Virtualization Products

Build your virtual environment from one of these great tools

You like free software, right? Virtualization is one of the fastest growing technologies, and one of the key driving factors behind its growth is the fact that many of today’s premier virtualization products are free. This lets organizations use virtualization for many different scenarios without spending a lot of money. Let’s look at the 10 best free virtualization products that work with Windows.

Microsoft Hyper-V Server—Hyper-V Server, as a standalone, costs $29. However, it’s bundled with certain editions of Windows Server 2008, making it essentially free for Server 2008 customers. Hyper-V uses modern hypervisor-based architecture. It requires an x64 processor with hardware-assisted virtualization, and can run Windows and Linux guests. You can download the Hyper-V beta as part of Server 2008 RC1 at www.microsoft.com.nsatc.net/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=8F22F69E-D1AF-49F0-8236-2B742B354919.

VMware Server—VMware Server runs on both Windows and Linux, and it provides 32-bit and 64-bit support for hosts and guests. VMware Server 2.0, currently in beta, also has experimental support for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008. Its VM’s have audio and USB guest support as well as support for snapshots. You can get VMware Server at www.vmware.com/download/server.

Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2—Microsoft’s primary virtualization offering for Windows Server 2003 hosts, Virtual Server 2005 R2 is designed for production server virtualization tasks. It provides 64-bit host support but no support for 64-bit guests. Virtual Server 2005 R2 supports Windows Server guests as well as the popular enterprise Linux OSs. You can download Virtual Server 2005 R2 from www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=6dba2278-b022-4f56-af96-7b95975db13b.

Microsoft Virtual PC 2007—Virtual PC 2007 is Microsoft’s desktop virtualization product. It has host and guest support for Windows Vista. It also supports multiple monitors, x64 host hardware, and hardware-assisted virtualization. You can download Virtual PC 2007 from www.microsoft.com/windows/downloads/virtualpc.

Virtual Iron Single Server Edition—Best known for its virtual infrastructure management capabilities, Virtual Iron also offers Single Server Edition, a free, limited-feature version of its enterprise-class virtualization product. The free version can run no more than 12 VMs and supports a maximum Microsoft Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) import or export size of 18GB. You can get the Virtual Iron Single Server Edition from www.virtualiron.com/products.

Oracle VM—Not to be left out of the burgeoning virtualization market, Oracle began providing a free Xen variant in late 2007. You manage Oracle VM with a browser-based management console. Although the Oracle VM software is free, Oracle charges for support. You can download Oracle VM at www.oracle.com/technologies/virtualization/index.html.

QEMU—A bit different from the other virtualization products listed, QEMU is a processor emulator. QEMU isn’t an open-source project, but it is free software and is utilized by a number of other products, including VirtualBox and Win4Lin. Its system-emulation mode provides basic support for Windows guests as well as DOS, Linux, and BSD. QEMU is found at fabrice.bellard.free.fr/qemu/about.html

VirtualBox—VirtualBox runs on Windows, Linux, and Macintosh hosts, and can run Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows NT, and many Linux versions as guests. VirtualBox comes in both a commercial and a free version. VirtualBox VMs provide audio, USB, and iSCSI support. You can find VirtualBox at http://www.virtualbox.org/.

Xen—Xen is an open-source, hypervisor-based virtualization product. You load Xen from a Linux host, and the latest releases support both Windows and Linux guests. Xen-enabled Linux systems can also run under Microsoft’s Hyper-V virtualization, taking full advantage of the new high performance VMBus architecture. You can download Xen from www.xen.org/download.

VMware Player—VMware Player doesn’t let you create new virtual machines (VMs). However, it runs on both Linux and Windows hosts, and can run both VMware and Microsoft VM images. VMware Player is also the basis for VMware’s thriving Virtual Appliance Marketplace. You can download VMware Player from www.vmware.com/download/player .

*.* Source of Information : April 2008 Windows IT Pro

Sharing Files Between Windows and Linux

So, your Windows PC is already set up to dual-boot with Ubuntu Linux, and you’ve explored Linux enough to know that you want to live inside it for a while. Problem is, all your files are on an NTFS partition on the Windows half of your machine, and Ubuntu can’t see that partition, no matter what you do. That’s because Microsoft considers the workings of the NTFS fi le system a highly confidential trade secret (unlike the workings of FAT32, for example). What to do?

There’s the old standby of e-mailing the files to you, or uploading them to an FTP site or a Yahoo! Briefcase or some such storage location. It works. But come on—it’s 2008, already. For regular work you need something more direct, and Linux’s development community has come up with multiple ways to work around Microsoft’s roadblocks and help this happen.

