Presented at Security BSides Boston on May 18 2013, "Build Your Own VMWare ESXi and Microsoft Hyper-V lab at Home, Using Affordable and Efficient Hardware"

Posted by Paul Braren on May 18 2013 in

To view the slide deck, the presentation itself, click here, or just view it below. Soon, there'll be video playback from the event as well, available here once published.

Having never been to a security user group event before, I initially felt like a bit of an outsider, but felt very welcome in a short while. What a friendly bunch of folks. Seemed only appropriate to turn off both Bluetooth and WiFi on my phone and laptop, and used a USB tethered Verizon LTE 4g Internet connection for my live demonstration. I was quickly surprised by how incredibly engaged the audience was, and so full of great questions. Presenting to this crowd was a lot of fun for me, and the feedback was positive. So nice of Frank Quinn to somehow get me invited to this event! From the agenda, here's my presentation summary:

Paul Braren, XIV Storage System Technical Advisor at IBM. Founder of TinkerTry.com, LLC.

Creating a virtualization lab in a box is now easier than ever, especially with the amazing virtual network versatility now available in VMware ESXi and Microsoft Hyper-V environments. This demonstration will include the ease of spinning up a fresh operating system using a vSphere 5.1 virtual machine template, and a way to create instant snapshots (backups) that allow quick operating system roll-back to an earlier moment in time. These capabilities can be very handy for security software testing. The presentation will also touch upon experiences with safe software testing while keeping the family’s personal cloud running 24x7, in a virtualized environment. This includes daily PC backups to RAID storage, offsite protection, and automated shutdown during power-outages.

Biography

Paul Braren has worked for IBM since 1995 in a wide variety of hands-on consulting roles, mostly involving Intel-based server installations. Experience includes over a decade of virtualization deployments using IBM, HP, and Dell gear at a variety customer sites across America. His roles included designing and deploying customer software tuning labs, datacenters, and classrooms across the globe, including secret-clearance-only sites. Paul is currently working as an IBM XIV Technical Advisor, with dozens of Connecticut and Massachusetts customers.

Finally working from his home in Connecticut much of the last 2 years, he’s enjoyed many evenings and weekends podcasting, and sharing over 300 IT stories and tips on his personal blog, TinkerTry IT @ home. Efficient virtualization, storage, backup, and more… Paul can be found @tinkererguy on Twitter, Paul Braren on Google+, and by email at TinkerTry.com/contact.

It certainly helped that I had a USB 3.0 to DVI to VGA adapter with me, to workaround my laptop's finicky VGA output, and the facility even had a monitor on the podium, showing the extended desktop, without having to look over my shoulder. What a nice facility, that Microsoft NERD Center is!

Here's a list of related articles:

Practical ways to deal with VMware ESXi 5.0′s 2TB virtual disk size limitation
I abuse RAID arrays, and I’m not ashamed to admit it, Episode 2, Mediasonic HFR2-SU3S2
ESXi 5.1 has USB 3.0 support, sort of…
The reasoning behind vZilla’s storage configuration
The reasoning behind vZilla’s use of the LSI 9265-8i RAID Controller (hint: SSD for RAID5 read-and-write caching )
ESXi 5.1 host with LSI 92xx RAID adapter can run a VM with fully functional MegaRAID Storage Manager UI, here’s how
How to make ESXi 5.1 see the health of an LSI 9265-8i RAID controller and array (seems to work with all 92xx controllers)
VMware ESXi 5.1 can run Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2012 VMs, nice!
Windows Server 2012 Essentials article list
How to use a CyberPower UPS solution for proper automated shutdown of your VMware ESXi lab during power outages, including all
Paul Braren’s guest blogger articles on IT Pro Guru Blog by Systems Management Expert Dan Stolts

Related sites:
Virtual Appliance Marketplace (like an App Store for your smartphone), includes many networking and security appliances

Here's a recent video that you might find helpful, of a similar demonstration:

To view the slide deck, the presentation itself, click here, or just view it below. Soon, they'll be video playback from the event as well, available here once published.