Sending that pesky F11 to ESXi through a Mac

OK, the alternative method I've just discovered is to go to the keyboard settings under System Preferences and check the box that says:

Use all F1, F2, etc. keys as standard function keys.

This worked today.  We'll see what happens tomorrow.

Sending F11 to ESXi through UCS KVM on Mac

I just need a place to put this so I remember.  I switched to using a Macbook Pro - which I love.  But there are some things that just require learning again...

Sending F11 to an ESXi host through a KVM requires:

Fn+Cmd+F11

Now I may remember...

Data Domain CLI commands

In the process of replicating data from a DD640 to DD2500 and we're hitting capacity issues.  The Data Domain locks data and won't allow cleaning to have access when it is replicating.

So...

I cancelled replication and manually started cleaning.  Last night there was no decrease in data size once cleaning finished.  I'm running it again today manually.  The commands of the day are:

#filesys clean stat

which displays the current condition of the cleaning, such as:

DD640# filesys clean status
Cleaning started at 2015/02/20 09:00:50: phase 1 of 10 (pre-enumeration)
  2.5% complete,  1130 GiB free; time: phase  0:57:55, total  0:57:57

Which is nice, but when you're as retentive as me, you want real-time info on the condition.  That's when we use:

filesys clean watch

That will present real-time, updating status of the cleaning job, such as:

DD640# filesys clean watch
Beginning 'filesys clean' monitoring.  Use Control-C to stop monitoring.

Cleaning: phase 1 of 10 (pre-enumeration)
    3.4% complete,  1130 GiB free; time: phase  1:24:26, total  1:24:28

I also allocated more resources to the cleaning in hope that it gets finished sooner than later.  I'm not running any backup during the day to speak of, so I can afford to let those jobs take a back seat to the emergency maintenance.

More as it happens...

A Change in Direction

I'm excited to announce that I've accepted a new position with Marco Inc in St Cloud, MN.  An opportunity presented itself within the Internal Systems group, and after much prayer and consideration I have accepted the role of IS Systems Administrator.

I'm pumped to begin working with this team of extremely gifted engineers to design, implement and maintain the data and voice systems in use at Marco.  It very much affords me the opportunity to continue working to expand my skill set in regard to the data center, with focus on Cisco UCS, EMC storage and backup, and Cisco infrastructure.  I will also be expanding into the realm of disaster recovery and business continuity as I work with this team to support and grow Marco's infrastructure as the company rapidly grows.

It's bittersweet to be leaving the Field Service team, however.  I'm blessed to have worked alongside this group of the finest engineers I've had the pleasure to know in my years of IT.  I'm proud of the work we've accomplished and excited to see what challenges and opportunities we share as we move forward.

So my direction change is not all that divergent, but rather more of a veering in the same general direction of data center technologies and systems.  I really am excited to dive in, and will be posting more here as time and inspiration afford.

The Saddle is Slippery

I've been out of touch for a few weeks here, mainly due to the fact that summer is such a crazy busy time for me and my family.  In Minnesota, we get about 2 weeks a year when we can actually go outside and enjoy the weather without freezing, baking, or being carried away by mosquitoes.  We get out and do things this time of year.

I also had the privilege to attend EMC World 2014 where I was inundated with great knowledge and spent a lot of time with some very smart people.   It was a great time learning about the new things that EMC is rolling out, including ViPR, Recover Point and the new VNXe3200.  I also had a great time with Tech Data where we had a dinner presentation about EMC's VSPEX program.

Also during that time, I was able to take a few certification exams and walked away with some shiny new EMC certifications.  I am now officially EMCIE - EMC Implementation Engineer in VNX and Recoverpoint S/E, and EMCSA - EMC System Administration.

It was a great conference, and a ton of work.  I am, however, as full of certifications as I can currently be and will likely resume the CCNP later this fall.  I'll be posting here more notes and tips on the technologies I am working on, so let me know if you have any questions.

Back in the saddle

It's been a nice little vacation from books and labs and studying, but it's now time to get back on the horse and continue expanding my knowledge.  I have been struggling to begin as of late, having picked up the CCNP Route  642-902 certification material but finding it difficult to get moving on it. 

But I started this morning, with a refresher lab where I built a simple EIGRP-routed network and went through the verification of that protocol.  I'm amazed at how quickly these things can leave my mind when I'm not focused on it daily, and pretty glad that as I configure EIGRP and start looking at verifying its function that it comes back to me equally as fast.

So while I have nothing new to report today, I'm started to get pumped for the education I'm about to receive and equally as pumped to put this in practice.  I'll give updates regarding my progress and in my typical Mason Education fashion, I'll be narrating the things I learn and pick up.

Stay tuned for more geeky goodness and routing voodoo!

Official and everything - EMCTA Certified