Month: February 2010

I Prefer Working With VM’s

Today I was working with one of my colleagues to upgrade an application we are running on some physical servers.  We’re both working from home with a VPN connection into the data centre.  Reboots were required.  This is the bit I hate … a continuous ping times out for what feels like an eternity.  Eventually that first response appears and the tightening of the chest relaxes 🙂

VM reboots are so quick because there is no hardware to POST.  I could also take a copy of the VM to test the upgrade process before hitting production.

Windows 7 Release Candidate Deadlines Coming Soon

Windows 7 release candidates will soon start to deliberately misbehave.  On March 1st 2010 you will see them shutdown every 2 hours.  On June 1st 2010 they will start the “This copy of Windows is not genuine” experience.

Microsoft urges you to do a clean installation of Windows 7.  Let’s face it, will you really want to go back to Vista or Windows XP?

I’ve still got a laptop running the RC.  It was used while writing the book, Mastering Windows Server 2008 R2.  It was also used for another project that is ending now so I guess I will rebuild it when I get a chance.  Of course, I will be going with Windows 7 Ultimate.

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Hyper-V Linux Integration Components V2.0 With RedHat Support

Microsoft released version 2.0 of the Linux Integration Components for Hyper-V on the 29th of January.  They include support for installing on not only SUSE Enterprise Linux (10 SP1 and 10 SP2) but also RedHat Enterprise Linux 5.

Now I’ve got to expand the possible Linux OS’s I would run on my Hyper-V farm.  Remember, I’m monitoring using Operations Manager 2007 R2.  It can support RHEL 4 and RHEL 5.  Hyper-V now has supported integration components for RHEL 5.

That means I can now run SLES 10 SP1 or RHEL 5 on my Hyper-V farm and be able to monitor the internal goings-on of those VM’s using Operations Manager 2007 R2.  I’m more likely to go with RHEL.  It appears to me to be more accepted and has more documentation in the blog-o-sphere that SLES.

Using VMM 2008 R2 For V2V

It is possible using Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2 to migrate virtual machines from one hardware virtualisation platform to another.  This is known as Virtual to Virtual or V2V.  The possible migrations you can do are:

  • Migrate from Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1 to Hyper-V
  • Migrate a VMware Virtual Machine from the VMM Library to Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1 or to Hyper-V
  • Migrate a VMware Virtual Machine from a VMware host to Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1 or to Hyper-V

This is a one-way process.  You cannot go from Hyper-V back to the original host platform.

Supported V2V VM Operating Systems

Just like with P2V, there is a matrix of supported operating systems:

Operating System

VMM 2008

VMM 2008 R2

Microsoft Windows 2000 Server with Service Pack 4 (SP4) or later

Yes

Yes

Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server SP4 or later

Yes

Yes

Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 2 (SP2) or later

Yes

Yes

Windows XP 64-Bit Edition SP2 or later

Yes

Yes

Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition (32-bit x86)

Yes (Requires SP1 or later.)

Yes (Requires SP2 or later.)

Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition (32-bit x86)

Yes (Requires SP1 or later.)

Yes (Requires SP2 or later.)

Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Edition (32-bit x86)

Yes (Requires SP1 or later.)

Yes (Requires SP2 or later.)

Windows Server 2003 x64 Standard Edition

Yes (Requires SP1 or later.)

Yes (Requires SP2 or later.)

Windows Server 2003 Enterprise x64 Edition

Yes (Requires SP1 or later.)

Yes (Requires SP2 or later.)

Windows Server 2003 Datacenter x64 Edition

Yes (Requires SP1 or later.)

Yes (Requires SP2 or later.)

Windows Server 2003 Web Edition

Yes

Yes

Windows Small Business Server 2003

Yes

Yes

Windows Vista with Service Pack 1 (SP1)

Yes

Yes

64-bit edition of Windows Vista with Service Pack 1 (SP1)

Yes

Yes

Windows Server 2008 Standard 32-Bit

Yes

Yes

Windows Server 2008 Enterprise 32-Bit

Yes

Yes

Windows Server 2008 Datacenter 32-Bit

Yes

Yes

64-bit edition of Windows Server 2008 Standard

Yes

Yes

64-bit edition of Windows Server 2008 Enterprise

Yes

Yes

64-bit edition of Windows Server 2008 Datacenter

Yes

Yes

Windows Web Server 2008

Yes

Yes

Windows 7

No

Yes

64-bit edition of Windows 7

No

Yes

64-bit edition of Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard

No

Yes

64-bit edition of Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise

No

Yes

64-bit edition of Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter

No

Yes

Windows Web Server 2008 R2

No

Yes

Not Got VMM?

