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Press Release – Blue Medora Expands SelectStar to Support Microsoft Azure, Azure SQL

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I received this today, and thought the press release was worth sharing. Source touchdownpr.com

 

Today Blue Medora, an IT enterprise cloud and datacenter management company, announced a new management plug-in to support Microsoft Azure and Azure SQL. The new Blue Medora SelectStar product helps DBAs have the cost and availability of multi-cloud environments while maintaining the visibility of single-stack solutions.

 

SelectStar is the first cross-platform database performance software to include infrastructure insights from the two largest public cloud providers in a single view. This performance platform delivers a normalized view of more than 95 percent of production cloud-native or on-premises databases and their underlying cloud or virtualized infrastructure, which is ideal for organizations migrating their SQL stack to the cloud to save costs, and for those who support DevOps teams that depend on cloud-native databases to deploy new applications faster.

 

The full release is copied below for reference.

 

Blue Medora Expands SelectStar to Support Microsoft Azure, Azure SQL

 

SelectStar is the first cross-platform database performance software to include infrastructure insights from the two largest public cloud providers in a single view

 

GRAND RAPIDS, MI– April 27, 2017 – Blue Medora, a leading innovator in IT operational analytics (ITOA) for enterprise cloud, database and infrastructure management, today expanded its SelectStar SaaS database performance solution to support Microsoft Azure and Azure SQL databases. SelectStar for Azure provides metric-based and deep-dive monitoring for Azure native database workloads, enabling users to see query-level metrics on their Azure SQL databases.

 

Organizations are migrating production databases to the cloud for efficiency, cost and scale, but application performance and availability requirements often dictate a hybrid cloud, multi-DBMS environment. SelectStar for Azure offers a unique advantage over individualized cloud-native or on-premises proprietary solutions by enabling database administrators (DBAs) to track and optimize critical database performance and availability issues in these heterogenous environments with the same ease as a proprietary, on-prem stack.

 

The SelectStar performance platform delivers a normalized view of more than 95 percent of production cloud-native or on-premises databases and their underlying cloud or virtualized infrastructure. The platform is ideal for organizations migrating their SQL stack to the cloud to save costs, and for those who support DevOps teams that depend on cloud-native databases to deploy new applications faster.

 

“We’ve seen rapid growth in the Azure Cloud due to the increasing adoption of a multi-cloud strategy fueled by major outages and the rise of cloud-based data warehouses that were once on-prem SQL deployments” said Mike Kelly, CTO of Blue Medora and GM of SelectStar. “SelectStar’s Azure integration offers the best of both worlds, allowing DBAs to enjoy the cost and availability of multi-cloud environments while maintaining the visibility of single-stack solutions.”

 

Key benefits of SelectStar Microsoft Azure Monitoring include:

  • Query Deep Dive Dashboard: Individual query analysis in context with other database query times for benchmarking, faster troubleshooting.
  • Relationship Scaling: Key metrics about the underlying Azure infrastructure, like DTU and Elastic Pool usage to prevent throttling and oversubscription.
  • Expert Recommendations: Embedded expertise for “accidental DBAs,” built-in recommendations to proactively repair Azure SQL performance and availability issues before the system triggers an alert.
  • Dynamic Database Dashboard: A comprehensive overview of every database in an organization’s environment, including prioritized alerts and recommendations as well as current database health in one view.
  • Advanced Analytics Dashboard: Report on query by name, average wait time, current wait time and lock time, executions, warnings and errors for an individual Azure SQL instance.

 

The new SelectStar services for Azure and Azure SQL are available immediately from Blue Medora. For more information, visit www.selectstar.io/integrations/cloud.

 

Additional resources:

SelectStar Product Page on Cloud

Video: 5 Steps for Better Azure SQL Performance (for Devs and accidental DBAs)

Blog: 5 Steps to Better Azure SQL Performance

 

Source touchdownpr.com

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My vSphere 6.5 Upgrade Checklist – painful : Repost

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I ran across this post when reviewing VMware vSphere 6.5 upgrade best practices via google.

I like to read about others and what they experience while upgrading prior to running through a upgrade myself.

