VMtoday

Archive for December, 2008

As the New Year rolls around you may find yourself looking for a new paying gig. Times are tough, but the virtualization space shows continued strength as companies seek to consolidate servers, reduce administrative burden, and hunt down cost savings in the data center. We will look at how you can land that new virtualization gig quickly.

Virtualization jobs come in all shapes and sizes, from the small shop IT guy who runs everything from the desktop to the data center (or data closet as the case may be) to large silo-structured enterprise environments where IT staff rarely deviate from their narrowly defined set of tasks.  Then there is the whole consulting side of the business, with small and large shop mentalities to go along with it.

Step 1 in getting a new job that will really satisfy (Snickers, anyone?) is to define what it is that you want to do.  Are you a big picture thinker who likes to pull in all of the pieces of the puzzle and assemble them over time – maybe a small IT shop is for you.  Do you like rapid-fire problem solving?  Check out a consulting gig where you can solve a variety of problems for customers.  Figure out what you want to do first, then start looking.

Step 2: Target your search.  Sure the big sites like Dice.com, Monster.com, and CareerBuilder.com have a ton of jobs listed, but to find that really great job you should look for other search resources.  Some of the new job search sites, including SimplyHired.com, Juju.com, and Indeed.com can turn up hits that you won’t find other places.  TheLadders.com also yeilds some great gems.  Social networking tools like Facebook and LinkedIn can get you closer to the hiring manager than search sites can.  Here in the Washington DC area we have a bunch of resources such as the Washington Post’s Job , Craigslist Jobs, The Northern Virginia Technology Council’s Job Site, and DCJobs.com.  A little Googling and personal networking will surely reveal similar resources in your area.  You can also get creative.  Use the VMware Partner Directory to identify companies in your area offering virtualization sales, services, hardware, etc.  Also be sure to check out job sites that focus on virtualization, such as VM People.

Step 3: Think outside the box.  Use search terms other than VMware.  Recruiters don’t always know the technology they are looking to staff.  Search for VM Vare, virtual, virtualization, ESX, HyperV.  Think of related related industries in the virtualization ecosystem (think storage vendors, software vendors, startups, systems integrators, etc.).  Visit the websites of those companies and find their ‘Careers’ section.

Step 4: Get your resume updated.  Show your skills and certifications.  Get your resume out there using social networking tools, leverage sites like VisualCV.com to build your portfolio and showcase your accomplishments.

Step 5: Give back to the community after you get that awesome new job.  Is your company hiring more staff?  Post those openings on VMtoday.com.  The stronger your team is, the better your chances are of being noticed for promtion and expanded responsibilities.

Do you have any great sources for finding virtualization jobs?  Leave your ideas in the comments!

I am often asked about sizing storage vis-à-vis how much free space within a guest VMDK eats into the overall size of the volume.  The answer can be drastically whether we are dealing with thick-provisioned VMDK’s on FC or iSCSI LUN’s, or thin provisioned VMDK’s on NFS volumes.  The amount of free space present in guest VMDK’s also comes into effect when calculating the impact of dedupe on the volume.  Add in some flexible volumes on NetApp storage and the amount of provisioned storage in the design changes significantly.

There are several methods of obtaining the amount of free space in a guest OS, from third party systems management tools (some are vendor or OS specific) to custom scripting (some VB for your Windows hosts, etc.).  VirtualCenter also knows how much free space is within each guest VMDK, but the information is not readily displayed.

The first method of getting guest free space is using the VMware VI Toolkit for Windows.  A simple statement like what I show below will pull the info for you (see Hal Rottenberg’s post on the VMware Communities Forum):

PS > $hdCapacity = @{ N = “Capacity (bytes)”; E = { $_.Guest.Disks | % { $_.Capacity } } }
PS > $hdFreeSpace = @{ N = “FreeSpace (bytes)”; E = { $_.Guest.Disks | % { $_.FreeSpace } } }
PS > Get-VM | select Name, $hdCapacity, $hdFreeSpace

You can re-write the command into a single line and change the output to show Percentage Free space, for example.  The following came from http://communities.vmware.com/message/1046360.

