Frostedblue Development

Setting Up A Hosted Windows 2008 R2 Web Server | Part 1

Frostedblue — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 21:03:10 +0000

This guide will talk you through the steps of how to configure Windows Server 2008 R2 as a multi site shared hosting platform for your websites and domain names. This guide is for people who have just ordered a VPS or Dedicated server from a hosting company. These servers usually come un-configured but have Windows Server installed and the relevant connections (IP addresses) to the web.

We have broken this guide down into a few parts, hoping to expand on this in the future and create many more tutorials built on this setup…

What you will need:

1x Web server hosted at a data centre
(This guide can be applied to locally installed servers with direct access to the internet, local servers may need to be placed in a DMZ (Demilitarised zone) if within a firewall or configured correctly to accept incoming connections on port 80)
2x Static IP address
(2 IP addresses are required for your Name Servers)
1x Domain Name to be assigned as a Primary and Secondary Name Server
1x Domain Name to be used for your first website
Microsoft Remote Desktop Connection software for PC or Mac

Prerequisites

1, Configure your RDC software to connect and view your new web server desktop, usually by connecting to the supplied Primary IP address, logging in as Administrator using a password supplied by your hosting company.

2, Contact your domain hosting company to create glue records (2 are required) to the domain name that you have purchased and assigned as your Name Server and link it to your static IP addresses. This should look something like this:

ns1.domainname.co.uk (Your Primary Name Server domain name)

That points to

000.000.000.000 (Your Primary Static IP)

As most hosting companies require you to have 2 name servers when pointing a website to a web server, please ask your hosting company to create another glue record like the first:

ns2.yournameserver.co.uk (Your Secondary Name Server domain name)

That points to

111.111.111.111 (Your Secondary Static IP)

PLEASE NOTE:

Once this is done (you may need to wait up to 48hrs for the changes to replicate) you can test this by pinging ns1.domainname.co.uk and reading the IP address that displays as a result. If it displays your Primary Static IP then it is working.

3, Configure your server with a Full Computer Name, Workgroup/Domain and make sure your Administrator account has an adequate strength password.

4, Use Windows Update to patch your web server to the latest up to date software, including service packs.

5, Install The .NET Framework v4 via Windows Update or via direct download.

Server Checks

Check your assigned IP addresses have been added to your web server.

Your primary IP address will be configured here:

Clicking on Advanced will show any additional IP addresses that have been assigned to this web server.

Installation

Adding Roles to Server 2008 R2 | IIS

Remote Desktop Connection into your new web server, login as an Administrator and view the desktop.

Open up Server Manager and scroll down to Roles Summary.

Click Add Roles, the “Before You Begin” wizard will appear. Read through then click next once you are happy that your server meets the requirements. Click “Next”.

We will need to install 2 roles: DNS Server and Web Server (IIS). Check both of these services in the list and click “Next”

Read through the “Introduction to DNS Server” then click “Next”

Read through the “Introduction to Web Server (IIS)” then click “Next”

Now select your IIS Role options:

We are going to need a few of these including support for ASP.NET and FTP.

Once you are happy, click “Next”. Read through the list and verify your selections then click “Install”. Your Roles will proceed to install.

Your server should now be ready for configuration. Click “Close”. You can check that your server has added these Roles by viewing the “Server Manager” window. We should now see: DNS Server and Web Server (IIS) under Roles.

In Part 2 of “Setting Up A Hosted Windows 2008 R2 Web Server” we will start configuring our users.

Thanks for reading.

Connection Strings For SQL2008 & SQL2008 Express

Frostedblue — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 23:31:15 +0000

A list of connection strings used to connect to a SQL Database.

