Month: September 2012

Install Hyper-V Server 2012 On USB Flash Drives

A common question I’ve seen is “Can I install Hyper-V on USB?”.  The answer is … sort of.

In the article, What’s New in Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2012, it says:

Hyper-V Server 2012 supports all of the new features in the Hyper-V server role of Windows Server 2012 and a number of other general Windows Server 2012 features. It continues to support features from Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 such as failover clustering, multipath I/O, server backup, and the ability to install this product on bootable USB flash drives.

Please pay careful attention: It refers to the free product Hyper-V Server 2012.  No where, I repeat … NO WHERE does it say that Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V is supported on USB.  It’ll be entirely your fault if you assume that you have support to install Windows Server 2012 on USB and enable Hyper-V.  The TechNet text only mentions Hyper-V Server 2012 and that is a different product.

Remember my mantra on this: if you assume, then assume that you are wrong.

If you follow the link to the USB instructions (which are dated for Hyper-V Server 2008 R2) you will see another important sentence:

The scenario described in this document is only supported for original equipment manufacturers (OEM).

In other words, it is OK for Dell, HP, etc, to install Hyper-V Server 2012 on a USB stick and ship it to you.  It is not supported if you do this for yourself.  The instructions are there; you can use them to build yourself a lab that runs from USB.  And that’s that.  Do not go building this for yourself for production support.  You have been warned.

Before anyone asks, no, I have not seen a server company offer this.  In fact, I talked to some very senior server people in one of those companies a few months ago and they had never even heard of this boot option.  They even thought it was an ESXi only solution.

Also, boot from SD is not listed as an option.

F5 Hyper-V Network Virtualization Gateway

F5 recently announced that they will be releasing a Microsoft Network Virtualization product that will be a Network Virtualization Gateway.  A common question about Network Virtualisation (aka Software Defined Networking) is “how do non-migrated client devices continue to find migrated VMs in a cloud with virtualised IP addresses?”.

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The Network Virtualization Gateway sits between the cloud VMs and the client site as in the diagram.  That does the translation for the clients using your virtualisation policies to find their desired destination servers.  And that’s what F5 look like they’ve announced.

It is a WS2012 Hyper-V appliance, and it seems to have integration support for System Center 2012 SP1, a strongly recommended piece of Network Virtualisation deployment and management.  Expect the F5 solution in Q1 2013, according to RedmondMag.

Network Virtualization is a very important solution:

  • Use it in DR-as-a-Service so you don’t need IP injection or VLAN stretching.  VM’s continue to use their original IP and be accessible
  • Public cloud to eliminate VLAN complexities and restrictions
  • Abstract networks in enterprise data centres so that VMs can move from one network footprint to another without downtime or need for reconfiguration, kicking down another barrier to Live Migration or vMotion.

F5 also has Hyper-V support for the Big-IP LTM VE:

Local Traffic Manager (LTM) Virtual Edition (VE) takes your Application Delivery Network virtual. You get the agility you need to create a mobile, scalable, and adaptable infrastructure for virtualized applications. And like physical BIG-IP devices, BIG-IP LTM VE is a full proxy between users and application servers, providing a layer of abstraction that secures, optimizes, and load balances application traffic.

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Get some info here:

One of the interesting things about the LTM is the support for System Center.  This converges the functions, deployment, and management of your cloud:

  • Monitor the LTM
  • Load balancing deployment, i.e. VIP automation in service templates
  • Orchestration via System Center 2012

Windows Server 2012–Won’t Somebody Think Of The CALs?!?!

After all the chat about Windows Server 2012 licensing and how to license WS2012 for virtualised environments, how many times have you seen a mention of CALs?  Not very often, I’d say.

Windows Server does require you to count processors (2 at a time) but it is not per-processor licensing like with SQL Server.  Unlike SQL Server per proc, you still need to buy CALs for any users/devices (depending on your CAL type choice) that authenticate against Windows Server.

Note: this post is about volume licensing, and not OEM and not SPLA.

For example, you have 1000 users.  Your 50 servers are running Windows Server 2008 R2 and you have 1000 user CALs for Windows Server 2008 R2.  If you decide to upgrade your 2 DCs to WS2012 then you need to 1000 WS2012 CALs.

