My Plain Blueberry Juice

2011 Already! Damn!

2011-09-18T23:06:00.003+08:00

Sighhhh!,

It has been months or perhaps a year since my last update, many things has come and passes by. Damia is fast developing to become a full-fledged toddler with her own screaming antics to boot.

We've been to Australia and South Korea for vacation.

No major transformation is happening on my working life =)

My brother has started his own BBQ and catering business specializing on Grilled Lamb, Oxtail soup and whatnot. You can contact him at 012-9737602 if you want out of this world Grilled Lamb.

Speaking of business, it seems that every Tom, Dick and Harry is busy with their online business. Even my wife is starting her own online business, my dear god! my wife! business!...My wife and business shouldn't be in the same sentence for god sake.

The idea is for her to open her own business and stop asking for money from me, kah kah kah, but so far it's not working as expected. I'm forking out more money than ever before to support her business, not very bright, am i?

Please give her the support she needed by going to her blog :

scarffiction.blogspot.com

and please like her fan page at facebook too.

Regards,

MARK

How to Calculate Your Disk I/O Requirements

2010-05-05T11:00:00.005+08:00

A very good read for any aspiring Storage Architect

Now that you understand which Exchange activities and components generate disk I/O and how to configure your storage to support them, you must calculate the disk I/O requirements for your users. Calculating your disk I/O requirements ultimately allows you to optimize your disk subsystem to best support your users.

Your goal is to provide enough disk I/O performance (measured by the number of I/O operations per second [IOPS] that can be performed) with acceptable latency that allows for efficient Exchange functionality.

Calculating the IOPS per mailbox is a convenient way to measure the profile for a given server based on random database read/write I/O (transaction log I/O is not factored into this equation). The higher the IOPS per mailbox, the more aggressive the mailbox profile is in terms of disk usage.

There are two approaches to calculating your disk I/O requirements:

Determine user needs based on theoretical data
Calculate user activity by using the Performance console (Perfmon)

Regardless of your approach, you should plan and calculate based on peak usage periods. In many companies, this occurs at the beginning of business hours, as people arrive at work and check their e-mail.

Calculating I/O Using Theoretical Data

If you do not have Exchange installed but want to plan for impending storage needs that result from an Exchange deployment, you can use data that has already been collected. This data is in the form of mailbox profiles, which describe general usage patterns for Exchange mailboxes.

The following table lists mailbox profiles that can be used as a guideline for capacity planning of Exchange mailbox servers. These profiles represent mailbox access for the “average user” Outlook (or MAPI-based) client within the organization.

User profiles and corresponding usage patterns

User Type	Database Volume IOPS	Send/Receive per day	Mailbox Size
Light	.5	20 sent/50 received	50 MB
Average	.75	30 sent/75 received	100 MB
Heavy	1.0	40 sent/100 received	200 MB
Large	1.5	60 sent/150 received	500 MB

Each profile represents total I/O to the Jet database and does not include I/O related to transaction log file activity. In order to accurately calculate your disk subsystem load, you must split this database I/O into read and write I/O because write operations are more I/O intensive than reads.

To help estimate your own read/write ratio, consider the usage patterns of a company that has a heavy mailbox profile. In a production environment, the company can expect to incur read/write ratios between 75/25 percent and 66/33 percent, depending on the group of users being evaluated.

For a mail system consisting of 2,000 heavily used mailboxes, a total of 1,500 IOPS is generated on the database volume. The formula to calculate this is:

Estimated IOPS per User for User Type × Number of Users

In this example, .75 IOPS × 2,000 mailboxes=1,500 IOPS.

Using a conservative ratio of two reads for every write (66 percent reads to 33 percent writes), you would plan for 1,000 read I/O and 500 write I/O requests per second for your database volume. Every write request is first written to the transaction log file and then written to the database. Approximately 10 percent of the total 1,500 IOPS seen on the database volume will be seen on the transaction log volume (10 percent of 1,500 is 150 IOPS); 500 write I/O requests will be written to the database.

These estimated profiles are for an Exchange server that has no other components installed beyond the base operating system. If other variables, such as third-party Personal Information Management (PIM) software, MAPI-based virus scanning (server and client side), management and monitoring software, or backup software are used during peak usage periods, these profiles will not adequately describe the I/O profile in your organization. In these cases, you must also factor in the additional reads and writes that are requested by these applications.

Database IOPS based on Mailbox count

Database IOPS every 1000 mailboxes

Mailboxes	Database Volume IOPS	IOPS	Actual IOPS
1000	1.0	1000	1000
2000	1.0	2000	2500
3000	1.0	3000	3750
4000	1.0	4000	5000

When you increase the number of users with similar profiles on an Exchange Server, more users must compete with the database cache causing an increase in database disk transfers.

For Example:

1000 mailboxes at 1.0 IOPS produce 1000 IOPS on the database logical unit number (LUN). If you double the number of users with the same profile to 2000, then the formula is: 1.0 IOPS x 2000 mailboxes x 1.25 = 2500 IOPS.

Database IOPS based on Database count

Databases	IOPS Factor	Actual IOPS
1	0%	1000
2	2%	1020
4	6%	1060
8	14%	1140
10	18%	1180
20	38%	1380

The benefits of single instance storage are reduced as you add databases to an Exchange server. The degree of the impact is dependant upon the user profile and the average message size. For Example; if you have 1000 users on 1 database, consuming 1000 database IOPS, splitting those users into 10 databases would consume 18 percent more database IOPS, or 1180 IOPS. When someone sends a 10 MB PowerPoint file as an attachment to 20 mailboxes and they all reside on the same database, only 10 MB is written to the database. If those same 20 recipients are on different databases, 200 MB must be written to disk; a twenty fold increase in write activity. This data is based on the MMB3 test which uses a significant number of distribution lists and is a heavy corporate profile.

User Type	Outlook Cached Mode	Outlook Online Mode	Inbox Size
Corporate	1.0 IOPS	1.0 IOPS	10,000 Items – 500MB
Large	1.0 IOPS	1.25 IOPS	20,000 Items – 1Gb
Huge	1.0 IOPS	1.75 IOPS	40,000 Items – 2GB

With Outlook cached mode, many common disk intensive tasks are performed on the client. The initial full sync in Outlook cached mode is a disk intensive activity, yet it is rarely done. With Outlook online mode, searches and sorts are performed on the server. After the initial index creation, it is automatically updated as mail is received. Users that have an abnormally large number of indexes can exceed the limit, causing some of the indexes to be recreated. Some Outlook plug-ins and external applications create indexes and cause additional physical disk pressure. When moving from 500 MB to 1 GB the physical disk cost to the database increased approximately 25 percent, while a 1 GB to 2 GB change increased the database physical disk cost approximately 40 percent.

Calculating I/O Using Actual Environmental Data

If you already deployed Exchange, you should use your existing production environment to identify your I/O requirements. A benefit of monitoring your production environment is that your data includes all I/O that occurs across all applications, including third-party applications.

When you calculate IOPS per mailbox, use the current number of mailboxes on that server. If the server contains many unused mailboxes or is running other applications that do not add much load during the peak two hours, your results may not represent a typical user load. You should select a server that has typical user mailboxes for your measurements, or does not include the unused mailboxes in your calculation.

Be aware that different days of the week have slightly different usage loads. Because this varies widely, you should monitor your environment over an extended period of time (ideally one month) to determine when you are likely to experience peaks.

For detailed steps about how to calculate your storage I/O requirements using data collected from your Exchange production environment, see How to Calculate Storage I/O Requirements Using Environmental Data.

This IOPS per mailbox value is what you will experience at the operating system level. If you have a hardware RAID solution in place, then you will have a different number of IOPS at the disk level that cannot be measured with Perfmon. There is a penalty for RAID-5 that is different than the penalty for RAID-1+0. For more information about calculating IOPS for each type of RAID solution, see Disk Subsystem Performance Analysis for Windows.

After you calculate your IOPS per mailbox value, you can optimize your existing storage architecture.

Taken form Microsoft Technet

=========================================================================

Average IOPS per disk

7.2K RPM disk: 75
10K RPM disk: 125
15K RPM disk: 175
Solid State Disk: 6,000

Formula to calculate IOPS requirements

(Total Workload IOPS * Percentage of workload that is read operations) + (Total Workload IOPS * Percentage of workload that is write operations * RAID IO Penalty

I'm currently studying for my Clariion Technology Architect exam and Technology Architect Expert exam....so this is a good article that I come across while doing some research.

A Quick Update

2010-03-25T12:08:00.006+08:00

I know it's been a while since the last update, I can't help it that I'm busy with Account Planning and Technology Update session. Anyway just a quick update

- Two of my cats died of some mysterious illness (suspected due to poisoning)

- My cousin is diagnosed with mild autism ( pretty much a heart breaking news to me)

- I'm officially promoted to Senior System Consultant (not that much change from previous designation- but I do have to get involved with other consultant account unlike previously)

- My wife is due in 2 weeks time ( I'm excited about this)

- We will be going to Brisbane for year end vacation at the end of October

- My parents will be going to Umrah and most probably Bandung this year

- Business is doing better this year as corporate is spending more

- Looking for opportunity to start a business (maybe as a franchisee)

- Will be attending a reunion with course mate from matriculation

- Will be moving to our own house soon (Most of the furniture and minor renovation is completed)

Regards,

MARK

My Year End Plan

2010-01-14T20:16:00.004+08:00

It might seem a wee bit early but I'm currently planning for our annual year end holiday, this year we're planning to go overseas though the exact location is pretty much not determine yet. Our budget per person is below rm 6000, as it involves a lot of money so the surveying process must start now. We have narrowed down our preferred location to several interesting places such as tje one shown below :

a) Turkey

b) Beijing + shanghai

c) Cairo / Sinai / Alexandria

d) Sydney & Canberra

e) German / Czech Republic / Slovakia / Hungary / Austria (slightly over budget)

So what do you reckon? Which one of the above would you choose?

