Tasty Tech

Recently, Craig Stewart of the vSpecialist team posted a thorough blog entry on how to configure VASA (VMware APIs for Storage Awareness) with EMC storage.  As you may recall, this feature allows VMware administrators to set up policies for how virtual machines are placed on storage – in short, automating the placement of vas based on required / desired features or performance.  It also complements the Datastore Cluster feature in VMware, allowing VMware administrators to logically group similar datastores together for the purposes of inter-datastore storage vmotion.  Together, VASA, policies, and datastore clusters allow for Storage DRS – the automatic placement and movement of virtual machines for better load distribution and load balancing.  We are still on the first release of VASA and Storage DRS, but this feature set is sure to grow in the future as datacenter components become more and more tightly integrated.

Check out Craig’s blog below for how to configure VASA with EMC storage:

http://www.virtualpro.co.uk/2011/12/20/configuring-vasa-with-emc-arrays-%E2%80%93-clariion-vnx-and-vmax/

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So, I just finished a couple mornings of volunteering at the local middle school for the NCSA National Cyber Security Awareness campaign.  Every October is National Cyber Security Awareness month, promoted by the NCSA (which is in turn funded by the US Department of Homeland Security).  I got in touch with my kids’ schools, and due to scheduling conflicts, construction on the school library, et cetera, it took until this week to get in there.  It was great fun, and the 6th graders were full of chatter and stories about how they use the Internet, questions about music and movie downloads and piracy, online gaming, and hacking.

I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I was shocked at how many of the kids (nearly all of them) had not just one or two devices in the house connected to the Internet, but many!!  They all seemed to have at least one PC / Mac, two gaming systems (Wii or PS3 and XBOX), at least 1 iPod and then a couple smart phones, and maybe even an iPad or Android tablet… I always just figured that as an IT guy, the plethora of equipment in my house was a by-product of my vocational / avocational choices.  Alas – everybody has tons  of gear connected to the Internet.  Do you remember when we were satisfied with a modem, used our checkbooks, and cable was limited to only a couple dozen channels, and there was no such thing as PVRs and VOD?  Or better yet, when there were no cell phones?

Even worse, very few of the kids admitted to having rules they were supposed to follow.  Sure there were some that spoke up, but far more that didn’t.  Everybody had a Facebook account (aren’t you supposed to be 13 for that?), they all used YouTube (there aren’t any decent content filters for that), and they all used Twitter, Skype, email (how 90′s), iChat, text messaging, and on and on and on…  I spent the first 15-20 minutes of the session finding out all the ways they use the Internet, what rules their parents had (if any), which ones they followed (or chose not to), and came away convinced that as an IT professional, it is not just a nice thing to educate these kids, but my duty to do so, because their parents sure aren’t.

At first, they saw me as ‘another adult come to lecture them’, but pretty soon they opened up, and they were blown away by how easy it is for someone to find information about you on the Internet.  I used a sample scenario -

“Let’s say you use Facebook, and like most folks, you throw some pictures up there.  Anybody who wants to now knows your name and what you look like.  Let’s say you also post something about an upcoming band performance, play, game you are in, concert your school is putting on, whatever.  Now anyone who ‘friends’ you not only knows what you look like and what your name is, but they have an exact location, date, and time on where to find you…  And they didn’t even have to be sneaky about it.”

I followed that up with a discussion of GeoLocation services on SmartPhones, basic rules about not opening emails from people they don’t know, and how they should only ‘friend’ someone they actually know in real life, and what that person looks like, where they live, etc (Stranger Danger!).  I think it was as much of an education for me as it was for them.  They were interested and involved the whole time, and asked tons of questions.

I managed to get in front of all the 6th graders at the school (about 300 over the course of 2 mornings), and I had a blast.  If you are interested in volunteering yourself, you can check out all the materials at http://www.staysafeonline.org.

Also, below is the PowerPoint Slide deck I used for the sessions – you are welcome to use it if you like.  NCSA

TO REPORT INTERNET FRAUD AND SPAM:

1. Fill out the form on the Consumer Fraud Reporting website. Law enforcement agencies focus on cases in which people are harmed financially. They are not interested in attempted fraud, but Consumer Fraud Reporting compiles lists of common scams and warns people about them.  This form may be found at http://www.consumerfraudreporting.org/reporting.php.
2. Forward scam emails to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) at spam@uce.gov. The FTC explains that it maintains a database of attempted online scams and provides information to law enforcement agencies to help victims.
3. Notify web hosts and email companies that scammers are using their services. Consumer Fraud Reporting explains that free email providers shut down scam accounts if you report them. Forward the relevant emails, including the headers, if you know how. Report scam websites to the hosting companies, which you can find through checkdomain.com or other look-up services. Email providers and web hosts have contact information on their websites.
4. Report attempted Internet scams that impersonate legitimate companies or banks to the actual businesses, Consumer Fraud Reporting recommends. Scammers often pretend to be financial institutions or well-known online businesses such as eBay or Paypal. Find contact information on the company’s website and forward the scam correspondence to its fraud department.
5. Enter any telephone numbers linked to attempted Internet scams into fraud warning databases such as Who Calls Me and 800notes. These sites let you explain how the numbers are being used to defraud people. People who search for them online will find your warning through search engines.

