mirroring_role being equal to 1 indicates it has the PRINCIPAL role where the mirroring_state being equal to 4 indicates it is SYNCHRONIZED.

The procedure should be run on the server where the database is the PRINCIPAL. Running it on the MIRROR server will not result in any changes. Using Linked Servers and 2 parameters in the Stored Procedure such as:

sps_FailoverMirror (@databaseName nvarchar(200), @serverOne nvarchar(200), @serverTwo nvarchar(200))

would allow the Stored Procedure to query both servers, find the PRINCIPAL server, and perform the failover.

The VNXe series redefines networked storage for the small business to medium enterprise user, delivering an unequaled combination of enterprise-like features, simplicity, and efficiency. The Data Domain systems have revolutionized disk backup with high-speed, inline deduplication. The Data Domain DD160 is designed for small enterprise data centers and provides the simplicity and efficiency you require

Bundle Descriptions

Bundle 1: Storage and Backup Consolidation Bundle

VNXe3100 – 6TB

     -6x 1TO NL-SAS & 3 Years Maintenance

 DD 160 – 3.5TB

     -Boost/Replication Software & 3 Years Maintenance

Bundle 2: Performance & Simple Storage and Backup Bundle

VNXe33100 – 9TB

     -6 x 600 + 1TO SAS & 3 Years Maintenance

DD 160 – 6TB

     -Boost/Replication Software & 3 Years Maintenance

Combining the VNXe series and the Data Domain DD160 provides simplicity, efficiency, and consolidation. VNXe wizards allow you to quickly and easily provision storage and then easily back up to the DD160 for 10 to 30x data reduction on average. VNXe and Data Domain systems provide you with an ideal solution for your primary and backup storage needs.

If you would like to take advantage of any of these bundles, please e-mail insidesales@egroup-us.com or contact us at1-877-eGROUP-1.

Mount Pleasant, South Carolina – February 21, 2012 – eGroup, Inc. announced today it has been named to CRN’s annual list of the Tech Elite 250 for the second year in a row. Companies on the 2012 Tech Elite 250 list represent an elite group of IT Solution Providers that have invested in the training and education needed to earn the most technical certifications in the IT Channel.

In compiling the list, CRN editors worked with the UBM Channel research group and a team outside experts to define the most customer-beneficial technical certifications in the IT channel. These technical certifications have enabled solution providers to deliver the most premium products, service and support to their North American customers.

“The 2012 Tech Elite 250 list recognizes an exclusive group of Solution Providers that have shown a dedication to helping customers innovate while reducing costs,” said Kelley Damore, Vice President, Editorial Director at UBM Channel. “By identifying and adapting to the skills and training needed to best serve today’s customers, members of the Tech Elite 250 have proven their commitment to delivering the products and services that today’s end-users value most.”

A sample of CRN’s 2012 “Tech Elite 250” list is featured in the February issue of CRN Magazine and online at www.crn.com.

“We’re thrilled to be included in CRN’s list of the Tech Elite 250 again this year,” said Mike Carter, principal of eGroup. “Through our best-of-breed product and service offerings – complemented by our deep technical expertise – eGroup is able to reduce the complexity of our clients’ IT environments, while dramatically lowering costs and enabling a flexible, agile IT service delivery model that supports both users and business needs.”

About eGroup: (www.eGroup-us.com)

Providing customers across the southeast with a distinct competitive advantage since 1999, eGroup is a visionary technology solutions and services firm with the ability to execute swiftly in a rapidly changing information technology landscape.  Our solutions drive customers’ cost containment, revenue growth, and service objectives by addressing challenges associated with mobility, access to critical applications and data, and security.  eGroup’s expertise and core competence is focused in three distinct areas: Cloud Services (public and private), Application Services, and End-User Computing. To deliver these solutions, eGroup has strategic partnerships with industry leaders that include VMware, Cisco, and EMC, along with Citrix, Microsoft, and Trend Micro, and a highly-skilled workforce trained in all of the latest developments in information technology.

About UBM Channel: (www.ubmchannel.com)

UBM Channel is the premier provider of IT channel-focused events, media, research, consulting, and sales and marketing services. With over 30 years of experience and engagement, UBM Channel has the unmatched channel expertise to execute integrated solutions for technology executives managing partner recruitment, enablement and go-to-market strategy in order to accelerate technology sales. UBM Channel is a UBM company. To learn more about UBM Channel, visit us at www.ubmchannel.com.