The cheapest way to “upgrade” CALs is to purchase them with SA.  Some will look at the cost and balk at it.  But go ahead and buy them without SA.  You’ll soon find an LOB app that requires WS2012 and you’ll have to “upgrade”.  And then you’ll find that there is no upgrade.  It’ll be a flat-out repurchase, and SA will look pretty good then, especially when you look at all the additional benefits in includes.

What about virtualisation?  You only buy CALs for the services your users/devices are accessing.  Your users don’t access Hyper-V.  You can buy WS2012 for your hosts, and continue to run WS2008 R2 in your VMs.  If no VM runs WS2012 as the guest OS, then your W2008 R2 CALs are OK.  But upgrade a virtual Exchange, a virtual SharePoint, or a virtual file server to WS2012 and you’ll need WS2012 CALs.

UK Launch of Windows Server 2012

Yesterday I was at the UK technical launch of Windows Server 2012, built from the cloud up!  It was a great event to be part of. We MVPs had a big presence; I was on stage with Andrew Fryer (DPE aka @DeepFat) talking “beyond virtualisation”, Damian Flynn (Cloud and System Center aka @damian_flynn) talked private/public/hybrid cloud with System Center and Azure, and Thomas Lee (PowerShell) presented on PowerShell and administration.

I’m guessing that there was something like 800 people in the full room. The stage was really nicely built, looking like something from a TechEd.  You can see it below, with Jeff Woolsey (Principal PM Lead for Windows Server at Microsoft) presenting during the keynote.

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During lunch and in the afternoon I was at the MVP desk out in the exhibitors hall. 18 companies had stands there, including servers, storage, software, and services. I worked a whiteboard, and as usual, Storage Pools, SOFS, and Hyper-V Replica were the hot topics.  In fact, we were forcibly removed from the hall when it was time to shut down!

It was a fun day and I got to meet lots of people.  The feedback was positive which always makes the work feel worthwhile.  It was amazing how many of them said something like “We have VMware but we’re moving to Hyper-V”.  Best laugh of the day for me went to the guy who booed when his friend won a HP Microserver!

Thanks to Microsoft UK and Claire (the UK/IE MVP lead) for allowing me to participate!  It’s always fun to share what information I have with people who are eager to learn.

I flew back in from London this morning (03:50 wakeup) and went straight to the office. I’ve got a web meeting to attend tonight, and a podcast recording tomorrow night, and about 10 hours of sleep to catch up on … so I’m going to be quiet Smile

Watch out for the video interview that I did with the nice folks at PC Pro and I’ll leave you with some tweets from attendees yesterday:

@ShadowfaxTech: #Microsoft #ws2012 most excited by Hyper-V replicas and Livemigration. Basically better uptime and resilience for our clients.

@priteshgir: #WS2012 The best part at the launch has been discovering How much more capable HyperV is than some of the other virtual solutions available.

@wpsolltd: So long and thanks for all the fish. Bye bye vSphere hello Windows Server 2012. Thought SC 2012 was amazing W2K12 rocks #ws2012

@BlandJon: #WS2012 Love it! Cost savings, flexibility and scalability features are awesome not to mention Azure. Time to switch from VMware!

@coreinfra: “I was always for VMware, not anymore..#ws2012 is the #VMware killer…and its freeeee!” LOVE it @joe_elway 🙂

@MAKH83: I was always for VMware, not anymore..#ws2012 is the #VMware killer…and its freeeee!

A Challenge To Anyone In Microsoft That Is Selling Windows Phone 8

I currently use two phones:

  • My iPhone 4 that I bought the week that WP7 went on sale in Europe. I use it for my on-the-road stuff, and it’s mostly used with an FM transmitter for listening to podcasts/music in the car. I very rarely listen to broadcast radio.
  • A WP 7.x HTC HD7 handset for work. I turn it on when I get to the office, and I turn it off when I leave the office. I hate Zune, it’s a dreadful platform to manage podcast subscriptions on, and there are no FM transmitters … no I am not replacing my car because a phone has no 3rd party add-ons.  Would you replace your legs because a shop doesn’t have shoes in your size?  Think about it … I jumped on the Hyper-V bandwagon when it came out. I was all over System Center before it was even called that. And I, of all people, hate using Windows Phone 7.x.

