Current System Configuration :

• Compaq DL580
• Quad 700 Mhz Intel Pentium III Xeon (2 with 2Mb cache, 2 with 1 Mb cache)
  • CPU1 = 700/100 1 Mb LII
  • CPU2 = 700/100 1 Mb LII
  • CPU3 = 700/100 2 Mb LII
  • CPU4 = 700/100 2 Mb LII
• 2048 Mb RAM
• 2 x 9.1 GB drives in Compaq SMARTArray controller configured as one logical drive using v1.50 of software (for OS and VMWare binaries)
  • Drive 0 = 9.1 Gb
  • Drive 1 = 9.1 Gb
• 4 x 6 drive arrays - each array is 5 drives in a 4+1 config with a hot spare, totally 36 Gb each due to 9.1 drives in use
  • Drive 1 = 9.1 Gb - data part of RAID 5 volume
  • Drive 2 = 9.1 Gb - data part of RAID 5 volume
  • Drive 3 = 9.1 Gb - data part of RAID 5 volume
  • Drive 4 = 9.1 Gb - data part of RAID 5 volume
  • Drive 5 = 9.1 Gb - parity drive part of RAID 5 volume
  • Drive 6 = 9.1 Gb - hot spare
• internal CDRom
• Compaq NC3163 onboard network port
• Compaq NC3134 dual port network card
• onboard Video card
• Compaq Insight Manager board
• PS/2 Mouse

Insight Manager Setup ::

Start with configuration of the remote integrated lights out management tools :

• Hit F8 to get into CIM
• Set IP to 207.86.37.230 (allow autoselect of speed)
• Set DNS Name to "vm580num1rilo"
• Disabled directory
• Enabled local users, port 636 (normal admin password)
• enable alerts
• SNMP trap destination was this host - 207.86.37.45
• Firmware is 2.53 (2/10/2004)
• Serial number recorded
• PCI bus = 0, device = 7
• At that point I leanred that the PCI card in slot 3 was capable of 66 Mhz but was operating at 33 Mhz as installed, so I relocated that.

Now setup the default array

• F8 to get into array utilities (rom version 1.68)
• SCSI port 1, id of 0 is a Compaq 9.1 GB drive
• SCSI port 1, id of 1 is a Compaq 9.1 GB drive
• Logical drive was 8.5 Gb of raid 1

Operating System Load (win2k3) ::

A bit of pre-prep work to create the boot floppy which was required for my installation :

• Insert WinBeta CD and Choose item 5 for standard volume edition
• Create large 8670 MB disk on CPQARRAY2 as NTFS drive
• After formatting and reboot, hit ESC at the CD boot screen in order to bypass CD boot and get back to formatted partition's installtion

Begin installation ....

• Answer "English" to the language question.
• Setup Name and Organization
• Use Per Server configuration with 10 CALs
• Setup hostname as "vm580num1"
• Use normal admin password
• Set time to "GMT-5" (Easterm) with auto adjustment for DST
• Choose custom Network option
• Setup two interfaces for now - no load balancing yet :
  • 207.86.37.45 for Compaq NC3134 Fast Ethernet NIC # 1
  • 207.86.37.46 for Compaq NC3134 Fast Ethernet NIC # 2
• Make a workgroup server (non domain) in the MAIN workgroup

Further Configuration :

At that point, the basic installation is done. Now the customization of th OS begins :

• Install IIS with Application Server, Front Page Extentions, SSI, ASP, and Application Server Console options
• Go into Network Services and remove DNS and WINS
• Install Management and Monitoring Tools
• Reboot
• Let windows choose and setup the Gui properties
• Setup standard shortcuts
• Setup drive share mappings
• Setup normal hotkey sequences for explorer, cmd window, calculator, wordpad, notepad, putty
• Setup default printer
• Install Firefox 1.0.7
• Install zonealarm 6
• Note that AVG cant load as this is a server installation and its the freeware - workaround known but not yet implemented

VMWare GSX Application Load (v3.2) ::

Installation of VMWare is very straightforward. Its the setup and control of the virutal machines that a little more concerning, but this part is quite quick and easy :

• Create C:\VMWare
• Insert VMWare GSX 3.2 CD
• Copy contents of CDRom to C:\VMWare\CD
• Launch the Installer
• Accept the License Terms
• Choose Custom Installation Type
• Choose all options and subcomponents
• Installation directory is C:\VMWare
• Allow installer to undo the CD's autorun option on the OS level for safety
• Launch VMWare Server Console and set VM's to all fit into physical memory with no swapping