.NET Framework Data Provider for SQL Server
.NET Framework Class Library
System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnection

For Reference:

SQLSERVER = The name of your SQL Server

SERVERNAME = The name of your server where SQL is installed

SQLEXPRESS = The name of your SQL Express Server

DATABASE = The name of your chosen database

USERNAME = The username required for your database connection

PASSWORD = The password required for your database connection

Network Library in an ADO Connection String

DBMSSOCN = Required to connect via TCP/IP

DBNMPNTW = Required to connect via Named Pipes

Standard Security

Data Source=SQLSERVER; Initial Catalog=DATABASE; User Id=USERNAME; Password=PASSWORD;

Standard Security Alternative

Server=SQLSERVER; Database=DATABASE; User ID=USERNAME; Password=PASSWORD; Trusted_Connection=False;

Trusted Connection

Data Source=SQLSERVER; Initial Catalog=DATABASE; Integrated Security=SSPI;

Trusted Connection Alternative

Server=SQLSERVER; Database=DATABASE; Trusted_Connection=True;

For SQL2008 Express, Use SERVERNAME\SQLEXPRESS as Data Source or Server.

Connect Via An IP address

Data Source=000.000.000.000,1433; Network Library=DBMSSOCN; Initial Catalog=DATABASE; User ID=USERNAME; Password=PASSWORD;

This is how to use TCP/IP instead of Named Pipes. 1433 is the default port for SQL Server.

Attaching A Database File (Located in the data directory, to a local SQL Server Express instance)

Data Source=.\SQLEXPRESS; AttachDbFilename=|DataDirectory|\databasefile.mdf; Integrated Security=true; User Instance=true;

Attaching A Database File Alternative (Located in the data directory, to a local SQL Server Express instance)

Server=.\SQLEXPRESS; AttachDbFilename=|DataDirectory|databasefile.mdf; Database=DATABASE; Trusted_Connection=Yes;

Simple Twitter Reader Written In ASP.NET VB

Frostedblue — Thu, 19 May 2011 23:35:43 +0000

We wanted to add a twitter reader to our ASP.NET VB websites so we created this simple client that reads Twitter’s XML timeline.

Lets start with the web.config file. It was necessary to add the user data such as the Twitter username and other settings here rather than hard code each setting, making this plugin client easy to configure.

We have used a separate .config file for all user configurable settings: web.settings.config.

In order to access this data, we have added this line of code in our web.config file:

web.config

Our web.settings.config file includes our user configurable settings here:

web.settings.config

Notice the important TWITTERUSERNAME key, this is where you can enter your username.

The TWITTERTWEETCOUNT key controls the amount of posts you wish to display.

Now for the major code

All of our ASP.NET pages are written using the “code behind file” method. This allows us to separate the design and the code in 2 different files. A cleaner way of writing.

The design page only requires 1 line of code allowing you to insert to your pages with greater ease:

default.aspx

<%@ Page language="VB" Codebehind="default.aspx.vb" AutoEventWireup="false" Inherits="HomePage" Src="default.aspx.vb" %>



<%=SHOWTWITTERFEED() %>

The <%=SHOWTWITTERFEED() %> entry is the important one, this is the line of code to insert into your pages.

The main bulk of the code sits in the default.aspx.vb file:

default.aspx.vb

Public Class HomePage

Inherits System.Web.UI.Page

' [-]

Protected Function TWITTERHTTP() As String

Return WebConfigurationManager.AppSettings("TWITTERHTTP").ToString()

End Function

Protected Function TWITTERUSERNAMEURL() As String

Return WebConfigurationManager.AppSettings("TWITTERUSERNAMEURL").ToString()

End Function

Protected Function TWITTERUSERNAME() As String

Return WebConfigurationManager.AppSettings("TWITTERUSERNAME").ToString()

End Function

Protected Function TWITTERTWEETCOUNTURL() As String

Return WebConfigurationManager.AppSettings("TWITTERTWEETCOUNTURL").ToString()

End Function

Protected Function TWITTERTWEETCOUNT() As String

Return WebConfigurationManager.AppSettings("TWITTERTWEETCOUNT").ToString()

End Function

' [-]

