Sun xVM Central

In the 2.1 wiki, you'll find something a little different in the installation section - the Quick Start Guides for Solaris and Red Hat (RHEL 5.0) systems. These guides take you through the Sun xVM Ops Center software installation and configuration steps for systems that are based on these two operating systems. A number of requests came in to separate Solaris and RHEL 5.0 installation procedures, and this is our solution.

The Quick Start guides sit between the preparation procedures and the information that describes discovering gear and installing agents. And, if you're interested in establishing a high availability configuration, you'll want to review that information and build your storage solution before you use the Quick Start guides to install the software.

Your suggestions for how we might improve our documentation really do have an effect, so please continue to let us know what you'd like to see.

If you're considering implementing the high-availability (HA) solution in your Sun xVM Ops Center installation, there are a couple of things to keep in mind.

First, it's important to know that the HA solution for Sun xVM Ops Center is based on being able to transfer the /var/opt/sun/xvm directory structure from one system to another. So, the work that you do to create the HA configuration mainly focuses on building a transportable storage solution to hold this directory structure. The big thing to keep in mind is that you need to create this storage solution so that it holds the /var/opt/sun/xvm directory structure on the primary Enterprise Controller before you install the Sun xVM Ops Center software.

Second, there are three LOFS mounts and one NFS share that happen within /var/opt/sun/xvm, so you'll have to manage these when you transfer the storage to the secondary Enterprise Controller. Unlike on the primary, on the secondary Enterprise Controller you install the Sun xVM Ops Center software before you transfer the /var/opt/sun/xvm directory structure to it.

All of this is documented in the High Availability section of the 2.1 wiki. Have a look through this if you're interested in the HA solution.

You probably know that you can use Sun xVM Ops Center to monitor your Solaris and Linux systems, but did you know that you can also manage and monitor your systems running the Windows OS? You might need to configure your system for remote monitoring, but once that's done, you can set monitoring thresholds and watch your Windows system without running around.

To enable remote management and monitoring operations, you must use the Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) infrastructure to grant access through your Windows Firewall. WMI is usually installed on Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows 2003, Windows Vista, and Windows 2008, but is disabled.

Once you configure your system for remote monitoring, you can discover it, install the agent software, and then begin monitoring. You can set thresholds and monitor your CPU, memory, swap space, file system, I/O, and power information. If you're interested in trend analysis and forecasting, you can chart a history of the CPU, memory, I/O and power data.

See Monitoring a Windows OS for more info.

I know that a lot of the people currently using Sun xVM Ops Center 2.0 have been eagerly awaiting an upgrade path to go to version 2.1. Well, the wait is over: The update bundle is now available.

You can get the update bundle by talking to Sun Support Services, or if you're running Sun xVM Ops Center on a Solaris system, you can download it through the BUI. The procedures are on the wiki (for both Red Hat and Solaris).

If you're currently using 2.0 and considering upgrading, I'd definitely recommend it. I've used both versions a fair bit in my documentation work, and 2.1 has some significant performance enhancements and additional features. It's free if you've already got 2.0, and once you've got the bundle the upgrade itself is a very quick procedure. So try it!

Steve Wilson has had a few blog posts recently about features that will be part of Sun xVM Ops Center 2.5. Odds are that you've already seen them, but I thought I'd highlight a couple.

The most recent one is about the getting-started process. With 2.5, we're working on a wizard that explains your setup choices in more detail, and walks you through configuration and an initial discovery. It also shows you more clearly what prerequisites are not met or are questionable, and what they'll affect. I've played with this wizard, and it makes the startup process a lot easier to understand.

There are a couple of posts about LDOMs and zones (Solaris Containers). The Zones one has some more spoilers about what you'll be able to do with zones in 2.5.

And finally, in an excellent segue, Steve had a post about Windows in Sun xVM Ops Center 2.5. We haven't talked much about what you can do with Windows systems in 2.0 and 2.1, though, so I'll be doing a post soon going into detail about that. Watch for it.