 

by Michael White

https://notesfrommwhite.net/2017/01/29/my-vsphere-6-5-upgrade-checklist-painful/

 

“Yes, this has taken me a while to get too. And it took me a while to do as well. Now that I work at Veeam, and while I have used Veeam products for many years, now I need to work my lab like a Veeam customer. vSphere 6.5 is a big deal for me, and it has a lot of new stuff in it that I am looking forward to so I have been waiting anxiously for Update 1 for Veeam that supports 6.5. It is here now but there is still one more tool of mine that is not 6.5 capable but I am tired of waiting for it. It is the VMware Infrastructure Navigator (VIN) and I find it most useful. BTW, I do this article, and then with it as a plan I do the upgrade. After that I update the article with anything I learned and then finally I publish. I will keep in this article the problems I had in case it helps someone.”

I thought it was worth the time to read.

Roger L

 

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Best practices for upgrading to vCenter Server 6.5 (2147686)

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Prior to upgrading vCenter to 6.5, make sure to review the best practices from VMware.

 

 

 

”

Best practices for upgrading to vCenter Server 6.5 (2147686)

KB: 2147686
Updated: Mar 24, 2017
Languages:
English
Product(s):
VMware vCenter Server
VMware vCenter Server Appliance
Product Version(s):
VMware vCenter Server 6.5.x
VMware vCenter Server Appliance 6.5.x

Purpose

This article provides pre-upgrade information for vCenter Server 6.5 and related components.

Resolution

Caution:

  • Though different upgrade paths are possible and may complete successfully, VMware does not recommend some of the resulting topologies.
  • If your services are distributed across multiple machines, the upgrades must be done sequentially, not concurrently.

Deployment Models

To determine the deployment model that you want to upgrade to, see Supported and deprecated topologies for VMware vSphere 6.5 (2147672).  It is recommended to migrate off of a deprecated support topology before upgrading to vSphere 6.5.  For more information, see the Moving from a Deprecated to a Supported vCenter Server Deployment Topology Before Upgrade or Migration section of the vSphere Upgrade Guide.
Caution: Repointing vCenter Server between Sites in a vSphere Domain is no longer supported in vSphere 6.5.

Staged upgrade across multiple maintenance Windows

If you have a complex vSphere 5.x or 6.0 environment, you may prefer to upgrade your vSphere environment over the course of several maintenance windows. It is possible to upgrade the vSphere environment in stages.
These are the general order of the upgrades:
  1. Upgrade each vCenter Single Sign-On or Platform Services Controller one at a time.

    Note: For 5.5, only if vCenter Single Sign-On is installed on a separate machine than vCenter Server.

  2. Upgrade each vCenter Server one at a time.
  3. Upgrade each ESXi host one at a time.

For more information about each transition step including diagrams, see the Upgrade or Migration Order and Mixed-Version Transitional Behavior for Multiple vCenter Server Instance Deployments section in the vSphere Upgrade Guide.

vCenter Server for Windows requirements

To install vCenter Server on a Windows virtual machine or physical server, your system must meet specific hardware and software requirements.

For more information, see:

vCenter Server Appliance requirements

Before upgrading to vSphere 6.0, ensure to review the important information in these sections:

Migrating from vCenter Server for Windows to the vCenter Server Appliance

It is possible to migrate a vCenter Server installation on Windows to a vCenter Server Appliance installation while upgrading to version 6.5.
For more information, see:
  • System Requirements for Migrating vCenter Server Deployments to vCenter Server Appliance Deployments section in the vSphere Upgrade Guide.
  • Prerequisites for Migrating vCenter Server, vCenter Single Sign-On, and Platform Services Controller section in the vSphere Upgrade Guide.
  • Known Limitations section in the vSphere Upgrade Guide.
Notes:
  • The vSphere Web Client 6.5 requires Adobe Flash Player 16 or later. For more information, see the vSphere Web Client Software Requirement section in the vSphere Installation and Setup Guide.

Additional Information

For more information, see these sections in the vSphere Upgrade Guide:
Roger Lund
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Tips For Surviving DellEMC World in Vegas

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So you’ve got the good fortune of attending DellEMC World 2017 in Las Vegas. Here’s some tips to make your visit to the desert oasis a little more pleasant so you gain the most out of the conference.

When deciding what to pack, keep in mind that Vegas can be slightly cool (50-60F) in the mornings, but quickly heats up to the 90-100F range once the Daystar is overhead. Bring a light jacket and wear light colored, moisture wicking clothes.

