I finally took the plunge today and upgraded my first ESX 3.5 cluster node to vSphere 4.1. Installation went pretty much without a hitch as is my usual experience with VMware products, however once I got the new 4.1 node up and back into my cluster I noticed a warning telling me that “Host X currently has no management network redundancy”. I thought that was odd, since I have three physical NICs assigned to the vSwitch connected to my service console. Turns out the solution is quite simple.

When you first install ESX 4.1 you are asked which NIC you want to use for your management from the ones available in your server. This is the initial NIC that will be connected to your network to allow you initial access the server from vCenter and continue configuring, adding to the cluster, configuring networking etc.

When I added the new host to the cluster in vCenter it automatically sets it up for HA if your cluster has that enabled, and it does this will the current networking configuration, ie, one pNIC. If you then add the other pNICs in your server to the vSwitch containing the service console, the HA configuration doesn’t initially take this into account.

All you have to do at this point, is right-click your host node in the cluster and select the “Reconfigure for VMware HA” menu option. This will initiate a reconfiguration of the current HA settings taking into account the new networking configuration you just added. Once this step completes the warning about HA redundancy will disappear.

We all remember all the different versions of Windows Vista that were available on launch and how confusing it was, and I thought that was set to improve with 7. Only partially so. In Europe we get not only the regular Windows 7 flavers, but also some with a N suffix. What does this N mean?

Well, in 2004 Microsoft was fined almost €500m by the European Commission declaring that because Microsoft were so huge, that bundling Windows Media Player (WMP) in Windows was anti-competitive and thus forced to offer a version that didn’t include it. They could still sell the bundled version so long as the sold the unbundled version too. This resulted in a version of XP being retro-fitted with the N moniker, and subsequently versions of Vista accordingly. Now Windows 7 has hit the shelves and it seems that this is set to continue.

The really ridiculous thing about it is, they cost the exact same price at most retailers. Buy a copy of Windows 7 Home Premium Full and it’ll set up back about 80 quid for the upgrade of 150 for the full package. Decide to by Windows 7 Home Premium N, thats without WMP included, and its 80 for the upgrade and yes, you guessed it, 150 for the full package.

So why would you ever bother buying a copy of 7N then? Well, you wouldn’t. Unless it was confusing and you didn’t realise when you bought it, which some people clearly have done. To add insult to injury it seems that you can’t even install WMP onto an N edition Windows 7, that is at least you couldn’t initially.

Fortunately, and I don’t know how well publicised this MS article is, but now you can, with a specific MS download that allows you to do just that. I can only assume that there was uproar and they decided to turn the steamboat around by releasing the Media Feature Pack for Windows 7 N.

So, if you’re trying to install WMP on a Windows 7 N edition you might like to wander over to the following link.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=31017ed3-166a-4c75-b90c-a6cef9b414c4

So the security team at SpiderLabs have uncovered a security breach affecting cash machines currently running on Windows XP. Basically some malware allows the attacker to gain complete control over the cash machine and extract tracking data, PIN numbers, and to add insult to injury the hard cash as well!

Basically once the machine has been infected, which apparently needs to be done manually suggesting insiders are involved, the attacker can return to the infected machine at any time later and extract the information using a special trigger card, where they can then print out the required information to the built in receipt printer before telling the machine to chuck out some cash.

Ok, so only around 20 or so machines have reportedly been compromised at the moment but I would imagine it’s only a matter of time before this is happening to Windows XP powered machines around the world.

I find it amusing we’re using Windows XP on cash machines anyway, especially considering Microsoft already moved XP from mainstream support to it’s “extended support”  phase in April this year, (although they will still provide security related updates through to 2014). Cash machines should have a dedicated proprietory OS rather than use one of the most targeted platforms for malware. What next, Windows based life support machines?