A while back I had a post explaining the browser user interface in Sun xVM Ops Center. I've also been working on a video that walks you through the BUI, and though it took me a while, it's ready.

In addition to explaining the interface itself, it also talks about the major features of Sun xVM Ops Center - where they're located in the BUI and what they can do. If you're relatively new to Sun xVM Ops Center, it's a good place to start.

Also, Steve recently mentioned the Getting Started with Sun xVM Ops Center training that's now available. I've looked through it, and it goes over all of the major concepts and dives deeper in a few major areas. It's free and it's an hour long, so it's also a good idea if you're, well, getting started.

Steve Wilson put a post up yesterday about the whole Sun xVM Portfolio, which I'd recommend. In addition to discussion of Sun xVM Ops Center 2.0 and 2.1, he talks about Sun xVM Server, which I know we've been quiet about for a while. So have a look.

Sun xVM Ops Center 2.1 was released today. The big focus with the 2.1 release was quality - there have been a lot of performance improvements and bug fixes. However, there are also some front-end changes.

For one, there were some enhancements in Gear Monitoring. The big one is power monitoring: Individual pieces of hardware as well as groups now have power utilization charts, which can show current and historical data. There's a configuration tab for each gear that shows which Proxy it belongs to and how it's reachable.

A number of the other changes focused on Proxy Controllers. You can set a Proxy Controller as a default, which routes jobs to it wherever possible. There are also changes to Custom Discovery that give you more control over which Proxy is handling specific gear.

If you're looking for more information, the documentation for Sun xVM Ops Center 2.1 is open, and there's also a demo from Tony Tomarchio that goes through a lot of the features in detail. I'll also answer your questions next week.

I talked with Iain McKone and Mike Kirk at Halcyon on Monday about Halcyon's Neuron Integration for Sun xVM Ops Center. I knew that they'd come out with a new version of Neuron Integration to interface with Sun xVM Ops Center 2.0, but I didn't know much about what Neuron actually does.

As Iain and Mike explained, their goal with Neuron Integration was pretty simple. There are a lot of customers out there with existing network operating center frameworks - IBM Tivoli, HP Openview, CA Unicenter, or Sun MC, for instance - who like a lot of what Sun xVM Ops Center can do but don't want to stop using their current tools. Halcyon meant for Neuron Integration to fill this gap. One of its biggest features is that it lets you route notifications and alerts from one program to another. So, if you've got Tivoli, you can have all of the notifications from Sun xVM Ops Center show up there.

There are also customers who want to monitor gear that Sun xVM Ops Center doesn't cover or are looking for more detailed data. Neuron Integration is meant to bridge those gaps as well. Using Sun MC agents, Neuron Integration can monitor older generation SPARC systems and hardware from other vendors that Sun xVM Ops Center can't currently monitor. In addition, in the latest release, you can monitor applications and databases using Neuron Agents and send that information to Sun xVM Ops Center or to other tools.

The latest release, which is being released today, also lets you send notifications from other programs into Sun xVM Ops Center. Basically, you choose what monitoring tools you want, and then choose where to funnel their information.

So, in short, if you've got an existing management and monitoring framework that you want to keep using, but are interested in using some of Sun xVM Ops Center's capabilities as well, Neuron Integration is worth a look. There's a Solution Brief and a Readme on their website.

And if you're a partner company that sees a niche with Sun xVM Ops Center, I must point out that Mike said that the resources and support provided to Halcyon as they worked on Neuron were 'fantastic.'

Sun xVM Ops Center, as you probably know, can manage most aspects of datacenter operation - discovery, management, provisioning, and updates. However, up until this point it's been necessary to order, unpack, and plug in hardware by hand. Now, thanks to the unpacking option which we've just finished testing, that's no longer necessary.

The Unpacking option uses the list of discovered gear and information about hardware and power use to ensure that your current hardware is sufficient. If it determines that your current setup falls short, it orders new hardware for you using your corporate account.