UBM plc (www.ubm.com)

UBM plc is a leading global business media company. We inform markets and bring the world’s buyers and sellers together at events, online, in print and provide them with the information they need to do business successfully. We focus on serving professional commercial communities, from doctors to game developers, from journalists to jewelry traders, from farmers to pharmacists around the world. Our 6,000 staff in more than 30 countries is organized into specialist teams that serve these communities, helping them to do business and their markets to work effectively and efficiently. For more information, go to www.ubm.com

###

Contacts

Scott Regan
UBM Channel
508.416.1186
Scott.Regan@ubm.com

Liz Wilmes
eGroup, Inc.
1.877.eGROUP.1
info@eGroup-us.com

The next question that came up is an important one to consider in your implementations of NFS on vSphere– and it was the question of “which vmkernel will be used to communicate to the NFS export?”. It’s important to keep in mind that once the connection to an NFS mount is made, it will continue over the same vmkernel AND NIC that was used to establish the connection, so if you get it wrong the first time, it’ll stay that way until you break the connection and re-establish it (which in our case, we tested by unmounting the export, making our changes, and then remounting).

What I had learned a ways back that I believed to still be true was that the the IP of the NFS server would determine which vmkernel would be used by using the vmkernel’s route table, and if no specific route (or same subnet vmkernel interface), the default route/gateway would be used.

What we tested first was simply mounting the NFS export with a relatively “out of the box” ESXi host networking configuration. To the experienced vSphere administrator or architect this is obviously not something you’d do yourselves, but you’d be surprised at how far people take the “NFS is so easy” thought to their implementations, and if they can simply mount it without doing “anything special”, a lot of the time they do.

In our configuration, the NFS server was on a different subnet, and so nothing in the route table matched the desired destination network, and the default gateway was used. This was also the vmkernel that was being used for Management traffic, and made for a non-optimal flow of traffic, especially for storage. To confirm our suspicions, we created a new vmkernel interface on the same subnet as the NFS server, and unmounted the NFS export. Then we mounted it again, and as expected, it used the new vmkernel on the same subnet (via a lookup to the route table) for the communication, and operated as desired.

A lot of reference architectures are being made around the use of NFS, and making sure your network is designed properly is critical to the success of whatever you stack on that file system!

Open the Registry Editor by going to Start > Run > then type ‘regedit’

Browse to the following key…

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\VMware, Inc.\Installer\VMware Workstation\DATASTORE_PATH

Change the value to the location you want your VMs to be stored (ie. ‘C:\Virtual Machines’), then click OK. Now, re-run the VMWare Workstation installer.

Cisco has recently announced their Q3 Cisco Smart Play bundles. Now until April 28, 2013 there are (10) extensively discounted UCS B-Series Blade Server and C-Series Rack-Mount Server Bundles that are fully configured and ready to be implemented in any data center. This is a great opportunity for any company to experience the next-generation of data center platforms with Cisco’s UCS at an exceptionally low entry point.

UCS B-Series Smart Play Promo Summary

The Smart Play UCS B-Series Bundles have (4) options that range from an introductory priced B200 bundle to a high performance B230 Bundle which most now include the NEW Cisco 6248 48 Unified Port Fabric Interconnects.  Based on the hard drive restraints experienced around the world, Cisco has now provided the option to purchase these Smart Play bundles “with” or “without” hard drives to meet faster delivery times for customers who wish to boot their UCS from SAN.

Single Expansion Blade-Pack

The (4) Smart Play Expansion Blade Packs will not ship with an HDD or SSD; they must be ordered separately.  Cisco is also enforcing a 5 limit purchase of any Smart Play Bundle during this promotion period, which can include any combination of Smart Play bundles or Expansion blades.

UCS C-Series Smart Play Promo Summary

The Smart Play UCS C-Series Bundles have (2) options that are equally priced to be among the most competitive price point in the market. These C-Series Smart Play Bundles have both the C200 and C210 Rack Mount Servers and all include the P81E Virtual Interface Card.

For further information and pricing on these Cisco Smart Play Bundle Promotions, please email insidesales@eGroup-us.com or call 1877-eGroup-1.

Introduction to Virtualization

Simplifying Disaster Protection for All Your Applications with VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager and VMware vSphere Replication

Top 10 Myths About Virtualizing Business-Critical Applications

Automating Infrastructure and Operations Management with VMware vCenter Operations Management Suite

Coming up on 2.28 (will be on-demand afterwards):
Maximum Performance and Availability for Virtualized Oracle Databases with VMware and EMC