Category: VMware [en]

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Microsoft Patch KB4088875/KB4088878 has issues with VMXNET3 adapter

March rollup disconnects Windows Server 2008R2 VMs

Microsoft’s monthly March 2018 rollup KB4088875 contains a patch KB4088878 which seems to have issues with Windows Server 2008 R2 VMs and VMXNET3 adapter. Applying the patch disconnects Windows Server 2008R2 VMs.

Sounds familiar?

Yes, indeed! There used to be an old problem with Server 2008R2 VMs which had a VMXNET3 NIC. After restoring these VMs from backup, they’ve lost their static IP and instead switched to DHCP.  The problem is known by VMware and there’s a corresponding KB1020078.

Microsoft released in a hotfix 433809 (KB2550978) to prevent the issue. But you had to switch to DHCP first before installing the hotfix and then revert to your static IP. I’ve published the procedure in 2013. This blogpost is in German but the procedure is simple:

  • change NIC from static IP to DHCP
  • apply hotfix
  • reboot
  • revert to static IP

It seems that Microsoft now has included that old hotfix into a montly rollup. At least the similarity is striking.

Fun fact

Those who had already applied the Hotfix in the past to their 2008R2 VMs, seem to be immune to the problem.

Links

 

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VMware vExpert award 2018

With pleasure I’ve found an email in my inbox, telling me that I’m part of the 2018 vExpert program.

Another year vExpert

For me it’s an honor and an obligation. I will continue to share my knowledge with the community, and – time permitting – extend that effort.

VMware vExpert Program

The annual VMware vExpert award is given to individuals who have significantly contributed to the community of VMware users over the past year. The title is awarded to individuals (not employers) for their commitment to sharing their knowledge and passion for VMware technology above and beyond their job requirements.

The VMware vExpert program is VMware’s global evangelism and advocacy program. The program is designed to put VMware’s marketing resources towards your advocacy efforts. Promotion of your articles, exposure at our global events, co-op advertising, traffic analysis, and early access to beta programs and VMware’s roadmap. The awards are for individuals, not companies, and last for one year. Employees of both customers and partners can receive the awards. In the application, we consider various community activities from the previous year as well as the current year’s (only for 2nd half applications) activities in determining who gets awards. We look to see that not only were you active but are still active in the path you chose to apply for.

Links

vExpert tweets on Twitter: #vExpert

VMTN Blog – vExpert 2018 Award Announcement

VMware – vExpert Directory

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Veeam ReFS Repository on iSCSI Targets

Troubleshooting Repository Deadlocks

With Resilient Filesystem (ReFS) integration into Veeam Availability Suite 9.5 a whole bunch of features was integrated. One of the biggest advantages is ‘Fast Cloning Technology’ which enables synthetic full backups by merely creating pointers to already existing datablocks on the repository.

In a small scale environment I had a hardware repository server (Win 2016) with an iSCSI Volume as repository (ReFS, 64k) as primary backup target. This constellation worked like a Swiss watch. Daily backups ran for months without any trouble. Fast cloning technology enabled weekly synthetic full backups with minimal consumption of extra space.

Recently I’ve added another iSCSI Volume (ReFS, 64k) to be used as repository for backup copies. That’s when the fun began… Continue reading “Veeam ReFS Repository on iSCSI Targets”