“Spin count exceeded” error on VMware ESXi 5 whitebox

 VMware  1 Response »
Aug 232012
 

After running pfSense as a transparent firewall on my VMware ESXi 5 whitebox lab setup for nearly a year, I decided to setup pfSense as my home internet router.
To do that I needed an additional NIC in my whitebox, so I bought  a second Intel Pro/1000 GT.

After installing the NIC, VMware booted as normal and the NIC was immediately recognized. Only a few hours later, my whitebox crashed with a kernel panic.
The VMware ESXi 5 host reported a “Spin count exceeded” and “possible deadlock” in the purple diagnostic screen. Continue reading »

Task Nanny: A locked down task manager alternative

 Applications, Citrix, Microsoft, VMware, XenApp, XenDesktop  5 Responses »
Jul 092012
 

Task Nanny is a locked down task manager for Citrix XenApp, Citrix XenDesktop, VMware View, RDS, Terminal Services or any other locked down desktop environments in which you do not want to expose the Microsoft Windows task manager to the end user.

Unlike other free alternative task managers, Task Nanny does not show the user a (for an end user hard to understand) list of his running processes. Instead, Task Nanny shows the user the actual tasks which the Microsoft Windows task manager application tab shows, which is a lot easier and more understandable for the user.
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Building a VMware ESXi 5.0 Whitebox home lab

 VMware  31 Responses »
Sep 262011
 

My old ESXi 4.1 whitebox was nearly begging me to retire him. The maximum of 8gb memory on the Asus P5k mainboard and the 2 sata disks (no raid) spinning at 7200rpm were not keeping up anymore.

After doing the mandatory research on the whitebox HCL sites, I decided to order the following:

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