With all the mess around IOS6Apocalypse, I’m considering my options when my 2 year iPhone 4 contract runs out.  I had been thinking that it would be an automatic upgrade to an iPhone 5. But, the phone isn’t a “grab my attention” device and there are some things about IOS 6 that I’m not mad about.

So here’s my challenge to Microsoft:

Prove to me (not to yourself or to someone else) that Windows Phone 8 is up to my requirements and I’ll buy a handset when it comes to Ireland. I want whatever is replacing Zune to be useful.  The corners in WP7.x need to be shaved off. I don’t want some long flat list of apps (the solution is not an app-starved store).  I need to be able to search for podcasts, and click-to-subscribe.  And finally, I need an FM transmitter that plugs directly into the phone.

My advice to you: I don’t care about colours.  I don’t give a damn about how many megapixies are in the camera: I’ll take out my €4,500 DSLR and stick a Canon L lens on it if I want a good picture. Screen resolution is a red herring for journalists and fanboys. Stick to my 3 requirements and you’ll be able to crow about converting a WP-cynic:

  • Podcast management
  • Sorted apps
  • FM transmitter

It wouldn’t hurt to prove that typing is greatly improved too.

Server Posterpedia –Windows Server Poster App

A new app that features the feature poster apps for a number of server products, not just Hyper-V, has been released. You can download this app from the Microsoft Store for Windows 8.

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Click on a poster, and it’s displayed for you:

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You can zoom and scroll through the poster. Cleverly, the actions that you can run from the app will link you to additional information on TechNet. And there is even a link to download the original poster.  What a handy way to start learning the features of server products.  This is worth installing Windows 8 for!

Ben Armstrong posted about the app overnight, including a video of the app in action.

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Successor to Network Monitor – Microsoft Message Analyzer (Beta)

This came in early this morning:

Microsoft Message Analyzer has been released to the public, available here.

As you might guess from the name, Message Analyzer is much more than a network sniffer or packet tracing tool. Key capabilities include:

  • Integrated "live" event and message capture at various system levels and endpoints
  • Parsing and validation of protocol messages and sequences
  • Automatic parsing of event messages described by ETW manifests
  • Higher-level display of operations->messages->packets
  • User controlled "on the fly" grouping by message attributes
  • Ability to browse for logs of different types (.cap, etl, txt) and import them together
  • Automatic re-assembly and ability to render payloads
  • Ability to import text logs, parsing them into key element/value pairs
  • Support for “Trace Scenarios” (one or more message providers, filters, and views)

We are providing this beta release to give you an opportunity to let us know what you like and don’t like and where we need to focus our energy as we drive towards a mid-2013 RTM date. 

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Pre-Order Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V Installation And Configuration Guide

The new book that I am working on, Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V Installation and Configuration Guide, has recently appeared on Amazon.com.

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I’m going to ask for the “small-medium business” bit to be changed.  Trust me, we’re writing this for the SME and the big enterprise deployments.  What Damian is currently working on is definitely big enterprise, trust me!

You can pre-order the book now.  And yes, the March 13th date is a complete shot in the dark by Amazon.  All I can tell you is that the last of our draft deadlines is in November (that’s me), and I’ve already done reviews on the first 3 chapters I’ve written, am finishing my 4th, and have 2 more left after that.

The List Of Hyper-V Events I’m Presenting At Grows!

So here’s where I am going to be talking about Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V in the coming weeks and months (as it stands right now):

UK Windows Server 2012 Technical Launch (London, September 25th)

Delivered by Microsoft’s Corporate General Manager for Server Infrastructure Product Marketing, Turi Widsteen, and Principal Programme Manager Lead for Windows Server Core and Admin, Jeff Woolsey, in partnership with Microsoft Most Valued Professionals (MVPs), Partners and the Windows Server User Group.

This launch event is waiting list only AFAIK. I’m a late addition (just got my e-tickets for the flights), presenting with DPE Andrew Fryer on the topic of Beyond Virtualisation.  I’m told that there are 1,000 seats!  It’s going to be the biggest event I’ll have spoken at and it should be great craic!  Fellow Irish MVP and co-author on 2 books, Damian Flynn (Captain Cloud), will also be there talking cloud (of course).

MSFT UK went with the technical launch approach featuring community and MVPs, as did our friends in Belgium, so it should be a great event to learn at.  I also believe that there will be some sort of ask the experts stands outside the main room.