Get-VM | Where { $_.PowerState -eq “PoweredOn” } | Get-VMGuest | Select VmName -ExpandProperty Disks | Select VmName, Path, @{ N=”PercFree”; E={ [math]::Round( (100 * ( $_.FreeSpace / $_.Capacity ) ),0 ) } } | Sort PercFree

These examples are well and good, but there are a couple of catches – The guest must be powered up and VMware Tools must be installed and running inside each VM you want to pull statistics from.
Many people do not know that the guest disk capacity and free space statistics are also captured in the VirtualCenter database and is available for VM’s in any power state (On, Off, or Suspended), so long as VMware Tools has been installed and run at least once in the VM.  A SQL simple query will return the data too you (this could be more simple – I was pulling some additional statistics for a project I am working on):

SELECT VPX_GUEST_DISK.VM_ID, VPX_GUEST_DISK.PATH, VPX_GUEST_DISK.CAPACITY, CONVERT(bigint, VPX_GUEST_DISK.CAPACITY) / 1048576 AS ‘Capacity MB’, VPX_GUEST_DISK.FREE_SPACE, CONVERT(bigint, VPX_GUEST_DISK.FREE_SPACE) / 1048576 AS ‘Free Space MB’,VPX_HOST.ID, VPX_HOST.DATACENTER_ID, VPX_HOST.DNS_NAME, VPX_VM.ID, VPX_VM.DATACENTER_ID, VPX_VM.FILE_NAME, VPX_VM.LOCAL_FILE_NAME, VPX_VM.POWER_STATE, VPX_VM.GUEST_OS, VPX_VM.GUEST_STATE, VPX_VM.MEM_SIZE_MB, VPX_VM.NUM_DISK, VPX_VM.DNS_NAME, VPX_VM.IS_TEMPLATE, VPX_VM.HOST_ID
FROM VPX_GUEST_DISK VPX_GUEST_DISK, VPX_HOST VPX_HOST, VPX_VM VPX_VM
WHERE VPX_VM.ID = VPX_GUEST_DISK.VM_ID AND VPX_HOST.ID = VPX_VM.HOST_ID

Of course, you can always combine the power of PowerShell and the raw SQL data to create formatted output.  Frank Hagen displays a method of obtaining SQL data through a PowerShell script and dumping the data to Excel for further manipulation on his blog.  I modified a few lines of Frank’s code for my purposes:

################################################
# QuerySQL.ps1 # Frank W Hagen – 2008/07/15
# # FWHagen.wordpress.com
# Powershell script to query a SQL database # fwhagen.blog@gmail.com
# and write the output to an Excel file
#
# Usage:
# * Create a SQL query file by putting a valid SQL query in a text file in
# the subdirectory specified in $SQLQueryPath named <$TaskName>.sql
# * Set configuration variables in config section below
# * Run at command line: powershell -nologo .\QuerySQL.ps1
# OR right-click this script and Open With -> Powershell.EXE
#
# If you get a security warning running the script, see the following post:
# http://fwhagen.wordpress.com/2007/10/29/running-local-powershell-scripts/
########################################################

# Function used for binding to Excel
function Invoke([object]$m, [string]$method, $parameters)
{ $m.PSBase.GetType().InvokeMember($method, [Reflection.BindingFlags]::InvokeMethod, $null, $m, $parameters, [System.Globalization.CultureInfo]“en-US”) }

############################################
### Configuration information for specific query #####
$TaskName = “VIGuestDiskFree” # Title and name of query file

