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By admin, March 31, 2012 5:10 pm

The reason I choosed to upgrade MEM first is becuase in the release note of MEM 1.1.0, it is said the minimum EQL FW should be v4.3.7 (which I’m on v5.0.2), but FW v5.2.2 states clearly that it only supports MEM 1.1.0, so I need to upgrade MEM first before I upgrade my EQL firmware to v5.2.2 and add HIT/VE v3.1.1 later.

1. Remember to put your ESX host to Maintenance Mode FIRST!!!

2. Use the MEM installation script as I found this is the most simple method, open vSphere CLI

C:\>setup.pl –install –server=xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
You must provide the username and password for the server.
Enter username: root
Enter password:

Upgrading from existing Dell EqualLogic Multipathing Extension Module installed:
DELL-eql-mem-1.0.0.130413
Defaulting to offline bundle ‘C:\dell-eql-mem-esx4-1.1.0.222691.zip’
The install operation may take several minutes.  Please do not interrupt it.
Upgrade install was successful.
You must reboot before the new version of the Dell EqualLogic Multipathing Exten
sion Module is active.

3. Remember to Reboot it as well if your host is ESX 4.1

4. Check if the MEM is installed correctly, found out MEM setting has been set to default, so need to change it again to its maximum power to ultilize all 4 paths. (ie, volumesessions=12, membersessions=4)

C:\>setup.pl –query –server=xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
You must provide the username and password for the server.
Enter username: root
Enter password:

Found Dell EqualLogic Multipathing Extension Module installed: DELL-eql-mem-esx4
-1.1.0.222691
Default PSP for EqualLogic devices is DELL_PSP_EQL_ROUTED.
Active PSP for naa.6090a078e03b90b5b1d654e6e700d0fc is DELL_PSP_EQL_ROUTED.
Active PSP for naa.6090a078c06ba23424c914a0f1889d68 is DELL_PSP_EQL_ROUTED.
Active PSP for naa.6090a078e03bd0aad3cc34ade700500f is DELL_PSP_EQL_ROUTED.
Active PSP for naa.6090a078e03b80201dcbe4a5e70010ee is DELL_PSP_EQL_ROUTED.
Active PSP for naa.6090a078e03b40e895cc74abe70000fd is DELL_PSP_EQL_ROUTED.
Found the following VMkernel ports bound for use by iSCSI multipathing: vmk2 vmk
3 vmk4 vmk5

C:\>setup.pl –listparam –server=xx.xxx.xxx.xxx
You must provide the username and password for the server.
Enter username: root
Enter password:

Parameter Name  Value Max   Min   Description
————–  —– —   —   ———–
TotalSessions   512   1024  64    Max number of sessions per host.
VolumeSessions  6     12    1     Max number of sessions per volume.
MemberSessions  2     4     1     Max number of sessions per member per volume.
MinAdapterSpeed 1000  10000 10    Minimum adapter speed for iSCSI multipathing.

C:\>setup.pl –setparam –name=VolumeSessions –value=12 –server=xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
C:\>setup.pl –setparam –name=MemberSessions –value=4 –server=xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx

* Make sure you have 4 NICs for iSCSI before setting MemberSessions to 4 or you will see high TCP Retransmit.

5. Double check the storage path in vCenter to make sure MEM is the default PSP and all 4 paths are Active.

Comments (4)

By admin, March 31, 2012 1:56 pm

Today I’ve finally got time to update some of the major components such as OSMA, EQL MEM, EQL FW, Dell Bios, etc.

The first thing I have done is to upgrade OpenManage to latest version 6.5 on ESX 4.1 hosts.

The whole thing is actually very easy, simply download OM-SrvAdmin-Dell-Web-LX-6.5.0-2247_A01.15.tar (762MB). Yeah, I know Dell site is confusing, but this is the right one to download, then install the package according to the Short Installation Guide on the download page.

The setup script will actually perform an automatic upgrade process. Oh…there are some warnings, saying something is not found such as symbolic links, etc. But don’t worry, just remember to start the OMSA (wsman) service again manually, not even need to reboot the host or put it into maintenance mode, everything was performed live without any problem.

Next, it’s time for me to upgrade MEM to v1.1.0 first and then EQL FW to v5.2.2, well I’ve waited almost a full year since my last update of EQL components.

Strange enough local Dell EQL technical support told me to shut down all VM before performing the EQL firmware update, luckily I didn’t listen to their advice as I vaguely remember that EQL FW  update can be done in real time without shutting down the host or VM.

Later I confirmed this with Danny, Thanks again! This is where Equallogic local support (HK and China region) starts to worry me a lot recently as Open Case is no longer handled by US EQL staff since the mid of last year, the technical knowledge and quality is just not there at all, worst, at times, they tend to ask their customers to do things ridiculously or suggest their customer to try it (without performed the step themselves). I’ve told them what if I have thousands of VMs and do I need to shut down all of them just to perform the firmware upgrade? The answer is Yes! HUH???? BS!!!

Yes I am complaining about local Equallogic support service is getting poorer and please correct this issue ASAP!

Update: April 6, 2012

OM-SrvAdmin-Dell-Web-LX-7.0.0-4614_A00.tar.gz is out today!

Comments (5)

By admin, March 16, 2012 2:11 pm

Sometimes it really makes you wonder why big corporation collects rubbishes just to expand their portfolio.

Well I am absolutely speechless when I saw the title today, so it’s time to sell your NASDAQ:DELL.

Comments (0)

By admin, March 14, 2012 8:57 pm

昨天的球聚邀請來了兩位好久沒見的老朋友，我們一行4人打了場心情放鬆兼好玩的混雙比賽。

大前天剛剛過了第3年的快樂網球生涯，這兩位老朋友的重臨又令我回想起了這些年因緣份而結識了很多球場朋友們的經過。

如果到了七八十歲還能夠與這班陪伴著我走過人生的網球朋友們繼續在球場上馳騁，那將會是多好的事情啊。

很感謝他們一直以來的鼓勵和無私的分享，令當年的我重拾起對網球的熱誠，雖然進步很慢，但還是有目共睹的。(厚著面皮的說，哈哈。。。)

今天的重聚令我再次感受到了快樂原來可以很簡單，幾個志趣相投的朋友聚首一堂，天南地北地暢談一番，打一場球，出一身汗，整個人舒服晒!

其實快樂就是這麼很簡單，你以為有幾困難呢﹖哈哈。。。

Comments (1)

By admin, March 13, 2012 10:02 pm

Yesterday I bought a 2^nd hand Fortigate 60B from a famous computer user group in Hong Kong.

During the trade, I found out the seller Danny also uses Equallogic in his company, umm…the way he talked reminded me a lot someone I must have come across before, but I couldn’t figure out who he exactly was at the time.

Later after I came back and opened my blog. Danny…isn’t there also a Danny always comments on my blog before regarding EQL products? Double checked the email on my blog and the one seller provided, Bingo, he’s the same person, what a miracle! Virtual world finally touched reality without knowing it’s actually happening during the trade, so wired and funny!

This reminds me Disney’s most well-known song “It’s a Small Small World”, I think one of these days we (one who is interested in EQL products) should form an informal Hong Kong Equallogic User Group gathering in a coffee shop or something, anyone got any solid idea, please contribute and make it happen.

Danny, thank you very much again for almost giving out this firewall for me to play with. Personally, I really like to play with this kind of toy (network appliances) during my spare time, because I like their intuitive UI and innovative features and find they are fascinating to play with and all these toys makes you to become the god of your own domain is of course exciting.  Btw, I also got some other fun toys on hand like Netscreen, Top Layer, Radware, BlueCoat, Riverbed etc , together with this FTG-60B, they will keep me very busy for a while.

Comments (2)

By admin, March 13, 2012 11:59 am

朋友在香港拍到的，和尚買相机/iPhone/iPad我明白，但這CHANEL手袋？

我自問大惑不解，有合理解釋的嗎？

Comments (5)

By admin, March 10, 2012 9:51 pm

日子過得真快，記得3年前的這個時候，膽粗粗地在討論區開始了我的第一貼後就踏上了這個奇妙的快樂網球旅程。

過去的一年裡，認識了40多位新的朋友﹔第一次因為受傷而休息了1個半月﹔認識了一位球技高超的鄰居﹔終於更換了跟隨自己20多年POG球拍﹔發球和反手有了明顯的進步(在放鬆心情和沒壓力下，哈哈﹔每個星期有了班固定的打球朋友﹔多舉辦了刺激的男單和混雙。

另外就是身體也比以前強壯了不少，Touch Wood整年沒有感冒傷風過，雖然是瘦了些，但這應該是正常的，因為目睹多數每星期打2至3次網球的師兄弟們都很苗條，哈哈。

總得來說我很感激上天給我的這些機會和會更加珍惜這些難得的緣份。

再次謝謝大家，希望今後的日子有更多的朋友和我一齊來享受Happy Tennis。

Some interesting statistics:

Courts Booked: ~185場
Tennis Balls: 62罐
Restring: 5次

Comments (0)

By admin, March 4, 2012 11:04 pm

Finally I’ve completed the desktop migration to Dell Optiplex 990 SFF after using the antique Asus P2BD for 13 years, and currently I’m enjoying every moment with the new PC.

Today I suddenly realized my Dell Ultrasharp 2007FP (in 1600 x 1200 mode using DP to DVI) isn’t working properly with its Power Saving feature. The LCD Monitor power indicator button should become Amber (Less than 2 W), instead it stays as Green all the time with “No DVI-D Cable” signal floating around the screen. This means the LCD is still drawing full power (about 75W) and burning every pixel even the screen is blank.

Searched many places on the net and ended in vain mostly (in fact many people having problem with Dell’s LCD monitor not able to resume from Power Saving Mode, but this is not my case), Then I tried to connect my screen to a VGA and the power saving function worked perfectly, hum…I know it’s nothing to do with Windows 7 Power feature, definitely not my Ultrasharp 2007FP’s problem, so this leaves only one possibility, it must be the cable!

