Download Microsoft Private Cloud Evaluation Software

Source

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/hh505660.aspx

 

System Center 2012 Release Candidate plus optional Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 download

A Microsoft private cloud dramatically changes the way your business produces and consumes IT services by creating a layer of abstraction over your pooled IT resources. This allows your datacenter to offer true infrastructure service capability as well as optimally managed application services.

Microsoft private cloud solutions are built on System Center and Windows Server.

System Center 2012 Release Candidate empowers you with a common management toolset for your private and public cloud applications and services. System Center helps you confidently deliver IT as a Service for your business.

Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 (optional download) will give you improved powerful virtualization capabilities that can transform how you deliver IT services to your end users and enable you to lay the foundation of a private cloud infrastructure.

Please Note: Many Microsoft private cloud scenarios require Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1. If you are using an older version, we highly recommend upgrading to experience the full Microsoft private cloud evaluation.
Need more information? See the product details page. Register to access technical product resources at the Microsoft Private Cloud Evaluation Resource Page.

The Microsoft private cloud evaluation includes:

System Center 2012 Release Candidate
Available in these languages: English

• System Center 2012 Unified Installer is a utility designed to perform new, clean installations of System Center 2012 for testing and evaluation purposes only. If you want to upgrade from an existing System Center installation or choose set up options such as high availability or multi-server component installs, please refer instead to the System Center 2012 component installation guides located on the Microsoft Private Cloud Evaluation Resource Page.
  User’s Guide >>
• System Center 2012 App Controller provides a common self-service experience across private and public clouds that can help you empower application owners to easily build, configure, deploy, and manage new services.
  System Requirements >>
• System Center 2012 Configuration Manager provides comprehensive configuration management for the Microsoft platform that can help you empower users with the devices and applications they need to be productive while maintaining corporate compliance and control.
  System Requirements >>
• System Center 2012 Data Protection Manager provides unified data protection for Windows servers and clients that can help you deliver scalable, manageable, and cost-effective protection and restore scenarios from disk, tape, and off premise.
  System Requirements >>
• System Center 2012 Endpoint Protection, built on System Center Configuration Manager, provides industry-leading threat detection of malware and exploits as part of a unified infrastructure for managing client security and compliance that can help you simplify and improve endpoint protection.
  System Requirements >>
• System Center 2012 Operations Manager provides deep application diagnostics and infrastructure monitoring that can help you ensure the predictable performance and availability of vital applications and offers a comprehensive view of your datacenter, private, and public clouds.
  System Requirements >>
• System Center 2012 Orchestrator provides orchestration, integration, and automation of IT processes through the creation of runbooks that can help you to define and standardize best practices and improve operational efficiency.
  System Requirements >>
• System Center 2012 Service Manager provides flexible self-service experiences and standardized datacenter processes that can help you integrate people, workflows, and knowledge across enterprise infrastructure and applications.
  System Requirements >>
• System Center 2012 Virtual Machine Manager provides virtual machine management and services deployment with support for multi-hypervisor environments that can help you deliver a flexible and cost effective private cloud environment.
  System Requirements >>

Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 (optional download)
Available in these languages: Chinese (Simplified), English, French, German, Japanese, Spanish

• Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 is designed to help you increase control, availability, and flexibility of your datacenter and desktop infrastructure while helping reduce costs.
  System Requirements >>

Best Practices for Virtualizing Exchange Server 2010 with Hyper-V

okay..I know that most people already knows that running DAG servers on Hyper-V cluster and UM on Hyper-V now is supported… Really Good news.

Microsoft already has a techNet resources covering that but also now we have a white paper for that.

The purpose of this paper is to provide guidance and best practices for deploying Microsoft® Exchange Server 2010 in a virtualized environment with Windows Server® 2008 R2 Hyper V™ technology. This paper has been carefully composed to be relevant to organizations of any size.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=8647c69d-6c2c-40ca-977e-18c2379b07ad

vSphere vs Hyper-V vs XenServer

Virtualizationmatrix.com did a good effort listing vSphere vs Hyper-V vs XenServer features.. You can compare and even change versions

http://www.virtualizationmatrix.com/matrix.php

NetApp: Install Order for Hyper-V Clusters

A very useful blog from NetApp team

Source: http://blogs.netapp.com/msenviro/2011/02/install-order-for-hyper-v-clusters.html

 

One of the most complex things that we support in the Microsoft universe is a Hyper-V cluster environment.  With the additon of Clustered Shared Volumes (CSV’s) there are quite a few moving parts and getting them all installed in the correct order can be a challenge.

