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HPE Intelligent Provisioning overview

There are two versions of HPE Intelligent Provisioning, for HP ProLiant servers dependent on the generation or ‘age’ of the machine: Version 2.50 supports all new HPE ProLiant Gen9 platforms. Version 1.63 supports all new HPE ProLiant Gen8 platforms. You can upgrade the version of HPE Intelligent Provisioning without affecting data, this is done by downloading the ISO and booting from the ISO, it runs the update and reboots. It lets you: Perfom an assisted OS install (and configure the array if necessary) Run maintenance/diagnostics The steps therefore for a new server build out would be: Configure ILO Download the latest appropriate Intelligent Provisioining ISO and run the update Download and run the latest Service Pack for ProLiant (currently April 2015) Run Service Pack for ProLiant and bring the server firmware up to date Boot the server and run the Array configuration utility F5 – configure the array, set the boot order and reboot Run F10 to boot into Intelligent Provisioning and perform OS install – select custom install to specify the server name and specifics (including drivers/management software if you want) If the install fails due to language settings try leaving language US English Complete OS install and configuration Re-run the Service Pack for ProLiant to install any missing...

P2v quick reference guide

I was speaking with a colleague about some work I’d been doing with a colleague about p2v (converting their physical servers to virtual machines).  In this case it was a mixture of Compaq and IBM servers running Windows 2003/2008 which they needed to migrate to virtual machines to reclaim data center space whilst the project to upgrade to Windows 2008/2012 was initiated. He asked how I approached the p2v process and I’ve made some notes below. Check ILO/IMM works ok and that you know the local administrator password – for post conversion/roll back Verify server health (nothing is alerting that might potentially stop the server from booting) Delete temporary files if possible – c:\windows\temp and c:\temp also IIS logs/middleware logs Defrag the hard drives beforehand – you don’t have too but it’s nice to do and shouldn’t take long Set the hardware management agents and non essential services to manual ipconfig /all >c:\ipconfig.txt – Captures networking information to a text file. Download pspcleaner referenced here. At this point some fundamentals of approach.  I always wanted to do the conversion in as few reboots as possible, so at a high level it’s the following: Before P2V steps: Disable server monitoring including hardware monitors/backups Log on as local administrator (verifying password) Verify accessiblility of IMM/ILO (use online tools to reset password if required) Install VMware vCenter Converter Standalone Set HP/IBM hardware agents to manual Clear down space – log files/temporary files etc Using command prompt: ipconfig /all >c:\ipconfigbfc.txt Defrag server – defrag c: -a -v defrag d: -a -v Set the flag (converter-worker.xml) to ssl value = false Restart VMware services Run conversion Conversion steps Remove networks – we will add network cards later Advanced Options – Select power on destination machine Advanced Options – Select install Vmware Tools on the destination virtual machine On completion of the P2V shut down the physical server and start a ping against primary network card Post conversion steps Log in to the server locally using administrator account Say no to the message apply settings and reboot In vSphere system settings add network card(s) and remove audio/usb Select edit settings and options, click VMware tools now click enable ‘Check and upgrade VMtools during power cycle’ Click ok and shut down the virtual machines Power on the server – if VMware tools is out of date...

Red Hat Summit is coming soon!

Red Hat Summit is June 23rd to 26th and is set to be a great event, you can register for the event here: I will be watching the coverage online, what I’ll be looking out for is announcements on the journey towards innovation in OpenStack, DevOps and empowering both business and IT to bring together the right combination of technology and technology services to deliver an end to end solution for transformation and enhancement. Do check out the agenda here and the available training or certifications that are on offer and consider that attending these events is not only an investment in technical aspect of your career, it’s the people you meet, the connections you make and the ability I always find to ask questions which I might not feel comfortable asking directly of my colleagues/service provider.  The ability to grab someone and say, I’m having this problem have you seen it before? The official coverage lives here: Red Hat Summit blog: http://summitblog.redhat.com/ Red Hat Blog: http://www.redhat.com/en/about/blog I’ll be watching both online and re-tweeting content so follow me on twitter:...

A HP MicroServer as a cloud caching device...