Regards,

MARK

My Sweet Tooth

2010-01-10T17:29:00.004+08:00

For the past 4 weekends, I had to ate cakes or pastries of that sort. My wife, out of nowhere decided to make it her own personal mission or crusade to bake something every weekend, and it will usually involves whole truckloads of egg, sugar and chocolate.

She started the whole baking thing with :

a) Marble Cake ( 4 weeks ago)

b) Strawberry Cheesecake ( 3 weeks ago)

c) Chocolate Éclair ( 2 Weeks ago)

d) Chocolate Cheesecake (This weekend - out of request from my uncle's)

e) Chocolate Caramel Tart ( Next weekend, her to-do list is even longer than mine's)

Not that I'm complaining anything, but it tastes mighty delicious much to my chagrin. Displeasure in this context must be read as - Heck, I have to eat 2 trays of cheesecake every weekend, this will not bode well with my ever expanding waistline.

On another note, I've to attend MirrorView/SANcopy training at the end of the month. I'm pretty much excited about this training, reason? - I want to be certified as EMC Certified Expert in Clariion Related Technology by the end of the year.

Regards,

MARK

Pointless Rambling -)

2009-12-28T13:36:00.005+08:00

After a very long hiatus, update to this blog seems a bit overdue. Overdue is an understatement in my case as I didn’t cover anything worth mentioning in the pass one and a half month. I was supposed to blog about things – such as:

a) Family trip to Karambunai

b) Family BBQ at Port Dickson

c) Big Bad Wolf’s book sale at Amcorp Mall

d) Picnic at Ulu Yam

e) My undefeated winning streak on Modern Warfare 2 (Yes, i'm talking to both of you guys - Losers! )

Mind you, all of these events and many more took place in the past 4 weeks, so it will take a lot of catching up to do on my part to put everything in detail before it will become stale news – If it’s not stale news already. Fortunately my wife has already covered our family BBQ event on her blog’s, so most probably I will just skip that event and I'd already uploaded Karambunai's pictures to Zoomr - only left with writing and conjuring unnecessary facts and story onto it. Hopefully I will manage to put everything into writing before January or within the first week of January.

If you're wondering what I'm currently busy doing nowadays other than killing my sis and bro in-laws ruthlessly and mercilessly on MW2, and leveling up my character on Dragon Age:Origin, I'm currently reading up on Belching the Devil by some author whose name I can't recall and Noam Chomsky's Failed States. While at the same time I'm studying EMC Celerra Unified Storage Platform, and because I'm losing my senses when it comes to English Grammar, I'm taking up English Grammar lessons as well because I find it necessary to improve my writing and presentation skills.

Anyway I'm promoted to Senior System Consultant although it's not official yet - waiting for the announcement to be made by my boss(es)

Until then,

Regards,

MARK

Latest acquisition by HP

2009-11-12T09:39:00.001+08:00

Hewlett-Packard Plans to Buy 3Com for $2.7 Billion
By Connie Guglielmo and Rochelle Garner
Nov. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Hewlett-Packard Co., the world’s biggest personal-computer maker, plans to buy 3Com Corp. for $2.7 billion, stepping up competition with Cisco Systems Inc. in the computer-networking market.
3Com shareholders will receive $7.90 a share in cash, 39 percent more than today’s closing price, Palo Alto, California-based Hewlett-Packard said in a statement. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of next year, Hewlett-Packard said.
Chief Executive Officer Mark Hurd is seeking to add to Hewlett-Packard’s $118 billion in annual sales, expanding into markets that offer higher profit margins than printers or personal computers. Hewlett-Packard did a “full search” of networking companies and selected 3Com partly because of its presence in China, said Dave Donatelli, executive vice president and general manager for servers and networking.
“They get a huge beachhead in China, that’s first and foremost,” Greg Mesniaeff, an analyst with Needham & Co., said in an interview from New York. 3Com also “has some success building momentum outside of China,” he said.
Hewlett-Packard also reported profit, excluding some items, of $1.14 a share in the fiscal fourth quarter. That topped the average estimate of $1.11 in a Bloomberg survey. Sales fell 8 percent to $30.8 billion. Analysts had estimated $29.8 billion.
First Quarter
For the first quarter, revenue will be $29.6 billion to $29.9 billion, and earnings will total $1.03 to $1.05 a share, Hewlett-Packard said. Analysts predicted sales of $29.2 billion and earnings of $1.03 a share.
Hewlett-Packard fell as much as 65 cents to $49.35 in extended trading after closing at $50 on the New York Stock Exchange. The shares have gained 38 percent this year through the NYSE close.
3Com surged as much as $2.03, or 36 percent, to $7.72 in late trading after closing at $5.69 on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The stock has more than doubled this year.
Hewlett-Packard also boosted its sales and profit forecasts for 2010. For the year, revenue will be $118 billion to $119 billion, up from a previous prediction of as much as $118 billion. Earnings will be $4.25 to $4.35 a share, more than a previous forecast of as much as $4.30. Analysts predict sales of $118.1 billion and profit of $4.25 a share.
Data Centers
Adding 3Com increases competition with San Jose, California-based Cisco, the world’s largest networking company. Earlier this year, Cisco expanded into Hewlett-Packard’s turf of the corporate data center -- vast rooms of computers that store company files, transmit information and run vital business applications.
“It makes H-P well-positioned to rival Cisco in the data center,” said Vanessa Alvarez, a Boston-based analyst with research firm Frost & Sullivan. “It gives H-P an enterprise customer installed base.”
Hurd, 52, said in March at an investor conference that Hewlett-Packard will take a “disciplined” approach to acquisitions. The company has bought more than 30 companies since he took over as CEO in 2005. Hewlett-Packard already expanded its computer-services business last year with the $13.2 billion takeover of Electronic Data Systems.
“By joining 3Com with Hewlett-Packard, we have created the No. 2 networking company,” Donatelli said in an interview. “Customers have been frustrated by the fact that their networks have been proprietary, they’ve been slow to change, they’ve been very high cost relative to other things they buy.”
3Com, based in Marlborough, Massachusetts, has 2,400 engineers in China who will join Hewlett-Packard to work on research and product development, Donatelli said.
Chinese Sales
3Com gets about half of its revenue from sales in China, the byproduct of a joint venture it since ended with Huawei Technologies Co. The company has been working to expand to corporate customers outside of China, using lower-cost products as a wedge to counter Cisco.
Both 3Com and Cisco make routers and switches, devices that direct network traffic. Large companies typically buy switches to transmit data. Phone carriers tend to purchase routers, which are more expensive.
“Cisco is very confident in our business strategy, commitment to product innovation and ability to provide strategic business value to our customers in a highly competitive marketplace,” Terry Alberstein, a spokesman for Cisco, said in an e-mailed statement.
No. 2
3Com was second to Cisco in the market for computer networking equipment before its sales spiraled down starting in the late 1990s. The company recorded revenue of $5.6 billion in 1997 and less than half that four years later, after the bursting of the technology bubble. Cisco rebounded, taking sales from competitors such as 3Com, and is more than four times bigger than it was in 1998.
In 2003, 3Com left Silicon Valley, moving to Massachusetts from Santa Clara, California. The company owned the naming rights to the home stadium of the National Football League’s San Francisco 49ers between 1996 and 2002.
Robert Mao became CEO in April 2008, replacing Edgar Masri, a month after a previous takeover agreement was thwarted. 3Com had agreed in September 2007 to be bought for $2.2 billion by Huawei and private-equity firm Bain Capital LLC. The deal was withdrawn after some U.S. lawmakers said it would put 3Com’s anti-hacking technology, used by the Defense Department, in Chinese hands.
The company now has a new product line, based on switches and routers it sold to China, and in September reported its first sale to a data center outside of China.
‘Undervalued’ Company
“3Com is perhaps the most undervalued company in the networking space,”Zeus Kerravala, an analyst with Boston-based research firm Yankee Group, said in an e-mail. “It has the broadest enterprise portfolio of any company except Cisco.”
Shares of Brocade Communications Systems Inc., the largest maker of networking gear that connects storage computers, fell as much as 7 percent to $8.60 in late trading. Investors had speculated that Hewlett-Packard would buy Brocade after the Wall Street Journal said last month the company was shopping itself.
Morgan Stanley advised Hewlett-Packard on the deal, and Cleary Gottlieb was the company’s counsel. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. advised 3Com

Something worth sharing

2009-11-11T17:17:00.003+08:00

A story worth sharing 4 years ago, an accident took my beloved away and very often I wonder, how does my wife, who is now in the heavenly realm, feel right now? She must be feeling extremely sad for leaving a husband who is incapable to taking care of the house and the kid. 'cos that is the exact feeling that I have, as I feel that I have failed to provide for the physical and emotional needs of my child, and failed to be the dad and mum for my child. There was one particular day, when I had an emergency at work. Hence, I had to leave home whilst my child was still sleeping. So thinking that there was still rice leftovers, I hastily cooked an egg and left after informing my sleepy child. With the double roles, I am often exhausted at work as well as when I am home. So after a long day, I came home, totally drained of all energy. So with just a brief hug and kiss for my child, I went straight into the room, skipping dinner. However, when I jumped into my bed with intention of just having a well-deserved sleep, all i heard and felt was broken porcelain and warm liquid! I flipped open my blanket, and there lies the source of the 'problem'... a broken bowl with instant noodles and a mess on the bedsheet and blanket! Boy, was I mad! I was so furious that I took a clothes hanger, charged straight at my child who was happily playing with his toy, and give him a good spanking! He merely cried but not asking for mercy, except a short explanation: "Dad, I was hungry and there wasn't anymore leftover rice. But you were not back yet, hence I wanted to cook some instant noodles. But I remembered you reminding me not to touch or use the gas stove without any adults around, hence I turned on the shower and used the hot water from the bathroom to cook the noodles. One is for you and the other is for me. However, I was afraid that the noodles will turn cold, so I hid it under the blanket to keep it warm till you return. But I forgot to remind you 'cos I was playing with my toys...I am sorry Dad..." At that moment, tears were starting to run down my cheeks...but I didn't want my son to see his dad crying so I dashed into the bathroom and cried with the shower head on to mask my cries. After that episode, I went towards my son to give him a tight hug and applied medication on him, while coaxing him to sleep. Then, it was time to clear up the mess on the bed. When everything was done and well past midnight, I passed my son's room, and saw that he was still crying, not from the pain on his little buttock, but from looking at the photograph of his beloved mummy.

A year has passed since the episode, I have tried, in this period, to focus on giving him both the love of his dad and mum, and to attend to most of his needs. And soon, he is turning seven, and will be graduating from kindergarten. Fortunately, the incident did not leave a lasting impression on his childhood memories and he is still happily growing up. However, not so long ago, I hit my boy again, with much regret. This time, his kindergarten teacher called, informing me of my son's absence from school. I took off early from work and went home, expecting him to explain. But he wasn't to be found, so I went around our house, calling out his name and eventually found him outside a stationery shop, happily playing computer games. I was fuming, brought him home and whack the hell out of him. He did not retaliate, except to say, 'I am sorry, Dad'. But after much probing, I realized that it was a 'Talent Show' organized by his school and the invite is for every student's mummy. And that was the reason for his absence as he has no mummy..... Few days after the caning, my son came home to tell me, the kindergarten has recently taught him how to read and write. Since then, he has kept to himself and stayed in his room to practise his writing, which I am sure, would make my wife proud, if she was still around. 'cos he makes me proud too!

Time passes by very quickly, and soon another year has passed. It's Syawal, and its Raya time. Everywhere the Raya spirit is in every passer-by...Raya song and frantic shoppers....but alas, my son got into another trouble. When I was about to knock off from the day's work, the post office called. Due to the peak season, the post master was also on an edgy mood. He called to tell me that my son has attempted to post several letters with no addressee. Although I did make a promise never to hit my son again, I couldn't help but to hit him as I feel that this child of mine is really beyond control. Once again, as before, he apologized, ' I'm sorry, Dad' and no additional reason to explain. I pushed him towards a corner, went to the post office to collect the letters with no addressee and came home, and angrily questioned my son on his prank, during this time of the year. His answer, amidst his sobbing, was : The letters were for Mummy. My eyes grew teary, but I tried to control my emotions and continued to ask him: " But why did u post so many letters, at one time?" My son's reply was: " I have been writing to mummy for a long time, but each time I reach out for the post box, it was too high for me, hence I was not able to post the letters. But recently, when I went back to the postbox, I could reach it and I sent it all at once..." After hearing this, I was lost. Lost at not knowing what to do, what to say.... I told my son, " Son, mummy is in the heavenly kingdom, so in future, if you have anything to tell her, just burn the letter and it will reach mummy. My son, on hearing this, was much pacified and calm, and soon after, he was sleeping soundly. On promising that I will burn the letters on his behalf, I brought the letters outside, but couldnt help opening the letter before they turn to ash. And one of the letters broke my heart.... Dear Mummy, I miss you so much! Today, there was a 'Talent Show' in school, and the school invited all mothers for the show. But you are not around, so I did not want to participate as well. I did not tell Dad about it as I was afraid that Dad would start to cry and miss you all over again. Dad went around looking for me, but in order to hide my sadness, I sat in front of the computer and started playing games at one of the shops. Dad was furious, and he couldnt help it but scolded and hit me, but I did not tell him the real reason. Mummy, everyday I see Dad missing you and whenever he think of you, he is so sad and often hide and cry in his room. I think we both miss you very very much. Too much for our own good I think. But Mummy, I am starting to forget your face. Can you please appear in my dreams so that I can see your face and remember you? I heard that if you fall asleep with the photograph of the person whom you miss, you will see the person in your dreams. But mummy, why havent you appear? After reading the letter, I cant stop sobbing. 'cos I can never replace the irreplaceable gap left behind by my wife....

For the females with children: Don't do so much overtime. If you cannot finish the work, it must be some kind of problems within the company, and it is not your sole problem. Feedback to your boss. Endless overtime may not necessary be the answer to the problem. Take care of your health so that you can treasure and take care of your little precious. For the married men: Drink less, smoke less, cos nothing can replace your good health, not even business nor clients. Try thinking this way, are you able to work till your clients are totally dependent on you? or your boss is totally dependent on you? In this society, no one is indispensable. Take care of your health, so that you can take care of your little precious and your loved ones. ： For those singles out there: Beauty lies in loving yourself first. With confidence and loving yourself, you will see the beauty in other things around you. You will be able to work better and happier. Don't let your health be affected by your work or your boss, so nothing matters more than your well being.

Credit to the unknown writer

Updated Pics

2009-11-05T09:56:00.004+08:00

Finally, after 3 months of delay and whatnot...you can view pictures from our trip to London/Paris at this location http://www.zooomr.com/photos/polyfuze0411/view-blog/. I'm actually too lazy to properly align and caption all the pictures into blogspot format, so there you go!

Here are a couple of pics from the above site :

Can't wait to go to Karambunai at the end of this month, looks like Korea/Australia will have to be put on hold and all the best for my friends who will be leaving soon to join GSK or HP.

Regards,

MARK

How to obtain SPcollects

2009-10-29T12:34:00.000+08:00

The following is the procedure for SPCollects on a Clariion, CX, CX3 and CX4 machines.

If you are running release 13 and above, you will be able to perform the SP Collects from the GUI of Navisphere Manager Software.

Using Navisphere perform the following steps to collect and transfer the SPCollects to your local drive.

Login to Navisphere Manager
Identify the Serial number of the array you want to perform the SP Collects on
Go to SP A using expand (+)
Right click on it and from the menu, select SPCollects
Now go to SP B in the same array
Right click on it and from the menu, select SPCollects
Wait for 5 to 10 minutes depending on the how big your array is and how busy your array is
Now right click on SP A and from the menu select File Manager
From the window, select the zip file SerialNumberOfClariion_spa_Date_Time_*.zip
From the window, hit the transfer button to transfer the files to your local computer.
Follow a similar process ( 8, 9, 10) for SPB, from the File Manager
The SP B file name will be SerialNumberOfClariion_spb_Date_Time_*.zip

For customers that do not have SPCollects in the menu (running release 13 below), there is a manual way to perform SPCollects using Navicli from your management console or an attached host system.

To gather SPCollects from SP A, run the following commands

navicli –h xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx spcollect –messner

Wait for 5 to 7 mins

navicli –h xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx managefiles –list

The name of the SPCollects file will be SerialNumberOfClariion_spa_Date_Time_*.zip

navicli –h xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx managefiles –retrieve

where xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx is the IP Address of SP A

For SP B, similar process like above, the name of the file you will be looking for is SerialNumberOfClariion_spb_Date_Time_*.zip

Where xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx will be the IP Address of SP B

SPCollects information is very important with troubleshooting the disk array and will give the support engineer all the necessary vital data about the storage array (environment) for troubleshooting.

The following data that is collected using the SP Collects from both the SP’s:

Ktdump Log files

iSCSI data

FBI data (used to troubleshoot backend issues)

Array data (sp log files, migration info, flare code, sniffer, memory, host side data, flare debug data, metalun data, prom data, drive meta data, etc)

PSM data

RTP data (mirrors, snaps, clones, sancopy, etc)

Event data (windows security, application and system event files)

LCC data

Nav data (Navisphere related data)

Regards,

MARK

How to change Clariion SP IP address

2009-10-29T12:30:00.000+08:00

When you initially install a new storage system, you must run the Navisphere Storage System Initialization Utility which prompts you to configure IP addresses for the SPs and set up accounts to log in to the SPs. You use these IP addresses when you connect and log into Navisphere Manager.

For an existing storage system that has been installed, initialized, configured, and possibly used, you must use Navisphere Manager to change the IP address of an SP.

IMPORTANT: Before you change the IP address of an SP, if the storage system is on a domain, you must remove that storage system from the domain. When you enter a new IP address and accept the acknowledgments to change the address, you will be disconnected and the SP will reboot. You will then need to log onto the SP using the new address and add the storage system to a domain. If the storage system was the domain Master, when you re-connect, you will need to either recreate the domain and become master or else join another domain.

Dont forget to create the PPP Dialup Connection before attempting to login to the SP, otherwise it will fail

1. Open Navisphere Manager.

2. If the storage system is in a domain, remove it from the domain.

3. Under the Storage tab, click and expand the icon for the storage system that you want to modify.

4. Right-click the SP whose IP address you want to change and select Properties.

5. Click the Network tab.

6. Enter the new IP address in the IP Address field.

7. Click Apply to apply the change.

Note: If you have not removed the SP from the domain, you will see a prompt that strongly suggests that you cancel the operation and remove the SP from the domain before changing the SP’s IP address. Click either Yes to continue or No to cancel the address change.
8. At the confirmation prompt, click Yes to continue or No to cancel the IP address change.

9. At the second confirmation prompt, click Yes to continue or No to cancel the IP address change.

Note: Either Navisphere Manager will fail over to the unchanged SP, or the Navisphere Manager session will disconnect. In either case, the changed SP will reboot and will be available at the new IP address.
10. If Navisphere manager did not fail over to the unchanged SP, log into Navisphere Manager on either SP, noting that the changed SP has the new address.

11. Add the storage system to an existing domain or if necessary, create a new domain with the SP as master. See Help in Navisphere Manager.

Note: For further information on using Navisphere Manager, click Help in Navisphere Manager

Credit to author= unknown

Regards,

MARK

Houz Depot Last Update, A Classic Example of Bad Customer Service

2009-10-20T21:12:00.003+08:00

What a cac!!! I had to wait for 4 hours before they finally deliver the goods to me. I had to call them to ask for status after 2 hours of waiting and they even promised to call me back but here's the kicker..they didn't call me back and I had to call them back after 45 minutes...

Let me sum up the experience I had with Houz Depot...simply and utterly horrendous customer service..I will not set foot in their premise ever again.

Houz Depot Update 2

2009-10-19T08:51:00.002+08:00

Just a quick update, Houz Depot called me on 19th October just 4 hours after I'd sent them the complaint through their web based system. They promised and committed to me that they will deliver the goods tomorrow on 20th October, we will see whether they can keep to their promise this time around.

Regards,

MARK

Houz Depot

2009-10-17T08:33:00.002+08:00

On 12^th September I bought a kitchen hood, kitchen hob and a multipurpose oven from Houz Depot. After being contented with the explanation of the sales assistant that the product will be delivered to my home by 2 weeks the latest or within 3 days the earliest I proceeded to make full payment. The agreed date of delivery was 1 month after purchase so ample time was given to Houz Depot to make good on its promises and it is stated clearly in the sales order about the delivery date. Upon realizing that the delivery date is reaching, I decided to give a call to Houz Depot on 10^th October to serve as a reminder and to inform that I will be at my home to receive the goods and please be aware of the fact that I am utilizing my annual leave in order to do that. Houz Depot responded to my call by saying that someone will call me on Wednesday 13^th October if the goods will be delivered on 13^thOct. Unsatisfied with that answer I went to Houz Depot personally to acquire more detail about the delivery, I was then assured by the sales assistant that the stock is available for delivery when asked to double check and delivery will proceed on 13^th Oct as agreed.

On 13^th Oct 11.00 A.M, Houz Depot called and informs me that stock is not available for delivery as the existing stock was damaged. Why on the first place did Houz Depot did not perform a thorough check on the condition of the goods before committing on delivery date? As new stock will only be arriving in 9-11 days and it is not acceptable to me, I went to Houz Depot to change to another model whichever that is available. After going through the models with the sales assistant, I decided to change to another model which by the way is approximately 500 cheaper that the original model. Even before confirming the model I repeatedly asked whether this particular model is readily available to be delivered within 3 days, Houz Depot sales assistant confirmed it is available and will be delivered to me on 16^th October. At about 11.00 A.M on 16^th Oct Houz Depot called and informed me yet again that the stock is not available to be delivered. Frustrated and disappointed with the lack of professionalism and the level of competency of Houz Depot staff, I simply could not be bothered to argue anymore and plainly agree to the proposed delivery date which is 11 days from 16^th October.

Please ensure that your esteemed organization will do the following

a) Please make certain that the next delivery will be on time without any postponement so your organization can redeem its good standing with me or what’s left of it.

b) Please expedite the process of refunding the difference of 500 ringgit caused by model changes.

c) Please keep in mind that I’d to take 2 days out of my annual leave to receive the goods and it is now wasted.

*I'd sent the above complaint to Houz Depot today through their web based feedback page, let's see how they will respond to this or if they even respond at all*

Regards,

MARK

Vers La Verité Speech in Paris

2009-10-13T09:15:00.001+08:00

President Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize was not the only news yesterday. And in my opinion, it’s not even the biggest news. It’s not even the saddest news. But it does provide us with some critical information as we move forward. The three-part question for us, tonight however, is “What are we moving forward TO; is that the place we want to go; and if not, what do we do about it?

In other words, “What is our vision for the future and how do we define success?”

I have been and am still in deep pain over the institutional homicide of my aunt and in my grief, I’ve considered giving up.

But then, I wiped the tears from my eyes long enough to remember communities of people that I’ve been blessed enough to get to know, from Toronto, Canada to Cape Town, South Africa; from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to Valdosta, Georgia, there are people struggling through their own pain, their own deep personal disappointments to reach a better place—not just for themselves, but for the global community of man. And I know deep in my own heart, as broken as it is, that I cannot give up. My brain tells me that the struggle for truth, justice, peace, and dignity is too important to lose because of heartbreak.

The one thing that probably best defines everyone in this room are our search for and activities on behalf of principles that are bigger than ourselves. We want our governments to tell us the truth; we want them to deliver justice; we want our global community to live in peace; and we want respect for the dignity of all humankind.

So if these are the ingredients of our vision, what tools do we need to produce the desired result?

Well, first of all, the desired result has to have definition.

I mentioned in one of my messages to a dear friend in response to the Nobel award to President Barack Obama that we needed to keep our eyes on the prize and then I erased it because I don’t think we’ve sufficiently defined what the prize is.

So there must be a small, cohesive, international group of rock-solid people feverishly working to redefine for all who want to be active, and a part of our vision, just what the prize is. And this “prize,” our vision, must be repeated and explained often so people can differentiate our vision, from their reality.

Here is where language becomes important. If we want policy instead of speeches, then this must be repeated early and often because what I’m alarmed by is that in the absence of us providing real definition, and there are reasons for that, people are beginning to think that a speech IS policy.

But, as I said earlier, there was a lot of news yesterday. Some of it even more important than the Nobel Peace Prize Award, but the award certainly overshadowed all other stories.

And I’m always searching for context. Because, as the U.S. military puts it, “perception management” is important. And we must understand the context of what happens and when it happens, in order to understand why.

I always say that we must see the invisible, hear the unspoken, and read the unwritten. That’s what some of the organizers of Vers La Verité were professionally trained to do, before they became whistleblowers, and now our leaders.

Now, what were some of those other interesting news items?

Well, at a Native American Lodge located next to Senator John McCain’s ranch, two people died and several others were hospitalized following a hazardous materials situation at the Sweat Lodge, which is like a spiritual retreat led by Native Americans. I’ve even been invited to participate in one upon my return to the U.S.

Now, I find this interesting and a story that should be followed up on and I will be doing that because I want to make sure there’s no bigger story hidden in an important cultural ritual of the Native Americans who are victims of a genocide in North America that continues to this day.

On the day that the Nobel Prize was announced, we also learned that the U.S. bunker buster bomb will be ready in a few more months.

This is the bomb that holds over 5,000 pounds of explosives and is designed to penetrate hardened facilities, including those underground. Some brilliant people in the U.S. even want to put nuclear tips on bunker buster bombs. However, in announcing the near deployment of the project that pays McDonnell Douglas to adapt the B-2 bomber so it can deliver the Boeing-made bomb to its intended target, the Pentagon press secretary said, "The reality is that the world we live in is one in which there are people who seek to build weapons of mass destruction and they seek to do so in a clandestine fashion." The article noted that the Obama Administration had not ruled out military action against Iran.

Another story noted that hours after winning the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize, President Obama met with his military advisors about troop levels in Afghanistan. The troop increase requested by the U.S. Commander ranged, it is reported, from 10,000 to 60,000—although the top number isn’t listed in that news report. One has to go to another news item to see the true top number. At any rate, it seems that the choices confronting U.S. and European leaders is whether to increase the current 68,000 U.S. boots on the ground in Afghanistan or to merely increase the number of drone attacks. Decreasing death and destruction and bringing our young men and women home is not on the Nobel Peace Prize winner’s agenda for discussion.

The last article of note is about a restaurant in west Georgia that is using the “N-word” on its marquee to describe President Obama. It reminds me of the Atlanta area restaurant that put on its marquee that I was Buckwheat with Boobs. Now, those of you who are from the U.S. will know what that means and the depth of insult that was intended. The article notes that I’ve made this restaurant’s marquee, too. Both restaurant owners claim to not be racists and to be protected by free speech.

My point in including this particular news item is that we still have so far to go just in terms of our human relations. It is imperative that we do what we can to spread our message and our vision and reach those who can be reached.

Which brings me to who can be reached.

Those with enough discernment to know that what is being pronounced from on high is not their reality. And rather than accept or discount the contradictions, we want them to join us and struggle for a better reality for everybody.

I am saddened beyond belief that on the day of the Peace Prize award, a struggling democracy in Honduras was besieged with U.S. supplied weapons and U.S.-trained paramilitaries and snipers in support of coup leaders over the democratically-elected people’s leaders. In fact, the latest dispatch from Honduras is that many of the snipers and paramilitaries—now descending on Honduras from all over Latin America—were trained in my home state of Georgia.

More and more people are experiencing cognitive dissonance and rightly so. Our leaders and respected organizations are lying to us! One friend and former Congressional Staffer of mine puts it this way: we need a democratic military instead of a militarized democracy.

The United States, with the help of its European and Asian allies maintains over 700 bases around the world. The number is increasing under President Obama.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said that we must combat racism, poverty, and militarism. Our movement cannot struggle against militarism and fail to address racism. We must be comprehensive and to racism, militarism, and poverty, we must now add gaining control of a media that will allow us to communicate to a broader community and not just within our small spheres, and regaining control of education so that people are not so dumbed down that they actually believe that war is peace, slavery is freedom, ignorance is strength, and lies are truth.

And if we are right, then others will join us. They will share with us their dreams and their passions and we will help to empower them.

Global resistance combined with local action, organization, vision, commitment, and resources will allow us to have significant victories in the future.

Vers La Verité understands that the foundation of all of this action, attainment of the prize, can only happen with truth as our foundation.

