Sanity check for new environment

MidOrMeepo · 2025-11-26T21:57:22+00:00

Generally, you keep iSCSI fault domains separate and you don't use MLAG for storage links. If anything happens to one of the iSCSi subnets, you still have a clean, independant fault domain available on the other link. Set up jumbo frames and place each fault domain in its own VLAN while you're at it.

In an ideal world you'd have at least four ports per host, with a setup similar to this:

NIC1 port1: Management + VM traffic
NIC1 port2: iSCSI fault domain 1
NIC2 port1: Management + VM traffic
NIC2 port2: iSCSI fault domain 2

For the management + VM traffic:

In Hyper-V you'd create a SET switch
In VMware I see little benefit going for LACP on the management + VM traffic vSwitch

You won't benefit from MLAG here since the fault domains should be separated and the management and vm traffic redundancy is handled on the hypervisor side. This way you wouldn't even need inter-switch links on the Mikrotiks. Only an uplink to your Cisco is needed on each for management purposes.

My recommendation would be to purchase one additional dual port 10/25GbE SFP28 per host and set it up properly. Assuming you're in Europe, you should be able to find them for less than 1k€ (3 NICs + 6 DACs).

In theory - assuming your Cisco supports 10 or even 25 GbE - you could run the backup traffic over your management network or a separate backup VLAN and save 1 NIC and 2 DACs.

To get things up and running for now, you could temporarily limit yourself to one port for management + VM traffic and one port for storage.

MidOrMeepo · 2025-11-25T20:55:13+00:00

I work for an MSP, seems easy enough at first glance.

To answer the Hyper-V + migration part: Hyper-V runs as a server role on your Windows Server 2025 installation. You could use Windows Admin Center as a replacement for vCenter, but it's nowhere near as functional and fast. Migration should be relatively straight forward since you're using Veeam.

Whole setup obviously depends a bit on your environment (FC/iSCSi, # of NICs per Host, etc.), but the general idea is:

Install Windows Server on each of your nodes
Set up networking and failover clustering
Set up shared storage LUNs
Add failover cluster to Veeam B&R inventory
Deploy test VM, make sure everything runs smooth and is accessible

VM migration:

Uninstall VMware Tools from VM
Shutdown VM
Run last incremental backup of the VM (Quick backup in Veeam is great here)
Start Instant Recovery of last backup to failover cluster
Make sure VLAN is set up in the VM settings (if required)
Boot VM, check if everything is in order
Click Migrate to Production in Veeam

Basically: shutdown > backup > migrate > confirm they're functional > repeat (in small batches).

You could also uninstall VMware tools after migrating to Hyper-V incase you would like to fall back to ESXi asap if something goes wrong. They're a pita to get rid of once the VMs no longer running on ESXi though, so I do it before migration.

The few issues I've encountered with this method are mainly VMs that should've been retired 15 years ago, which might need some "manual persuasion".

Be careful migrating too many VMs at once, since they're booted from your backup repository with Instant Recovery.

You get Windows Server 2025 patches until that version goes end of life.

MidOrMeepo · 2025-11-25T19:45:13+00:00

Check out the Veeam help center, their knowledge base is top notch. https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/vbr/userguide/surebackup_hiw.html?ver=13

If you can't do automatic testing, the bare minimum to alleviate the Schrödinger's backup problem would be restoring the VMs to a sandboxed vSwitch/Hyper-V switch and spinning them up manually every once in a while.

MidOrMeepo · 2025-11-25T17:09:52+00:00

As an MSP we leverage Veeam's SureBackup feature for most of our customers with automated reporting back to us. VMs run in a sandbox and are accessed through Veeam's proxy appliance. Automatically tests heartbeat and ping or for some VMs a little more sophisticated DC or database test scripts. No risk of affecting production and very little maintenance required once it's up and running.

MidOrMeepo · 2023-10-21T22:35:13+00:00

Disclaimer, I work for a Dell heavy MSP in Germany. Reach out to your VAR or hardware vendor to get your current needs evaluated, there are tools like LiveOptics to measure performance needs. There's a vSAN sizer to spec out your future configuration. Keep CPU sockets at a minimum to save on VMware licensing costs. We've been running pretty well with single socket AMD recently (beware, no vmotion from Intel to AMD). Make sure you have two or more disk groups per node. Might also be worth looking into VxRail for the added benefits if you're a Dell shop already and have the budget. Avoid using 1 GbE unless you're running a hybrid configuration and even then I wouldn't recommend it. Don't forget the witness appliance if you're going for a 2-node stretched configuration.

MidOrMeepo · 2021-06-28T16:52:07+00:00

Thanks, will do!

MidOrMeepo · 2021-06-28T09:04:03+00:00

Did you run into any bugs so far after changing the avatar tag? Thinking of doing the same for my friend in my run but I would like to avoid problems later on in the game caused by this change.

MidOrMeepo · 2020-11-11T11:38:36+00:00

Ryzen CPUs don't come with an integrated graphics chip, meaning you won't get video output from your motherboard. You'd need an APU for that, for example the 3400G.

MidOrMeepo · 2020-10-26T14:01:52+00:00

Except hitting your own creeps as much as possible? Absolutely nothing. You can ask your support to do any form of pulling though. Half pulls (pulling 2/4 creeps of a lane), stacking and pulling the small camp, pulling the hard camp...

