Category: VMM

Enabling Data Deduplication For SCVMM Library

Deduplication was added in WS2012. Microsoft says that you might achieve 80-95% optimization by using dedupe on volumes that are used for virtualization libraries. The benefits could be huge in a real world deployment. Consider a cloud where you’ll have WS2008 R2, WS2012, and WS2012 VHDX images. Each might have the last 1-3 builds with varying patch levels. For each version you might have one that includes specializations for different purposes. That’s a lot of wasted space when you consider that it’s empty blocks (fixed VHDX) and redundant storage of the same core OS over and over and over and over.  Deduplication of the file system could save you a lot of money.

Dedupe is easy to install in Server Manager:

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I always place the VMM library on a non-OS drive such as the D: drive. I will enable deduplication on that volume in Server Manager:

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Then during setup of SCVMM I will configure VMM to use that drive to store the library share:

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Simples!

EDIT:

MVP Stanislav Zhelyazkov (@StanZhelyazkov) reported that the above optimization will prevent you from leveraging ODX to speed up the copy of VHDX files from the library to hosts if they are on the same ODX enabled storage.

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Another System Center MVP, Flemming Riis (@FlemmingRiis) also knows of other issues that VMM will have.

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SCVMM – Setting Up Remote SQL Database Is Hanging Or Failing

If you are deploying lots of System Center products, then it’s not uncommon to use a single SQL server/cluster for one instance per component (Service Manager is a whole other ball of wax but I stay away from that game). This means setting up a remote SQL database for VMM. It’s no big deal, and it increases scalability for the truly large deployments. It also makes clustering VMM a realistic possibility – and that’s a must-do if you’re creating a cloud.

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When at the above screen, the connection to the remote server to allow you to select an instance can freeze or fail if you have not configured the Windows Firewall of the remote SQL server. Configure the firewall, and away you go.

Note: the lazy and less secure method is to open the firewall completely. Don’t do that if you can help it.

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SCVMM – Setup Says The Domain Account Specified For The Service Account Could Not Be Verified

The setup routine for SCVMM asks you to enter the domain name (domainusername) and password of a service account for the SCVMM service to log in with. If you get the below error then you have missed a step:

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Add the service account to the local Administrators group of the VMM management server. The wizard should complete once that is done. If you’re doing this via Group Policy Restricted groups then don’t forget to run GPUPDATE /FORCE to force the policy to run immediately.

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Mapping The Virtual Networking In System Center 2012 SP1 Virtual Machine Manager

I’ve spent the last few days working on the new networking in VMM 2012 SP1 to build new Windows Server 2012 hosts/clusters from bare metal and deploy virtual machines.  There are a lot of parts in this puzzle.  And the terminology is quite different to what we’re used to in Hyper-V.  In the end, I was deploying hosts with converged fabrics and creating clusters with SMB 3.0 (Scale-Out File Server) storage.

With so many pieces I thought it would be a good idea to map out everything that was required in my lab deployment.  Here’s what it looks like … note that you might need to look at the original image by clicking on it.

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I have not gone further with the map, e.g. mapping to service templates, clouds, etc.  I’ve focused here on host and virtual machine networking deployment.

 

Virtual Machine Servicing Tool 2012 Beta

Microsoft has launched the beta for VMST 2012.  This tool is used in conjunction with System Center 2012 Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) to update offline virtual machine resources from ConfigMgr/WSUS.

VMST 2012 helps you more effectively—and safely—manage the workflow of updating you offline virtualization environment. Using VMST 2012, you can now service:

– Offline virtual machines in a SCVMM library.

– Stopped and saved state virtual machines on a host.

– Virtual machine templates.

– Offline virtual hard disks in a SCVMM library by injecting update packages.

VMM CTP of System Center 2012 Service Pack 1 (SP1) Documentation

This document just appeared on MS Downloads. 

This download provides a step-by-step guide that walks you through the new Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) features in the CTP of System Center 2012 SP1.

New Features In The CTP Release

The VMM CTP of System Center 2012 SP1 provides the following new features of Windows Server 8:

  • Network virtualization: the multitenant network abstraction mechanism.  Not all the capabilities of network virtualization in Windows Server "8" Beta are supported in this CTP.
  • VHDX support: the new virtual hard disk that support 64 TB.  For the CTP release, the library server must be a Hyper-V host to automatically index .vhdx files.
  • Support for file shares that use the Server Message Block (SMB) 2.2 protocol: the new storage alternative.
  • Live migration enhancements: how Windows Server 8 moves VMs

System Requirements

Item

Requirements

Operating system

· All computers that are used for the following roles must be running Windows Server "8" Beta:

· VMM management server

· VMM console

· VMM library server

· Virtual machine hosts

· The VMM database server can be running on either Windows Server "8" Beta or Windows Server 2008 R2.

· The only supported guest operating system for virtual machines in this CTP is Windows Server "8" Beta.

Hypervisor

Hyper-V only (on Windows Server "8" Beta)

SQL Server

· SQL Server 2008 R2 with Service Pack 1

· Standard, Enterprise, or Datacenter edition

· 64-bit edition only

Upgrade

You cannot upgrade from a previous version of VMM to this CTP. This includes upgrading from System Center 2012 – Virtual Machine Manager.

 

Bear in mind that this is just the CTP release, wa-ay before beta.