It’s already a brave new world, let’s get busy and make it ours!!!

by Cynthia McKinney, Global Research

Homedeco 09

2009-10-05T11:54:00.003+08:00

We went to Homedeco 09 exhibition on Saturday looking for living room and bedroom set but as always the outcome is never the same as our expectation. We ended up buying bedroom set and a refrigerator, we spent close to 6k for these two items.Unlike previous exhibition this year Homedeco saw fewer attendees that might be caused by H1N1 or economic uncertainties but the exhibition itself can be considered successful as there were lots of items to choose from. One thing that certainly caught our attention was the ultra modern slider-plug-play power outlet thingy,but anyway this is the new addition to our household:

We're still on the look out for these items below and if you do know any great place to shop for these items, do let us know :

Lights

Bell

Fan

Sofa

Aircond

Washing machine

Door Lock

Our theme or should I say concept is modern and minimalist =) *minimalist as in I don't have any moolah to purchase any furniture kinda thing*

How do I spent my Raya? Other than the customary deeds of visiting relatives and paying tributes to nieces and nephews (read as giving out Duit Raya to them) , this is how I spent my Raya or the bulk of my time =)

Until then,

Regards,

MARK

Cisco acquiring Tandberg?

2009-10-02T08:44:00.003+08:00

Cisco Systems continued to show just how serious it was about videoconferencing, announcing late Wednesday night the $3 billion acquisition of Tandberg, a Norwegian video communications company.

Cisco sells companies expensive, room-size videoconferencing systems known as TelePresence systems. Tandberg has similar technology but also sells smaller, cheaper conferencing units. In addition, Tandberg has specialized software for managing videoconferencing systems and for creating connections between systems that rely on different underlying technology.

“It really enables us to build out our portfolio,” said Ned Hooper, a senior vice president at Cisco.

Cisco’s corporate videoconferencing products require the company to outfit a customer’s conference room with several large display screens, networking equipment and even special tables, chairs and wall paint. By contrast, Tandberg has a range of gear, including high-definition video systems, that can sit on desks or be used with personal computers.

The all-cash tender offer has been recommended to Tandberg’s shareholders by that company’s directors and stands as an 11 percent premium over Tandberg’s closing price on Wednesday. Tandberg reported $809 million in revenue last year, and has close to $200 million in cash.

In recent years, Cisco, based in San Jose, Calif., has been one of the technology industry’s most aggressive companies when it comes to acquisitions. It has bought close to 40 companies in the last five years, including the $6.9 billion purchase of the set-top box maker Scientific Atlanta and the $2.9 billion purchase of the Web meeting software maker WebEx. This year, Cisco bought Pure Digital, which makes the popular Flip video camera for consumers, for $590 million.

The acquisitions have suited Cisco’s mission of backing products that generate more Internet traffic, which in turn drives demand for the networking hardware that has long been the core of its business.

The deals have also thrust Cisco into new markets like consumer electronics, business collaboration software and computer servers where the company now finds itself in direct competition with its traditional business partners, like Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft and I.B.M.

During an interview last week, Cisco’s chief executive, John T. Chambers, boasted that the company had managed to move into 30 new markets through acquisitions and its own internal product development.

“We are involved in things that may shock you,” Mr. Chambers said, referring to things like smart-grid technology for municipal power systems and the construction of entertainment and networking systems for sports stadiums.

With $35 billion in cash — the most among technology companies — Cisco appears set to continue with this expansion.

“You will see us move with a lot of acquisitions over the next year,” Mr. Chambers said.

Still, companies like Cisco, Dell and EMC must find ways to match the heft of Hewlett-Packard and I.B.M., which have huge technology services businesses to complement their hardware and software pursuits.

Rather than acquiring a large services company, Cisco will continue to partner with independent players like Accenture and Wipro, Mr. Chambers said.

“I think that is a more scalable, faster-speed and less confrontational model,” he said.

As Cisco moves into new areas, it faces the difficult task of trying to find businesses with profits that can match those gained from its networking hardware. Cisco’s routers and switches produce 65 percent gross profit margins.

Mr. Hooper stressed that Tandberg had gross margins of 66 percent. “It fits squarely into our operating model,” he said.

Tandberg has had most of its success selling videoconferencing systems to large companies in North America and Europe. Cisco plans to use Tandberg’s technology to help it pursue smaller companies and eventually to sell to consumers, Mr. Hooper said.

A number of companies make videoconferencing systems. Like Cisco, H.P. sells large systems aimed at companies that need sophisticated tools for their video meetings, like the ability to display graphics and movies.

Microsoft and I.B.M. have focused on adding PC-based videoconferencing to their collaboration software lines, while start-ups like LifeSize have tried to undercut the larger players on price.

*Interesting news indeed*

source:nytimes

Day 7 - 3rd August 2009

2009-09-27T23:23:00.003+08:00

Our long and seemingly never ending holiday like all good things finally came to an end. We checked out of our hotel around 10 A.M well before the mandatory check out time but our flight is scheduled to depart at 10.30 P.M, we had to spend almost 12 hours lingering around at Heathrow. We spent the bulk of our time at Costa, enjoying sandwiches and coffees slowly to kill of some time. After somewhat more than 2 hours at Costa, we sat around Terminal 3 waiting area and read books that we brought along with us. It seems like that we had to wait for an eternity before being allowed to check in our luggage.

My wife spent the last 2 hours of our vacation on a shopping spree at the duty free area and considerable damage was done to my increasingly shrinking bank balance. We arrived home approximately around 4 P.M after 12 hours flight. What I can say is, the money that we spent for this trip was well worth it but if you ask me whether I want to go again to London, I would say not in 5 years time at least.

We're planning to go to Australia this coming January provided that our doctor give the go ahead for my wife to be on a 7 hours flight to Australia and it will be definitely depends on my budget as always. The cost to fully furnish our home is mind blowing... and we're still without any living room set and bed room set yet...come January if I don’t have the dough to make it to Australia, I guess domestic vacation is in order and it will do for now.

Until then,

Regards,

MARK

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri

2009-09-19T17:53:00.004+08:00

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all Muslims "Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri dan Maaf Zahir dan Batin" from both of us - Abid & Ely

Day 6 - 2nd August 2009

2009-09-16T09:13:00.004+08:00

Determined not to miss out on Madame Tussaud wax museum again, we set off to Baker Street very early on the day. We reached in front of the museum approximately at 8.20 A.M and discovered we're the second couple to arrive there. We sat for the next 40 minutes in front of the museum while watching the queue starting to build up and the entrance to be opened. I'm glad to say it was worth all the extra effort to get inside the museum, the statues being displayed was shockingly lifelike although not all of it are exactly the same with their real life counterpart. We spent the next 40 minutes taking pictures with the wax statues and started progressing towards the lower area where London Dungeon is situated. London Dungeon is basically a ghost house where paid actors dressed as a ghost would jump randomly and scare off any unsuspecting visitors. One of the unfortunate visitors happens to be my wife =p....

After wax museum, we made our way to Trafalgar square to visit the National Gallery. There were a lot of paintings being displayed dating back from 14-15th Century. Most of the paintings here are influenced by religious and Romans culture. We then scoot of to Oxford Street to do some window shopping although not as tiring as yesterday it was still pretty exhausting.

Our last stop for today was Emirates stadium, the home ground of Arsenal football team. Coincidentally, today was a match day between Arsenal and FC Rangers so we could see Arsenal fans swarming and thronged the streets to Emirates stadium. The authorities even cordoned off access to certain area to ensure smooth flowing traffic and to allow non-stadium-goers like us get the opportunity to take pictures and return back to our hotel safely and comfortably. Arsenal went on to win the match 3-1.

Until then,

Regards,

MARK

Day 5 - 1st August 2009

2009-09-09T14:27:00.005+08:00

The pass 3-4 days, we had to wake up very early just to be at the designated meeting point on time and not to miss the pickup time scheduled by our tour agency but today is totally different. We sat in our room for hours watching TV and delayed telecast of football matches, we really spend time leisurely as there's no guided tour anymore for the rest of our stay in London. Only at around 10 A.M did we go to have breakfast at the hotel cafe. Sigh! Another round of toast with butter and cereals, by this time my stomach is already yearning for Malaysian food! I need Nasi Lemak and Teh Tarik not cereals with orange juice...I could see in the horizon that a comprehensive session of gluttony with Nasi Lemak and Teh Tarik is in order when I'm back in Malaysia.

Our first stop for today was Baker Street. Beneath Baker Street was the first underground train station to be built and somewhere nearby this station is the popular wax museum - Madam Tussaud Wax Museum. We reached the wax museum around 11 A.M, up from a distance we could see a very long queue is forming up to get into the museum entrance. It will take more than 2 hours for us to get into the museum if we decided to line up as well based on various signages put up by museum staff. I'm not a huge fan of standing up for 2 hours idling and doing nothing so we decided not to queue up with the rest of the crowd much to the disappointment of my wife. It's not exactly cheap to get inside either, it will cost you 25 freaking pound for one person to get in.

We left Baker Street for Oxford Street so my wife can do some shopping but mostly window shopping. We walked around for hours from Oxford Street to Bond Street to Holborn and back to China Town. She ended up buying perfumes and that's about it, imagine walking around for 3 hours to buy only a couple bottles of perfumes. We stop for a while at China Town to get some rest and to surf the internet as my Blackberry could suddenly pick up a wireless signal. When I said suddenly I meant after hours of wardriving effort and when I said wireless signal I meant *free* wireless. My batt is running low by then so I could only check a couple of email from work and the batt went dead when I was about to reply one email to my boss. We had lunch at Subway and ordered sandwiches, this Subway outlet is one of the outlets that are certified to be Halal.

After my wife has finally got tired of all the walking we hop on the tube to get across to Holborn station where we went to British Museum. There was a lot of items being displayed here ranging from British historical piece to North American civilization artifacts and even scriptures belonging to Asian tribes and civilizations. We could not roam every possible hall and exhibition inside the British Museum as my legs are starting to feel sore from all the walking that we did. We left Holborn station for our last destination for today on southern part of London.