Hydration is key; the heat will make you sweat and the dry, smokey, casino air will leave you feeling parched. Highly recommend investing in a double-walled vacuum insulated water bottle from HydroFlask or similar. Dehydration combined with the plentiful and free alcohol will make for a less than pleasant conference experience.

Get yourself some lozenges to keep your mouth moist, it’ll help with all the talking with vendors and other attendees. You may still end up hoarse by Thursday, but give your throat a fighting chance. I’m a fan of Fisherman’s Friend, all natural, low calorie and they work very well. They’re also not sweet and candy like, nor bulky in the mouth like most lozenges.

Wear comfortable shoes and think about adding padded insoles. You’ll be on your feet walking a lot, and Vegas isn’t known for it’s soft green spaces.

Pace yourself; it’s a long week with a lot to see and do. Don’t try to fill every hour of every day with meetings, sessions, gatherings, etc. Take some time, even just 10-15 minutes, to step away from the crowds and relax.

Got any tips you’d suggest? Leave them in the comments below.

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DellEMC Elect 2017 Announcement

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With the merging of Dell and EMC came a combining of the EMC Elect and Dell TechCenter Rockstar advocacy programs to form the DellEMC Elect. After several months of planning and judging, and 600 great nominations, a class of 153 for 2017 has been announced. These individuals were chosen for their combination of technical knowledge of DellEMC enterprise products, a willing eagerness to help others, and objective independence. The full list of the 2017 DellEMC Elect can be viewed here.

It has been a great honor to have been involved as a founder and judge of this new combined program, and I look forward to seeing y’all at DellEMC World in Las Vegas this May.

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DellEMC Elect Call for Nominations

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Today is the day that’s been teased about for the last few weeks, and marks the culmination of months of planning. The former Dell TechCenter Rockstars and EMC Elect are joining forces and will henceforth be known as the DellEMC Elect.

Being selected to be part of the DellEMC Elect community is a recognition of efforts over the past year by an individual to promote the products and services of DellEMC, while also providing feedback to improve products.

What’s in it for those selected aside from a hearty thank-you and recognition? That’s to be announced later, but word has it the much loved Elect Lounge will be returning to a conference near you.

If you, or an associate, have the passion for and knowledge of DellEMC’s products along with an interest in helping the greater community the time to apply for 2017 is now. Go to http://dell.to/dellemcelectnominate to nominate yourself or others you feel worthy today.

Find us on twitter and elsewhere under the #DellEMCElect hashtag

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NetApp Insight 2016 – General Session – Day 1

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Today I am joining you live from NetApp Insight 2016.

This is my best attempt to keep up with the keynote as it happens, Pardon any missed content.
Roger Anderson joins us on stage after a nice media presentation, “who said data wasn’t exciting”

He talks about the value to both Customers and partners, and that they have made this event something special.

And welcomes us to #netappinsight 2016.

The conversation turns to the event, and how it is a netapp milestone, and now with feedback, less general sessions, more breakout sessions and labs than every before.

Roger Introduced George Kurian. He Talks about Digital Transformation, and that Data is the currency of the digital economy.

He goes on to talk about Netapp’s Success in Data Management in the last 20 years.

He brings up Simplify, And Modernize IT in Infrastracture , Scale and Accelerating Business Performance. Examples are SSD, Scale out, and Solidfire.

He talks about Data Silos , and how they Hinder the Data Center, and how the competition focuses on technology that hinders transformation. Netapp’s Data Fabric Enables IT’s Digital Transformation.

He goes into Transforming Netapp to serve you in the New Era of IT. by Serving more device customers with expanding technology innovation.

Next George is Addressing how customers want to buy and consume solutions by embracing the partner ecosystems.

He indicates that Netapp is the fastest Growing San vendor.

He talks about More and More Customers and Services Providers use Cloud because of Netapp Cloud Strategies.

He Introduces the 2016 Innovation Award Finalists. Mercy Technology services took the stage and talked about the success they have had with Netapp and SSD.

He leaves us with one thought. Challenge us to to make us better. And Welcome to Netapp Insight.

George introduces Joel Reich. Joel talks about yesterday’s Data Management, and how it has changed in the last 50 years.

He talks about Data, and the Power of it. Data is the new oil. The Netapp Data Fabric, is the new bank.