Protected Function XMLTWITTERFEED() As String

Dim TwitterFeedString As String ' Send This URL to TwitterTwitterFeedString = "" & TWITTERHTTP() & "?" & TWITTERUSERNAMEURL() & "=" & TWITTERUSERNAME() & "&" & TWITTERTWEETCOUNTURL() & "=" & TWITTERTWEETCOUNT() & ""

Dim TwitterFeedUri as New Uri(TwitterFeedString)

Dim Request as HttpWebRequest = HttpWebRequest.Create(TwitterFeedUri)

Request.Method = WebRequestMethods.Http.Get

Dim Response As HttpWebResponse = Request.GetResponse()

Dim Reader As New StreamReader(Response.GetResponseStream())

Dim TwitterFeedData As String = Reader.ReadToEnd()Response.Close()

Return TwitterFeedData

End Function

' [-]

Protected Function CONVERTTWITTERFEED(TwitterXML) As String

Dim CurrentTwitterXMLFeedLocation as Integer ' Our current position in the input string

Dim TwitterXMLCount as Integer ' Our Tweet Count

Dim TwitterXMLStart As String ' Beginning position of the current feed

Dim TwitterXMLEnd As String ' Ending position of the current feed

Dim TwitterXMLLatestTweetText As String ' Latest tweet label

Dim TwitterXMLText As String ' Text we're converting to a string

Dim TwitterXMLTextOutput As String ' Return string as text

CurrentTwitterXMLFeedLocation = 1

TwitterXMLCount = 1

Do While InStr(CurrentTwitterXMLFeedLocation, TwitterXML, "", 1) <> 0

TwitterXMLStart = InStr(CurrentTwitterXMLFeedLocation, TwitterXML, "", 1)

TwitterXMLEnd = InStr(TwitterXMLStart, TwitterXML, "", 1)

If TwitterXMLCount = 1 Then

TwitterXMLLatestTweetText = " | Latest Tweet"ElseTwitterXMLLatestTweetText = ""

End If

If TwitterXMLEnd = 0 Then TwitterXMLEnd = Len(TwitterXML) + 1

TwitterXMLTextOutput = TwitterXMLTextOutput & Mid(TwitterXML, CurrentTwitterXMLFeedLocation, TwitterXMLStart - CurrentTwitterXMLFeedLocation)

TwitterXMLText = TwitterXMLText + "" & VbCrLf & "" & Mid(TwitterXML, TwitterXMLStart, TwitterXMLEnd - TwitterXMLStart) & "
" & VbCrLf & "" & TWITTERUSERNAME() & "" & TwitterXMLLatestTweetText & "
" & VbCrLf & ""

TwitterXMLCount = TwitterXMLCount + 1

CurrentTwitterXMLFeedLocation = TwitterXMLEnd

Loop

TwitterXMLTextOutput = TwitterXMLText

Return TwitterXMLTextOutput

End Function

' [-]

Protected Function SHOWTWITTERFEED() As String

Dim ShowTwitterFeedString as String ' Feed Formatting And Layout

ShowTwitterFeedString = "" & VbCrLf & "" & TWITTERUSERNAME() & " Twitter Feed
" & VbCrLf & "Showing The Latest " & TWITTERTWEETCOUNT() & " Tweets
" & VbCrLf & "
" & CONVERTTWITTERFEED(XMLTWITTERFEED()) & "" & VbCrLf & ""

Return ShowTwitterFeedString

End Function

' [-]

Protected Sub Page_Load(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Me.Load

' [-]

' Your Code Goes Here

' [-]

End Sub

' [-]

End Class

We have separated this code into separate functions: XMLTWITTERFEED, CONVERTTWITTERFEED & SHOWTWITTERFEED.

XMLTWITTERFEED gets the XML from Twitter.

CONVERTTWITTERFEED converts the data into usable strings.

SHOWTWITTERFEED formats the layout in order for CSS to be used.

This is only a basic Twitter reader and we hope to improve on this later, maybe make in our next version, we’ll write something more in-depth and customisable but for now, this should work.

Feel free to demo or download and use this example, feel free also to suggest improvements where necessary… Enjoy

FB.

