Cloning Hyper-V Virtual Machines – Part 1
Posted by James B. in Technology on January 21, 2010
Although it is relatively easy to make a clone of a virtual machine, the cloning process is less than intuitive. This article series shows you how to avoid disaster by creating a virtual machine clone in the proper way.
You have probably heard that server virtualization products such as Hyper-V make it easy to clone virtual server images or to move virtual servers to new hardware. However, if you ever actually tried to build a server image and then clone it, you might have been surprised by how non intuitive the process actually was.
The first time that I ever had to create a virtual machine clone, I was a little taken back. All I kept hearing about was how easy the process was. Because of that, I really expected the Hyper-V Manager to have a Clone Virtual Machine button. As you have probably already guessed though, such a button simply does not exist.
Since that time, I have tried a lot of different methods to cloning virtual machines. Some of them have worked, and some of them have not. Since there are so many techniques that you could potentially use, I wanted to take the opportunity and explain which cloning techniques actually work, and why.
Switch Android Screens from Home Screen
Posted by James B. in Technology on January 19, 2010
Click on thumbnail for full image...
I am just now starting to get into Android and in v2.1 there are some “easter eggs” that you can run across. One of the recent finds is that you can switch to your different running screens from the home screen without swiping.
If you take a look at the screenshot you will see that you can view your current screens in a thumbnail view and then select the one you would like to go to without swiping.
Here is how you do it:
- Tap and hold the dots on the bottom left and/or right.
- Tap on the thumbnail of the screen you would like to switch to.
It is really that easy…Now, I understand that some people would rather use the cool transition of swiping but this is for those of us who might have a few more screens than normal. The thumbnail backgrounds do not show the wallpaper but instead show an all white background for better visibility. It does show the icon and widget layouts for easier identification. Virtual desktop users will feel at home as the motion is somewhat familiar.
If you don’t want to spend the time to hunt down all of the Easter Eggs then please feel free to check out this blog post over at Smarterware.
Year 2010: Network Fluidity in Virtualization
Posted by James B. in Technology on January 19, 2010
After doing a little bit of reading this morning, I ran across this blog post by Lori MacVittie which refers back to a VMblog.com post that attempts to predict what virtualization will see in the year 2010.
Lori’s post, titled “A Fluid Network is the Result of Collaboration Not Virtualization,” clearly disagrees with the original VMBlog.com post and states that there’s more to creating a fluid network than just virtualization:
The network will become fluid—I absolutely agree—but that metamorphosis will not [happen] solely because of virtualization.
It seems that Lori is focusing on “collaboration of infrastructure through integration based on standards-based control planes.”
In order for any company to see the “perfectly virtualized infrastructure” I would have to agree that integration of infrastructure is required to create the fluidity that is sought after. One of the things that I feel is missing in her thought is the people factor, the operations, the processes and procedures. Like the last company I did work for, they failed to see the true benefits of virtualization because they never reworked there processes and procedures.
Most companies think that they can just virtualize and be done with it…wrong! I mean, yes, you can virtualize and then say you have a virtualized infrastructure but you really don’t. When I think of “infrastructure” I think of both the technology aspect and the processes/procedures in which the company uses to drive that infrastructure. Makes sense right? If a company sits down and hashes out the processes and procedures before virtualization took place, shouldn’t they do the same when virtualization has happened? Makes sense to me…sound off in the comments with your ideas.
Updated my other site
Check out my DJ site, http://djsubtle.com. I have redone the design and added some fresh media with more to go.
Upcoming Project: Bladecenter and Virtualization
Posted by James B. in Technology on September 21, 2009
I finally ordered all the equipment and licensing for everything I need to bring this company into the new technology era. Once I get ready to do everything I will start posting a play-by-play on the deployment.
hosted at:
