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By admin, August 20, 2011 11:47 pm

今天經過雜誌店﹐發現MAGBOOK又出版了本以法拉利為主題的專刊﹐其實此類由著名英國汽車雜誌OCTANE發行的法記專刊早已出過了。簡單的來說﹐就是把很多期關於法拉利的內容再次集中成為一本專刊。因為已經擁有類似的專刊﹐放棄之際﹐細看之下原來內容有些不同﹐就是這本專刊多了另外一間姊妹雜誌社EVO的參與﹐而且價格比普通的一期OCTANE還要便宜﹐大喜之下﹐立刻買下﹗後來上OCTANE網站﹐發現居然沒有此書的蹤影﹐真奇怪﹗

喜歡法拉利的朋友﹐這本精彩的專刊絕對不能錯過。從五十年代賽場上的火紅250F講起﹐到六十年代優雅的250/275和DINO系列﹐然後去到七十年代科幻的DAYTONA/308和512BB﹐之後進入顛峰的八十年代328/TESTAROSSA/288 GTO/F40﹐接著就是九十年代的F50和348/F355系列﹐最後當然就是現今的360/430/ENZO/599/458/FF﹗

整本專刊就像一本濃縮的法拉利聖經﹐性價比絕對超值﹐我相信日後肯定會成為車模迷們爭相尋覓的另類經典收藏品之一﹗

Ferrari Supercars from the Publishers of EVO & Octane

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By admin, August 20, 2011 1:55 am

I came across an interesting article today that a new storage startup Nutanix can do what Google does for a living, using cheap hardware to simulate a big pool of distributed storage, of course it’s software based raid, something like the hardware based (actually it’s still software based + vendor specific designed array box) NetApps Network Raid, 3PAR and Compellent’s Cluster File System or even the newly launched vSphere Storage Appliance (purely software based). The concept is very nice, but at the end IOPS is still linked to how many spindles you have.

Yes it may be true that Nutanix’s storage has no boundary, but in my own opinion, only the next Google or Amazon alike company may need this kind of technology to drive down its operational cost, for most SMB (which Nutanix is aiming for), a low end SAN/NAS or even a free iSCSI target like MS iSCSI Target/Windstar shall do the job beautifully for their vSphere hosts. If Nutanix really targets for SMB, then they will definitely need to reduce the price and start to use really cost effective DIY servers as the selling point.

Finally, it’s interesting to know Nutanix is in fact founded by ex-employee of Google who probably the brain behind GFS, no wonder!

2013-05-05

Nutanix新款伺服器，可讓多臺伺服器肚內的儲存硬碟，共組成統一的叢集儲存槽，企業不用額外建置SAN儲存架構

伺服器新創廠商Nutanix在今年初由逸盈科技代理來臺，推出新款伺服器，可透過Nutanix Distributed File System（NDFS）技術，讓多臺伺服器肚內的儲存硬碟，共組成統一的叢集儲存槽，企業不用額外建置SAN儲存架構，伺服器節點也能共享儲存空間。

Nutanix區域銷售經理PK Lim表示，Nutanix產品設計源自於Google、Facebook、Amazon、Twitter等大型資料中心設計概念。

過去，企業資料中心架構，伺服器運算與儲存裝置都需要單獨採購，在伺服器運算設備以外，需要再額外架設SAN儲存環境來共享大量磁碟儲存空間。

但大型的資料中心，例如Google、Facebook、Amazon等，為了加快資料存取的I/O速度，讓伺服器運算的資料不需再儲存至外部硬碟，因此就設計了Google File System技術，讓伺服器肚內的SSD或儲存硬碟可以讓多臺伺服器共享，就可以取代企業傳統的SAN架構。

Nutanix產品取經Google等大型資料中心的儲存架構概念，設計出Nutanix系列伺服器，單臺機器採2U高度，機架式設計，每臺伺服器內含4個運算節點，多臺伺服器可透過網路埠串接，並共用每臺伺服器內的儲存空間。