Using jQuery To Enhance Your Websites

Frostedblue — Fri, 13 May 2011 15:04:22 +0000

jQuery is a fast and concise JavaScript Library that simplifies HTML document traversing, event handling, animation and Ajax for rapid web development. jQuery is designed to change the way that you write JavaScript. We at Frostedblue, have had the pleasure of using it for many months now and believe its the best Javascript platform to date.

Setting Up Your Page

This is a basic tutorial, designed to help you get started using jQuery. If you don’t have a test page setup yet, start by creating a new HTML page with the following contents:

If you don’t wish to download and store the javascript on your server or are unable to keep upto date with the latest version then you can use this other code which takes the JS file directly from Google Code’s servers. We would recommend this approach (below), it makes things easier and cuts down on your server and bandwidth load.

Remember, you can specify a version number by using this line instead: google.load(“jquery”, “1.4.2″);

Using: google.load(“jquery”, “1″); will ensure you are upto date until version 2 is released.

Laying Out Your Code

The first thing that most Javascript programmers end up doing is adding some code to their program, similar to this. jQuery has a simple statement that checks the document and waits until it’s ready to be manipulated, known as the ready event:

$(document).ready(function(){

// Your code here

});

Code Examples

For an interactive demonstration of the basics behind jQuery, please go here:

jQuery

How To Clone Your Mac Hard Drive

Frostedblue — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 17:34:49 +0000

This guide will take you through the (step by step) process of cloning your Apple Macintosh Hard Drive. Why would you want to clone your drive i hear you ask? Well, when upgrading your hard drive of course. If you’ve got lots and lots of data or apps that you simply cannot do without, or reinstall, cloning is your answer. Heres how…

What you will need:

1 x New hard drive (Make sure it is compatible with your Mac)
1 x Hard drive enclosure (Compatible with Mac & PC)
1 x Copy of Carbon Copy Cloner for Mac (It’s free but would recommend you donate)
A couple of hours to spare, depending on your current hard drive size.

1, Add Drive To Hard Drive Enclosure

This should be a straight forward task and one that should be fully documented, supplied with the hardware.

2, Connect Hard Drive Enclosure To Mac

Boot up your Mac and open up Disk Utility, this can be found in Applications > Utilities. Connect your newly fitted Hard drive enclosure to your Mac, via USB. Switch on the enclosure and your Mac should detect a new disk and display this message: The disk you inserted was not readable by this computer.

Click “Initialize…”

3, Rename Your Primary Macintosh HD

Remember, you are creating a clone of your main OSX drive. This will usually be the “Macintosh HD”.

It is far easier to rename your HD if it is located upon your desktop (if no HD icons are showing then don’t worry, open “Finder”, goto Finders Preferences and add all HD’s as desktop items).

On your desktop, click on your “Macintosh HD” icon twice, not to open it but to rename it, just like you would a file. Now rename it to “Macintosh HD OLD”.

You may have noticed that on the example above, there are more than one HD drives. This is because they have been partitioned. One drive split up into many. This guide will only be covering your main OSX HD drive as most Mac hard drive’s come unpartitioned from factory.

4, Formatting Your NEW Drive

In “Disk Utility” click, in the left pane, your NEW hard drive icon (The orange icon) and click on “Erase” in the top bar.

MAKE SURE YOU ARE SELECTING THE NEW UNFORMATTED HARD DRIVE AND NOT YOUR CURRENT SYSTEM HD TO AVOID DATA LOSS

Under “Name:” enter “Macintosh HD NEW” and select “Mac OS Extended (Journaled)” in the drop down menu. Double check that you are NOT going to be formatting/wiping your existing HD before clicking “Erase”.

When Finished:

Your Mac will ask you if you wish to use the new, freshly formatted drive, in the enclosure as a “Time Machine” drive (Apple’s backup service). Click “Don’t use”. You should now close “Disk Utility”.

5, Clone Your Drive

Open up “Carbon Copy Cloner”, we’re using v3.