#######################################################
### UPDATE THE FOLLOWING LINES FOR YOUR ENVIRONMENT ###
$SqlServer = “”; # SQL Server hosting VirtualCenter Database (include \instance name if not using Default)
$SqlCatalog = “”; # Virtual Center Database name
$SQLUserID = “”; # SQL Server User ID if not using Integrated Security see lines 69 and 70
$SQLPassword = “”; # SQL Server User Password if not using Integrated Security see lines 69 and 70
### END OF CUSTOMER UPDATABLE FIELDS ###
#######################################################
$WriteOutXML = $False
$WriteOutCSV = $False
$WriteOutXLS = $True
#
# Environment Configuration
$TaskPath = “C:\Scripts\” # Root Directory for creating reports
$SQLQueryPath = “SQLQueries\” # Subdirectory for finding the queryfile
######################################################

# Timestamp the output folder and files using ISOdate
$OutPath = ($TaskPath + (Get-Date -Format yyyyMMdd) + “-” + $TaskName + “\”)
$OutFileName = ( (Get-Date -Format yyyyMMdd) + “-” + $TaskName )

# Create the output folder #TODO: Fix Call to eliminate verbose results from system
if (!$(test-path ($OutPath)))
{
New-Item -itemType directory -Name ((Get-Date -Format yyyyMMdd) + “-” + $TaskName) > $null

if ($(test-path ($OutPath)))
{
Write-Host ($OutPath + ” Created”) -ForegroundColor “darkgreen”
}
else
{
Write-Host ($OutPath + ” FAILED”) -ForegroundColor “red”
}
}

# Get the T-SQL Query from .SQL file
$SqlQuery = Get-Content ($TaskPath + $SQLQueryPath + $TaskName + “.sql”)
Write-Host (“Executing Queryfile: ” + ($TaskName + “.sql”) + ” “) -ForegroundColor “darkgreen”
#Write-Host ($SqlQuery) -ForegroundColor “gray”

# Setup SQL Connection (using Integrated Security (your workstation login). Use standard connection string format for other)
$SqlConnection = New-Object System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnection
#$SqlConnection.ConnectionString = “Server = $SqlServer; Database = $SqlCatalog; Integrated Security = True”
$SqlConnection.ConnectionString = “Server = $SqlServer; Database = $SqlCatalog; Integrated Security = False; User ID = $SQLUserID; Password = $SQLPassword;”

# Setup SQL Command
$SqlCmd = New-Object System.Data.SqlClient.SqlCommand
$SqlCmd.CommandText = $SqlQuery
$SqlCmd.Connection = $SqlConnection

# Setup .NET SQLAdapter to execute and fill .NET Dataset
$SqlAdapter = New-Object System.Data.SqlClient.SqlDataAdapter
$SqlAdapter.SelectCommand = $SqlCmd
$DataSet = New-Object System.Data.DataSet
$DataTable = New-Object System.Data.DataTable

# Execute and Get Row Count
$nRecs = $SqlAdapter.Fill($DataSet)

Write-Host ($nRecs.ToString() + ” Records retrieved.”) -ForegroundColor “Blue”
$SqlConnection.Close();

if ($nRecs -gt 0)
{
# Make copy of successful query in output directory for traceability
if ($(test-path ($OutPath + $OutFileName + “.sql”)))
{
del ($OutPath + $OutFileName + “.sql”)
}
Copy-Item ($TaskPath + $SQLQueryPath + $TaskName + “.sql”) -destination ($OutPath + $OutFileName + “.sql”)

# Very simple to export XML
if($WriteOutXML)
{
Write-Host “Creating XML File…” -ForegroundColor “darkgreen”
if ($(test-path ($OutPath + $OutFileName + “.xml”)))
{
del ($OutPath + $OutFileName + “.xml”)
}

$DataSet.Tables[0].WriteXML($OutPath + $OutFileName + “.xml”);
}

# Very simple to export CSV
if($WriteOutCSV)
{
Write-Host “Creating CSV File…” -ForegroundColor “darkgreen”
if ($(test-path ($OutPath + $OutFileName + “.csv”)))
{
del ($OutPath + $OutFileName + “.csv”)
}

