Why NFS + ESXi?

So I’m thinking that breaking this up into smaller posts will increase the likelihood of them actually getting written.  And as a bonus, should help me remember what the hell I was thinking.  So these will probably be computer heavy posts.

Tonights episode is on NFS and why NFS.

NFS is used a lot more in the Linux/UNIX side of things.  So why am I mucking about with a Windows server box for it?  Active Directory.   Not that I will really be using it for this BUT it can!  You can setup user mappings for Linux accounts to Windows accounts.   Or you can just copy over a users/groups file from the Linux box and map local accounts to it.

I will probably be doing the later.   For simplicity sake.   The complete end result here would be NFS hosted on a server, shared over Gig Ethernet.  Attached to my VMware hosts.  And maybe mapped to PC’s or anything I want to have network storage.

Why would you want to do that instead of direct storage?  For those without enterprise VMware experience it sounds silly.  The way it works is the same storage is available to all of the hosts.  So the VM’s can be powered up on any of the hosts.  This allows for the load to be spread or for high availability.   This probably isn’t hugely needed for my small home/lab setup.  But, here is the real kicker, SATA/IDE drivers stuffed into the server are much much much cheaper then 15k SCSI disks.  Any other servers I get are going to have SCSI drives that have already have 2+ years of 24/7 wear and tear on them.  So I am not expecting a ton of reliability out of them.   So I am thinking 2 in a mirror setup and any extras as spares for the system drives on the host servers.

Why bother with ESXi?  Beacuse VM’s are awesome!  Also, how else am I going to get a dozen or so servers without blowing something up.   While I might be able to fake my way through all the AD MCSE tests I probably need to mess with ISA and shit for the rest.  Yay learning!  Also, VM’s are awesome.

So the short and dirty version.

Cheap and dirty network storage + free VMware enterprise grade hypervisor = good times.

Lofty goals, in summary.

Whipping up a quick post here to do 2 things.

One.  Remind myself to do things.  And two test twitterfeed.

So the plan I’ve come up with is to build an NFS based storage box and connect it to ESXi server(s).  I would like to give it Gig Ethernet if possible so that the network can be faster then the drives.

Probably going to accomplish this goal with windows server with UNIX extensions.

Anyway so there will probably be a more lengthy post about that when I start getting frustrated with servers.

Zombies, Dragons, and Snow oh my!

This is going to be mostly about games.  But firstly woo snow on the east coast!  Probably shoveled over 2′ by now.  Not sure how much fell on the day I didn’t shovel.

Borderlands: the Zombie Island of Dr. Ned.  haven’t gotten too deep into this yet because I bought Dragon Age the next day, but what isn’t to like?  Borderlands + zombies = good times.  I was holding off on buying it but then Steam had it on sale for less then 7 dollars cash money.   That is pretty much in the sweet zone for impulse buys for me.   It does have shitty secure rom DRM on it limiting it to 5 installs.  Which in my opinion is pretty bullshit.  Maybe had I not bought it from Steam it would make more sense, but come on it is already locked down to my Steam account.  Hopefully it wont try to auto install on my other computer that is much more forfeit to OS re-installs.

The add on is pretty much what you would expect.  Zombies and lots of them.   So far they haven’t been all that tricky but i have yet to try it in multi player. maybe that will make them more formidable.  Or Mordecai is just bullshit overpowered.  Either way, Thumbs up so far.  If I could take a break from Dragon Age at some point I’d be shootin’ zombies again.

Jumped on this again, and once again if you enjoyed Borderlands in the slightest bit then zombies will be a good time for you.  Also the hunter is OP.

Dragon Age: Origins.  -  Oh Dragon Age.  I was holding out on getting this for awhile because I was hoping to catch it on sale via steam or somewhere.  Saw it was on sale at bestbuy.com went to the store the next day, not on sale.  bought it anyway out of spite.  I am not disappointed with this game.  I had a feeling I was going to like it, mainly because it is Bioware.  Gone is the AD&D backbone and in its place is their homegrown system that works pretty well.  It is no longer as slow as the NWN games were.  No more resting to regain skills.  Everything has cooldowns on it now.  It is just a pleasant experience.

I was briefly worried that it might run terribly on my PC due to my video card.  I happen to have the video card listed under the recommended specs for the game, but I had my doubts.  I am running it at full resolution with high detail and 2xAA, I might try running the AA higher but I don’t really see the need.

I am about 10.5 hours in and getting to the point where I am not getting frustrated with the game but more frustrated with myself because I don’t save frequently.  And I do not enjoy having to do the same part over and over.

New Super Mario Bros Wii.  -  Firstly if you are not familiar, or had the pleasure of playing this game already.  http://www.giantbomb.com/quick-look-new-super-mario-bros-wii/17-1633/  Watch that then come back to this.  it is about 30 minutes of 4 people playing the game.  pretty good summary of how much you will be yelling at whoever you are playing with.

I only played it in multi player and I am very sure that it is a different beast in single player, and probably easier.   It is a quality title and if I owned a Wii I would consider owning it.  The battle modes look like a good time.

Need for Speed: Undercover. – I wasn’t giving this much hope when it came from gamefly.  I was surprised how much I liked it once I got going.  The loading times are terrible, and the music is awful.  I have on several times gotten race breaking draw-in, as in make a turn and the whole screen is white because nothing is there then half a second later it all shows up.  There are some AI issues as well.  I find all the events involving cops to be the biggest pains to do.  When I have to spend 1 minute of the 3 minutes given backtracking to find a cop so it can chase me something is messed up.  The road traffic is often just plain weird.  The random cars on the roads will turn and drive through the barriers that signify turns for you.  Sometimes they just decide to hit you, as in drive through destructible barriers and ram your car.  I feel it may go back to gamefly before I finish it due to how much progress has slowed.