One Day Crash Courses (Booked individually with IE/NI MSFT partners)

I’m continuing to run 1 day crash courses (via my employer, MicroWarehouse, a Microsoft Value Added Distributor) for Microsoft partners on WS2012 Hyper-V and System Center 2012 – Configuration Manager.  The Hyper-V one is getting harder and harder to deliver … because writing the book is causing me to learn a hell of a lot more and it’s getting more difficult to squeeze the summarized content down to a day.  The interesting thing is what people are talking about as they leave:

  • Hyper-V Replica
  • SMB 3.0
  • The potential of CiB in the SME space if a hardware vendor prices it right

These events continue to dominate my work calendar, with some companies booking many days to rotate their consultants through.

TEC 2012 Europe (Barcelona 22-24 October)

Join us at The Experts Conference (TEC) Europe 2012 in historic Barcelona. The show will go on and the Microsoft training will be as powerful as ever! TEC Europe promises 400-level training from the world’s leading experts on Microsoft Directory & Identity, Exchange, and Virtualization & Workspace Management. Don’t miss it!

I’m presenting two sessions at The Experts Conference 2012, Europe:

  • Dynamic Memory in Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V
  • Live Migrate like You’ve Never Live Migrated Before

You’re also going to find my fellow MVPs Carsten Rachfahl, Didier Van Hoye, and Hans Vredevoort (co-author or tech reviewer on 3 books with me).  The four of us are also going to be doing a joint session of some kind Smile

I’m looking forward to this event.  Obviously I’m presenting in the virtualization and Workspace Management track, but I will be attending the Directory & Identity and the Exchange tracks to do some learning.  I believe my friend, Nathan Winters (former MVP and now MSFT UK TSP), is presenting on something in the Exchange track.

E2EVC 2012 Hamburg

E2EVC Virtualisation Conference is a non-commercial,virtualisation community Event.
Our main goal is to bring the best virtualisation experts together to exchange knowledge and to establish new connections. E2EVC is a weekend crammed with presentations, Master Classes and discussions delivered by both virtualisation vendors product teams and independent experts.

The conference formerly known as PubForum is coming to Hamburg and it is sold out. I hated missing the last one because this is a great place to learn about all sorts of virtualisation.  Citrix and VMware knowledge has always had a big presence.  But a few of us have a plan to smash that as we run a day long master class on WS2012 VDI using WS2012 Hyper-V.  Alex Juschin (RDS MVP) will take on VDI, while myself, Hans, Didier, and Carsten cover the Hyper-V side of things.

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So as you can see, it’s a busy time coming up.  I the meantime, I have half a WS2012 Hyper-V book to finish writing.  I’m just about done with my 3rd chapter, have 2 more to write, the front matter to author, and have an idea for an additional short chapter.  And if I have my way, that’ll be my last book for 3 years until WS2012 R2 or WS2015 is RC Smile

Migrating iSCSI Target 3.3 Settings Before Upgrading W2008 R2 to WS2012

Considering how many people have downloaded my guide on how to build a Hyper-V cluster using the Microsoft iSCSI v3.3 target, I thought you might want to know about this new KB article from Microsoft: “Migrating iSCSI Target 3.3 settings before upgrading Windows Server 2008 R2 to Windows Server 2012”.

Consider the following scenario:

  • You have a computer that is running Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 (SP1)
  • You have configured Microsoft iSCSI Software Target 3.3
  • You start the upgrade of the operating system to Windows Server 2012.
  • When you proceed through the Upgrade wizard, the compatibility report shows the following message: Installing Windows will affect the following features:
    Setup has detected that Microsoft iSCSI Software Target or Microsoft iSCSI VDS/VSS providers are installed on this computer. They will no longer function after the upgrade and configuration settings will be lost You must follow the instructions at <Link> prior to the upgrade to ensure they can continue to work after successful upgrade.

In this scenario, setup gives you a warning that, Microsoft iSCSI Software Target 3.3 or Microsoft iSCSI VDS/VSS providers may not be functional after the upgrade. It is best to uninstall the feature, then enable the feature after upgrade the server to Server 2012.

Cause: In Windows Server 2012, the Microsoft iSCSI Software Target and Microsoft iSCSI VDS/VSS providers are available as a built-in sub feature of the File and Storage Services Role.

Check out the original article for the solution.

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