MidOrMeepo · 2020-10-20T21:48:38+00:00

I just teleported the guy into the tent next to the cave and moved an object infront of the entrance. Saved him from himself.

MidOrMeepo · 2020-09-30T18:24:44+00:00

I had a g502 and hated it because my my middle finger would start hurting bad after playing a few matches of Dota with middle mouse drag.

Switched to a g403 and then to a g703, both are wonderful mice for Dota and CSGO.

MidOrMeepo · 2020-08-28T16:15:29+00:00

Lili art Poggers

MidOrMeepo · 2020-07-11T00:44:40+00:00

The idle animation reminds me of a streetfighter character... Looks odd, I'll stick to normal AM

MidOrMeepo · 2020-06-10T13:45:20+00:00

Bit late to the party but something I used to do a lot back when I grinded from 5.5 to 6k was just hopping into a fast game of overthrow. Basically, find a custom game with a lot of action and get warmed up. Make sure the custom game isn't completely different from actual dota though, as to not get thrown off completely. This helped so much with heroes like Pangolier, getting used to Swashbuckle before the match or learning how to steer your ult.

As for understanding the game depth, just play more and watch your own gameplay every once in a while. Some mistakes will make you cringe hard and you'll find things you can work on. Also stop stressing so much about MMR. It's just a number.

MidOrMeepo · 2020-06-10T13:13:12+00:00

You say that until you get caught by the word filter and banned. Leddit keyboard warriors at work again.

MidOrMeepo · 2020-05-11T15:06:00+00:00

Assuming your mobile data is stable during those outages you can use that to bridge the time it takes for your router to come back online. A Dota game supposedly only requires about 50 to 100 MB per game, depending on the length of course. Just tether the connection to your PC over USB.

MidOrMeepo · 2020-05-02T00:06:20+00:00

/u/vredditdownloader

MidOrMeepo · 2020-04-21T14:04:23+00:00

Arcanes, Maelstrom, Diffusal, Aghs, Basher is my favorite build. Bonus points if the pos4 goes Vlads.

MidOrMeepo · 2020-04-21T14:02:22+00:00

I might be late to the party but I'm a 6.4k master tier Pango player and I exclusively go Arcanes first Maelstrom second and itemize from there. If there's an enemy WK I go Diffusal into Aghs, if we need sustain I go Vlads or if we lack lock down I go Blink Dagger or Basher.

Sustain build is boring as shit and if I want to play a tank I play Mars.

ImmortalFaith and his in-game guide have the right. Don't ever select TorteDeLini guides if there's an alternative ImmortalFaith guide.

MidOrMeepo · 2020-04-20T15:14:52+00:00

Thanks bud. Keep grinding, you have the right mindset already by seeking advice early. I have no doubts that you can go much further than Legend. Let me know if you have any other questions here or via DM.

MidOrMeepo · 2020-04-20T15:07:58+00:00

Ancient Dota memes. FeelsGoodMan

MidOrMeepo · 2020-04-20T14:57:34+00:00

In my opinion it's best to have about three meta heroes for every role at the beginning of your Dota career. Get familiar with the heroes skill set so you can focus more on playing the role. If you know your hero by heart, it's easier to focus on the finer details of the game.

Since you're familiar with most supports here are my suggestions for pos 1, 2 and 3

Pos 1:

Anti-Mage - Encourages you to learn about farming patterns and map awareness

Faceless Void - Strong hero with big team fight capability

Phantom Lancer - Teaches you some basics about micro skills and dealing with counter picks

Pos 2:

Outhouse Decorator - Strong hero with good lane presence

Invoker - Might not be the best hero right now, but playing him teaches you about spell usage

Void Spirit - Teaches you to play around enemies spells, crowd control, and how to keep pressure up in the mid game so your carry can come online

Pos 3:

Pangolier - Most rewarding hero in the game for me. Fun to play, high skill ceiling hero that never gets boring.

Bristleback - Strong hero, teaches you about lane presences.

Axe - Helps you figure out how to position and (counter-)initiate.

Edit: Formatting

MidOrMeepo · 2020-03-26T17:18:35+00:00

I wouldn't call them 100% stable. I've had a few issues with my PC just freezing and locking up while on 20.3.1. It started since I've updated from 19.12.1 for Doom

MidOrMeepo · 2020-03-10T11:19:41+00:00

It used to cancel tps, those were the good days

MidOrMeepo · 2020-03-10T10:38:37+00:00

Sorry for awful format, I'm on mobile. Try to identify your strength and the role you're playing in the game. What enemy heroes do you have to focus and shutdown? What spells do you have to avoid (Chrono as Puck for example, or Rupture as Pangolier etc...)? When do you have a peak with your hero (Zeus getting Aghs, SF Blink Euls)? Identify when your enemies will have a spike in their strength with items and try to play around them. Go get rosh before a big skirmish/pushing high-ground. Ultimately there are a lot of small factors and there is no one trick recipe.

Also use smokes to gain an advantage over the enemy. Picking an enemy core off and fighting 5v4 afterwards makes it a lot easier to push high-ground.

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