Monthly Archives: November 2014

network

How to produce good documentation – Part 3 – Network IP’s & Interfaces

The time is here, lets look at starting to document that network of yours.

Now lets look at the other side of the coin.

Click the above for the templates used in this diagram

SwitchPort Diagrams/Tables

So it’s not all creative visio diagrams, one of the best pieces of documentation I find that I produce is actually a switchport diagram.

Using Excel to diagram out a given number of switches, mapping the interfaces to the hosts or devices in which is connected to them.

Continue reading How to produce good documentation – Part 3 – Network IP’s & Interfaces

Cisco Champions Banner V2

Accepted for Cisco Champion Program 2015

So tonight was a saved by the bell moment, brought with a little joy.

I’ve been selected for the Cisco Champion Program 2015.

So it means I have something to blog about, =D.

The program was brought about last year for its first year, bringing together members of the community who work with Cisco products and services. Heres the official line;

The purpose of the Cisco Champions Program is to create and nurture a network of people who are passionate about Cisco and enjoy sharing their knowledge, expertise, and thoughts across the social web and with Cisco.

The Cisco Champions program encompasses different areas of interest and geographical areas within the company, providing a variety of opportunities for Champions to participate in the program.

The full information set can be found in this FAQ.

What it means to me

I guess it shows I am passionate about an area of technology, for me I was on the Enterprise Networks last year, which looked at Datacenter and Security technologies. Which meant I was given insider exposure to Cisco UCS, which is an area I am looking at developing into, creating designs around the platform, and deploying the solutions, even having a chat with one of the Cisco UCS team members to see how the Mini fitted in with a customer design I was underway with.

I’ve also met other peers from around the world of various different job roles and experience, and shared deep dive insights and jokes with them. Which is a great way of networking further, aside from writing in community based blogs.

What I’m looking forward to
  • Blogging for Cisco’s website as a community member, who could pass up that chance, I’m hoping to talk about the Cisco CCNP Certification.
  • Development oftheUK based Cisco Champions
    • A lot of the stuff done for the Cisco Champions is based around USA time, which is a pain for me personally, however speaking with the guys who run things, this is something they are looking at developing out further, after all 2014 was its first year!
  • Enhancement of Cisco Product range, and getting the insider track on whats coming.
  • Enhancing the Cisco Community in any way possible.
  • vBacon 😉

CiscoChampion200PX

So thanks to all of those who reviewed my application and accepted it!

Regards

 

Dean


images

VMware Horizon View – Connection Server Services dont load with Public SSL Cert

So my colleague rang me the other week with a bit of weird issue. After installing the VMware Horizon View Connection Server, the services do not start after installing Public SSL, and replacing the self-signed SSL.

The environment
  • Server 2012 R2 fully patched
  • Installing Connection Server, services fine
  • Install Public Cert (Following VMware guidelines for creation)
    • Used Cert Req tool
    • Connection Server Service fails to start.

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Continue reading VMware Horizon View – Connection Server Services dont load with Public SSL Cert

dvs

vCenter lost DVS configuration – Fixing the hosts

So I hit an interesting issue whilst performing a VMware upgrade from 4.0 to 5.5. There was a legacy issue left where vCenter had lost its knowledge/configuration of the DVS Setup.

Im not entirely sure what happened or when, as it was an existing environment, I only know I had to fix it. (Many thanks to the help from my good friend over at www.vmtechy.com for refreshing me on the ESX 4.0 command line to fix this).

The Symptoms

Within the vCenter Client, on the host summary tabs.

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When looking at the Virtual Machine settings.

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Continue reading vCenter lost DVS configuration – Fixing the hosts

disk vol

Extending your Server 2003 Disk Partitions using Dell Extpart

So we all know that we should be migrating away from Server 2003 as its end of life June 2015. But until then we still need to manage it.

So lets look at how to extend your hard drives into unpartitioned space using the Dell Extpart tool.

Note: This is probably not supported by VMware, so use at your own risk

So create your unpartitioned space, i.e in VMware, extend the hard drive.

Rescan your disk in Computer Management so the unpartitioned space appears. Right clicking on the drive, you will see there is no extend option, as found in Server 2008 and up.

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Continue reading Extending your Server 2003 Disk Partitions using Dell Extpart