it complicated to read up on and I never even bothered with the forum. So, it's probably me, but I couldn't get anything to communicate with any of my virtual NAS's so I've pretty much given up on the idea (still got the vOpenFiler machine but deleted its virtual array disk drives to regain the space) and switched to a virtual Windows 2003 server. I'll play with the concept again later but right now I'm thinking a cheap (physical) NAS might be a better idea.

Maybe it's just familiarity but I was mucking about with the vNAS's for 5 to 6 days, each time I configured a disk it took 2 to 3 hours to format the array and I could never get a proper connection ... I switched to a Windows server and not only did the array take less than an hour to format but it's already in use as a file and print server.

Kyu

**leo-rcc** · July 21, 2009 at 8:57 am

I use Windows server 2003 Appliance edition for my NAS boxes, they work great.

Today after a 2 week delay I started installing and configuring VMware ESXi 4 on my brand new Dell PowerEdge 2970 series servers. This was really a no effort no problem installation, the only thing I need to figure out is how to get the LTO2 tape drive connected to one of the guest machines to run the backup on.

**Kyuuketsuki** · July 21, 2009 at 9:27 am

(July 21, 2009 at 8:57 am)leo-rcc Wrote: I use Windows server 2003 Appliance edition for my NAS boxes, they work great.

Cool ... I will have to try that ... where do you get the appliance from? VMWare?

(July 21, 2009 at 8:57 am)leo-rcc Wrote: Today after a 2 week delay I started installing and configuring VMware ESXi 4 on my brand new Dell PowerEdge 2970 series servers. This was really a no effort no problem installation, the only thing I need to figure out is how to get the LTO2 tape drive connected to one of the guest machines to run the backup on.

I've heard that it can't be done ... I certainly had no joy getting getting a USB drive to pass through. If you succeed, let me know, coz I have an Ultrium 1 and I'm now considering using an external (physical) PC (an old Dell 1.6Ghz from work).

Kyu

**leo-rcc** · July 21, 2009 at 11:24 am

I am looking into VEEAM backup for ESXi, sonce that has an option to backup without the VCB.

**leo-rcc** · July 25, 2009 at 5:19 am

I am now in the German office and laboratory, doing a conversion of the live production servers to the new ESXi machines. The conversion process goes a lot quiker now, 48MB/sec as opposed to 870Kb/sec in Holland. At this rate my first transition will be done in 1.5 hours.

**Kyuuketsuki** · July 25, 2009 at 6:41 am

(July 25, 2009 at 5:19 am)leo-rcc Wrote: I am now in the German office and laboratory, doing a conversion of the live production servers to the new ESXi machines. The conversion process goes a lot quiker now, 48MB/sec as opposed to 870Kb/sec in Holland. At this rate my first transition will be done in 1.5 hours.

Cool!

I now have two servers running on my ESXi system ... my old 2003 server (i.e. fresh build using the old iso I used for my old DC) running a file and print server and a new 64bit 2008 enterprise server which will be the hub of my new domain. The last was a bit troublesome as ESXi wouldn't run it but a brief scan of the internet, a reboot and visit to the the systems BIOS, and hardware virtualisation was enabled and 64bit OS's run AOK. Biggest problem I have right now is I want the latest BIOS for my system, A08 (currently on A05) but the only ones Dell provide are Windows and Linux updates ... whatever happened to the old floppy (OS independent) ones?

Kyu

**leo-rcc** · July 25, 2009 at 8:23 am

Does anyone here know of a tool where I can copy files straight from my pc into a VMware datastore?

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