We has tubez!

As I keep digging into documents and KB articles I keep finding more and more things to like about vSphere 4.1. Today’s find has to do with the PVSCSI driver.

With the release of vSphere 4.0, VMware added a new paravirtualized SCSI driver into the VMware Tools that provides better virtual disk performance than the standard LSI driver. The PVSCSI driver promised to deliver better performance and lower overall CPU utilization for workloads that had high I/O demands. Unfortunately the PVSCSI driver wasn’t supported on virtual machine boot volumes, so folks held off on making this the default SCSI driver for all virtual machines.

After vSphere 4 Update 1 was released, VMware lifted the restriction and now supported the PVSCSI driver on boot volumes. Folks began considering adopting the PVSCSI driver in all virtual machines similar to how the VMXNET driver is a standard for nearly all virtual NICs. Soon afterwards VMware came out with a knowledgebase article stating that virtual machines that did not have heavy I/O demands could actually experience worse performance using the PVSCSI driver. YIKES!!! They recommended only using the driver for workloads that had I/O demands in excess of 2,000 IOPS.

With the release of vSphere 4.1 that is no longer a problem and you can use the PVSCSI driver in all circumstances.
Want details? Read on!

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How to use a Western Digital “My Book” drive (Home Edition, but I don’t think that matters) in Windows 2003 Server:

1. Follow instructions for normal connection using USB, then:
2. Start -> My Computer -> (right-click) Manage Open Storage -> Disk Management  External drive will appear in list of partitions, but it will be inactive and will not have a drive letter assigned.
3. Right-click on the partition, select Mark Partition as Active
4. Right-click on the partition again,
5. select Change Drive Letter and Paths,
6. click Add.  Assign a drive letter.
7. The drive should now be accessible.

This procedure should only be necessary the first time the drive is plugged in.

Well, I’ve finally decided that the day has come in which I should finally take the plunge and attempt some sort of personal branding, even if it is really only on a superficial level.

So, I’ve gone ahead and taken up shop here at http://www.mattlestock.com.

Now that we’ve taken Hak5 to a new level, and there will be alot more exposure on each of us involved, it’s important to have a reliable place for people to go in the event they want to learn about you.

I’ll be posting more and more as I get the chance, but until then, stay tuned and go download Castle Crashers for XBLA! You’ll be glad you did, trust me!