Nutanix新型態伺服器採2U機架高度，內含4個運算節點，由逸盈科技代理來臺。

目前Nutanix產品依照系統規格可區分為NX-2000、NX-3000等系列，高階XN-3050最高可內裝3.2TB SATA介面的SSD，每個節點採2路設計，配置Intel Xeon E5-2670系列處理器。因此，一臺2U高度的XN-3050系列裝滿4節點後最高可達8顆處理器、64核心。每個節點提供2個10GbE和2個1GbE網路埠。企業可以依照建置規模，來選擇伺服器內裝的運算節點數量和儲存大小等。

Nutanix也和VMware合作，推出在Nutanix伺服器內預載vSphere 5.1虛擬化平臺的版本，目前已在臺上市。

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By admin, August 18, 2011 12:12 pm

Just found out the place where I stayed for two years during my teenage is the heart of the world’s famous British motor sports event ”Goodwood Motorsport Festival”, not to mention it’s also the head quarter of Rolls Royce. How come I didn’t know anything about it where I was there?

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By admin, August 17, 2011 9:21 pm

記得很多年前在英國讀中學的時候﹐曾經在倫敦的Bond Street見過一輛顏色很特別的Rolls Royce﹐黑色的上半身佩搭著銀色的下半身顯得格外的高雅﹐就如傳統英式結婚男禮服般同出一轍。

令人最記憶猶新的還是那位穿著整齊黑色制服戴帽子的司機伯伯﹐還有就是座位上那位令人印象深刻戴著高禮帽﹑滿頭銀髮西裝筆挺的老紳士﹐手裡居然還拿著根18世紀的黑色拐杖。

兩人的打扮完全跟當時九十年代初的倫敦時尚氣氛格格不入﹐這樣的裝束就如同從電影裡19世紀走出來的貴族一樣令人注目﹐這也令當時的我體會了什麼是維多利亞時代遺留下來的那份優越的英倫Class味道。

多年後﹐才知道當年的那台Rolls Royce型號叫做Phantom VI﹐好像只生產了三百多台﹐所以相當珍貴。記得香港港督曾經也有一輛﹐但在1997年7月1號香港回歸的當晚就跟隨英國艦隊回去了祖家。

自己很喜歡和欣賞這類六七十年代的英倫豪華汽車﹐那種獨特的氣派是現今Phantom款式所沒能提供的﹐你如果在特定的地方如倫敦市中小或者是古舊建築物前看到真車﹐就會馬上感受到那份與眾不同的大英帝國氣派。

要知道1比18的車模世界裡幾乎沒有這些這六七十年代的英倫豪華汽車﹐1比43的更寥寥可數﹐至于那些質量參次不齊的大陸山寨廠手版﹑加上沒有正式生產牌照當然也不能算數。

好消息終于來了﹐今年3月底TrueScale公佈了一項令所有Rolls Royce粉絲都為之振奮的新聞﹐那就是TrueScale將會陸續推出一系列跨越60年代到現今超過20款的Rolls Royce手版。幸虧TrueScale當時沒有一次性推出所有的款式﹐因為如此令人興奮的消息令我曾一度蒙蔽雙眼﹑認定要全部收下才心安﹐衷心感謝你TrueScale﹗

在過去的六個月內TrueScale緩慢地推出7款經典的車型﹐我可能對手版要求比合金來得要高﹐所以不太滿意手工質量有不少的瑕僻﹐如接口有明顯的溢膠﹐蝕刻片貼的不整齊等等。當然TrueScale的手版比其它廠來的還是比較有良心的﹐可以說是價廉物美﹐它並未因為掛著Rolls Royce的大名就大賺黑心錢﹐這點比AA和MC的賓利系列好得多﹗

