詠鉌のIT

Image 1: OM_6.5.0_SMTD_A01.iso.001 Image 2: OM_6.5.0_SMTD_A01.iso.002 

copy /b OM_6.4.0_SMTD_A00.iso.001+OM_6.4.0_SMTD_A00.iso.002 OM_640_SMTD_A00.iso

cat OM_6.4.0_SMTD_A00.iso.001 OM_6.4.0_SMTD_A00.iso.002 > OM_640_SMTD_A00.iso

Dell MD32x0i iSCSI RAID Controller, v.CFW 07.75.10.60 and NVSRAM N26X0-775890-009, A02

If you feel sick or lazy to call up Dell Technical Support's toll-free number, wait in the queue just to check your system's warranty, you can just click on the link below, then key-in the Service Tag, and you will get the warranty status within a second:

http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/my_systems_info/details?c=us&cs=555&l=en&s=biz&~ck=anavml

If your server, storage, switch or other Dell system is out-of-warranty, or warranty near to expiry date, a message will prompt as below:

Warranty contracts for your PowerEdge [model] have expired or will expire within 90 days.

Ensure your system is covered by contacting a Dell Extended Services Sales Agent at [toll-free for your region]

The real message as attached:
After that, you should see Service Contracts & Warranties, Original System Configuration, and Current System Configuration.


From the above attached picture, you can see the Start and End date, and how many days left for the valid warranty. If you wish to use the server/storage for another one or two years, do plan to get the quotation
from your sales account manager at least 21 days before the warranty expired.

Reference: http://supportapj.dell.com/support/index.aspx

Didn't expect Microsoft do have this kind of sharing at their site: Free resume template for download. For those who need to update their resume, especially the graduates, this is a very good example to come out with a simple, informative resume.

Hurry, grab one of it from Microsoft today! It is FREE.... :-)

#1

For more resume from Microsoft, you may go to the link below:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/?CTT=97

Yesterday, I were surprised by a Singapore customer with the inquiry as below:

"...I suspect is your RAID card limitation to detect the full size of my 3TB SATA Hard Disk..."

Wow, I feel shame as my hardware knowledge not really up-to-date. I use around 12mins of researching, confirm that H200 does not able to detect hard disk with more than 2TB at this moment. According to Dell, this support features may come out this year (2011), but it doesn't really mentioned the exact release date.
If you really have budget to upgrade all Hard Disks to the size of 3TB SATA, you may consider to upgrade the RAID card as well. Currently, Dell PERC H700 & H800 are support hard disk with more than 2TB (need to fulfill the minimum requirement of firmware).

Dell PERC H700 and H800 – The following firmware revision (or later) must be applied on the Storage Controller Cards to obtain support for >2 TB drives. The firmware release numbers and revisions are below:  

For SAS drives >2TB: 7.1 FW A02/12.3.0-0032 

R269683 – H800; A02 ( listed as DELL_PERC-H800-ADAPTER_XX_XXXXXXX.exe at the below download link) 

R269684 – H700I: A02 ( listed as DELL_PERC-H700-INTEGRATED_XX_XXXXXXX.exe at the below download link) 

R269685 – H700A; A02 ( listed as DELL_PERC-H700-ADAPTER_XX_XXXXXXX.exe at the below download link) 

R269686 – H700M; A02 ( listed as DELL_PERC-H700-MODULAR_XX_XXXXXXX.exe at the below download link)

SATA Support – SATA drives will be supported in Q1, 2011.


The above mentioned releases of firmware can be downloaded from http://ftp.us.dell.com/sas-raid/.

Dell H200 – Support is planned for the H200 in 2011

Therefore, Dell PERC H200 is yet to have latest firmware to support hard disk with size larger than 2TB. Hopefully the newer firmware is out soon to eliminate this limitation.

For more info, you may visit Dell official website: Click Here!
**The abovementioned info are obtained from Dell TechCentre for sharing purpose

The simplest way for software troubleshooting is to obtain important info/logs for analysis. If you do not really know how to read the logs, at least you have to know how to obtain the right logs/info for the professional to help you.
Today, I'm gonna show you on how to gather the log file through VxGather.exe.
Introduction to Symantec Gather Utility (VxGather.exe)
- Gather the common diagnostic & historical files for troubleshooting purpose.
- Will look for Windows Event Logs, BE Installation Logs, BE application logs, and running Bediag.exe when it is necessary.


