Dell TechCenter

I'm a big believer in simple tools with flexibility to create solutions for your needs. 

As a technical person I find nothing more satisfying than hacking a piece of code to create a unique solution.

Dell Repository Manager allows you to create custom repositories that contain the Dell Update Packages (DUPs) which are then exported to either an ISO file or a lightweight deployment script for Windows or Linux.

I've created two demos that show both.  The first one is an overview of the product and shows exporting to lightweight script for use in Windows.

In the second demo I hack on one of the files to automate the deployment after exporting the ISO and mounting across multiple blades in the chassis.  The changes to the script eliminate the user input and also reboot the blades if the updates were successful.  The nice thing is it is a simple shell script you can edit.  If you are familiar with simple scripting I'm sure you'll find yourself building more intelligence into the code.  I've also included details on editing the script used by Repository Manager to automate the execution and reboot after completion.

Watch the demos here.

My husband says I’m passionate, and that’s why I like to argue. I’ve been wishing for an argument on FCoE for some time now (a wish in which I’m not alone), but all I run across is how FCoE is going to save the world.

In my search for the rest of the story (as the late Paul Harvey would have said), I talked with some of our technical folks to get the scoop. FCoE performance compares are one thing, but it’s important to balance the promises-of-FCoE argument with some concerns. Check out some of the FCoE discussion points pulled together by two of our engineers, and let us know what you think.

It has been a while since my last post; but there’s been good reasons for the delay. I’ve been working with Dell partners- Microsoft, VMware and Veeam on performance and usability related studies and Scalent to understand how they integrate into Dell’s solution stacks.

Areas encompassed include Microsoft Windows 2008 Server running Hyper-V R2 feature, running Microsoft Exchange and SAP VMs in a VMware vSphere environment, backup using Veeam’s Backup product, and dynamic infrastructure management using Scalent.  All of this is built upon Dell 11G servers and Dell | EqualLogic PS series storage arrays. So continue to check the Dell TechCenter blog and the Dell TechCenter site for sneak peeks into study results and demo announcements.

Back in January, we collaborated with VMware and other storage vendor partners in a multivendor post to make sure iSCSI customers were successful in deploying iSCSI for VMware.  Dell has a close engineering partnership with VMware, as is EMC, to assure integration of storage platforms with vSphere via the vStorage APIs.

There have been some notable changes to VMware's architecture and how it works with iSCSI, so it was important for us to update you on the latest at the Dell TechCenter.

I LOVE coming together for the greater good!

I won't cover it all here but be sure to click over to our blogging mothership, Direct2Dell, to read about Dell's Fast Track to Efficiency, the theme for Dell's announcement of a slew of new servers, a cool new EqualLogic array for small business and remote offices, and quite a few different services.

We'll also be hosting a webcast today with a number of Dell executives outlining the importance of these announcements and the impact to our customers. Following that webcast, my colleagues at Dell TechCenter will be hosting a live technical chat.

Take a look.