Now select, as your SOURCE DISK, your old existing “Macintosh HD OLD” and your new “Macintosh HD NEW” as your TARGET DISK.

Select “Cloning Options” as “Backup Everything”.

Once you’re set, click “Clone”. It will most likely ask you for your password. Enter this in correctly then press “OK”.

Your cloning process will now start. This WILL take hours so go away, leave the Mac be and return, to check it, every 30 mins.

After many hours (This will vary dependent on size) your cloning process will be complete. Close “Carbon Copy Cloner” and go back to your Desktop.

6, Rename Your New Macintosh HD

Hopefully you will now have your “Macintosh HD OLD” and “Macintosh HD NEW” drives located on the desktop, if you have not, open Finder > Preferences and check “External Disks”.

IMPORTANT STEP:

Rename your NEW HD to “Macintosh HD” as this is going to be your master hard drive. Failure to rename could result in problems when booting from it.

If you “Get Info” on both disks, you may notice that both HD’s will give different “Used: On Disk” figures. This should be OK. CCC only copies the files that are most necessary. Your Mac should run perfectly fine with all of your personal data intact.

7, Booting Up Your Mac From Your NEW HD

This i must confess is a great feature for us system builders and techie people. “Start Up Disk” under “System Preferences” allows you to choose which disk that you wish to boot from

So, we can boot from the NEW HD without even picking up a screw driver. This way we can thoroughly test our copied drive and be sure that all is well.

Select your NEW HD and click “Restart”, your Mac will now boot from your enclosure via USB (OOSB).

Job Done. This drive is now ready to be installed, and it just so happens that we have a couple of guides on how to do just that.

How To Install A New Hard Drive In A 24” Aluminium iMac

Frostedblue — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 19:15:30 +0000

This guide will take you through the (step by step) process of replacing your iMac 24” hard drive. This can be necessary when you frequently run out of space or have a hardware failure. Heres how…

What you will need:

1 x New hard drive. (Make sure it is compatible with your Mac)
Intel Alu iMacs usually take SATA 300 Drives. (We are using a Seagate Barracuda 1.5Tb)
1 x Set of small TORX screwdrivers (T10 to T2)
1 x Suction cup, like a SATNAV window cup.
1 x ESD wrist strap (MUST HAVE, these protect your components from you and static electricity, must be worn at all times)

Time To Do: 50mins

PLEASE NOTE:

Doing this may invalidate any remaining warranty left on your iMac, if you have taken out AppleCare Extended Warranty then this option may not be right for you.

That said, there doesn’t appear to be any warranty stickers where we are going so the choice is yours

1, Remove The iMac Glass Screen Front

This may sound a little tricky but in fact its straight forward. Use your suction cup against the top right hand of the screen and secure without overlapping the edge. You could also moisten the cup to provide a better seal but cleaning will be required after!

Pull suction cup slowly out from one side. The glass should pop straight out. It is held in place by magnets and metal positioning spikes. continue to remove the glass at place in a safe compartment out of the way, you do not wish to break it.

2, Remove The Aluminium Surround

Behind where the glass sits, there are 12 Torx screws which need to be removed. Remove these screws and place on a mat, these screws are different lengths so try to remember where they came from.

This diagram shows the correct layout:

Next remove the bottom plate, where the RAM is situated (This is at the bottom of the iMac screen). Use a cross headed screw driver to do this by removing the one lone screw and pulling the Alu panel out.

Now its time to remove the Alu front facia. Make sure you have hold of it and that it doesn’t slip and damage anything. Pull out the top of the facia slowly about 1 inch, you should notice the iSight Camera is connected to this facia. Carefully disconnect and continue to remove the Alu facia. This should now detach easily.

Your iMac should now look like this:

3, Removing The LCD Screen

Start off by unplugging the cables connected to the screen. These can be identified using the images below:

Be sure to remove the 2 Torx screws securing one of the connectors, they are smaller than the other Torx screws. Which is why a set is very usefull!

Now remove the 4 Torx screws on each side of the LCD screen, luckily they are all the same size, unlike the Alu facia.