One of our Professional Services architects, Chris Collins, has put together a nice cheat-sheet for ensuring that everything is installed and deployed in the correct order.  We’ll be putting together a more detailed TR on this, but I thought this little checklist would help out anyone who’s deploying Hyper-V clusters.  Thanks Chris!!

Installation Process for Hyper V

1. Install NetApp storage system

a. Create Aggregates to support infrastructure

b. Create volumes to support CSV infrastructure (turn on Thin Provisioning)

2. Server OS Prep

a. Install Windows OS

i. Hyper V – Role

ii. Failover cluster feature

iii. .NET 3.5 feature

iv. MPIO Feature

v. All Patches

b. Install Microsoft Hot Fixes

NOTE:  You can get a full list of Hyper-V related hotfixes from MSFT here.  Note that the V2 hotfixes below are normally the Windows 2008 R2 version of the hotfix.  See technet.microsoft.com for more information on each hotfix listed below.

i. KB975921

ii. KB974909

iii. KB975354

iv. KB975354 V2

v. KB979743 V2

vi. KB979743 V2

vii. KB974909 V2

c. Install NetApp Software

i. NetApp Windows Host Utility Kit 5.3

ii. NetApp MPIO 3.4

iii. Snap Drive 6.3 P2

3. Setup Server Network

a. Network 1 – Server Management (ILO) (Optional)

b. Network 2 – Client Access (VM BRIDGE)

c. Network 3 – Live migration Network (Optional)

d. Network 4 – Heartbeat network

e. Network 5 – ISCSI Network (As needed)

f. HBA – FCP connections as needed (AS needed)

4. Setup Snap Drive for Windows

a. Setup transport Protocol defaults

b. Setup individual Filers

c. Setup Disks preferred filer system

5. Setup Cluster

a. Create windows cluster

b. Enable clustered shared Volumes

c. Use snap Drive to set up LUN to be used for Quorum drive

d. Use Cluster Manger to setup failover cluster settings for Quorum system

6. Create Clustered shared volumes (CSV)

a. Use Snap Drive for windows to crate clustered shared volume

b. Open system manager and convert LUNS to thin provisioned LUNS

7. Snap Manger for Hyper V (SMHV)

a. Use Snap Drive to Create a single clustered drive that will be used for the Snap info Directory

b. Install Snap Manager for Hyper V on every node in the clusters

c. Add cluster to the SMHV management console

d. Create a base data set

e. Create a backup policy

8. Create VM’s

a. Create VM’s as needed

9. Open SMHV to add virtual machines to appropriate Data sets.

Live Migration timeouts — how to change value?

Okay.. I saw this case before .. Some of the VMs especially with huge amount of memory was facing problem that the get this error that live migration timeouts. The solution is simple

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager Server\Settings\LiveMigrationTimeoutSecs

You just need to restart vmmservice, you don’t need to reboot.

The maximum value you can set is 2 hrs, if you set more than 2 hrs, it will default to 15 min (900 sec)

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/virtualmachingmgrhyperv/thread/dfdf3981-aac5-480f-83fe-6108d0c46298/

Windows 2008 R2 SP1, more happy news for VDI

Windows 2008 R2 Sp1 is almost ready for RTM and day after day it get more happy news for VDI fans.

Windows 2008 R2 SP1 comes with two new features. The first and most important is called Dynamic Memory, and as the name suggests, this is a feature of Hyper-V R2 SP1 that will allow for memory on virtual machines to be dynamically scaled up and down as workloads dictate. Right now, memory is allocated statically and a Hyper-V virtual machine – and all of the software running inside of it – has to be rebooted if more memory is needed for that VM’s software stack.

The other new feature coming out with Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 is called RemoteFX, which is virtualized graphics and media-processing capability that Microsoft picked up with its acquisition of Calista Technologies more than two years ago. What Calista was peddling when Microsoft bought it for an undisclosed sum was software that allowed server-based VDI to give end users sitting at fat or thin clients at the other end of the LAN a visual and audio experience that seemed like it was being rendered locally on a PC with a certain amount of muscle (even if it wasn’t).