Our last station for today was Fulham station, about 5 minutes walk from here is the home to one of the richest and most successful club in European football - Stamford Bridge. Stamford Bridge is the home ground for Chelsea football club just in case you're not fans of English Premier League like I am. We had coffee break at Starbucks as it was raining before taking picture at the vicinity of the stadium. Initially thought of buying a few Chelsea merchandise but it will be a waste to non-Chelsea supporter such am I. We head back to our hotel shortly afterwards to have dinner and rest.

Until then,

Regards,

MARK

Day 4 - 31th July 2009

2009-09-09T10:10:00.004+08:00

We had to get up very early today as the tour guide will be arriving around 6 A.M. Our train will depart from St. Pancras International station by 6.55 A.M and because of early departure time we decided to skip hotel breakfast which we're starting to develop a strong distaste for or in simpler words we're fed to the gills with the choice of foods. We're given tickets for both Eurostar train and Sien river cruise when we arrived at St.Pancras and we boarded the train shortly afterwards. Train ride took approximately 2 hours before arriving at Gare Du Nord station in central Paris.

Upon arriving at Gare Du Nord we decided to take the Metropolitan train to our first destination which happened to be in Anver and since this is a free and easy package, we had the liberty to choose our own destination and be in control of the time spent there to our own liking. We meander along the streets in Anver for souvenirs and there were plenty to be chosen from and it is reasonably cheap but considering the fact this is only our first stop and we wouldn’t want to spend rest of the day carrying along gifts we decided to buy stuff later on this journey. Major attraction in Anver is the Sacré-Coeur Basilica; this basilica is located at the summit of the butte Montmartre, the highest point in the city.

We left Anver for Charles de Gaulle — Étoile station after walking quite a distance from Anver to Villiers. Arriving at Charles de Gaulle, we went to see arguably the most visited landmark in Paris second only to Eiffel Tower which is Champs Elysees. My wife is kind of disappointed with the structure and the location of this landmark as her expectation is higher, to her it’s just a normal monument erected in stone much akin to any other structures in the city.

After spending not even 30 minutes here, we head back to Charles de Gaulle station for our next stop but not before stopping for breakfast at the underground station. I mean come on; you can't visit Paris without tasting their puff pastry that's so famous the world over. We bought Croissants and French loaf, I'm not sure whether it taste good because it was genuinely that good or it's simply delicious because I'm too hungry since i didn’t have breakfast. We stopped by at Champ de Mars Eiffel Tower where we're greeted by one of the most iconic structure of all time that could be seen from the distance - Eiffel Tower. Naturally a long and arduous photo session is due especially since we're surrounded by Eiffel Tower, Palais de Chaillot and École Militaire. We decided not to take the elevator ride up the Eiffel Tower as the queue is kind of long just to take pictures on top of Eiffel Tower and as the results of that we head to Sien river which is just alongside the site Eiffel Tower was built.

Bateaux Parisiens is an assortment or river cruise that ranges from private cruise, school cruise, lunch cruise and dinner cruise. The one that we took was sightseeing cruise, with the sightseeing cruise we cruised alongside Sien riverbank much like Thames cruise in London where we managed to get a glimpse of Asemblee Nationale, Mascott of Paris, Grand Palais, Le Louvre Museum, Musee' de Orsay' and the majestic Notre Dame. The river cruise itself took more than 1 hour under the scorching hot weather - must be due to summer I thought to myself, where we're brought back to Eiffel Tower.

My wife insisted to set off Le Louvre Museum, so off we went from Eiffel Tower station to Palais Royal - Musée du Louvre station. The Louvre — is the largest national museum of France, the most visited museum in the world, and a historic monument. It is a central landmark of Paris, located on the Right Bank of the Seine river. This is the location where Mona Lisa is stored. Another major attraction in the compound of this museum is the Louvre Pyramid which is a large glass and metal pyramid, surrounded by three smaller pyramids, in the main courtyard.

Our last stop for today is Galleries Lafayette while this not ancient or historic monument, it is one of the most visited location in Paris for shopaholics. It is the flagship departmental store in Paris which stood 10 storeys tall, you could find the latest designer clothes, perfume and accessories but the price is not exactly falls within my expectation. I bought a Gergio Armani Acqua Di Gio perfume at Pavillion KL for 160 while the going price at Lafayette is 360 after conversion. Why on earth would I pay more for the same item?

As my fever is starting to acting up, we decided to return to Gare Du Nord for our journey back to London. We spent time there by having light meals and drink while waiting for our train to depart. It’s already dark when we reached London so we head back to hotel for some rest.

*I'll upload some pictures when bandwidth is more accommodating than today*

*Some of the information is taken from Wikipedia*

Until then,

Regards,

MARK

Day 3 - 30th July 2009

2009-09-02T14:30:00.007+08:00

Windsor Castle in the distance

En route to Windsor Castle

Our third day started with the usual complimentary breakfast and while we're waiting for our tour guide to pick us up, we wandered around the hotel lobby and discovered a travel information booth. This booth or should I say desk since it is so small anyway, offers a lot of information and travel package for any would be tourist to assist them to get around London and United Kingdom. Some of the places we saw from this adverts was Oxford Univ where Harry Potter was filmed, Loch Ness Lake and some far away places in Scotland. What caught our attention was the package offered for tourist to go to Paris, the price that was quoted was half the price that was given to us by the staff manning Eurostar train counter. We quickly made our enquiries at the concierge and decided to book a trip to Paris once the price had been confirmed to be valid. Guess we'll be going to Paris after all!

Walking towards Windsor Castle

Replica of a train

Windsor Castle Entrance

Round Tower

Changing of guards

Overlooking Eton Town centre

Lower Ward

Windsor Royal

Queen Elizabeth Statue

Round Tower

Lower Ward adjacent to St George's Chapel

Our tour guide arrived shortly afterwards and fast forward 1 hour later we're on our tour bus on the way to Windsor Castle. The journey to Windsor Castle took about 1 hour through rural area where the green is still plush and well taken care off. Upon approaching the area, we could see in the distance where Windsor Castle stand erected majestically as it should. This castle is by the way the oldest castle in United Kingdom where Queen Elizabeth will occasionally visit.

We're given 2 hours to explore the area; we walked past aping and recreational centre before stopping to take pictures at the gate to Windsor Castle. There was a lot of ground to cover as the castle compound was huge, we took our audio guide and started walking along the path leading up to the main entrance to the castle. From inside the castle we could see the area surrounding the castle which is quite mesmerizing. Our first stop inside the castle was Queen Mary's Dolls House where a miniature of real life Windsor Castle complete with furniture was built inside a glass wall. There were quite a number of dolls with expensive clothing being displayed here but unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures here. Next stop was the State Apartments where foreign dignitaries or head of a state would normally stop to rest, there were a lot of paintings, armories and weaponries from 15th Century being displayed here. All of them are in good condition compared to the sorry state that our museum is being in. Exiting the castle on the way back to our tour bus we stumbled upon another instance of changing of guards taking place, just perfect opportunity for snapping pictures!

Journey to Roman Bath

The Roman Bath

Bath Abbey

In front of Mallory

Gay Street leading up to Roman Bath

Sacred Springs

First terrace of The Great Bath

The Great Bath

Inside of Roman Bath

Looking at Obelisk

Mock up castle

Bath Street

Bath Bridge

Lunch time

Obelisk

It was raining quite heavily when we left Windsor Castle for Roman Bath, the scenery to Roman Bath was breathtakingly beautiful with all the houses built in English and Roman architecture and green areas. It might not be packed with hustle and bustle of London but there's more than meets the eye. The Roman Bath itself is a very old Roman architecture styled building where Romans would previously taken their bath here and to socialize among themselves. This site is declared as a world heritage site by Unesco much like our own Historical City of Melaka. It’s a pity that the water could not be used anymore as it is not treated and deemed unsafe for consumption. The Romans built an aqueduct here to distribute water but we did not manage to snap a picture of that. We stop at one of the shops here to quench our thirst and bought some brownies as well.

Last stop for today was Stonehenge, the journey from Roman Bath to Stonehenge took substantial amount of time where we passed by a field where we could see British army conducting their training regime and helicopters flew by over our bus to assist them in their exercise. Stonehenge is basically a collection of stones built resembling an altar like building, one of the questions that could not be answered even to this very day was - How on earth did they move a structure made out of stone weighing 50 tonnes from a location as far as 200km away? Even modern machinery is not equipped to move that kind of weight unless a proper specialized machine is used.

Stonehenge

Jorney to Stonehenge

Our day ended with our journey back to London, today's trip took about 12 hours overall. We were exhausted by the time we reached our hotel but it was exciting nonetheless.

Regards,

MARK

Day 2 - 29th July 2009

2009-08-30T14:23:00.004+08:00

Gower Street

Day 2 started with us having our breakfast at the hotel lounge as part of the travel package, you know the normal stuff such as croissant, cereal and toast. Little did we know that this will ultimately be our staple food throughout our stay here. We proceeded to the hotel lobby after finishing our breakfast to wait for our tour guide, our guide arrived somewhat late than scheduled. We quickly hop on the feeder bus that will take us to a central bus station located at Victoria station which is designated as our embarkation point where we will assemble before hoping on to our tour bus.

In front of Royal Albert Hall

Harvey Nichols

Albert Memorial

Hyde Park

Albert Memorial

Our tour guide is a certified blue badge so she knows a lot about London or

history for that matter, It’s nice to know we're in good hands and these folks sure take their history and business seriously. We're driven around Central London through popular tourist spot and shoppers haven such as Trafalgar Square, St James Park, Harrods and Harvey Nichols. Our first pit stop for the day is Royal Albert Hall and Albert Memorial which is situated adjacent to each other. Prince Edward Memorial is built on Kensington Garden. We spent approximately 30 minutes here before we hurriedly have to go to Buckingham Palace in order to catch a glimpse of the changing of the palace guards. This event is somewhat unique as it won’t be carried out if the weather is not permitting but fortunately the weather was on our side that day. We managed to see the guards changing ceremony from the very beginning until the end.