自己比較喜歡的還是Phantom第五代和第六代﹐因為樣子比較典雅大體。相比之下TrueScale的那台黑色Phantom V Park Ward Black就沒有Phantom VI Mulliner Park Ward Black over Silver來的好看。

另外英女皇也擁有兩台Rolls Royce Phantom VI﹐其中一台更是特別的改裝型號﹐車頂明顯加高了﹐車尾窗戶也明顯加大了﹐最近的皇家婚禮盛典終于目睹到了它的真身。

下次有機會跟車模拍照的時候﹐會把這些古典Bentley﹑Rolls Royce和Daimler一字排開﹐背景襯以英倫古堡﹐對主題就叫“六七十年代的英倫紳士們”﹐那將是多麼的好看和耀目﹗

1/43 TrueScale Rolls Royce Phantom VI Mulliner Park Ward Black over Silver

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By admin, August 16, 2011 12:24 pm

世界上有多家攝影雜志擁有完整科學的鏡頭測試設備,一直堅持刊登各自的鏡頭測試報告,形成各自的風格和系列,其中公認為最權威的有德國的<攝影雜志>和<彩色攝影>,美國的<大眾攝影>,法國的<攝影師>和瑞典的<攝影>(即哈蘇實驗室測試報告).

對于同一款鏡頭的測試結果,它們有時趨于一致,有時卻出現偏差,以致引起不少爭議.引起這些偏差的原因主要有鏡頭的個體差异(特別是業余鏡頭存在質量不穩定現象),測試內容的不同(有的將机械質量和光學質量綜合評判,有的僅測試光學質量；有的僅判斷分辨率和MTF值,有的則綜合考慮色彩傳遞,畸變等) 和判斷標准不同(再客觀的測試,也是由許多個枯燥的數值組成的,要轉化為大家能夠理解的測試報告,最后必須用主觀的方式來表達,如分值,星號等).

這些測試應該相信哪一家好呢?于是有人想出將這些測試結果綜合起來判斷,最大程度地消除偶然性.德國攝影器材評論家克勞斯席洛夫1998年時將上述五家測試報告按一定的標准轉化為統一的5分制分值,并加權平均,用這种方法評測了當時市場上流行的205款135單反相机鏡頭,其中變焦鏡頭98款,定焦鏡頭107款,其中獲得了滿分5分的鏡頭有7款,它們是:

Leica Vario-Elmarit R 70-180mm f/2.8(3)
Leica Elmarit R 100mm f/2.8 APO macro(3)
Leica R 180mm f/2 APO(2)
Leica R 180mm f/3.4 APO(3)
Leica R 280mm f/4 APO-IF(3)
Leica R 400mm f/2.8(2)
Canon EF 400mm f/2.8 USM L ?(3)

用這种方法來評价鏡頭光學質量不失為一种有趣的方法,但也存在缺陷.后面括號內的數值表示測試的雜志數,并非上述五家雜志都做了測試,如果同為三家雜志所測試,但雜志卻有所不同,其可比性相對就差了,如果后來又加入新的測試,分值會有變化,變化有可能還不小,因此對于分值接近的兩款鏡頭,光學素質孰高孰低很難說,但如果兩款鏡頭分值相差較遠,它們的光學素質的差距是不可動搖的事實.

徠卡鏡頭名不虛傳,7個滿分鏡頭中占了6個,另一款為佳能的超級400mm大炮.徠卡果然沒有讓人們失望,各款鏡頭均表現出超俗的水平,不過話說回來,它的价格也是鶴立雞群,讓我們多數人不抱擁有的希望.