Microsoft expects 40% increase in VDI User Density using Dynamic Memory & Hyper-V, but today I saw some tweets about more to come.

“RT @hyperv_r2 "Big news! Hyper-V SP1 increases VMs/logical proc  support to 12VMs/LP up from 8VMs/LP! http://bit.ly/9aG6nZ" by #hyperv”

The ratio of Virtual processors per logical processor increased to 12 with Windows 7 VMs

A ratio of 12:1 is supported on Hyper-V in Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 when all guest operating systems on the server run Windows 7. Otherwise, the supported ratio is 8:1.

 

That means more and more conciliation for the VMs more added significant density to all workloads. This would help more customers and push VDI on Hyper-V more and more

More information

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/03/18/microsoft_win2008r2sp1_citrix_vdi/

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/r2-virtualization.aspx

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee405267%28WS.10%29.aspx

Remove failed DC from AD manually… Never been easier

You perform metadata cleanup on a domain controller in the domain of the domain controller that you forcibly removed. Metadata cleanup removes data from AD DS that identifies a domain controller to the replication system. Metadata cleanup also removes File Replication Service (FRS) and Distributed File System (DFS) Replication connections and attempts to transfer or seize any operations master (also known as flexible single master operations or FSMO) roles that the retired domain controller holds.. Removing failed DC manual was hard process that need some level of professionalism as I used to do it with Ntdsutil command-line tool.

Please check “How to remove data in Active Directory after an unsuccessful domain controller demotion”

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/216498

How to remove orphaned domains from Active Directory

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;230306

Clean up server metadata

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc736378%28WS.10%29.aspx

I used to use it since Windows 2000, 2003. But I was suprized to discover that Windows 2008, 2008 R2 has new GUI. Really easy and efficient one.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc816907%28WS.10%29.aspx

Clean up server metadata by using GUI tools

When you use Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) or the Active Directory Users and Computers console (Dsa.msc) that is included with Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2 to delete a domain controller computer account from the Domain Controllers organizational unit (OU), the cleanup of server metadata is performed automatically. Previously, you had to perform a separate metadata cleanup procedure.

You can also use the Active Directory Sites and Services console (Dssite.msc) to delete a domain controller’s computer account, which also completes metadata cleanup automatically. However, Active Directory Sites and Services removes the metadata automatically only when you first delete the NTDS Settings object below the computer account in Dssite.msc.

As long as you are using the Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, or RSAT versions of Dsa.msc or Dssite.msc, you can clean up metadata automatically for domain controllers running earlier versions of Windows operating systems.

Membership in Domain Admins, or equivalent, is the minimum required to complete these procedures. Review details about using the appropriate accounts and group memberships at Local and Domain Default Groups (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=83477).

To clean up server metadata by using Active Directory Users and Computers

1. Open Active Directory Users and Computers: On the Start menu, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Active Directory Users and Computers.
2. If you have identified replication partners in preparation for this procedure and if you are not connected to a replication partner of the removed domain controller whose metadata you are cleaning up, right-click Active Directory Users and Computers <DomainControllerName>, and then click Change Domain Controller. Click the name of the domain controller from which you want to remove the metadata, and then click OK.
3. Expand the domain of the domain controller that was forcibly removed, and then click Domain Controllers.
4. In the details pane, right-click the computer object of the domain controller whose metadata you want to clean up, and then click Delete.
5. In the Active Directory Domain Services dialog box, click Yes to confirm the computer object deletion.
6. In the Deleting Domain Controller dialog box, select This Domain Controller is permanently offline and can no longer be demoted using the Active Directory Domain Services Installation Wizard (DCPROMO), and then click Delete.
7. If the domain controller is a global catalog server, in the Delete Domain Controller dialog box, click Yes to continue with the deletion.
8. If the domain controller currently holds one or more operations master roles, click OK to move the role or roles to the domain controller that is shown.You cannot change this domain controller. If you want to move the role to a different domain controller, you must move the role after you complete the server metadata cleanup procedure.