Lift up the left hand side of the screen, carefully, and observer the cable connected to the underside of the LCD panel.

The last cable is covered over by a sticky black piece of plastic, peel this back and remove the cable.

Lift off the screen away from the rest of the iMac. Store in in a safe place as your wouldn’t want to break it. Your iMac will now look this:

4, Removing The Hard Drive

You should notice the hard disk near the top of the iMac, this is what you are going to replace. Looking closely and you will notice some sticky foam on it. This is the hard drive heat sensor. Remove this foam and prize off the plastic heat sensor casing.

PLEASE NOTE:

The heat sensor has a flat side, make sure when refitting to place the flat side against the new disk. The last thing you want to do is to refit everything to find the heat sensor is incorrectly fitted.

Now remove the 2 Torx screws, on the HD located top side. If you run into trouble with the left screw, remove the iSight camera as it may obstruct access.

Pull out the HD top first and place on the desktop. We will need the metal grommet screws.

Fit the grommet screws onto the new HD and refit into the housing. Screw back in and, if you had to remove the iSight camera, refit.

5, Refitting Your iMac

Be sure to look for a flat area on your new HD and reattach the heat sensor. Fit it correctly, its important.

Refit your screen and ensure that all cables have been reconnected. The LCD screen cable underneath the LCD panel has sticky plastic that must be restuck.

Now refit the Alu Facia by fitting and holding the bottom first then slowly push the top almost into place.

Whilst holding, you don’t want it to slip, try to attach the iSight connector to the facia connector. Then push back to until seated correctly in place. Be careful of the iSight cable, don’t get it caught against the metal casing.

Finally place the glass carefully and there you have it!!!

PLEASE NOTE:

When booting for the first time, hold down “D” on the keyboard. This should force your iMac to boot from the internal HD.

Once booted, check your startup disk under “System Preferences”.

If you are interested in doing this, checkout out HD cloning guide.

VMware ESXi v4+ Configuration Setup

Frostedblue — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 18:52:35 +0000

Hopefully, if you followed our previous setup guide, you would now have a fresh install of VMware’s ESXi v4.0. Either on a VMware Fusion created VM or on a physical server of your choice depending on hardware compatibility. Now we will run through the next stage of the setup.

1.0 Setup A Root Password

This will be a password that will allow you the user to administer this ESXi box internally or externally via VMware’s Infrastructure Manager / vSphere (vi) Client. This will also secure it from any unauthorized access.

First off, boot up your ESXi box and await the home screen. Once booted, press “F2”.

Select “Configure Password” and press “Enter”.

Enter your chosen new password, and confirm it, then press “Enter”.

Please be sure to create a very strong password using a combination of special characters, capital letters, lower case letters and numbers. This password will rarely get changed so it will need to be strong.

Visit here for more information regarding password strength:

Click Here For Link

2.0 Network Configuration

Move down to “Configure Management Network” and press “Enter”.

Select “IP Configuration” and press “Enter.

Cursor down once to highlight “Set static IP add…..” and press the “Space Bar” to select it. This will allow you to manually configure a Static IP, Subnet & Gateway.

Always configure your ESXi box with a static IP so that you can connect to it (remotely) at a later stage. DHCP issued IP configurations often change when the lease is renewed. If you are unaware of these details, contact your system administrator or retrieve these details from your router.

Enter the required details and press “Enter” when finished!

Now configure your DNS settings under “DNS Configuration”.

Enter these details where applicable, if you are running a single DNS server (or router) then only enter a Primary DNS Server.

Having a Hostname entry is not mandatory and it will work fine without one. Only fill this out if you are running a Domain. This address here in the image is a fake one but it will give you an idea.

(ESXi MACHINE NAME . DOMAIN)

Once done, press “Enter”.

Press “Esc” button to Exit.

It will ask you to reset the network settings, press “Y”.

Configuration is complete, you can now press “Esc” and log out.

Leave it in this state as you are now ready to setup your VMware vSphere Client to manage your newly configured ESXi box.