St James Park

Guards Changing

Entrance to St James Park

We did pass by Westminster Abbey, Big Ben and a couple of tourist spot on the way to Buckingham Palace which we fully intend to revisit once the tour finished. Our tour then stopped for Lunch at Victoria Street where instead of having lunch we decided to have a tour of our own along Trafalgar Square and National Gallery. Disaster strikes while we're enjoying our walk, the sole of my bloody shoes came off of my freaking shoes. We had to abort our plan to walk around the area and headed to nearby shop lot to scout for affordable shoe. We managed to purchase one at Charing Cross which is quite a bargain from my point of view.

Tourism Malaysia (Trafalgar Square)

Nelson Column

National Gallery

Big Ben

Entrance to Palace

By that time lunch has already ended and we have to make our way back to our tour group and continue our journey with the rest of them. Next stop is St Paul Cathedral which is quite huge and was build by the Romans who decided to pick a spot in eastern London along Thames River to set up a settlement. We only took pictures of the building exterior as we're barred from taking any pictures inside the building. After approximately 1 hour here, we're headed to maybe the highlight of today tour which is Tower of London and Tower Bridge. We spent quite a lot of time roaming this spot on our own as the place is huge with a lot of interesting things and facts to be discovered upon. It started to rain when we're about to queue to get into Crown Jewel's storing location so we decided to take a rain check. We left the building immediately in our attempt to beat the queue to board Thames River cruise boat, before we left, we had Fish and Chips, I mean you can’t come to London and not sample their Fish and Chips, do you?

Tower of London

Tickets to Tower of London

Tower Bridge

St Paul's Cathedral

There was quite a lot of historical building and attractions alongside river Thames, chief among them are Tate Modern, Royal National Theater, HMS Belfast, Globe Theater and London Eye. River Thames cruise took about 1 hour to reach its final destination which is Waterloo where we're supposed to disembark and end our tour for the day. By the time we reach Waterloo station, its already 5 p.m and we're pretty much exhausted after spending countless hours walking about.

Tower of London Ravens

Outside of Tower of London

Guard in front of Jewel House

Execution point of Anne Boleyn and various others

We head straight back to King Cross station when all of a sudden we decided to take a detour and went to St Pancreas International Station instead. The main reason why we went there is to find out how much does it cost for us to travel to Paris using Eurostar train. What we discovered was a huge letdown, it costs us 430 pound for a return ticket in order for both of us to go to Paris. At this juncture, we decided not to go and save the money instead and started our long walk to our hotel where we had dinner, sleep and prepare for tomorrow.

Thames River banks

Thames River cruise

Regards,

MARK

First Day (28th July 09)

2009-08-24T16:07:00.007+08:00

Our flight to London departed from KLIA at 10.10 a.m and we managed to check in 2 hours earlier as required by the airport authorities. We had breakfast at 1901 Hotdog KLIA as we were really hungry and decided anything will do at this point of time! Fortunately time flies really fast while we're waiting to be boarded into the plane, after making our way pass the mandatory security check without any untoward incidents; we're ushered to our seats. My wife sat in a seat adjacent to the window so she could see our plane took off.

@KLIA

Right in front of Boarding Gate

The flight experience with MAS was very pleasant; the cabin crew was very polite and professional. I'm not surprised that they are voted as one of the best cabin crew and airlines in the world. We're pretty much well fed right from the beginning of the flight right up until the end. They even gave my wife some goodies as a token of appreciation when we’re about to alight from the plane. The flight itself took 12 hours and it is pretty much a very comfortable ride all the way to London but with some minor turbulence when we’re approaching the Bay of Bengals. I read books, watch movies and managed to get some sleep during the duration of the flight.

Walking to our hotel

We arrived at Heathrow airport approximately around 3 p.m local time and after boarding and clearing custom and emigration department which by the way took an hour to do. We made our way through Heathrow terminal to London Underground Tube, it took us quite a while to get accustomed to the London Underground Tube map and various points of interchange but once we got the hang of it, it’s definitely easier. We took the Piccadilly Circus Line from airport terminal to King Cross Station where we set off on foot navigating through the underground tube station. Mind you, the journey on tube itself was amazing to us, as this is the first time we sat our eyes upon English and Roman architecture styled buildings and houses. Upon exiting the underground station, the chilling weather was unmistakably unforgiving. Our initial thought was, is this how it is supposed to be summer? It was 14-18 degrees! Our hotel was about 15-20 minutes of walking distance from King Cross station so we decided to walk. We even had to ask for directions to our hotel and after questioning a couple of locals, there it was, our Holiday Inn King Cross Hotel! Originally we had planned to roam around the area but since it was quite late when we arrived there and we are exhausted, we decided to skip the evening walk as originally planned and crashed into our hotel room instead. Need to get a good night rest as tomorrow will be another long and eventful day.

View from our room

Inside our room

Until then,

Regards,

MARK

Ayam Penyet, USB drive and HDMI cable

2009-08-18T22:03:00.002+08:00

I had lunch at Waroeng Penyet at The Curve with my friend...although the Nasi Ayam Penyet served wasn't up to my expectation but it is still sufficient to satisfy my cravings and it is relatively cheap as well, maybe I’ll bring along my wife next time. I bought a spanking brand new 8GB thumb drive, I'd lost countless number of thumb drives over the past couple of years and this is the first time I bought one for quite a while. Hopefully this one won't suddenly vanish out of thin air or mysteriously disappear from my work desk this time around. Originally I'd intended to purchase the thumb drive for my auntie but she already bought one, I guess she got tired of waiting for me to buy one for her. I've bought HDMI cable as well so I don't have to switch back and forth between playing X-BOX and watching movie.

Oh well, I'm all beat up and it's time to rest. I still have to prepare for an upcoming EMC exam this Friday and Cisco exam to be scheduled on the fourth quarter this year. I've left university for almost 4 years now, can't really explain why on earth do I have to prepare for a barrage of exams =)

Until then,

Regards,

MARK

My Final Day in SIngapore

2009-08-14T08:06:00.000+08:00

I'll be departing to KL tonight and will be arriving slightly before midnight. My stay in Singapore has been fruitful in terms of knowledge gained by attending the SAN Management training. I took a short walk around Singapore city centre yesterday night, made my through Queen Street, Bugis Street and along Middle Road. I made a couple of pit stop at Bugis Junction to search for something interesting to be purchased but nothing catches my fickle mind, went straight to Bugis Village for dinner. I'd dinner at Shu Ji - for some reason the exact spelling escapes my mind, stumbled into Shu Ji when I was roaming the street for Nasi Ayam Penyet - but looks like I would have to return to Malaysia to have it as the time is kind of short to look for another outlet today. What made me decided to have dinner at Shu Ji? One single fact - Halal was plastered across the entrance to the shop house, ordered Nasi Lemak which turned out quite pleasant and given that I'm still hungry I ordered a bowl of Laksa. Yeah - I know, I'm indulging in gluttony but still a bit bummed out due to the fact that I still can't find Nasi Ayam Penyet.

Earlier that day, I've made my way to Millenia Shopping centre through Millenia underpass to stop by at Candy Empire. Candy Empire is essentially a shop that sells all kind of sugary treats such as candy bar, choc bar, milk bar etc; you get the drift, don’t you? I bought some choc bar, Belgian choc and some waffles which happened to be Tim Tam’s. I've heard a lot about Tim Tam now it’s high time to taste it. On the journey back to hotel, decided to fix my cravings for Nasi Ayam Penyet that I’ve been having for quite some time. The best Nasi Ayam Penyet I’ve had was at Changi Village and that was about 2-3 years ago when I'm here in Singapore for the first time for the same reason I'm here today which is - training. It turns out that the Ayam Penyet House along Beach Road is closed for renovation, I was utterly disappointed. Well maybe next time then.

Don’t ask me about Nasi Ayam Penyet, still can’t explain my own obsession with it =)

I can't wait to get home, maybe will buy some Patchi chocolate for my wife if I manage to find an outlet that sells one along the way. My experience in Singapore so far has been great because of the training, I've learned quite a few things although most of the content can be treated as a refresher course but nonetheless to learn something new everyday is always a good thing - no matter how small.

Until then.

Regards,
MARK

How to configure zoning on MDS Cisco SAN Switch

2009-08-12T19:27:00.004+08:00

Let’s start this post by a confession, as I'm a Cisco enthusiast I’ll be slightly biased towards Cisco products be it an Ethernet Switch, SAN switch or Multiprotocol Gateway, I always have and will always be in favor of their products far and above their competitor offerings even Brocade's. Although over here in Malaysia, Brocade is arguably the most dominant player or the default choice among majority of companies, my personal favorite will always be Cisco MDS series. It might be a daunting task or overwhelming for a person who doesn’t have any experience in configuring Cisco Ethernet Switch to dive straight into MDS as it has hierarchical level or privilege to execute command unlike Brocade's, Cisco IOS has proven to be easier and flexible to be configured with - well at least from my point of view! Let’s dive straight into the configuration portion using CLI:

Assuming that the IP address for the Management Port is already configured, let's try to telnet to the SAN switch by executing:

# telnet 10.127.38.150

Configure the switch name by:

#switchname dev_mds9120_swA

Verify the name changes made:

# show switchname

Moving on to sub-configuration mode and let’s configure all ports connected to hosts and array to auto-negotiating speed:

# config

#interface fc1/2,fc1/3,fc1/15,fc1/6

#switchport speed auto

# no shutdown

#exit

What I'm doing is essentially configuring all the interface in this case interface fc1/2 , fc1/3, fc1/15 and fc1/6 to auto-negotiate the speed and enable the interface by issuing no shutdown. You can refer which port is connected to which hosts or array by issuing show fcns database, show interface brief or by looking at the topology in Fabric Manager.