Three quick and easy solutions present themselves: NTFS-3G, Samba, and NTFS for Linux. NTFS-3G is a driver that gives Linux users full access to NTFS drives installed on the same PC. Ubuntu’s new Gutsy Gibbon distro includes the driver in the Synaptic Package Manager. Samba (also found through Synaptic) is designed to provide fi le and print services to all SMB clients, including Microsoft Windows. It functions primarily as a network utility, in effect mounting your NTFS drives onto your Linux network. NTFS for Linux is a powerful tool for IT managers, but the personal version gets you simple read/write access.

1. USE THE FILE BROWSER
After installing either Samba or NTFS-3G, use Ubuntu’s File Browser to locate the NTFS partition you want to work with and double-click to open it.

2. CHECK THE VOLUME’S PROPERTIES
The Volume Properties dialog box in Ubuntu shows that this folder has indeed been formatted as NTFS.

3. GO PRO WITH NTFS FOR LINUX
Well-known Windows utility maker Paragon Software (www.paragon-software.com/products.htm) distributes NTFS for Linux, as an IT-targeted tool ($149.95), a full-featured package ($29.95), or a free download. The free version gives access to your Linux partitions but is read-only.

ON THE WINDOWS SIDE: LINUX READER AND EX2 IFS
Two programs provide access to your Linux drives from within Windows. The Linux Reader from DiskInternals (pictured) gives you read-only access and makes you use its included viewer, while Ex2 IFS provides both read and write access from Windows Explorer. But before installing Ex2 IFS, read the site’s troubleshooting page, which lists some issues you might experience (although I had no trouble with either program). Both give access even to protected Linux partitions, ignoring Linux security, so be aware of this before installing.

*.* Source of Information : March 2008 PC Magazine

Determine Your Backup Process

As your storage increases, so do your backup needs.

There are nearly as many ways to backup your business data, as there are ways to lose the data and require that backup. Products available to perform archiving duties range from the venerable tape backup to newer technologies such as hard drive, CD, and DVD, or even remote storage facilities. No matter which you select, the principles of data backup are the same, and it’s important to understand which data needs to get backed up, how often, and for how long.

The first step is pure common sense, yet it is frequently skipped: Conduct a thorough analysis and inventory of existing systems with a focus on data storage. It will be tedious, but you need to catalog the location, owner, and importance of each bit of data.

The alternative is to back up everything, wasting time by writing extraneous files and wasting money on extra media. That “total backup solution” is what a lot of so-called experts advise, probably because they take advice from companies looking to sell more tapes. But you may not have to do it.

A good place to start is simply by listing the directories on each server or storage device in a spreadsheet and then adding columns for the type of data in that directory (the content, not the fi le type— “Contracts” or “Bookmarks,” not DOC or XLS), the owner (who would care if the files were deleted), and whether they are essential to your business. In a more complex environment—for example, an online business that has no off-hours—add another column for a time when no one is using the file and it can be backed up.

This brings up an interesting question: What is essential to your business? For a simple answer, ask yourself, “If I lose that file, could I lose money?” Note that the question is could rather than would; this casts a wider net—better safe than sorry. Next consider your backup schedule; there’s a whole theory and science to backup rotations.

There are three common methods. A full backup includes all fi les whether they have been changed or not; differential includes all files changed since the last full backup; and incremental includes only those files that have changed since the last backup of any kind. (For specific techniques, such as the Tower of Hanoi, see “Backup Methods and Rotation Schemes,” at go.pcmag.com/backupandrotation.) Beyond that, here’s some sound, basic advice for proper business backup.

Back Up Data Every Day, Applications Less Often Save your backups for longer than you think you have to something unexpected always comes up. (Why is it still unexpected? No one knows.) I tend to use an adapted version of Grandfather-Father-Son: I call every third Grandfather an archive and don’t overwrite it.

Test Your Backups. Like many of my clients, I have learned the hard way that just because you set up a job, load a tape, run the job, and even read a successful report does not mean that fi les were actually backed up. Tapes fail (they are mechanical), files are locked and can’t be copied, and software errors do occur. Frankly, backup software is notorious for reporting that everything is satisfactory when in fact the job has failed. As a fail-safe, at least once a month, you should select a few files at random and restore them, making sure not to overwrite newer versions. Then open the files and confirm that they are intact and usable. If you find that they aren’t, you have time to address the problem before an emergency arises. Make sure that you do so.