Your box should now run quietly in the corner without any more hassle. Now for an OS…….

VMware ESXi v4+ Install Guide on VMware Fusion v3+ or Physical Server

Frostedblue — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 18:11:50 +0000

This guide demonstrates a fresh install of VMware ESXi v4.0 on a VMware Fusion v3 platform on an Apple Mac running Snow Leopard. The same principles can be taken with later versions. The same principles can be applied for an install on a Physical Hardware Server such as an HP Proliant G5 or a Dell 2900PE III. Both of which are suitable hardware configurations to run ESXi.

Requirements:

(If Installing On VMware Fusion v3)

Most Intel Macs with compatible CPU’s that allow Virtualization:
Macbook Alu 2008+
Macbook Pro 2008+
Mac Pro 2008+
iMac 2008+
2Gb+ Ram (ESXi requires at least 2Gb to install)
VMware ESXi v4.0 ISO

(If Installing On A Physical Server)

A suitable hardware configuration
2Gb+ Ram (ESXi requires at least 2Gb to install)
VMware ESXi v4.0 ISO burned to a CD

IMPORTANT! When using physical servers, Virtualization Technology must first be enabled in the BIOS. Some hard disk controllers can be difficult to detect by the ESXi installer, but inserting a USB Memory Stick can bypass this. ESXi only has a footprint of approx. 32Mb so is very small and will fit on most Sticks. Once installed, it should detect your original hard drive and use it for your VMs.

Recommended Servers: (Tested)

Dell 2900PE III: Intel Quad core, 4Gb+ RAM, 480Gb RAID 5, Redundant PSU (£2000-2500)
HP Proliant G5 + 1Gb USB Stick + 4Gb EEC DDR2 Upgrade: AMD Quad core, 160Gb SATA, Single PSU (£250-£300)

1.0 Initial Configuration

(If Installing On VMware Fusion v3)

In VMware Fusion, create a new virtual machine.

Click continue without a disk.

Download your free copy of VMware ESXi from VMware’s website and be sure register for your free serial key. This is important as without it, your ESXi server will be limited to 60 days use.

Make sure you download the Installable version that comes as an ISO file for burning to CD. Luckily, no burning is required. Simply select you disk image from here:

Choose you OS, VMware auto selects.

Finish

Now save your Virtual Machine to a safe place on your local machine, because of its potential size, it would be best placed on its own partition if your HD drive has been split this way!

Now run your VM

(If Installing On A Physical Server)

Download your free copy of VMware ESXi from VMware’s website and be sure register for your free serial key. This is important as without it, your ESXi server will be limited to 60 days use.

Make sure you download the Installable version that comes as an ISO file for burning to CD. You WILL need to burn this to CD first in order for your server to install.

Plug in your USB Stick, some servers have an internal USB socket and carefully upgrade your servers internal RAM (if necessary). Be sure to use an ESD Strap.

Place your CD in your drive and boot up your server.

Be sure to select the boot menu and boot from CD.

2.0 Installation

Once your system have booted from the ESXi CD/CD image then your screen should look like this:

Select ESXi Installer and wait…..

This message may pop up on the Mac VMware Fusion install, enter password to continue.

Now, press “Enter” to install.

Press “F11” to accept the terms and continue.

If using VMware Fusion, use “Send Key” located in the menu to send an F11 command.

Now, choose your installation path. PLEASE NOTE, if installing on a Physical Server, you may run into difficulties with this section if you RAID or IDE controllers are not compatible. ESXi seems to be quite picky. This is where using a USB Stick will come in handy.

Choose your install path and hit “Enter”.

If you are unable to continue, if a message displays relating to non compatibility, you may need to do some further research to find a resolution/work around. Remember, GOOGLE is your friend.

“F11” To confirm the install and wait…..

Installation is now complete.

Finally, remove CD/CD image and reboot.

In our next VMware ESXi post, we will be configuring ESXi for use in a network.

Thanks for reading.