在4.5-4.99分之間的鏡頭也有7款,它們是:

Leica R 280mm f/2.8 APO-IF = 4.96(4)
Carl-Zeiss Sonnar T* 135mm f/2.8 = 4.87(2)
Canon TS-E 45mm f/2.8 = 4.61(2)
Canon EF 300mm f/2.8 USM L = 4.6(4)
Leica Vario-Elmarit R 80-200mm f/4 = 4.6(3)
Canon EF 135mm f/2 USM L = 4.54(4)
Minolta AF 200mm f/2.8 APO G = 4.52(3)

由上可以看出,變焦鏡頭与專業的定焦鏡頭相比,在光學質量還是有所遜色.除上述兩款徠卡變焦鏡頭外,超過4分的變焦鏡頭只剩下3款:

Carl-Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* 28-85mm f/3.3-4 = 4.17(4)
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 USM L = 4.07(4)
Nikkor AF 35-70mm f/2.8 D = 4.01(5)

而超過4分的定焦鏡頭數量可觀,包括上述定焦鏡頭總共達到45款. 相對与長焦鏡頭來說,廣角鏡頭(無論是定焦還是變焦)由于涵蓋率和构造的關系,更難達到高分.超過4分的定焦廣角鏡頭(焦長28mm以下)有5款:

Leica R 19mm f/2.8 = 4.28 (3)
Carl-Zeiss Distagon T* 21mm f/2.8 = 4.17 (2)
Leica R 28mm f/2.8 = 4.16 (3)
Pentax SMC-F 28mm f/2.8 = 4.13 (3)
Leica R 28 f/2.8mm = 4.12 (2)

分數最高的超廣角變焦鏡頭是:

Nikkor AF 2.8 20-35mm D = 3.46 (4)
近兩年中又有許多新鏡頭面世,最近克勞斯席洛夫對上述評价做了調整,去掉了徠卡鏡頭和康太時單反相机鏡頭,加入了康太時G系列鏡頭(旁軸平視取景相机),即所列鏡頭全部為自動對焦鏡頭,共計變焦鏡頭115款,定焦鏡頭103款.對評分標准也做了一些修改,去掉了爭議較大的德國<攝影雜志>測試,換之以英國的<業余愛好 者>雜志測試.綜合評分達到4. 5分以上的鏡頭被定為”杰出鏡頭”,目前共有18款,它們是:

Pentax SMC-FA 85mm f/1.4 = 4.85 (3)
Carl-Zeiss Planar T* 45mm f/2 G = 4.77 (3)
Sigma AF 50mm f/2.8 Macro EX = 4.77 (3)
Canon EF 135mm f/2 USM L = 4.72 (4)
Canon TS-E 90mm f/2.8 = 4.72 (2)
Nikkor AF 60mm f/2.8 Micro = 4.63 (4)
Carl-Zeiss Sonnar T* 90mm f/2.8 G = 4.62 (3)
Canon EF 400mm f/2.8 USM L = 4.60(3)
Minolta AF 100mm f/2 = 4.60(3)
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro = 4.57(5)
Carl-Zeiss Biogon T* 28mm f/2.8 G = 4.57 (3)
Nikkor AF 105mm f/2.8 Micro = 4.54(5)
Nikkor AF 85mm f/1.8 D = 4.53(3)
Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM = 4.52(4)
Minolta AF 200mm f/2.8 APO G = 4.50(4)
Canon EF 300mm f/2.8 USM L = 4.50(3)
Nikkor AF-S 300mm f/2.8 ED D = 4.50(2)
Pentax SMC-FA* 200mm f/2.8 ED IF = 4.50(2)

超過4分的變焦鏡頭有9款:

Nikkor AF-S 28-70mm f/2.8 ED D = 4.24 (3)
Minolta AF 80-200mm f/2.8 APO G = 4.18 (3)
Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 USM L = 4.16 (2)
Nikkor AF 35-70mm f/2.8 D = 4.11 (5)
Nikkor AF-S 80-200mm f/2.8 ED D = 4.11 (3)
Canon EF 80-200mm f/2.8 L = 4.07 (5)
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 USM L = 4.06 (3)
Sigma AF 70-200mm f/2.8 EX (HSM) = 4.05 (5)
Canon EF 28-70mm f/2.8 USM L = 4.01 (5)