Steps:
1. Double-click VxGather.exe which located at \Program Files\Symantec\Backup Exec


2. Select the required info by check the checkbox in the Data to gather (if available) as below:

3. Fill in the necessary info for Output root directory (required), Case number (required) and Additional files to gather before click Gather.


4. After the log gathering process completed, there is a .CAB file generated. Send to Symantec Technical Support for further analysis.

Windows Server 2008 already in the market for more than two years, but some of the Server Administrators still not familiar to it, as Windows Server 2003 still perform well in most of the companies nowadays.


The most common question asked by a Server Administrator during the Windows Server 2008 implementation is as below:

"...After Windows Server 2008 installation completed, it will ask to log in with a password, but I can't find any default password from the DVDs case.." 

I answer this inquiry till I can come out with a script.


Info Sharing:
There isn't any default password for Windows Server 2008, but the first password that you key in will be the log in password afterwards.
The password MUST be strong password which consist of the below:
1. At least six characters
2. At least one capital letter/alphabet
3. At least one small letter/alphabet
4. At least one number
5. At least one special character (@, %, $)
For example: t@Lent0


If the password that you key in does not fulfill the abovementioned criteria, you'll never get to log into the Operating System.

On and off, I still received calls that customer still request support or escalation to Microsoft for Windows 2000. I remember few weeks ago, a Singaporean request support for this Operating System (OS), even though result from the troubleshooting shows that the issue from the OS but not hardware. Furthermore, his server already out-of-warranty but still requesting the support with the arrogant tone.

Finally I have a little time to clean my personal email - Hotmail. I'm did not read the email one by one before I click 'Delete' button, because there are too many spam emails flood the mailbox everyday. However, I'll have a quick look to the email subject before I send them into the dustbin. 
Didn't know why, a subject with "Your Windows Live Space will close on 16 March" attract me to read further. That's how I discover this notification email from Microsoft.

Dear Windows Live Spaces customer, 

You are receiving this note as a follow-up to our communications notifying you that Windows Live Spaces will soon close. If you haven't taken an action yet, please read on to learn how to preserve the content of your space. On March 16th, 2011 your space will be closed. However, you can still preserve the content of your space if you take action now. 

We are collaborating with a premier and innovative blogging service, WordPress.com, to enable Windows Live customers to migrate their Windows Live Spaces blog to WordPress.com where you will get a number of enhancements to your blogging experience. We'll help you migrate your current blog to WordPress.com or download it to save for later. On March 16th, 2011 your current space will be closed and you will no longer have access to the content on your space unless you take action. Click here to begin the migration of your space. 

With the new release of Windows Live services, we've made a series of changes and improvements across the products. We chose to partner with WordPress.com to provide Windows Live users with a fantastic blogging solution. However, we realize they will have an impact on you, so the information in this email aims to clarify what to expect. We thank you for your continued support of Windows Live.

To summarize, Microsoft migrate the Live Space to WordPress for free, with a lot blogging features and better maintenance.




Therefore, before 16 March 2011, all ex-Windows Live Space users are encourage to migrate the blog with the steps as easy as ABC as below:

When you visit your space you'll have the following options: 

i)   Upgrade your blog by migrating to WordPress.com - We will provide a simple way to move your blog posts and comments to WordPress.com. 

ii)  Download your blog – You can download your old posts to keep a copy with you. You can also do this and then migrate to WordPress.com. 

iii) Delete your space - If you decide that you do not want to have a space anymore, you have the option to delete it permanently. If you want to save your content, please make sure to do that before deleting your space. 

iv)  Review your blog – Soon your space will close but you still have some time to review your blog and make a decision that's right for you. We're very excited about what you can do on WordPress.com and hope you'll decide to take advantage of this improved blogging experience.

Windows 7, one of my favorite Operating System after Windows XP. Not only come with the impressive user-friendly interface, but also with the very good stability. At least, it is able to run smoothly with only 2GB system memory; this is the main reason I switch from Windows Vista to Windows 7, due to 4GB system memory just enough to support Vista without any other complex applications such as Adobe Photoshop is running.

From Microsoft Service Pack Center, they announced the Service Pack 1 for Windows 7 is coming in the first half of 2011, estimated before second quarter of the year.


It is a good news for a Windows 7 supporter like me, what about you?

Reference: http://windows.microsoft.com/windows7sp1