Let’s go to interface fc 1/10 and fc1/11 to configure ISL:

#interface fc1/10,fc1/11

#switchport trunk allowed

#no shutdown

#exit

We will then configure Domain ID of 1 on the default VSAN (1):

#fcdomain domain 1 static vsan 1

#exit

Verify the Domain ID is correct:

#show fcdomain vsan 1

Don't forget to save the running config to NVRAM:

#copy running-config startup-config

Show the name server database and copy the content to text file to avoid any typo:

#show fcns database

Zone the Unix server to the array in this case the Solaris 10 server to Symmetrix array, by creating a zone:

#config

#zone name Sol10_hba1_Symm_1 vsan 33

#member pwwn 210000e08b90e795

#member pwwn 50060160082006e2

#end

What I'm doing is creating a zone for a single port HBA on the Solaris server and for the first storage array port on the Symmetrix. Repeat the steps above until all zone is created for every initiator and every target and verify the config:

#show zone vsan 33

Create a zoneset with a suitable name. A zoneset is a collection of all zones in the SAN fabric:

#config

#zoneset name Unix_Symm_MDS9120 vsan 33

Add zones to the zoneset:

#member Sol10_hba1_Symm_1

Repeat the step above for all zone members in the zoneset and verify the zoneset is in accordance to your plan before activation:

#end

#show zoneset vsan 33

#config

#zoneset activate name Unix_Symm_MDS9120 vsan 33

#exit

Verify your config and save it:

#show zoneset active vsan 33

#copy running-config startup-config

#exit

That's all for today peeps, easy right? In a later edition we will look at the nitty-gritty of configuring an Inter-switch link. Maybe we will than look at configuring either Clariion, Symmetrix, USP, EVA or MSA storage using CLI before we can complete our make believe SAN. I'm familiar with NTAP and certain IBM storage as well but I'll leave that to the expert, let's focus on either EMC, HDS or HP array as that's what I'm comfortable working with. Please refer to any good article on how to decipher and translate Symmetrix or HDS USP WWN to disk adapter or disk director from the net.

Any questions?

Regards,

MARK

Training at Singapore

2009-08-10T15:17:00.003+08:00

Bleurgh! I'm seriously bored out of my mind with nothing to do here in Singapore, just waiting for the classroom training to start tomorrow morning. Until it actually starts I'm walking and wandering around Suntec City Shopping Mall for two purposes: one is to familiarize myself with the training center location so I could get myself around the place easier and second reason is - scanning for wireless access point without password or access security properly configured. That second effort proved to be somewhat futile, maybe Singaporean are better equipped with knowledge about wireless security setting, I'm reduced to sitting helplessly at Starbucks sipping my Hot Chocolate. I’m hoping that the training tomorrow won't be half as boring as today.

I almost miss my flight to Singapore because I overslept or to be exact my alarm clock didn't exactly rings or beeps, I guess when I altered my alarm clock on my Blackberry from 6 A.M to 5 A.M I must've forgotten to save the changes made. My flight departs on 7.45 from LCCT Sepang so the latest time to check in is 7 A.M but since I left home around 6.05 A.M the journey to airport via taxi seems to take forever especially when the driver is driving very 'cautiously' to be mildly polite or diplomatic. I reached the check in counter on 7.05 A.M, 5 minutes later than the closing time but I'm very lucky to say the very least as the express counter is still open for last minute boarding. Phew! I swore that I was imagining myself taking a bus all the way to Singapore when I was on the way to LCCT.

It's time to watch some football action on the TV as I missed out on the Charity Shield Cup action last night.

Regards,
MARK

EMC Acquires Majority Ownership of Data Domain

2009-08-07T09:46:00.003+08:00

Its a pretty exciting news to me as the acquisition will allow EMC to own Data Domain de-dupe technology that's better at de-duplicating data on a very large file server and mail server. Please read on.

EMC Corporation (NYSE: EMC), the world leader in information infrastructure solutions, today announced that it has acquired majority ownership of Data Domain, Inc. (NASDAQ: DDUP). Once EMC completes the acquisition of Data Domain, which is expected by the end of July, Data Domain will become the foundation of a new product division within EMC's storage business focused on the development and delivery of next-generation disk-based backup, recovery and archive solutions.

The new EMC product division will be led by Frank Slootman, Data Domain's President and CEO, reporting to Joe Tucci, EMC's Chairman, President and CEO, and Frank Hauck, EMC Executive Vice President leading EMC's Storage Business. EMC will increase its investment in the division, adding resources, technologies, and products. The company expects this new division to continue growing revenue at significant double-digit rates achieving $1 billion in revenue in 2010. EMC and Data Domain's highly complementary technologies will continue to deliver customers tremendous savings and value while promising entirely new and exciting prospects for integrated solutions in the future.

Joe Tucci said, "I am delighted to welcome Data Domain and its dedicated, talented and seasoned team to the EMC family. Together we will shape the future of next-generation disk-based backup, recovery and archive solutions, making life significantly better for our joint customers, changing the game in the storage software market, and creating new market opportunities for growth."

Frank Slootman added, "We are pleased to see the merger with EMC becoming a reality. We envision great opportunity to accelerate our business through EMC's massive worldwide distribution network and customer base, and we can't wait to begin seeing that play out in the market place."

Data Domain stockholders have tendered approximately 78.2 percent of the outstanding Data Domain shares (not including shares tendered by notice of guaranteed delivery). Together with the 3.9 percent of outstanding Data Domain shares previously held by EMC, EMC now controls approximately 82.1 percent of Data Domain shares outstanding.

The initial offering period of EMC's tender offer to purchase all of the outstanding shares of Data Domain common stock expired at 12:00 midnight, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), on Friday, July 17, 2009. EMC has accepted for payment the approximately 50,947,657 shares tendered in the offer.

EMC also today announced a subsequent offering period commencing on Monday, July 20, 2009 and expiring at 12:00 midnight EDT, on Wednesday, July 22, 2009, unless further extended. The subsequent offering period will permit all stockholders who did not tender shares in the initial offering period to obtain the $33.50 per share offer price for their shares prior to consummation of the second-step merger. EMC expects to complete the second-step merger and close the acquisition shortly after expiration of the subsequent offering period so long as EMC controls 90% or more of the outstanding Data Domain shares at such time.

During the subsequent offering period, EMC's acquisition subsidiary Envoy Merger Corporation will accept for payment and promptly pay for Data Domain shares as they are tendered. Stockholders who tender shares during such period will be paid the same $33.50 per share cash consideration paid during the initial offering period. During the subsequent offering period, shares may not be tendered through procedures for guaranteed delivery and shares tendered may not be withdrawn. Envoy Merger Corporation may extend the subsequent offering period. If the subsequent offering period is extended, Envoy Merger Corporation will notify the depositary for the offer and issue a press release prior to 9:00 a.m. EDT on Thursday, July 23, 2009

Source: EMC

Touchdown!

2009-08-05T16:49:00.003+08:00

Phew! I arrived at KLIA yesterday around 1730, it was a back breaking long haul flight not to mention the jet lagg that i'm experiencing. Not in the mood to write a very long post today, will elaborate further on our trip to London and Paris soon after completing my posting on our wedding etc.

Until Then,

Regards,

MARK

The Aftermath...part I

2009-07-26T20:21:00.003+08:00

Its been a while since I last wrote anything on this blog, I didn’t update not because I'm on annual leave or due to the fact that I'm too busy with post-wedding matters but mostly because I'm preoccupied with my work at the office. My weekends were filled with reading technotes on several topics ranging from best practice on running Netbackup and Exchange server to designing disaster recovery or business continuity plan based on EMC Recoverpoint and EMC Recovery Manager. It's been very hectic these past two weeks to say the least, a lot has happen on several fronts at office and at home, the pace of everything developed is occurring at an eccentric level that I missed quite a lot interesting facts and maybe some rather peculiar facts that could be written here

I just got myself certified as EMC BURA Technology Architect this week after completing the last exam required to get myself accredited. Naturally the next step is to aim for something higher than being a specialist but there's a minor obstacle that prevented me from progressing further on this area - there's no expert level exam for BURA consultant at the moment. I will attempt to clarify with EMC Education Services folks about this as it is illogical to limit and confined BURA scope to specialist level only. On another development, I might be attending SAN switch management and troubleshooting course in Singapore for 4 days this mid August, when I said might it simply means everything is finalized inclusive of flight number and hotel booking just waiting for our company CEO to approve this training and signed on the dotted line. Looks like I will be going in depth on SAN switch configuration and management so I might as well get my self ready for Brocade Certified Fabric Professional Exam. Its funny when 4-5 years ago, I could've sworn that I will be getting my CCIE batch or number instead of diving head first into the world of Storage Area Networking but I guess that’s how fate intertwined everything and I ended up with SAN not that I'm complaining though!

I will be departing for London on Tuesday morning for my honeymoon; my wife is pretty much excited about this trip. I couldn’t blame her for that as she only went as far as Phuket =p. We just bought essential items for travelling overseas and she will have to start packing our stuff tonight. We actually went to Mid Valley Jusco today to buy clothes and new jeans but ended up with additional item in hand; meet our new Tower Fan from DeLonghi:

http://www.all99.com/stores/home_garden/products/1d351bae7ea2bf6c4dfb5d4a6c32270f.jpg

I will update this blog more often after my holiday, still contemplating on whether we should go to France or Switzerland while we're in London, until then.

Regards,

MARK

My Wedding Pic(s) on 4th July

2009-07-21T13:48:00.003+08:00

This will be the last post containing my wedding pictures =)

There's more here :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/39980276@N04/

My Wedding Pic(s)

2009-07-05T23:31:00.005+08:00

More pictures here :

http://picasaweb.google.com/norsaifu/AbidEly?authkey=Gv1sRgCN3Cw-D2r4umRw#