vSphere 5.1 is generally available (incl. the free and the HP customized version of ESXi)

Late yesterday VMware made vSphere 5.1 generally available. Go to
   http://www.vmware.com/go/download-vsphere
to download. The free version of ESXi 5.1 is also already available:
   http://www.vmware.com/go/get-free-esxi

And HP hardware owners will be happy to find that there is also an HP customized version of the ESXi 5.1 ISO available for download. The shortcut http://www.vmware.com/go/downloads-image-hp-esxi still points to the 5.0 version, but HP's ESXi 5.1 GA is available here:
   https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/details?downloadGroup=HP-ESXI-5.1.0-GA-10SEP2012&productId=285

Right now it is not yet possible to update an existing ESXi 5.0 installation to 5.1 using the well known methods (via Update Manager and the VMware Online Depot). You will probably be able to update by booting the host with the ESXi 5.1 ISO, but the other methods should also be available shortly.

The SBHVL project - Part 2: Backup and Disaster Recovery

This is part 2 of the SBHVL (Small Budget Hosted Virtual Lab) project post series (see also the Introduction and Part 1). This time it's about backing things up and recovering from a disaster.

Installing and maintaining a test lab can cause significant efforts and will take time. This is true for the initial installation and configuration of the lab infrastructure (our physical host), but also for every single test scenario that usually consists of multiple VMs, software installed on them, configuration work, test data etc. All this is definitely worth being backed up, although it's just a test lab...

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HP releases new Service Pack for ProLiant and new drivers for ESXi 5.0 und 5.1

HP has released version 2012.08.0 of their Service Pack for ProLiant (SPP). This is a (bootable) ISO file that contains the latest firmware and driver packages for ProLiant servers. What's new:
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Sep2012 release of the HP Customized ESXi 5.0 ISO

HP has just published updated software packages and device drivers for VMware ESXi 5.0 (at http://vibsdepot.hp.com). With this Sep2012 release HP changes the way how they provide this software: Up to now they have made a complete customized installation ISO (including all the packages) available for download on their own web site. Now they have replaced this download link with a shortcut URL that redirects to a VMware download page: http://www.vmware.com/go/downloads-image-hp-esxi.
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The SBHVL project - Part 1: Basic setup, Networking and Security

This week I introduced the Small Budget Hosted Virtual Lab (SBHVL) project, and in this post I will describe the basic setup of the physical lab host, the network architecture and some related security aspects.
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vSphere 5.1 new features: My top 5 and some less known

This week VMware announced vSphere 5.1 at VMworld in San Francisco. The VMware Blogosphere is already flooded with lists of what's new in this release, so I decided to elaborate on my personal top 5 new features and some less known new features instead of repeating the news over and over. Here we go:
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Introducing the Small Budget Hosted Virtual Lab (SBHVL) project

This week there is the VMworld 2012 in San Francisco, and lots of the VMware bloggers have been very busy in the last days preparing for this event. I'm sure there will again be lots of exiting news, product updates and announcements from VMware and other vendors. I won't be there, but I will closely follow these news.
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