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April 22, 2008 by mensming.
In a prior post, I mentioned the call for papers (CFP) for the Pacific Northwest Software Quality Conference (PNSQC). I received a notice last week that the deadline has been extended to May 1. More details can be found here.
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March 2, 2008 by mensming.
A call for papers (CFP) for the Pacific Northwest Software Quality Conference (PNSQC) is currently active. This year’s conference (the 26th annual) will be held October 13-15, 2008 in Portland, OR. Presenting at a conference is an excellent way to sharpen your ideas and subject them to a rigorous examination by your peers. I have presented twice a PNSQC and found it to be a professional stretching activity.
Detailed information on the call can be found here. Abstracts must be submitted by April 20, 2008.
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September 16, 2007 by mensming.
I was at VMWorld last week. Unfortunately, my network connectivity was limited so I was unable to post my notes during the conference.
Keynotes - Mendel Rosenblum, Chief Scientist & Co-Founder, VMWare
Demo - Storage VMotion (future)
Demo - Virtual Appliance - streaming download of image "instant on" (future)
Demo - Continuous Availability (future)
VMWorld 2008 - Las Vegas (9/18 - 9/20)
Fault Analysis and Methodology
Mike Valley, Systems Engineer, VMWare
esxcfg-boot -q boot
Currently used ram disk
esxcfg-boot -q vmkmod
List configured modules
service mgmt-vmware restart
will restart service console, hostd
hostname - use FQDN, configure /etc/hosts
vmkping - use vmkernel to ping a device
No eth0 - use vswif
Use esxcfg-vswif for configuring network interface
Collecting log files - export diagnostic data via VI client or from start menu
vm-support -S -i 10 -d 600 - capture performance snapshots
-X shows mapping between internal ID and name of VM
Virtual Center
——————-
vpxd -S - dumps to console to see what is wrong
LM Tools - License manage tools
How to License MS Servers for Your Virtualized Environment
Eric Jewett, Lead Product Manager, Windows Server Marketing, Microsoft
This presentation focused on server products and not desktops. The reaction of the audience was downright hostile.
ISV Licensing in a Virtualized Environment
Amy Kanary, Research Director, Software Pricing & Delivery, IDC
Common Models:
Concerns:
Innovative Approaches:
Navigate Complexity
Panel:
Dr. Stephen Hess, BEA
Roman Bukary, SAP
VProbes: Diagnostics for Production Software
Keith Adams, Sr. Staff Engineer, VMWare
Robert Benson, Engineer, VMWare
Alex Migorodskiy, Technical Staff, VMWare
VProbes allow you to insert probes at various levels of architecture (App, Guest OS, VMM, etc)
Does not require a restart
Are "read only" - cannot change values
OS Independent
Currently pre-alphs
Define a script that ties into an event
Could be used to see root kits since it exists outside of the guest
VAssure: Write Your Own Bug Detectors Under VMWare Record and Playback
Min Xu
Dmitry Grinberg
Currently a research process
Since it uses record and playback (assertions execute during playback) it should not slowdown execution or impact the program
Logically:
if (replay) {
assert(…)
}
VAssert SDK Methods: VAssert, VLog, VWatchPoint
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September 16, 2007 by mensming.
I was at VMWorld last week. Unfortunately, my network connectivity was limited so I was unable to post my notes during the conference.
Keynotes - John Chambers, CEO Cisco
John Chambers message was basically talking about how IT enables business and how to present that case to business executives.
Keynotes- Energy Panel
Quentin Hardy, Panel Moderator, Forbes Magazine
David Brooks, Harvard
Ray Cline, EDS
Amdrew Fanara, EPA
John Gibson, HSBC Bank
ESX Server CPU Scheduling
Andrei Drofeev, VMWare
CPU Scheduling Internals
Performance Tips
ESXTOP Utility
Future Directions
VM Infrastructure 3 - Best Practices for Performance
Jeff Buell, Staff Engineer
Deraki Kulkarni, Sr. MTS, VMWare
Sources of Virtualization Overhead
CPU Performance:
Memory Performance
Networking
Storage Performance
Using the Secure Technology Implementation Guide (STIG) with VMWare Infrastructure 3
DISA - Defense Infromation Systems Agency
STIG - general guide for securing systems
Vulnerability Categories
Category I - Worse level. Allows access tot he machine
Category II - Provides information that could lead to access (high potential)
Category III - Provide information that could lead to access
5 STIGs related to VMI3 (http://iase.disa.mil/stigs
Run SRR scripts (system readiness review - ./start-SRR)
See slides for many details of current findings and their meanings.