The solution to catching in on your new data, is data fabric.

Joe introduces the new all flash FAS AFF A700, and AFF A300. New Hybrid Models FAS9000, FAS8200, FAS 2600.

Joe Shows off the Netapp Flash Platform, with EF, AFF, And Solidfire. Next they plan a video on Solidfire.

Joe talks about Oncommand Insight and the power of Analytics.

Next they close with a demo of Snap Center, Snap Mirror, with AltaVault to the cloud. Next they backup to Storage Grid, and then Azure. Then they show how they can use Data Fabric to restore files from Amazon to your Data Center.

Next they talk about Data in Space, and NASA, and the JPL Data Center. They talk about how they use data transformation from file to object and back, with security. They use Cloud Sync, and do a demo. This allows File to Object, and back Object to file.

Cloud Sync is onthe Amazon Market Place.

 

Now Henri Richard takes the stage.

He talks about Partnerships, and Introduces Samsung. Samsung talks about trends and the 2.2 connections for each human on the planet. He is talking about the massive amount of data these devices are making.

Samsung talking about 3d NAN, 16TB SSD, and the newly announced 32TB SSD’s. They talk about Z-NAD Z-SSD.

Netapp AFF8020, and Multi-Stream , Custom Firmware for Improved NAND, Endurance.

He closes talking about the History of Samsung and Netapp Innovation.

 

Next up is Cisco. They play a video featuring Flexpod. Cisco Takes the stage, and they talk about the partnership, and flexpod. How they have 7300 flexpod customers, 1100 partners, and more.

Next they discuss the Digital Transformation, and the driving changes in IT. They detail how Application Architectures , Operational Models, and Consumption models need to change , and we are living those shifts today.

Next Cisco talks about the Data Center Strategy, and how they have making strides with a Programable infrastructure , policy driven platform. They talk about Solidfire and Flexpod, and overall customer simplicity.

Next up is Fujitsu. They talk about the Human centric innovation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Roger Lund

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Setup an L2TP/IPSEC VPN On Your Ubitquiti EdgeRouter

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The planned follow up to the Ubiquiti UniFi AP deployment/RaspberryPi controller post about running an ELK stack on the controller is on hold; there are no preexisting binaries for the ARM platform and a successful compile from source has eluded me so far.  So instead we’re going to walk through setting up an L2TP/IPSEC VPN up on Ubiquiti’s EdgeRouter line of routers.  Ubiquiti has a good guide here that will get you 90% of the way there, but is missing a few key pieces of info.

Continue reading…

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Deploying Ubiquiti UniFi APs with a RaspberryPi 2 Controller

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I recently got fed up with the mediocre coverage and speeds of my home wireless network even after throwing DD-WRT on the pair of APs (Netgear and Linksys .11n) to eek out all the performance I could.  So I decided to take the plunge and go up market a bit with a couple APs from Ubiquiti Networks.

Ubiquiti UniFi APsI went with a pair of UAP (.11n) and UA-AC-LR (.11ac) units for a mix of coverage in light usage areas and better performance in high usage areas, along with a RaspberryPi 2 to act as the controller.    Since the UniFi APs are becoming more popular among home users, and I can’t be the only one wary of putting management functions in the cloud, I decided to document the setup process. Continue reading…

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How to Install git on Centos 7

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I found my self needing git to pull down scripts for ansible. Thus this is how to configure git on Centos 7.

 

  1. # yum install git -y
  2. git --version
  3. You should see a version like this. Install Done!

git version

 

  1. Next lets configure it!
  2. # git config --global user.name "Your Name"
  3. # git config –global user.email “[email protected]“
  4.  # git config –list
  5. You should see the following, and we are done!

configgit

  1. Lets create a new location for our git repository
  2. mkdir /git
  3. cd /git
  4. git init
  5. now lets pull down a configure we want to use.
  6. the command git clone (URL) clones a entire repository down to your server or workstation.
  7. Enjoy!

 

Sources.

How To Install Git on CentOS 7 https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-install-git-on-centos-7

Using Git with Github. http://blog.scottlowe.org/2015/01/26/using-git-with-github/

A Non-Programmer’s Introduction to Git http://blog.scottlowe.org/2015/01/14/non-programmer-git-intro/

credit to Scott Lowe and Josh Barnett

 

 

 

Roger L

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