So I put back the original Dell DP to DVI Adapter with a DVI (male) to DVI (male) cable, guess what? The screen shows Going into “Power Saving Mode” and then the power button went to Amber, ha, now we are on the right track.

I couldn’t wait to solve this problem and I really don’t like the messy combination of Dell DP to DVI Adapter with the extra DVI cable. What I need is a simple DP to DVI cable that works! So I rushed to the computer store and bought me another little bit expensive DP to DVI cable (about USD15 and kind of hard to get only one shop got it) and rushed back, crossed my finger when turned on the monitor power.

No DVI-D Cable again and worst, my screen won’t come back even I moved the mouse, Shoot! Am I a victim of the infamous Dell LCD monitor isn’t being able to resume to normal in Power Saving Mode?

Luckily this isn’t the case after I restarted my PC, everything worked just as expected, my Dell Ultrasharp 2007FP worked as designed, Going into Power Saving Mode, then all lights become Amber, yeah!

So a cheap quality cable wasted at least 5-6 hours of my precious time searching for solution. I really hated it while I am searching for the answer, in fact, this is part of my daily job, ie, always involving in PROBLEM SOLVING in all kind of things, and I love it so much after finding the answer, kind of contradicting right? Yeah, dude that’s life unfortunately!

Comments (0)

By admin, February 22, 2012 7:30 pm

This little trick only works for entry level hacker, it won’t stand a chance with advanced hacker, not to mention those DDOS with pure bandwidth consumption (I don’t think there is a way to mitigate this at all anyway, if you do, pls drop me a line).

First I tried the following intuitive command on Windows Server 2003 and found out it doesn’t work, somehow, Windows doesn’t allow route to 127.0.0.1.

route add DDOS_IP 255.255.255.255 127.0.0.1

* Assume DDOS_IP is the DDOS source IP Address.

The solution is to create a loopback (ie, fake) NIC by go to Control Panel, then Add Hardware > Network Card > Microsoft Loopback Adapter.

From Properties, Remove everything and leaving only TCP/IP, assign it a fake IP (say 192.168.80.8), disable WINS of course.

Finally, simply route the crap to this fake destination

route add DDOS_IP MASK 255.255.255.255 192.168.80.8

If you want to permanently add this DDOS IP, use route add –p parameter.

To remove it, type “route delete DDOS_IP”.

In additional, if you want to block the whole C-Class (ie, 256 IPs, mask /24) of DDOS source, then use:

route add DDOS_IP MASK 255.255.255.0 192.168.80.8

For example: route add 202.128.110.0 MASK 255.255.255.0 192.168.80.8

Finally, how do you know which IP is DDOS your server? Well, if you find a IP with many LAST_ACK from netstat, then this indicates a very high possibility that the IP is the DDOS attacker.

Examples

To display the entire contents of the IP routing table, type:

route print

To display the routes in the IP routing table that begin with 10., type:

route print 10.*

To add a default route with the default gateway address of 192.168.12.1, type:

route add 0.0.0.0 mask 0.0.0.0 192.168.12.1

To add a route to the destination 10.41.0.0 with the subnet mask of 255.255.0.0 and the next hop address of 10.27.0.1, type:

route add 10.41.0.0 mask 255.255.0.0 10.27.0.1

To add a persistent route to the destination 10.41.0.0 with the subnet mask of 255.255.0.0 and the next hop address of 10.27.0.1, type:

route -p add 10.41.0.0 mask 255.255.0.0 10.27.0.1

To add a route to the destination 10.41.0.0 with the subnet mask of 255.255.0.0, the next hop address of 10.27.0.1, and the cost metric of 7, type:

route add 10.41.0.0 mask 255.255.0.0 10.27.0.1 metric 7

To add a route to the destination 10.41.0.0 with the subnet mask of 255.255.0.0, the next hop address of 10.27.0.1, and using the interface index 0×3, type:

route add 10.41.0.0 mask 255.255.0.0 10.27.0.1 if 0×3

To delete the route to the destination 10.41.0.0 with the subnet mask of 255.255.0.0, type:

route delete 10.41.0.0 mask 255.255.0.0

To delete all routes in the IP routing table that begin with 10., type:

route delete 10.*

To change the next hop address of the route with the destination of 10.41.0.0 and the subnet mask of 255.255.0.0 from 10.27.0.1 to 10.27.0.25, type:

route change 10.41.0.0 mask 255.255.0.0 10.27.0.25

Comments (0)

By admin, February 18, 2012 10:06 pm

The demo does look a lot like a transformer in action, it’s so cool!

Oh…it’s the world’s 1st server with PCIe 3.0 (1GB/s bandwidth?) and DL380 surprised me with a newly designed nice looking bezel (finally!), but it looks like a Poweredge now.

That’s why I love the latest innovative network, server and storage technologies, they have always been my biggest hobby and toy, so much fun to learn and play with.