VMWare Infrastructure 3: Advanced Diagnostic Log Analysis
Mostafa Khalil, VCP, VMWare Product Support Engineer
ESX Server Boot Process: Boot Loader -> initrd -> vmkernel -> vmnix -> /sbin/init ->init scripts -> vmware init scripts
Collecting logs:
VMKernel Log:
General Log msg: timestamp, hostname, msg source, uptime, <instance>, device, src line #, msg
Translating vmkernel error codes: already listed in msg in ESX 3
Message Log:
hostd.log:
vpxa.log
esxcfg-firewall
oldconf files
esxupdate.log
vmkernel-version
Security Architecture Design and Hardening of VMWare Infrastructure 3
Kick Larsen - Engineering - Product Security Officer
Banjot S. Chanana - Product Mgr, Platform Security
Brian Cosker-Swerske - Senior Consultant
Service Console
Hardening:
Disable ctrl-alt-del
Require password for single user mode
service console network parameters
login banners
Securing VMs
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September 16, 2007 by mensming.
I was at VMWorld last week. Unfortunately, my network connectivity was limited so I was unable to post my notes during the conference.
Keynote - Diane Green / President and CEO of VMWare
The most interesting part of the keynote for me was the introduction of ESX Server 3i. The existing ESX Server has a 2 GB footprint. ESX Server 3i has a footprint of 32MB which can be embedded in flash memory by hardware manufacturers. Virtual Center will also be fed hardware status information including CPU, Power and temperature information. The chief marketing officer for Dell, Mark Jarvis, came on stage to demonstrate 3i on some new hardware Dell plans on shipping in November. Other vendors announcing support for 3i include Dell, IBM, HP, Fujitsu / Siemans and NEC.
Other announcements included disaster recovery and desktop consolidation products.
Keynote - Pat Gelsinger, Sr. VP and General Manager, Digital Enterprise Group, Intel
Virtualization is disaggregating the OS. It breaks the 1 to 1 relationship between the operating system and hardware.
Intel is viewing support for virtualization in 4 areas:
VMDq Network Architecture: Allows hardware to queue packets per virtual machine (instead of ESX figuring it out) which should improve network throughput.
Keynote- Hector de J. Ruiz, PhD, Chairman and CEO, AMD
Barcelona quad core architecture was released the prior day. In addition, includes better support for virtualization, especially VMotion.
AMD Senior Fellow Leendert Van Doorn can on stage to discuss the architecture in more detail.
Virtual Center Administration: Top Ten
1. Overview of Virtual Center Architecture
2. Virtual Center Updates
All updates are full releases
Basic procedure: Shutdown virtual center, backup database, apply update
When Virtual Center is updated, the Virtual Center agent is pushed out to each ESX Server. For this to succeed, the directory /tmp/vmware-root directly must exist. Unfortunately, there is a cron job that will remove the directory. There is a script,
CreateTmpDirs.vbs, that will create these directories but the script will only work it ssh root access is enabled.
3. What is new in Virtual Center 2
2 patch / maintenance release in past year.
2.0.1
Patch 2
2.0.2
4. Virtualizing Virtual Center
VC can be run in a VM and is fully supported.
Since license server usually runs in VC, need to get a host based license for ESX server running VC.
Database should be kept in a seperate VM or physical center
5. Virtual Center Availability
Options:
Run VMWare HA, VC in a VM
MS Clustered Server
Note: VC will shutdown on DB connectivity issues
Prior to 2.0.1 patch 2, VC reported a non-error exit code when shutting down so service control manager thought it was an expected shutdown.
6. Virtual Center Database
DB schema is often modified with VC updates
A DB restart will require a VC restart
Statistics collection level can be set to 1-4. Default is 1. Do not run more than 2
New sizing calculator available
Recovery mode should be set to simple if not backing up transaction logs
7. Virtual Center Diagnostics
Look up slides from last year VMWorld on VC diagnostics
VC log files found in c:\windows\temp
8. Understand VMotion CPU compatibility
9. VC-Support Scripts
Used when contacting tech support — zips up various system configuration and log files for sending to support
May want to run on a regularly scheduled basis to track trends.
10. Common VC Support Issues
Port conflicts
Administrator lockout (can disable authorization checks temporarily)
VI3 Resource Management and DRS - Performance Use Cases
Aravind Pavuluri, VMWare
Chirag Bhatt, VMWare
DRS - Distributed Resource Scheduler
A VM will only start if its reservations can be guaranteed (CPU, memory, etc.)
Reservations - Minimum requirements
Limits - Maximum usageShares - Allow VMs to compete for resource pools.
RM - Resource Manager (single host)
Better performance generally occurs with reservations
If no resource pools are specified, the default pool is used
Internal memory swapping - avoid if possible. 2 types of swapping, within the guest and at the ESX server
Memory balooning - requires VMWare tools be installed in guest OS. Will swap out guest memory which is not in use when ESX server needs additional memory.
