vSphere 5.1 downloads;
vSphere 5.1 is available for download here (60 day trial or paid versions).
vSphere 5.1 Hypervisor (the free one) available here (click the bottom left download link, sign in then download).
First impressions
After a quick download and upgrade I have to say the resulting server was not as I had hoped. There were a number of issues and I decided to to a complete new install. To be fair, a fresh install is the default option.
I have a 4 port Intel ET network card and a HP 1810-24G switch and setting up the LACP was very easy and seems to be working fine. I have not load tested to confirm speeds but all 4 light are flashing on the switch and checking the performance graphs, all 4 NICs are reporting figures while the remaining non teamed NICs are not.
Upgrade of the VMware tools was same as usual for Linux and Windows. My CentOS installs went smoothly but my WHS-2011 install does not seem to like the VMXNET3 adaptor. Changing it back to a ET1000 sorted any issues out. Found a post on the VMware Communities regarding the issues I am seeing. Previously the WHS box was running with a VT-d passthrough NIC but as I am now using teaming (LACP) I though I would not bother. The NIC is picked up as a VMXNET3 adaptor and installing the updated VMTools does not fix the problem for me. According to the post this affects WHS 2011 / Win Server 2008r2 with remote access turned on and something is manipulating packets for traffic flow (QoS etc). I did try removing the network device in device manager and then refreshing and it found the adaptor and installed the VMXNET3 driver but still no network.
Copying a 1.5GB test file hit transferred between 109MB/s and 122MB/s from my PC (Hitachi HDD, Broadcom Netlink (TM) integrated network, Win 7 64bit) to my server on the 4x1GbE trunk (Intel Quad ET, Stablebit Drivepool storage, WHS 2011).
The vSphere client feels a fair bit faster. A few extra storage metrics predefined.
Only a very quick install and browse so I am sure more info will come to light as more people get their hands on it and I have a bit more of a play around.
RB
vSphere 5.1 is available for download here (60 day trial or paid versions).
vSphere 5.1 Hypervisor (the free one) available here (click the bottom left download link, sign in then download).
First impressions
After a quick download and upgrade I have to say the resulting server was not as I had hoped. There were a number of issues and I decided to to a complete new install. To be fair, a fresh install is the default option.
I have a 4 port Intel ET network card and a HP 1810-24G switch and setting up the LACP was very easy and seems to be working fine. I have not load tested to confirm speeds but all 4 light are flashing on the switch and checking the performance graphs, all 4 NICs are reporting figures while the remaining non teamed NICs are not.
Upgrade of the VMware tools was same as usual for Linux and Windows. My CentOS installs went smoothly but my WHS-2011 install does not seem to like the VMXNET3 adaptor. Changing it back to a ET1000 sorted any issues out. Found a post on the VMware Communities regarding the issues I am seeing. Previously the WHS box was running with a VT-d passthrough NIC but as I am now using teaming (LACP) I though I would not bother. The NIC is picked up as a VMXNET3 adaptor and installing the updated VMTools does not fix the problem for me. According to the post this affects WHS 2011 / Win Server 2008r2 with remote access turned on and something is manipulating packets for traffic flow (QoS etc). I did try removing the network device in device manager and then refreshing and it found the adaptor and installed the VMXNET3 driver but still no network.
Copying a 1.5GB test file hit transferred between 109MB/s and 122MB/s from my PC (Hitachi HDD, Broadcom Netlink (TM) integrated network, Win 7 64bit) to my server on the 4x1GbE trunk (Intel Quad ET, Stablebit Drivepool storage, WHS 2011).
The vSphere client feels a fair bit faster. A few extra storage metrics predefined.
Only a very quick install and browse so I am sure more info will come to light as more people get their hands on it and I have a bit more of a play around.
RB