When the new hardware arrives, Sun xVM Ops Center facilitates the quick delivery of the hardware, taking control of exterior doors, security cameras, and elevators as necessary. Once the hardware is delivered, Sun xVM Ops Center ensures that it is installed properly, using local speakers to issue direction to those nearby. If necessary, it also locks nearby doors to ensure that installation workers stay on task.

We hope that the unpacking option is just one of the features that you'll find useful in our next release of Sun xVM Ops Center. I'll keep you posted on additional new features as they're announced. In the meantime, enjoy your April Fools' day.

First off, I apologize for the dead air recently. I've been pretty busy with the upcoming 2.1 release of Sun xVM Ops Center. Still, my fault.

I wanted to let you know about the Sun xVM Ops Center Facebook group. I'm not the sort of person who checks Facebook often - I think I've done it once since they redesigned it - but the Sun xVM Ops Center group has a couple of interesting videos. In addition to the Sun xVM Ops Center tour, which you may have seen elsewhere, there's also a video about partnering with Sun xVM Ops Center. I'm sure there'll be more videos and links in future as well.

Also, speaking of partners, I'm going to be talking a bit more about Sun xVM Ops Center partners next week, starting with Halcyon and their Neuron Integration.

Since Sun xVM Ops Center has been out for a while now, I thought I'd explain some of the new features, how they work, and why they rival sliced bread in their level of innovation.

Disconnected mode is one of these new features in Sun xVM Ops Center 2.0, and it's one that people have been asking for since the original version. It lets you run Sun xVM Ops Center in a dark site, and allows you to use functions like patching without connecting the Enterprise Controller to the internet.

To set up Sun xVM Ops Center in disconnected mode, you install and configure it as normal. Once you're up and running, you set up the harvester script on a system with internet access. The harvester script pulls Knowledge Base bundles containing patch data from Sun. Using the harvester script, download a KB bundle, run it through your security checks, and then move it onto the Enterprise Controller system.

In the Administration section, click Change Connection Mode. Enter the path of the KB bundle and click upload, then click Switch to disconnected mode. And then you're set. You can pull new patch data and get it to your Enterprise Controller without connecting it to the internet. Pretty much everything will work the same in disconnected mode.

For a detailed view, we have a document that explains the whole procedure. You can get a PDF of that document or any other page on the wiki, too - I made a fancy screencast that shows you how.

There's a Sun xVM-related screencast over at InfoWorld that you might find interesting. (A word of warning - you have to give them some info before you can see the screencast.) The screencast has Mike Barrett from Sun and Iain McKone of Halcyon Monitoring Solutions, and they talk a good bit about both Sun xVM Ops Center and the integration solution that Halcyon is working on. It's called Neuron Integration, and it takes management and monitoring info from Sun xVM Ops Center and feeds it into Enterprise Management Framework products like IBM Tivoli, HP Openview, and BMC Enterprise Manager. Basically, it lets you start using Sun xVM Ops Center with less disruption to your current management and monitoring procedures.

Halcyon has evidently been working with us since Sun xVM Ops Center 1.1. With the API, I wouldn't be surprised if other companies start making products that integrate with Sun xVM Ops Center.

(Cue fanfare)

Sun xVM Ops Center 2.0 is officially available.

So what's in Sun xVM Ops Center 2.0? Well, under the hood, all the same functionality as the original - Gear discovery, OS provisioning and updates, firmware updates, and hardware management. There are also some new functions:

Completely new context-driven UI. Rather than a separate section for each function, now you select a gear and the options for that gear are displayed. I talked about the new BUI a while back, and we'll be doing a walkthrough soon.

Improved performance, quality, and scalability.

Easier to install. I can do an install pretty quickly by myself - take that as you will.

A public API -- There are a few examples in the documentation, but the bulk of the information is in the Sun Developer's Kit (SDK) that is part of the software download.