I continue to think about the HP MicroServer Gen8 as an excellent opportunity to bridge the gap between the physical and cloud/virtual world, as my cloud offline local cache. The vehicle for Cloud services to be hosted and streamed through whether its for email, analytics or collaboration. I tell you what I mean.  This is what I want as a reseller, a fix IT guy, a nonsense removal device for all those SMB’s where they have their own Exchange server, their own file server, their own everything in a box when they have five employees on site and a few people working remotely on their own pc. They’re not sure quite why they have that, but that’s what the nice independent server sales man said they needed. I want a Cloud in a box like the WEDG but with the backing of enterprise grade applications and possibilities to hook into market standard Cloud applications and service providers. I want to switch on a HP MicroServer or similar device. Then a wizard appear. Click next (to define any network specific values) then it say right you want to setup a cloud caching device it then talks me through: Using an existing account and downloading all the settings and caching any pre-subscribed services, establishing the backup and maintenance jobs etc. This enables me to move to another server seamlessly. Or just set me up a new existence a new domain name, a new online platform and identity A new existence means, I choose the domain name, I choose the services I want with a tick box and then enter my credit card and purchase information then it creates everything for me: My email My internal SharePoint/collaborative calendars and working environments My web presence a page with company name that I can then mess around with will do – a wordpress as a service would be ideal Create two local shares Apps – for streaming or installing apps which are cloud based Data – with cloud and offline, cloud stores cloud replicated data, offline is local storage only Then it needs to: Set up the backups and then offers – cloud backup services if I want them Set up the maintenance schedule – the maintnenace, the security patching and firewall/virus scan settings Register with the cloud for management – power off, rebuild...

Servergy Joins the OpenPOWER Foundation

 http://servergy.com/servergy-joins-the-openpower-foundation/ DALLAS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Cleantech IT innovations company Servergy, Inc., announced today the company has joined IBM, Google, Mellanox, NVIDIA, Samsung Electronics, Tyan and Suzhou PowerCore Technology Company in the OpenPOWER Foundation – an open development alliance that makes IBM’s POWER microprocessor architecture available under license. Servergy will collaborate within the Foundation on opportunities leveraging Servergy’s clean and green technology on Power architecture with scale-up and scale-out capability for Big Data, caching, streaming, cloud workload, and distributed storage application in data centers. “We are proud to be an IBM Business Partner and to join the OpenPOWER Foundation” Servergy joins the OpenPOWER Foundation to help drive industry advancement of high-performance, clean and green Power Architecture in the data center. The company intends to extend its product line by developing future OpenPOWER-compliant systems based on IBM’s POWER microprocessors, allowing new levels of performance and capability in Servergy’s Cleantech Server class of clean and green Linux on Power System server products. I’m genuinely excited to see Servergy joining the OpenPOWER Foundation, that future offerings might include an OpenPOWER offering is great news for existing POWER customers in terms of choice and drives further innovation to the POWER...

HP Warranty comments, Customers for life

http://h30507.www3.hp.com/t5/Technical-Support-Services-Blog/Customers-for-life/ba-p/154423#.UykCsctF3mI This week, HP announced that effective February 19, 2014, we will provide firmware updates through the HP Support Center only to customers with a valid warranty, Care Pack Service or support agreement.   This decision reinforces our goal to provide access to the latest HP firmware, which is valuable intellectual property, for our customers who have chosen to maximize and protect their IT investments.  We know this is a change from how we’ve done business in the past; however, this aligns with industry best practices and is the right decision for our customers and partners. I got an email from a colleague. ‘What’s this about and so what do you think?’. Reading between the lines I suspect my colleague was expecting a rant, but here we go. I can see where HP are coming from.  There has to be a point at which product updates or support ceases and the warranty seems a civilised starting point. There will be customers disappointed at this and comments about how other vendors behave but we have to appreciate a few things: The pace of change and product innovation has accelerated in the past few years and continues to do so The economics of long term server ownership have changed rapidly. ROI in terms of energy savings and performance is now measured in months not years. Is it time to match your operating model with that of total cost of ownership, put another way how long were you planning to keep and redeploying your server? When saying this, I do not under estimate end perceptions of value, investment protection, or vendor roles and responsibilities with regards to support.  However the economics have changed, as do the rules of engagement for the server provisioning and lifecycle models. You can absolutely maintain extended warranties and service plans to retain updates for heritage hardware, but from an economic cost standpoint what is that cost against the cost of replacement and the return on investment arising from reduce power and cooling requirements as well as the cancellation of that device on your support...

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