Links to Know:

• OnGuard Online- practical tips from the FTC:

• http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/onguard/index.shtml
• How to report internet scams:

• http://www.ehow.com/how_7339604_report-attempted-internet-scams.html
• Forms for reporting consumer fraud attempts:

• http://www.consumerfraudreporting.org/reporting.php
• Recover from Identity theft:

• http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft//consumers/defend.html

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Had to share this… with all our travel, the routine can become very mundane.  I had the best flight attendant on a commuter flight from Richmond, VA to Charlotte, NC today, and I had to share the experience.  Her name was Anna, and I think she was German, though she spoke English very well.  Her running commentary during the pre-flight check was hilarious, and although I didn’t get them all, I wanted to share the nuggets that stuck with me:

• “If the cabins suffers from a loss of pressure, oxygen masks will drop from above your seat.  Once you stop screaming, place it over your head and adjust.  Be sure to put your mask on before assisting children, or other adults behaving as children.”
• “If we experience a water landing, and this flight suddenly becomes a cruise, please be aware your seat cushion is also a flotation device.  Put your arms through the straps, and start paddling.  Once you reach the shore, you may, of course, keep the cushion with our compliments.”
• “The green light above your seat is the flight attendant call button.  If you push it twice, it will activate the EJECT function…  just kidding”
• “I am going to dim the cabin lights – this is for your comfort, and to enhance my appearance.  If this doesn’t work for you, I am also selling alcohol.”
• “I will be walking through the cabin now for a compliance check.  Please be sure your seat belts are fashioned, and your seats and  tray tables are in the upright position.  I will also be checking to ensure your shoes match your outfit – we are going to Charlotte, after all.”
• Finally, the captain asked – “Are you done yet?”

It set the mood for a great flight…

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http://nickapedia.com/2011/11/03/straighten-up-with-a-new-uber-tool-presenting-uberalign/

If you are not already aware, VMware shops have been challenged for some time now (several years, in fact) with partition alignment problems in the guest file system…  VMware has been aware of this for years, and has offered guidance on how to fix the issue (http://www.vmware.com/pdf/esx3_partition_align.pdf).  Although Microsoft has fixed this problem in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008, partition alignment can still prove problematic on older virtual machines that are running Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, and Linux distributions on EXT3 and earlier.  Mis-aligned file system partitions can cause I/o problems on the storage back-end, sometimes creating 3-4x the I/o on the array.  There are great posts by Duncan (http://www.yellow-bricks.com/2010/04/08/aligning-your-vms-virtual-harddisks/) and Kevin (http://www.blueshiftblog.com/?p=300) on what the issues are and some of the tools available.

Earlier this year, Nick Weaver (a member of the vSpecialist team) took it on to create a highly versatile and functional alignment tool (there have been a couple others out there, but this one is better – read on). It is free to download off the link at the top of this email, and offers features such as:

• Allows for fast alignment checking of virtual machines with detailed logging.
• Can perform alignment to any offset you want. Even the crazy ones that you shouldn’t choose.
• Works with both Windows 2000/XP/2003/2008 (NTFS) and Linux Distros (EXT2/EXT3/EXT4).
• Is able to work on NTFS boot drives perfectly. It does this by rewriting NTFS Metadata (the right way).
• Auto detects Windows 2008 and Windows 7 native installs (alignment not needed). Will not touch a System Reserved Partition (important for Windows 2008).
• Preserves all Windows drive mapping (AFAIK only one to do so). This means no having to remap drive letters and complete support for non “C:\”  system drives with some Windows builds (some Citrix stuff).
• Doesn’t trash the NTFS and Boot mirrors like other tools.
• Handles Primary and Extended partitions like it is no big deal on both Windows and Linux.
• Has the ability to handle multiple disks for a VM.
• Multiple disks + Multiple Partitions + Multiple types (primary, logical) + Multiple file systems (NTFS, EXT#) =  no problem
• Also allows for optional Space Reclamation on both NTFS and Ext! That’s right: you can choose to do space reclamation at the same time as an alignment or as a option to itself. This means you can retrieve  space no longer used on Thin VM’s using UBERAlign.

This is only about 1/3 the list of features….

Be sure to check it out!

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