Improved support for Solaris Containers.

A fully disconnected mode for dark sites.

For more information about the features, new and old, take a look at the documentation.

I should also talk about what's not in Sun xVM Ops Center 2.0. Since Sun xVM Server hasn't released yet, you obviously won't be able to manage it in Sun xVM Ops Center for now. But we're working on that. As soon as we have a version of Sun xVM Server you can try out with Sun xVM Ops Center, I'll let you know.

Now that 2009 is here, the VDI team is anticipating the release of version 3.0, and we hope you are too! Engineering has just reached their features complete milestone in perfect time for the Early Access release at the end of January. See the tour of Sun VDI with Chris Kawalek!

Desktop virtualization is not a new concept, but it is becoming more popular as enterprise system management becomes more complex. Sun released the Sun Virtual Desktop Access Kit for VMware in early 2007, and will soon be releasing Sun VDI 3.0, which offers a complete Sun stack in addition to the following features:

• Same great VDI product as Sun VDI Software 2.0, including support for Sun Ray devices, traditional PCs, and the VMware back-end
• Integration with Active Directory to allow easy mapping of AD users and groups to pools and virtual machines
• Support for Sun xVM virtualization (based on Sun xVM VirtualBox technology) as an option to VMware VI3
• Improved scalability with support for multiple VMware VirtualCenter servers
• Simplified integration with Sun Secure Global Desktop Software
• Additional access to virtual desktops using RDP clients (for example Windows Terminal Client)
• Enhanced storage mechanism for virtual machines using ZFS file system (in combination with Sun xVM VirtualBox)
• New administration UI and command line interface (CLI)
• Usage of MySQL as configuration database

A virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) is a layered software solution with three fundamental components: a virtualization platform, a broker, and client devices. The end user accesses a full desktop environment via a thin client device or an internet connection, as though they are using a conventional desktop computer.

Sun VDI 3.0 is made up of three functional layers - the virtualization layer, the session management layer, and the desktop access layer.

Virtualization Layer
The basis for the architecture is the virtualization layer (or hypervisor layer). In addition to creating and storing virtual machines the virtualization platform provides the base functionality needed for virtual machine management (starting, stopping, snapshotting, etc.). Sun VDI 3.0 supports Sun xVM VirtualBox and VMware Infrastructure 3.

Session Management Layer
The central component of the Sun VDI is the Sun VDI Core, located in the session management layer. The VDI Core provides all the functionality needed to build and manage large scale virtual machine deployments. In addition to its management capabilities, the VDI Core is also responsible for the brokering of virtual desktops on behalf of clients connecting from the desktop access layer
.

By integrating with Active Directory, the VDI Core is able to provide support for assignment of virtual desktops to existing users and groups within an organization. The VDI Core configuration data and runtime information is stored in a MySQL database, which may be shared across multiple VDI Core instances on the network. This ensures access to the session management layer in failover scenarios.

Desktop Access Layer
Virtual desktops can be accessed via three different methods:

Sun Ray Software (SRS) via Thin Clients - A custom Sun Ray Software Kiosk Session is initiated when a user inserts a token card into a Sun Ray thin client. This session uses the Sun VDI Core to request access to a virtual desktop on behalf of the user. Once a virtual desktop has been assigned to the user, the session establishes a Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) connection to the desktop using the Sun Ray Windows Connector.

Sun Secure Global Desktop Software (SGD) via a Web Browser – A web browser is used to initiate a SGD session. SGD, in turn, uses the VDI Core's RDP redirection capability to establish a connection to an assigned virtual desktop.

Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) Connection – A virtual desktop can be accessed by any device capable of initiating an RDP session (RDP redirection must be supported on the client side to use this method). As with the previous case, the VDI Core's redirection capability is used to establish a connection to an assigned virtual desktop.

If you have technical questions about VDI or are interested in participating in our Early Access Program, please contact: sun-vdi-feedback@sun.com.