超過3.75分的28mm以下廣角鏡頭有9款:

Carl-Zeiss Biogon T* 28mm f/2.8 G = 4.57 (3)
Carl-Zeiss Biogon T* 21mm f/2.8 G = 4.28 (2)
Nikkor AF 28mm f/1.4 D = 4.00 (3)
Pentax SMC-FA 28mm f/2.8 = 3.89 (4)
Canon EF 28mm f/2.8 = 3.82 (4)
Canon EF 24mm f/1.4 USM L = 3.82 (3)
Nikkor AF 24mm f/2.8 = 3.77 (3)
Canon EF 20mm f/2.8 = 3.75 (4)
Canon EF 24mm f/2.8 = 3.75 (3)

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By admin, August 13, 2011 11:00 pm

I have been planning to move my desktop on to the cloud for years, now it’s the right time as cloud technology has finally matured.

There has always been a need for me to print documents via Remote Desktop on my locally attached laser printer. Today, I finally got time to try this out, I thought it was as simple as enabling the Printer in Local Resources under Remote Desktop options, but it turns out no printer was found in the RDP session PC. In additional, Windows 7 or W2K8 doesn’t have this problem as printer drivers were loaded by default, only Windows XP or W2K3 needs to install printer drivers.

After Google a bit, I was able to locate the answer that all you need is to install the printer driver on the remote PC as well. Soon after I’ve done that, the remote printer showed up magically. Besides, I was also able to tested out the local drive letters and USB disks on demand, they all worked flawlessly, so no need to use VPN and Shared Folder function any more. Worried about RDP’s security? It’s encrypted, if you need much higher level, then use Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 will do the trick.

Now it’s time for me to Acronis my 13 years old desktop (Dual PIII 850Mhz,1GB Ram and 120GB IDE, amazingly it’s still running and can play HD MKV!) and send it to the cloud by using vCenter Converter, then I can connect with any thin client (e.g., iPhone) as long as it has Remote Desktop, I can finally open my huge Excel way faster now! Yeah!

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By admin, August 12, 2011 5:27 pm

It shouldn’t be classified as hack-in incidence at all, as the hacker didn’t break into their system but rather jammed HKSE’s pipe. Btw, no body dares to say the truth that there is no way to prevent bandwidth type of DDOS attack, as bandwidth is limited, but DDOS bot is unlimited, so even the biggest gun will be brought down to its knee including FBI site last year. That’s why HKSE senior is so afraid to disclosure the bandwidth they had.

and Guess Who’s that security expert in DDOS from Iseral? Well, there is only one, my guess is Radware!

【明報專訊】本報獲悉，前日令港交所「披露易」網站癱瘓導致7隻股票停牌、連累股民帳面損失逾2000萬元的海外黑客攻擊，相信源自中國大陸、韓國、印度及俄羅斯等多國數以百計的「傀儡電腦」，但警方仍未確認誰是幕後主腦。而黑客昨日再度攻擊披露易網站，但因港交所按警方建議及時加裝「過濾裝置」，成功阻截攻擊。為防再遭黑客癱瘓網站引發停牌，港交所引入5項新措施。

分散披露通告 業績名單登報

港交所行政總裁李小加指出，今日起會引入的5項新措施，包括把上市公司通告由過往的中央（披露易）發放，改為分散披露，增加黑客攻擊的困難。港交所亦會每日以報刊廣告及電郵等形式，把公布板的上市公司消息告知小投資者及證券商（詳見圖）。

李小加昨日又證實，黑客是以「分散式阻截服務攻擊（DDoS）」癱瘓披露易，電腦專家指這種襲擊很難追查出誰是幕後黑客（見另稿），但建議港交所日後多做「滲透式」測試，即以黑客角色嘗試攻擊自己網站，以找出保安漏洞。

