January, 2009

My hardware arrived for my home built VMware computer!

So all the hardware finally arrived for my machine that I’m using to build a VMware ESXi computer. This is a computer I’m building for my test lab at home.

I’ve just finished putting it together and I’m getting ready to install VMware. This will be a great machine to use along with my Cisco test lab equipment to prepare for the CCNP.

Here is a list of the computer hardware I purchased to build my machine. I purchased all my equipment at NCIX.

• Two Intel PRO/1000 GT network adapters
• One Asus P5K SE Motherboard (LGA775, FSB1333, DDR2, PCI-Express x16, SATA controller)
• 8 GB of RAM (Four 2 GB sticks of Kingston RAM KVR800D2N5/2G)
• One Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 3.5 inch 500 GB SATA hard drive
• One Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.40 GHZ (Kentsfield)
• One BFG GeForce 9400 GT Video Card (PCI-Express)
• One 20 pin ATX to 24 pin ATX power supply adapter cable

Writing the latest version of the VCP

So some time in February I’m getting set to write the latest version of the VCP. I figured it’s time to get that out of the way.

I work with VMware so often it should be a pretty straightforward exam I figure. From what I hear there are a lot of questions regarding very specific requirements or answers as opposed to case study type questions. From the sounds of it it’s more of a memorization certification than a real test of VMware knowledge.

I will write the exam and then let you guys know my thoughts on it. Sometimes I wish these companies would just make the exams harder so not just anyone can get them as I’ve ranted about in the past. From the sounds of things the VCP exam should be a joke.

-RP

No Viigo for Storm?

Hi guys, as you know I’m a big fan of the Viigo application for the BlackBerry. I use it all the time on my curve.

As you know I just bought a Storm for my wife and I decided to install the Viigo application on there for her. Unfortunately it’s not compatible with the Storm so I wasn’t able to do it. Hopefully Viigo will come out with a compatible version soon.

In the mean time can anyone recommend to me a good RSS reader for the Storm? I’d be eager to hear your opinions. Or even better yet is there some way to jerry-rig the existing Viigo application and force it to work on the Storm? 

I for one wish that there were more applications compatible with the Storm, but I guess since it’s so new I’m going to have to play the waiting game a bit longer.

-RP

Finally, I got a Storm!

So after all the waiting I was able to finally find a store with the Storm in stock. I asked them to put it on hold for me and I rushed down to the store to get it.

Well I have the Storm now and I have to say I’m a bit underwhelmed. Actually I’m quite surprised at how underwhelmed I am. I expected it to be a lot more snazzy than what it actually is. This phone without a doubt is not an iPhone killer and this is coming from me, a huge fan of BlackBerries.

It’s not that the phone is not good, it’s actually quite a nice phone. The screen is clear, the push in tactile feel you get when you type is cool, and the sound on the external speaker is great. But where I find it all falls down is with the touch sensitivity itself. Even with the sensitivity cranked up to the max, it just feels unresponsive in comparison to the iPhone. Also typing on the touch keyboard in portrait or landscape mode is a chore because it’s very easy to hit the wrong buttons. I find it 100 times easier to type on an iPhone. 

On the bright side, video and sound are phenomenal and those are two things which I love. Also the multiple buttons in addition to the touch screen make it a lot easier to use as well. I still hope they come out with a newer version with the touch screen sensitivity fixed.

-RP

Replication of Virtual Machines to a Hot Site

So you finally have your VMware environment all set up and everything is running great. Everyone is on board with virtualization and you were able to consolidate your data center down to one server room with one rack. Now all of a sudden you’re tasked with the duties of replication to another site.

What can you do in this situation? There are many cool products out there at your disposable.  One of these products is called vReplicator. It is made by Vizioncore, the creators of vRanger which is used for backing up virtual machines.

vReplicator will take your virtual machine and replicate it across the WAN to another site. Then when there is a failover you can start up the virtual machine in this other site if the other site has completely failed. Or if the main site is still up  you can facilitate a failover through the vReplicator software itself. Either way, it works great! You can read more about it here.

Option for showing contacts in Address Book grayed out

Here’s a quick little tip for you Outlook users. In a new Outlook profile you might want to be able to use your Contacts folder in your address book.

The obvious way to do this is to go to the properties of the Contacts folder and then check off the Show contacts in address book box. This usually fixes the issue.

However once in a while users will run into a problem where the option is grayed out. This happens if there is no Outlook address book in existence in the profile. To fix this issue, add a new address book to the profile and then try it again. This time you will notice that the option is no longer grayed out.

-RP

Cisco adds verbal interview to their CCIE

Hi folks, something new in the world of CCIEs. Cisco has decided to add a new component to the CCIE program. Apparently a verbal one! 

For those of you that don’t know, the CCIE is considered one of the most respected IT certifications in the industry and is known for it’s extreme difficulty in achieving.

They have been trialing this for sometime now in a pilot that has been running since last August. They want to use this as a method to see if a candidate has the ability to verbally explain themselves when describing technical situations.

I recently received an e-mail from Cisco stating that effective February 1, 2009 that the verbal component will be added. They also mentioned they are changing the format of the exams effective February 17th, 2009 so that you can’t go back when you answer questions, you can only move forward onto the next question. This would be in line with the other Cisco certification exams that already do this. They also mention that the score report will now report your score as a scaled score on a scale from 300 to 1000 just like the other exams.

-RP

Ouch! RIM’s CEOs are hit with a major fine!

So this just in from stock land! Apparently RIM’s CEOs have been accused of backdating stocks! They’ve been fined $80 million dollars.

I don’t know if this is true or not, only time will tell, but I do have to ask them this if they are guilty - don’t you have enough money already? Do you really need to sink to that level to make even more? Yeesh. 

Backdating is when you date a stock purchase back to when it was at it’s low point that way when the stock price is high you instantly make money. That’s just outright criminal. White collar crime no doubt, but it’s still criminal. I guess time will tell whether this is for real or not.

I love BlackBerries, they’re great devices for integrating with your mail servers in your corporate network and I would hate to see the company and the great employees that work there have to take a hit because of some allegedly greedy executives. 

You can read more about it here.

-RP

BlackBerry Storm 9520 might be coming to Rogers

So just before Christmas a nasty rumour went around that the BlackBerry Storm might be coming to Rogers. Not too long after that those rumours were squashed by Rogers.

You see the Storm that is out right now is a CDMA phone and Rogers is GSM. So all of us BlackBerry users up here in Canada are forced to go with Bell or Telus if we want a Storm. Many Rogers customers are waiting with baited breath for a GSM version of the Storm.

Well this month there have been leaked photographs of a Rogers BlackBerry Storm, called the BlackBerry Storm 9520. I don’t know if these images are fake or real but I sure hope they’re real! I know a lot of executives that would love to get their hands on these! You can check out the pictures here at this link.

-Cheers, RP

Massive layoffs sweeping the IT industry

Well it looks like we’re getting even more bad news this year….

Microsoft, IBM and Intel have announced massive layoffs. The buzz about the Net is that Microsoft is going to layoff 5000 people, Intel is going to cut about the same and IBM is going to be laying off people with no specific number announced yet….although according to rumours it could be 3 times as much as the other guys.

So what’s going on here? It’s quite simple really, it doesn’t matter how big you are, you can’t dodge the economic crisis that has gripped the nation. Even the big boys are going to have to tighten their belts.

What I find interesting is that IBM has beat all of Wall Street’s expectations despite the economic crunch and they’re still laying people off. What does a company have to do to not have to lay people off during these times?

-RP