There is a manual process to convert Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1 VM’s to Hyper-V if you do not have VMM.  There are 3rd party and free tools for this.  There are also 3rd party and free tools you can use to V2V from VMware to Hyper-V without VMM.  However, these would be very manual processes and VMM makes that all the much easier through it’s job process.

Destination Host Requirements

The destination machine should have the disk and the RAM to cater for the VM.  MS actually recommends RAM of the VM + 256MB for the conversion process.  The host should also be in a network that allows all necessary communications with the VMM server.

Original VM Requirements

Before you migrate any VMware machine to a Microsoft platform you must uninstall the VMware additions/tools.  That’s the VMware equivalent of the Microsoft integration components/services.  You also need to remove any checkpoints.

Library V2V

There are then two possible ways to do the conversion.  As I stated earlier, you can copy a VMware VM into the library and V2V the VM from there.  To do this in VMM, choose to use the Convert Virtual Machine Wizard.  You cannot V2V a VMware VM that uses raw disks (same idea as pass through disks).  You need access to the .VMX file (describes the VM) and the VMDK file(s) (the virtual hard disks).  Each VMDK will be converted into a VHD.

Host V2V

If your VM is on another host, e.g. Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1 or VMware, then make sure the source host is being managed by VMM.  You can then use an offline migration, i.e. power off the VM, right-click the VM and Migrate it.  Make sure the hosts filter is adjusted to show your destination Microsoft virtualisation host.

Integration Components

When the job is completing, you’ll see that VMM will install the integration components/services for Hyper-V.  That will optimise the performance of the VM and cuts down on the manual labour.

Linux VM’s

Interestingly, Microsoft says you can V2V a Linux VM.  However, any OS not in the above table will not get the integration components.  And remember, only certain enterprise versions of SUSE (no IC’s) and RedHat (no IC’s) are supported.  If you V2V a supported SLES VM you will have to manually install the Linux integration components.

I Want My Hover Car, Jet Pack and Moon Home

I’ve seen a line flying around Twitter a bunch of times over the last 24 hours saying that in the year 2012, 20% of all businesses will own no IT assets.  OK, now I’m getting visions of dodgy TV shows like the BBC’s “Tomorrow’s World” or that classic piece of Australian tomfoolery, “Beyond 2000”.  Actually maybe it’s more along the lines of Conan O’’Brien’s “In the year 2000”.

Back to the seriousness.  I work in the online business and we obviously would love more and more stuff to go online.  And it is.  Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), heck Anything-as-a-Service is all anyone is talking about and it is big business.  But 0% IT assets?

How exactly does one get onto the Net to access those services without a PC or a phone?  I’ve heard some talk about businesses allowing employees to supply their own PC.  That’s a huge change.  Massive.  You could imagine that the office network becomes no different to an Internet café.  But that will only ever happen in small businesses.  My experience says that it will not happen, certainly not in the next 2 years, to that 20% of businesses.  It might happen with a few adventurous thinking businesses but that’s it.

[shines torch] “The PC will most likely remain an IT asset for more than 99% of businesses in the year 2012” [/shines torch]

That’s an asset and a risk.  It has to be managed, protected and kept compliant.  That means anti virus, patching, software management, auditing, policy enforcement, network access protection, etc.

There is a trimmed down version of System Center Desktop Management on the way.   You can think of that as Configuration Manager Lite from the cloud.  Features include:

  • Host protection (anti-malware and Microsoft updates)
  • Desktop monitoring
  • Desktop configuration
  • IT asset management
  • Remote assistance

Larger companies may strip down the branch office and go with things like BPOS or 3rd party solutions for SasS.  But those PC’s in the branch office will continue to be managed from HQ by System Center.  Operations Manager will audit security, Configuration Manager will do all of the good desktop stuff.  Data Protection Manager might backup a couple of key computers.  I personally think 3rd parties like Iron Mountain’s Connected is the best roaming user laptop backup solution.  And Active Directory will continue to be the policy engine.  You can see how a single Hyper-V host could run the branch office systems management, e.g. VM’s that offer a Read Only Domain Controller, a local BranchCache, a local DPM presence, etc.

No matter what you do, there will be some sort of IT asset that needs to be secured, protected, managed and made compliant.  And the rumours of the PC’s death have been greatly exaggerated.

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Got A Slow Hard Disk In Your PC? Try ReadyBoost

ReadyBoost is a feature of Windows Vista and Windows 7 that is aimed at PC’s and laptops that have slow hard disks, i.e. under 7,200 RPM.  It allows you to use a USB stick (or even internal USB) as a cache for files that are read from the hard disk, thus making them quicker to load and improving the performance of your PC.  You can read more here.

