Tips, thoughts and notes from the world of IT
You manage a VMware ESXi 5.0 cluster, using only HP servers. You want to upgrade to the latest version (5.1) but would also like to install HP-specific “extras” to expose more information and provide more features such as VAAI. HP provide a customised image for VMware ESXi 5.1, and it’s possible to use VMware Update Manager to make the upgrade process as smooth as possible.
A useful link explaining the permissions for built-in system accounts and recommended usage for SQL Server 2008: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms143504(v=sql.100).aspx
More recent information on Windows Service Account and Permissions for SQL Server 2012 can be found here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms143504.aspx
You’re running out of space on a computer running Server 2008 R2, but cannot find the Disk Cleanup tool. You know you can add it using Add Features > Desktop Experience, but you just want Disk Cleanup; not the other stuff.
You need to copy a few files from C:\Windows\winsxs.
Here is a batch script to copy the files to the correct locations, and also pin Disk Cleanup to the Start Menu (using VBScript called PinItem.vbs, shown below): [Read more…]
This link explains what the different colours mean for LEDs on a Hard Disk Drive (HDD): http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&taskId=120&prodSeriesId=4091412&prodTypeId=15351&objectID=c00596191
You currently manage your vSphere estate using vCenter 5.0, and would like to upgrade to the latest and greatest version to date; 5.1. There’s a few gotchas along the way, so read on below for a few useful notes. [Read more…]
I recently read some great tips for my favourite text editor, Notepad++:
http://techbrij.com/518/10-notepad-tips-tricks-fast-development
There really isn’t much Notepad++ can’t do, and just when you think you’ve found one, there’s probably a plugin for it.
One example of this is JumpLists. I use them as much as possible, as I find it helps me work faster. With this in mind, I was always disappointed that Notepad++ didn’t have this feature built-in, so it was a pleasant surprise to find a plugin for this last week.
To install the plugin, open Notepad++ and navigate to Plugins > Plugin Manager > Show Plugin Manager.
You then simply select NppJumpList and click Install:
After installing the plugin, you will be able to use JumpLists with Notepad++:
I just read this great post that explains the differences between Unicast and Multicast when using Network Load Balancing (NLB):
http://deinoscloud.wordpress.com/2010/02/10/microsoft-network-load-balancing-nlb-on-vmware-esx/
I recently refreshed our SQL Server Maintenance Plans, but System Centre Essentials has been intermittently reporting failures of the daily differential backups, with an error like this:
Executing the query “BACKUP DATABASE [DBNAME] TO DISK = N’…” failed with the following error: “Cannot perform a differential backup for database “DBNAME”, because a current database backup does not exist. Perform a full database backup by reissuing BACKUP DATABASE, omitting the WITH DIFFERENTIAL option. BACKUP DATABASE is terminating abnormally.”. Possible failure reasons: Problems with the query, “ResultSet” property not set correctly, parameters not set correctly, or connection not established correctly.
The strange thing is that the logs show all Weekly Full backups have completed without error. If I run a manual Full Backup, the next Differential Backup will complete, then the following day will fail.
First, I used the following query to show more details on the backups (make sure you select the DB in SSMS first):
I recently suffered an Active Directory meltdown than made me look to the sky and curse the Gods of Redmond!
I had many good resources to refer to, but I’m sure this page full of linky goodness would’ve helped further: http://blogs.technet.com/b/askds/archive/2010/07/27/post-graduate-ad-studies.aspx
Well worth reading if you want a thorough understanding of the underlying components in Active directory.
I recently read this excellent post on the TechNet Blogs: http://blogs.technet.com/b/keithmayer/archive/2012/08/30/virtualizing-microsoft-sql-server-on-windows-server-2012-winserv-mssql-itpro-sqlpass.aspx
The post highlights many new features in the latest version of Hyper-V, then goes over sizing virtualized SQL Server workloads and performance tuning.