Always Keep Some Sort of Backup Off Site. The reason for off-site backup is simple: If something physically catastrophic happens at your place of work and your backups are there, they will be rendered inaccessible or destroyed. Store your offsite backup securely, in a lockbox or safe, and update it with a current backup every six months. Protecting something just long enough for someone to steal (or something to destroy) every bit of data your company cherishes is not going to help you.

BACKUP METHODS
Each method has advantages and disadvantages. Some combination of on- and off-site methods is really the safest way to go.



*.* Source of Information : March 2008 PC Magazine

How to Protect and Improve System Performance

The Top 10 Points to Know about Fragmentation

IT professionals are heroes of the workplace. Whether with cunning wit or a Phillip’s head screwdriver, they solve most any computer emergency. However, keeping a computer running at top speed is usually preventative maintenance instead of last minute, adrenaline-surging, virus-vaccinating heroics.

Here are 10 key points to maintain peak performance across any network:


1. The hard disk is the slowest part of any system.

Say you are operating a 2.5 GHz processor. That’s 2.5 billion operations every second. A large number of hard disks only spin at 7200 rotations per minute, or 120 cycles per second, or 120 Hz. This means your CPU is more than 20 million times faster than the hard disk. The hard disk still has mechanical components. Think Terminator 2®, when a mechanized Schwarzenegger is outclassed by the faster, smarter T-1000. When the slowest part of your computer is making unnecessary reads, the entire system is dragged down.

2. Fragmentation has severe effects.

It’s more than sluggish and crawling computer speeds; fragmentation leads to crashes, hangs, data errors, file corruption and boot-time failures. Files that suffer fragmentation are more difficult and take longer to back up. When systems are thoroughly defragmented, they run faster and more reliably—period.

3. Real-time defragmentation is necessary.

Many companies rely on 24/7, mission critical servers. Taking these systems offline for maintenance is not an option. But, having a server with I/O bottlenecks is also not an option. Only real-time, invisible defragmentation fixes this catch-22 situation.

4. Give your systems faster than new speeds.

NTFS best-fit attempts for file placement on hard drives are limited. Diskeeper® 2008 comes with a new technology called I-FAAST™ (Intelligent File Access Acceleration Sequencing Technology)1 that re-sequences your files. So, in addition to consolidating free space, defragmenting with Diskeeper boosts access to your most frequently used files by as much as 80%. I-FAAST gives systems faster-than new speeds.

5. Servers are especially susceptible.

While disk striping improves physical I/O capacity and performance, RAID and SAN systems simply do not fix fragmentation where it begins— at the file system. Enormous volumes with heavy read/write activity lead to astronomical fragmentation rates, making RAID and SAN work harder than they should. The efficiency of RAID and SAN may lessen some of the physical effects of fragmentation, but fragmentation is never eliminated. You’ll need to buy more and more equipment to compensate. Sooner or later, the tortoise catches the hare, and your system suffers I/O bottlenecks and slow server speeds.

6. Operate without interrupting productivity.

The new InvisiTasking™ technology makes software transparent. Diskeeper 2008 with InvisiTasking will work invisibly in the background; only using untapped resources. Systems are continually improved without any management or impact on a system’s usability.

7. Defragment despite minimal free space.

The purpose of defragmentation is to restore lost speed and performance. A defrag engine must be able to operate in limited free space, because drives with extremely limited free space are the ones in need of the most help. Diskeeper 2008 handles millions of fragments and can function with as little as 1% free space.

8. Stop fragmentation before it happens.

Diskeeper 2008 comes with Frag Shield™ 2.0, a technology that automatically defends against fragmentation of critical system files. Frag Shield 2.0 prevents crash inducing fragmentation. It’s like Superman® saving the day—two days before there’s problem.

9. Auto-defrag breathes life into systems.

It keeps systems at optimum speeds and eliminates fragmentation-related performance issues. Thoroughly defragging systems adds 2–3 years onto the hardware’s useful life.

10. Analyze your network’s performance.

Poor performance on a remote system can easily be mistaken for a slow network. Get Disk Performance Analyzer for Networks™. This free utility scans networked systems for fragmentation. See for yourself how fragmentation is affecting your systems. This groundbreaking program will provide comprehensive reports on how system speeds will improve with thorough defragmentation. Visit www.diskeeper.com/pcm1 and get this free, must-have utility. Diskeeper 2008 is the only fully-automated defragmentation program. It operates invisibly in the background and it dynamically adapts defragmentation strategies to fit the needs of individual volumes. With new defrag engines, Diskeeper 2008 restores performance on volumes with as little as 1% free space. Get rid of slows, bottlenecks, and fragmentation-induced crashes. Visit www.diskeeper.com/pcm9

*.* Source of Information : March 2008 PC Magazine