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Hyper-V VMQ Unsupported By Intel NIC Teaming Pre 15.0

I was looking up something for someone earlier when I found that Intel NIC teaming does not support Virtual Machine Queue (VMQ) or VMDq as Intel calls it. 

“… teaming is not compatible with VMDq and Hyper-V*. Intel PROSet version 14.7 or later will automatically disable VMDq for adapters in teams. Intel plans a future software release that will allow both ANS teaming and VMDq to be enabled at the same time.

If you use Intel PROSet versions prior to version 14.7 to configure teams or VLANs with Virtual Machine Queues enabled, system instability may occur including a potential Windows* bug check (popularly known as Blue Screen of Death or BSOD).

To recover from a Windows* bug check (BSOD) caused by configuring ANS teams or VLANS, unplug the Ethernet cables. After starting Windows remove the ANS configured teams and VLANs or disable Virtual Machine Queues”.

EDIT #1:

As you’ll see in the comments, the Intel v15.0 drivers do add support for VMW with Intel NIC teaming.  Thanks to Brian Johnson of Intel for that info.

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Monitor CSV Free Space?

This is something that struck me today.  I was doing some checks in Operations Manager to see what free space was like on some of the servers we run online backup services with.  Then I thought – let’s have a look at the cluster shared volume on our Hyper-V cluster.  The problem is that Operations Manager deals with logical drives that have a letter.  It seems to ignore drive such as the CSV: a mounted drive that appears as a folder in C:ClusterStorageVolume 1, Volume2, etc.

There are two ways to check this manually that I have found so far.  The first is to open up the Failover Clustering MMC and connect to the cluster.  You’ll see the size and free space for the Cluster Shared Volume there. 

image

You can also do it in VMM by right-clicking on the cluster object and viewing the properties.

image

You can ignore the witness disk (at the top); I really hope you’re not so desperate for VM storage that you consider that!

I cannot find anything in Operations Manager for tracking this critical function.  It’s not in the Failover Clustering MP (where it probably should be), Hyper-V or VMM management packs.

I’d advise that you keep an eye on this, especially if you are experiencing growth or using self service in VMM.  For example, I’ve switched to using dynamic VHD’s.  Yeah, early on that means I save on storage space.  My C: VHD’s are half the size they were with Windows Server 2008 fixed VHD’s.  But eventually they will grow and consume space on the CSV.  You need to know when to trigger a growth of the LUN on the SAN and expand the NTFS volume before we reach critical levels.  Bad things happen when a growing VHD doesn’t have any space left.

Increase Network Buffer Sizes on Hyper-V VMBus

I saw this post being re-tweeted by Ben Armstrong and read it this morning.  It might actually be the solution to a weird problem we’ve been having at work.

Think back to your computer science classes.  Every process on a computer only ever gets a slice of time on the processor.  When it is moved from the processor is is places in a frozen state, allowing another process to execute.  A 4 core processor allows 4 processes to run at once but lots of other processes are frozen in a non-responsive state.  These idle times are extremely short.  We cannot perceive them.

A virtual machine (on any platform) is a process.  Therefore a VM can at times not actually be executing on the processor and be unresponsive to the network.  Again, this is an incredibly short window.

Hyper-V handles this by buffering network traffic for the VM.  The default size is 1MB.  The blog post shows you how to make a change to this buffer size when dealing with larger amount of network traffic, i.e. there is a risk of the buffer filling and network traffic being lost.  They suggest expanding the buffer to 2MB those scenarios, or to its maximum of 4MB in extreme scenarios.

The process is rather manual because it is very VM specific (finding the GUID for the virtual network card, searching for the GUID in the registry, adding some values) which is a pity.  I hope MS comes up with a way to make this simpler, e.g. a slide control in the VM properties, or a policy setting for a VMM host group.

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Managing SharePoint 2010 using System Center

I’ve tuned into a webcast aimed at the System Center Influencers and I’m going to try blog from it live.  Microsoft’s line is that System Center is the way to manage SharePoint because Microsoft understands the requirements.

SharePoint often started as some ad-hoc solution but grew from there to be mission critical and containing urgent business data.  Administration is complex: users, file server admins, web admins, database admins and web developers.

System Center Improves Availability:

  • DPM backs it up the way it should be.
  • Operations Manager monitors health and performance.
  • Virtualisation (VMM managed) can allow for rapid deployment with minimal footprint.

Administration

  • Configuration automates management
  • Service Desk will add more benefits

Centralised Management

This is the norm for System Center.  Centralised management with delegation is how System Center works.  For example, a Sharepoint administrator could deploy a front end server in minutes using the VMM 2008 R2 self service portal.  A quota will control sprawl but the network administrators don’t need to be as involved.