Performance Benchmarking in Virtual Environments
Hemant Guidhani, Technical Marketing Manager, VM Ware
Common mistakes
Benchmarking
General Guidelines
Creating VM
Recommendations:
IT Service Management - A technical overview
Eddue Dinel, Product Manager, VMWare
As a system progresses through the SDLC process:
Lab Manager
Stage Manager
Design Implementation and Management of Computing Security Lab Environment
Brian Hag, University of Alaska, Fairbanks
I had hoped that this would be a discussion of how to study real world security exploits in a safe environment. Instead it ended up being about a lab where students could learn how to scan systems, sniff traffic and look for vulnerabilities in their own projects.
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September 16, 2007 by mensming.
I was at VMWorld last week. Unfortunately, my network connectivity was limited so I was unable to post my notes during the conference.
Due to a long line, I actually missed the first lab I had scheduled for the day. That lab was on performance benchmarking (which I later heard a talk on so I think I made out about even…)
Lab06 - VI Perl Toolkit Scripting to Administer VMWare Infrastructure
Overall this lab was a nice introduction to the perl API. However, if you had any experience at all with the API, there probably would not be a whole lot new learned during this lab. Some of the items I took away from the lab:
Generic Perl Script Pattern:
http://www.vmware.com/communiti
Currently just sample scripts but will eventually be expanded to include user generated scripts
SDK Reference Guide:
http://www.vmware.com/download
Forum: http://www.vmware.com/community
Trouble Shooting:
Use "Managed Object Browser" (MOB) - web interface to get object names and what responses will look like. Viewable via web interface on Virtual Center.
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April 2, 2007 by mensming.
I am always looking for conferences / training opportunities close to where I work. A staple is the Pacific Northwest Software Quality Conference held in Portland. This years conference will be the 25th annual event. PNSQC recently announced the keynote speakers for the 2007 conference (October 8-10, 2007): Johanna Rothman and Hugh Thompson. As usual, I recommend this conference highly.
I recently saw an announcement for a conference that will be held in Bellevue, WA on July 9-11, 2007. The 2nd annual Conference of the Association for Software Testing will have Esther Derby, Keith Stobie, Lee Copeland and Harry Robinson as keynote speakers. Looks like it could be a good one.
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February 27, 2007 by mensming.
I was recently asked by a coworker about local testing related organizations and I put together the following in my response. I thought it would be useful to capture the information in one spot so I can refer people to it in the future:
Seattle Area Software Quality Assurance Group
http://www.sasqag.org/
WSA Quality Assurance special interest group
http://www.wsa.org/events/sig/detail.asp?sigID=47
Seattle Eastside Area Software Process Improvement Network (SeaSpin)
http://www.seaspin.org/
American Society for Quality (ASQ) Seattle Section
http://www.asq-seattle.org/
IEEE Seattle Section
http://www.ieee-seattle.org/
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February 4, 2007 by mensming.
Two conferences which I have participated in have recently issued call for papers.
The Pacific Northwest Software Quality Conference, this year being held October 9-10, 2007 in Portland, requests 300 - 600 word abstracts be submitted via the website by March 31, 2007. Details can be found here.
The Software Division of the American Society for Quality puts on the International Conference on Software Quality, this year being held October 16-17, 2007 in Lakewood, CO. The deadline for proposals is April 16, 2007. The form for technical presentations can be found here and the form for tutorials can be found here.
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November 29, 2006 by mensming.
Some time ago, I presented papers at three different conferences. These papers have been safely tucked away inside the conference proceedings never to be seen again. Until now… (That is not exactly true — I placed the papers on the home page provided by my home ISP but that page has never been indexed, no one has linked to it, etc. so it was not necessarily discoverable.) These papers are now part of the website I am putting together as a companion to this blog, www.meesqa.com.
The first conference I presented at was ASQ’s Eighth International Conference on Software Quality held in conjunction with the 1998 Pacific Northwest Software Quality Conference. (This was the second conference I had ever attended.) The paper, Hierarchical Organization of Test Cases, is the result of my experience at two different companies that had no rhyme or reason as to how they prioritized / selected test cases for execution.
As a result of working with a team of recent college graduate developers, my coworkers and I developed a review approach that worked very well within that team. We started by doing a peer review where the developer walked us through the non-error path of their design (the happy path). After teasing out the basic functional issues in the design, the developer started to step us through the design again. This time, the review team threw every obstacle they could think of into the flow of the design. We started to call the first iteration the walk through and the second iteration the stagger through. The result of this experience was Walk and Stagger Through Review Process which I presented at Quality Week 2001 in San Francisco.
My final presentation was the result of the work I had been doing in how best to capture test cases and test results. I had struggled using text documents, HTML, Excel, Word, etc. and was never satisfied. There always came a time when I needed to tweak the presentation for either a functional or political reason. Like all companies at the time, we were actively involved in XML development and I decided to put the raw data in an XML document and use XSLT to transform it into the presentation format I wanted. I presented this at the 2002 Pacific Northwest Software Quality Conference as Using XML for Test Case Definition, Storage and Presentation.
I have not presented since but would like to start doing it again on a regular basis. Time will tell.
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