Installing Microsoft Windows 7

Frostedblue — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 16:54:26 +0000

This is a quick guide to get you started with Windows 7. This guide is aimed for new PC users and users that have less experience with installing and setting up operating systems.

First things first, before any install, you must cover the basics (when upgrading).

1, Backup all personal files and folders
2, Save all internet favourites
3, Backup iTunes folder or other music folder
4, Backup all your photos
Tip! Purchasing a USB hard drive can be an easy way to do this. The cost can vary from £50 upwards and would be a useful addition for future backups.
5, Find out how to boot a PC from a CD/DVD first (Most PC’s will but some will be different) This involves watching your PC’s screen during boot up and looking out for “F12 Key For Boot Menu” or words to that effect
If you are installing Windows 7 on a new PC, step 5 should only apply.

So, make sure you have your Windows CD/DVD in the drive, your Windows 7 Serial Key, your backed up files on a USB HD and a spare 30-45 minutes.

Stage 1 – Getting Started

Turn on your PC and await your screen to flash up with information. Keep a look out for the following messages:

“Press Any Key To Boot From CD/DVD Drive”

“F12 For Boot Menu”

Do Not press any keys that suggest entering setup or BOIS (Binary Input Output System) as a change in your BOIS could result in minor issues that would need to be resolved by a technician.

If a “Press Any Key To Boot From CD/DVD Drive” message pops up first, do this then wait, an install window should appear. If a F12 message appears, a small boot menu should pop up. Select CD ROM Drive, hit enter and hopefully the “Press Any Key……” should then appear. Follow Instructions previously mentioned.

After a short while, a language selection window will appear. If none of these windows show up or your machine boots up in to an older copy of windows or you get a message concerning boot loaders etc. (New builds) then one of the steps above did not work. Simply shut down your PC, restart it making sure that your install disk is located in the drive and follow the steps under “Stage 1 – Getting Started”.

Now, choose your Language, Time/Currency Format & Keyboard Method. Ours listed is English and United Kingdom. Click Next.

Click Install Now (Self Explanatory Really).

Next up, The dreaded terms and conditions! WOOT

Read them if you want, then check “I Accept…” then click Next.

This next part may confuse some less technically inept but i would recommend this process as the best way to get a fresh, clean, fault free version of Windows 7. Running an upgrade may be a little easier (It often keeps software and personal files intact) but will break some applications and will cause headaches.

As you should always keep a backup of your files, reloading and reinstalling shouldn’t be to much trouble.

So, choose Custom (advanced)

Next, look at the list of partitions on your hard drive. On this example, we have a new install and a new “Unformatted” disk. Notice the total size and free space is identical.

Skip this process if you are installing on a previous version of operating system (OS).

Select the disk from the list that you wish to install Windows 7 on, then click New.

Another this worth noting is that some prebuilt PC’s from the likes of Dell & IBM have multiple partitions, meaning that your drive is split up into smaller drives. Look out for drives in this list that are small, around 2GB. Make sure that these are not selected to install your copy of Windows as they are too small. Work your way down the list until the first drive is over 12GB in total size and choose this one. This will have probably been your original C:\ Windows drive.

When clicking New, choose the size of your new partition, defaults to the largest setting, then click Apply

Now you can click Format. Please Note that this is a new build example, if you are installing on a previously used drive, you can skip the New Partition section and click Format, Once your install drive is selected.

Stage 2 – Installing

Let the install begin…

Reboot

Now, the final straight. Enter your new username. Enter your PC network name then click Next

Enter a Password (Twice) and a password hint (Hints are not optional like they used to be, fill this in)

Enter your CD/DVD Key, make sure you uncheck “Automatically Activate Win…”. You will want all the time in the world to configure your drivers and or software. It give you 30 days grace in the meantime.

Click Next

Use recommended settings.

Time and date should be correct, they usually are, but check anyway. Click Next.

Click Home Network.

Skip the homegroup section.

Almost there…

30 / 40 minutes later… Yippee

Here’s to Windows 7 and your new Windows experience.

Thanks for reading