$DataSet.Tables[0] | Export-Csv ($OutPath + $OutFileName + “.csv”)
}

# Very hard to export XSL – This method writes the data to an object array and pastes the array directly into Excel (Thanks go to a few sources on the Internet for this method)
if($WriteOutXLS)
{
Write-Host “Creating Excel File…” -ForegroundColor “darkgreen”
if ($(test-path ($OutPath + $OutFileName + “.xls”)))
{
del ($OutPath + $OutFileName + “.xls”)
}

$sheetIndex = 0;
$oExcel = New-Object -COM Excel.Application
$oExcel.Visible = $false
$oBooks = $oExcel.Workbooks
$oCulture= [System.Globalization.CultureInfo]“en-US”
$oBook=$oBooks.psbase.gettype().InvokeMember(“Add”,[Reflection.BindingFlags]::InvokeMethod,$null,$oBooks,$null,$oCulture)
#$oSheet = $oBook.Worksheets.Item(1)

$DataTable = $DataSet.Tables[0];
$nDr = $DataTable.Rows.Count + 1
$nDc = $DataTable.Columns.Count + 1

# Create the object array
$rawData = new-object ‘object[,]‘ $nDr,$nDc

# Write the field names in the first row
for ($col = 0; $col -lt $DataTable.Columns.Count; $col++)
{
$rawData[0, $col] = $DataTable.Columns[$col].ColumnName;
}

# Copy the dataset to the object array
for ($col = 0; $col -lt $DataTable.Columns.Count; $col++)
{
for ($row = 0; $row -lt $DataTable.Rows.Count; $row++)
{
$rawData[($row + 1), $col] = $DataTable.Rows[$row][$col];
}
}

# Calculate the final column letter
$finalColLetter = “”;
$colCharset = “ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ”;
$colCharsetLen = $colCharset.Length;
if ($DataTable.Columns.Count -gt $colCharsetLen)
{
$finalColLetter = $colCharset.Substring((($DataTable.Columns.Count – 1) / ($colCharsetLen – 1)), 1);
}
$finalColLetter += $colCharset.Substring(($DataTable.Columns.Count – 1) % $colCharsetLen, 1);

### Export it all to Excel #####
Write-Host “Writing to Excel…” -ForegroundColor “darkgreen”

# Create a new Sheet
$excelSheet = $oBook.Worksheets.Item(1)

#$excelSheet.name = $DataTable.TableName; #TODO: Be nice to figure out how to make this work (not critical)

# Create the entire range on the worksheet and dump the data into it
$excelRange = “A1:” + $finalColLetter + “” + ($DataTable.Rows.Count + 1)
$excelSheet.Range($excelRange).FormulaLocal = $rawData;

# Mark the first row as BOLD #TODO: Be nice to figure out how to make this work (not critical)
#$excelSheet.Rows[1].Font.Bold = $True;
#$excelSheet.Cells.Item(1,1).Font.Bold = $True;

# Save the Excel file and we’re done
Invoke $oBook SaveAs ($OutPath + $OutFileName + “.xls”) > $null
Invoke $oBook Close 0 >$null
$oExcel.Quit()
}
}

Write-Host (“Complete”)

I dropped the PowerShell code into a file named VIGuestDiskFree.ps1 in C:\Scripts on my Vista laptop, and the SQL query from earlier in this post to c:\scripts\sqlqueries\VIGuestDiskFree.sql.  Simply run the PowerShell script from a PowerShell command line.  The Excel output file  will be created in a date-stamped folder in C:\Scripts.  Once you have this data you can go about the business of formatting the data as an Excel Table and summing the Free Space column to find out your storage savings with thin provisioning and other storage efficiency technologies.  I have attached a .zip (VIGuestFreeScripts) containing the scripts in this post (formatting is a bit off in WordPress).

How do you report on your storage utilization and storage efficiency efforts? Post a comment to share your methods!