To clean up server metadata by using Active Directory Sites and Services

1. Open Active Directory Sites and Services: On the Start menu, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Active Directory Sites and Services.
2. If you have identified replication partners in preparation for this procedure and if you are not connected to a replication partner of the removed domain controller whose metadata you are cleaning up, right-click Active Directory Users and Computers <DomainControllerName>, and then click Change Domain Controller. Click the name of the domain controller from which you want to remove the metadata, and then click OK.
3. Expand the site of the domain controller that was forcibly removed, expand Servers, expand the name of the domain controller, right-click the NTDS Settings object, and then click Delete.
4. In the Active Directory Domain Services dialog box, click Yes to confirm the NTDS Settings deletion.
5. In the Deleting Domain Controller dialog box, select This Domain Controller is permanently offline and can no longer be demoted using the Active Directory Domain Services Installation Wizard (DCPROMO), and then click Delete.
6. If the domain controller is a global catalog server, in the Delete Domain Controller dialog box, click Yes to continue with the deletion.
7. If the domain controller currently holds one or more operations master roles, click OK to move the role or roles to the domain controller that is shown.
8. Right-click the domain controller that was forcibly removed, and then click Delete.
9. In the Active Directory Domain Services dialog box, click Yes to confirm the domain controller deletion.

My CSV is full… So what can I do ?!!

One of my customers faced this problem.. he created Hyper-V cluster with CSV volume and start placing VMs on it.. after a while CSV start running out of space and he is planning to expand CSV volume using SAN tools. Is LUN expansion from the SAN level, is it support from MS ? What are the risks with doing that?

After some help from Microsoft support group I got this answer

According to:

 

Volume expansion is also a regular requirement since data growth is not often considered up-front. Cluster disks can be extended without rebooting if the controller supports dynamic LUN expansion. This feature allows for the physical expansion to be implemented without disruption and users can use tools (diskpart) provided by Microsoft to allow for the change to be seamlessly applied at the logical level as well.

 

Storage Topologies

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc738154(WS.10).aspx

 

We can see LUN expansion is supported by Microsoft Operation System.

 

Also, from the following information:

 

The ability to add storage while the system is operating enables better storage efficiency as it does not require any downtime for storage management. The storage can be expanded either by adding an additional LUN or by expanding the existing LUN on the CLARiiON array.

 

Optimized Storage Solution for Enterprise Scale Hyper-V Deployments

http://download.microsoft.com/download/D/E/6/DE619C29-BBCA-468F-960C-93B8113F612B/EMC_Sanbolic_MS_POC-Final.pdf

 

We can see the storage can be expanded either by adding an additional LUN or by expanding the existing LUN.

 

Regarding the risks, as far as I know, there should be no risk if we follow the proper steps to expand the LUN.

 

Here, I list following link for your reference:

 

Best Practices – SAN LUN Creation and Size Expansion for SAP Architectures

http://blogs.technet.com/b/lobapps/archive/2010/09/14/lun-creation-and-size-expansion.aspx

 

 

Improve your Hyper-V Virtual Availability – Live Migrate VMs on Shutdown

A very useful post from Deliberations from Dave

Hyper-V clustering is a pretty rock solid thing, and Live Migration (introduced as we all know with Server 2008 R2) is virtually identical to VMWare’s long-available VMotion technology – pick up a running VM, and move it to another host in the cluster without users noticing.

Continue there

Hyper-v Error When you connect to VM “An Authentication error has occured.”

Another interesting problem form Hyper-V forum, Cédric from Hyper-V forum had a problem with new installed Hyper-V server when he tried to connect to VMs.

From the Hyper-V Manager console, when you try to connect to a local VM, no problem. But when i try to connect to a VM owned by another node, you get the following Error.

“Remote Desktop Connection”.
An Authentication error has occured.
The specified data could not be encrypted.
Remote Computer: “FQDN of the targeted host”

All other operation (stop, start etc work perfectly).The cluster validation report was “all green”.

The cluster nodes have this hotfix installed.

• KB977238 (HV BPA)
• KB981791 (Stop Error on intel Westmere)
• And cumulative update 2 for operation manager 2007 R2.

After some digging with MS Support to find the cause of the problem it turns out to be a problem with CredSSP Kerberos ticket length, there is a KB for Windows 2008R2 that solved this issue.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/978918

This problem occurs because the CredSSP incorrectly encrypts the data when the size of the security token for the user account exceeds 16 kilobytes (KB).

To resolve this issue, install this hotfix on the terminal server that is running Windows Server 2008 R2 and on any Remote Desktop clients that are running Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2.