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Topic Title: A question related to "power failure"
Topic Summary:
Created On: 03/10/2007 02:57 AM
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 03/10/2007 02:57 AM
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nitin
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Joined: 03/08/2007

We have had issues with ESX earlier in which there was extended power failure, ESX server shut down unclean.
In this ESX scenario, we switched on the server, chose Linux option, ran fsck and rebooted the server in normal mode.

In VI, (single server) we cant log onto the console. I even tried logging via SSH - doesnt work.

So, if the server has problem (any - say - unclean shutdown) - what are the options we have? Why SSH isnt enabled - we need to SSH into server and put files there - The interface of get and put is clunky.
 03/11/2007 09:44 PM
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cbarclay
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Virtual Iron does not have a full operating system (and shell environment) on the virtualized nodes to conserve system resources and keep the environment efficient. Our design goals are simplicity, fault tolerance, security, and reliability. We do have a way to execute commands in this environment from the Virtualization Manager. We will automatically correct disk issues if any are detected.
 03/12/2007 02:51 AM
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nitin
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"We will automatically correct disk issues if any are detected"

I think its a resonable assumption that all forum users are atleast ok with unix and technology in general. So we need to know how.

VI uses ext3 - ext3 in my opinion isnt as robust jfs as others.(like ntfs for that matter)

So, does VI rely on inbuilt journaling of ext3 or does it have something more?

Another point - The get put interface is limited - I could use only 4% of the GigE interface. With ESX2.5.3 and veeam, I could use almost saturate my GigE. Why get/put is capped?

Regarding security - I dont think your argument holds - The login process at the console is stopper enough. By providing SSH - we can atleast know what is going on (like accessing log files and copying the vhd files)

This absence of ssh console is almost a show stopper for us.

(I am doing ESX VI comparision - not for flames - but you should be proud that your product is being compared with ESX which is highly mature product and is undoubtedly a benchmark of all virtual software,) 
 03/12/2007 09:26 AM
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cbarclay
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Thank you for your feedback. We are using ext3 and its journaling features.

We capped get/put under the assumption that it was a lower priority IO operation and we didn't want it to impact virtual server IO performance. Perhaps we should make this an option so that administrators can obtain full IO speed if desired. I'm surprised that you're only able to get 4%, however.

We did not implement a full shell, so there is no way to create login names and passwords, and there are only a subset of standard shell commands. Why is lack of a shell a showstopper? What functionality do you require?
 03/12/2007 11:06 AM
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nitin
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We require
a) Something like esxtop (The graphical java tool doesnt cut)
b) In case of error (unclean shutdown) how do we run fsck? (I have never tried debugging mode - Is it equivlent to esx's linux up?)
c) How do we copy VHDs (for backup)

Though I have now started to understand a bit of VI - you have left almost no stone (even deleted ssh functionality) unturned to stop wasting CPU cycles.

The get put interface is clunky becasue it doesnt even tell % of completion. I wanted to copy 20GB file - but after 40 mins I gave up.

I had copied that 20GB file in 21mins using VEEAM software from my esx2.5.3 on a 100mbit network. VI running on 1Gbit wasnt able to copy in 40mins. Some serious issue is to be sorted out here.

(we regularly back up our machines by copying the virtual disks - we havent bought any backup software for ESX)


Ok - back to basic question - what happens in case of unclean shutdown? In which linux usually says - run fsck manually.
 03/12/2007 05:35 PM
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cbarclay
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We run fsck but without the cleanup options. We report back error status and then you can run fsck manually through a management console command.
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