OpsMgr Management Pack

  • There is a new monitoring architecture.  There are physical and logical components where the physical entity rolls up to a logical entity.
  • Monitoring is integrated into SharePoint so the SharePoint admins can see the health in SharePoint
  • There will be a unified management pack instead of the current 2007 split management packs.  The discovery process will identify the roles installed on an agent machine and only utilise the required components.

We’re shown an OpsMgr diagram that shows the architecture of a SharePoint deployment.  If you haven’t seen these, they are hierarchical diagrams that give you a visualisation of some system, e.g. HP Blade farm, Hyper-V cluster, SharePoint farm.

The 2010 management pack allows you to monitor a particular web application in SharePoint 2010.  The management pack is more aware of what components are deployed where and the interdependencies – sorry I’m not a SharePoint guru so I’m missing some of the terminology here.

Rules administration has been simplified.  There is a view in the Monitoring pane to view the health of all rules for the SharePoint 2010 management pack.  I like this.  I’ve not seen it in any other management pack.  The SQL guys should have coffee with the SharePoint folks 🙂

Three are 300% more discoveries and 1293% more classes and 300% more monitors than in 2007.  That is a huge increase in automated knowledge being built into OpsMgr to look after SharePoint 2010.  There are 45% fewer rules.  This is a good thing because there is duplicated effort being reduced for IIS and SQL management pack to reduce noise.  Microsoft assumes you’ll install those other management packs.  approximately 150 TechNet articles are linked in the pack to guide you to fixing certain detected issues.

Data Protection Manager 2010

DPM 2010 is due out around April 2010.  It important to Hyper-V admins because it adds support for CSV.  DPM allows you to backup to disk and then optionally stream to tape.  You can also replicate one DPM server to another for

SharePoint 2003 and WSS 2.0 are backed up basically as SQL.  You need the native SP tool to complete the backup..

SharePoint 2007 and WSS 3.0 is backed up using a SharePoint VSS writer.  Every server (web/content/config/index) gets an agent.  DPM reaches out to “the farm” and can back up everything required.

DPM is designed to know what to back up.  3rd party solutions are generic and don’t have that.  For example, a new server in the farm will be detected.  The DPM administrator needs to authorise this addition.

DPM 2010 does something similar with SharePoint 2010.  However, it is completely automated, allowing your delegated VMM administrators or Configuration Manager administrators (SharePoint administrators) to deploy VM’s or physical machines.

One of the cool things about DPM is that it doesn’t have specialised agents.  It’s using VSS writers.  That means there is 1 agent for all types of protected servers.

We get a demo now and we see the DPM administrator can just select “the farm” and back that up.  There’s no selecting of components or roles.  The speaker only sets up his destination and retention policies.

DPM 2007 is noisy, e.g. data consistency checks.  I’ve seen this when I did some lab work.  The job wizard allows you to either to perform a heal/check if a problem is found, on a scheduled basis or not at all.  This is a self healing feature.

Recoveries can be done at the farm level, an individual content (SQL) database.  SharePoint 2007 can restore a site collection, a site or a document.  This requires a recovery farm, i.e. a server, consuming resources and increasing costs.  SharePoint 2010 with DPM 2010 does not require a recovery farm.  You can directly recover an item into the production farm.  Trust me, that’s huge.

The release candidate for DPM 2010 comes out next week.

Virtualisation

  • Web role, Render Content: Virtualisation ideal
  • Query role, Process Search, Queries: Virtualisation Ideal
  • Application Role, Excel Forms Services: Virtualisation ideal
  • Index role, Crawl Index: Consider virtualisation– small amount of crawling, and drive space used to store the index (VHD = maximum 2TB, although you can go to pass through disks for more).
  • Database role: Consider virtualisation – OK for smaller farms.

My Take

My advice on top of this: Monitor everything using VMM and Operations Manager.  You soon see if something is a candidate for virtualisation or if a VM needs to be migrated to physical.

If you run everything on a Hyper-V 2008 R2 cluster then enable PRO in VMM.  Any performance issues will allow an automatic Live Migration (if you allow it) to avoid performance bottlenecks.

If you are going physical for the production environment then consider virtual for the DR site if reduced capacity is OK.  For example, your production site is backed up with DPM.  You keep a Hyper-V farm in the DR site.  Your DPM server replicates to a DR site DPM server.  During a DR you can do a restoration.  Will it work?  Who knows :)  It’s something you can test pretty cheaply with Hyper-V Server 2008 R2.  Money is tight everywhere and this might be an option.