警或聯同國際刑警緝兇

警方商業罪案調查科科技罪案組則指出，前日接獲港交所舉報指披露易網站被干擾，以及介入調查後，已把案件列作「有犯罪或不誠實意圖而取用電腦（此罪最多可判監5年）」處理，暫時未有人被捕；據悉，警方不排除會聯絡國際刑警追查幕後黑客主腦。

李小加則再以為免影響警方調查為由，未肯披露黑客來自哪些海外國家，並強調事前未接過恐嚇。但本報獲悉，前日一浪接一浪的黑客攻擊，是來自中國大陸、韓國、俄羅斯、印度等多國至少數以百計的傀儡電腦，由於攻擊頻率高兼技巧多變，料是高級黑客所為，警方前晚遂已即時建議港交所加裝過濾裝置，阻截攻擊，結果獲接納，並由港交所聘用的供應商，包括以色列專家在內人員，成功於前晚裝好過濾裝置，故黑客昨日再襲擊披露易網站時，網站未有癱瘓，只是一度反應遲鈍。

股民促賠償 李小加稱停牌正確

披露易癱瘓，令7公司股票（港交所、匯控、國泰、中國電力、華潤微電子、大新銀行及大新金融）及419隻衍生工具前日停牌半天，料令大批原看好的投資者昨蒙受損失，不少人怒吼指港交所應賠償。李小加昨就會否賠償一事未有正面回應，只是強調對部分投資者因不能買賣股票而損失感到遺憾，又形容要7隻股票停牌是「痛苦決定」，但兩害取其輕下，堅持停牌是正確決定，因為不能讓小投資者在得不到公平資訊情下買賣股票。

對於有激動股民認為他應該辭職，李小加不以為然，他表示，「若做錯了當然要負責……（但停牌）已是最好的選擇」，他強調決定是具有良好目的（in good faith），並強調港交所關鍵的清算及交易系統，採高保安封閉式運作，未有受黑客攻擊。

海外黑客前日癱瘓了港交所「披露易」網站，所發動的「分散式阻截服務攻擊（DDoS, distributed denial of service attack）」攻擊法，即是在背後發出遙控指令，令全球數以百計已中電腦病毒的傀儡電腦，同時向目標網站發出大量攻擊信息，耗盡其頻寬及伺服器能力使之癱瘓，事件揭出披露易網站事發前欠缺強力保安設施，無法抵擋黑客攻擊。

昨設過濾裝置 成功擋襲擊

港交所指出，前晚被黑客攻擊後，專家引入新的過濾裝置，成功擋住黑客另一輪攻擊，即過濾掉攻擊信息。

港交所首席科技總監周騰彪昨解釋事故時，否認披露易網站不設防，因為該網站以往曾成功擋住一些簡單的黑客攻擊。但他承認，前日海外黑客發動的DDoS攻擊，技巧遠較以往成熟兼變化多，並透過百計電腦，以極高頻率發出大量攻擊信息，終癱瘓網站。對於事發後要大半天才能令披露易恢復正常，他解釋是因專家也需時分析大量攻擊信息，才能引入適用的過濾機制抵擋襲擊。

周騰彪以為免被黑客掌握虛實為由，拒透露披露易網站頻寬有多少，但港交所會檢討是否需增加頻寬，加強抵擋DDoS攻擊，為工程人員爭取時間作防禦。

電腦保安事故協調中心古煒德稱，DDoS特色是執法者極難追查背後發動攻擊者，以往黑客曾用此法攻擊微軟、阿馬遜等國際網站以示不滿，故古氏不排除今次黑客施襲，亦可能是為宣泄對港交所或一些上市公司的不滿。

Comments (0)

By admin, August 11, 2011 10:51 pm

今天突然發現1987年的Aston Martin V8 Vantage前臉竟然跟1967年的Mustang Shelby GT350有八分相似。難道80年代的馬丁英倫設計師也受到了60年代的美國肌肉所影響﹖實在奇妙﹗

越來越喜歡經典跑車了﹐今天在超市的雜誌架前看了許久﹐剛巧鄰居朋友經過叫我才知道原來時間已不早了﹐這才依依不舍地離開了那堆Classic Car雜誌。

1987 Aston Martin V8 Vantage

1967 Mustang Shelby GT350

Comments (2)

By admin, August 6, 2011 9:27 pm

I noticed both the latest Equallogic firmware v5.05/v5.07 STILL contains a bug that a failed disk won’t be indicated in group manager. What’s worst is that soon you will discover all your VM starts to BSOD/Panic and thinking it’s either related to your switch/VMWare/ESX Host, until you found out  it is actually caused by Equallogic firmware. This bug causes volume corruption and excessive disk latency, killing all your VMs at the end, both scenarios have been preciously reported by actual EQL users in VMTN.

This is VERY SERIOUS! Users who bought Equallogic supposed to have a 99.999% reliability (what they called Five 9s), but a fail disk won’t show up in the error windows nor it flashes the amber light to alert you is a very scary experience and plain stupid!

I read from VMTN that a bad luck EQL users has no way to find out which drive has failed, finally he asked EQL support to WebEx into his console, spent hours to figure out the one.

Simply NOT ACCEPTABLE for this kind of high-end SAN!

Yes, that’s why I am still holding off my upgrade to v5.0.7 (currently at v5.0.2), I was told once by Dell consultant this: “DON’T UPGRADE ANY OF YOUR FIRMWARE if you are not having any problem.” I guess he meant for something by then, now I fully understood!

Comments (0)

By admin, August 4, 2011 10:34 am

After the heavy 99.9% negative comments in VMTN, VMW finally surrendered sort of! Why did you do that in the first place? Stupid $$$ driven decision! You have hurt many loyal followers heart deeply this time. Now I finally see why Monopoly is a bad thing!

Finally ESXi Free Edition is able to use 32GB compares to 8GB previously and I also found VSSP actually encourages use of the reserved ram model that allows memory over-commitment, but isn’t that contradict to what vRam model is used for enterprise? Seem VMware has confused everyone including itself.

As you are probably aware, when VMware announced our new Cloud Infrastructure Suite, we also introduced changes to the vSphere licensing based on a consumption and value-based model rather than on physical components and capacity.

While we believe this model is the right long-term strategy as we move into the cloud-computing era, the announcement generated a great deal of passionate feedback from partners and customers that led us to examine the impact of the new licensing model on every possible use case and scenario – and equally importantly, taking into consideration our partners’ and customers’ desire to broadly standardize on VMware. We’ve listened to your ideas and advice, and we are taking action with the following three updates to the vSphere 5 licensing model:

•We’ve increased vRAM entitlements for all vSphere editions, including the doubling of the entitlements for vSphere Enterprise and Enterprise Plus. Below is a comparison of the previously announced and the new vSphere 5 vRAM entitlements per vSphere edition:

•We’ve capped the amount of vRAM we count in any given VM, so that no VM, not even the “monster” 1TB vRAM VM, would cost more than one vSphere Enterprise Plus license. This change also aligns with our goal to make vSphere 5 the best platform for running Tier 1 applications.

•We’ve adjusted our model to be much more flexible around transient workloads, and short-term spikes that are typical in test & development environments for example. We will now calculate a 12-month average of consumed vRAM to rather than tracking the high water mark of vRAM.

Finally, we introduced the vSphere Desktop Edition to address vSphere licensing in a desktop environment. vSphere Desktop is licensed on the total number of Powered On Desktop Virtual Machines allowing  customers to purchase vSphere for VDI use case on per user basis.  Our price books are being updated and will be available on Partner Central shortly.

Update Sep-14

There is an interesting article about how enterprises in Taiwan responded to the vRam change, it seemed 99% are still against the change.