Month: April 2013

The Most Under-Appreciated & Under-Used Feature Of VMM: VM Templates

Over the years, I’ve talked to people who own VMM and I’ve seen a few customer installations.  Way too often I see one of these two things:

  • An empty VMM library
  • People are not deploying VMs from VM templates

The VMM Library

Adding files to the library is easy: you use Windows Explorer to copy the files into the share.  If you can’t do that, maybe a job in IT isn’t appropriate?  The library in the console refreshes every 1 hour by default.  You can wait, or you can right-click the library and force a refresh.  Now you have a repository of reusable contents.

Personally, that’s where I like to keep the ISOs that I download from Microsoft and others.  Some software doesn’t come as an ISO, so I’ll use some free utility to “burn” and ISO with the installer on it.  You’ll find a nicely populated MSSCVMMLibrary folder in our lab at work, and on my Windows 8 (Client Hyper-V) laptop.

To save space, WS2012 deduplication is enabled on the library volume in the VMM server.

This is also where I keep my VHDs.  But more on that Smile

VM Templates

Microsoft has a different way of thinking about VM Templates than VMware.  From what I am told by VMware customers, every virtual machine template in vSphere consists of a VMDK and some metadata.  It’s the Ghost approach – lots of images.

Microsoft went a more modular route.  A VM Template is made up of:

  • A linked VHD/X file: generalised by Sysprep if it’s got a Windows OS
  • An OS profile: how do you want to customise the OS deployment in the VHD/X?  This includes computer naming, local admin password, roles/services, etc.
  • A hardware profile: how do you want to customise the virtual hardware spec of the VM?  This is the entire set including, processors, memory, disks, network (and VM network connection, etc), and so on.

You can have a single WS2012 VHD/X.  You can create lots of OS profiles.  You can create lots of hardware profiles.  And you can create lots of VM templates.  You link:

  • A VHD/X.  A single VHD/X can be reused many times.
  • A OS profile: maybe some VM templates will be for basic servers, some will be file servers (with all the storage stuff enabled), some will be web servers (with IIS enabled), and some will be .NET application servers (with .NET Framework enabled).
  • A Hardware Profile: How should this type of server be specced?  Maybe SQL Servers should have Startup RAM of 1024 GB and 2 additional VHDX files on the SCSI controller?

The concept here is that you can create lots of VM templates from a single VHD/X file.  That means you have a single, already patched and hotfixed, VHDX file for every kind of VM deployment with that OS.  Single image deployment – it’s the achievable dream in OS deployment … and it’s really easy with VMM if you bother to try.  You can deploy new VMs directly from your VM templates.  Maybe you make no changes in the wizard, but you can also further customise the VMs at this point.

Now deployment is easy.  For example, I need to build a lab for a series of events on WS2012 non-Hyper-V features for the next few weeks.  I could waste a lot of time by deploying lots of VMs, not from templates, patch the suckers, customise hardware, lots of reboots, and enabling features/roles, and lots more reboots.  Or I could be clever, and build a single VM, update the patching, turn it into a template (power it down, right click, Create VM Template), create more custom VM templates from that single VHDX file, and deploy my lab really quickly from that.  Which one do you think I’ll be doing? Smile

Give yourself a couple of hours.  Create a couple of VM templates based on your most common deployments, and you’ll save tonnes of time later on.

BTW, you can’t do self-service without templates, and you can have a cloud (of any type) without self-service.

My Interview With SearchServerVirtualization – Getting Started With Hyper-V

I recently did another interview with Nick Martin of SearchServerVirtualization.  This time, the topic was how people can get started with Windows Server Hyper-V.  Topics include:

  • What to look at before starting a design/implementation
  • Where do people have problems
  • What resources will prove useful to beginners – lots of plugs for my community colleagues and some useful Microsoft links

You’ll also find an excerpt from the new Hyper-V book, Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V Installation And Configuration Guide:

You Have 365 Days To Replace Windows XP

Microsoft will end all support for Windows XP on April 8, 2014, which is one year from today.  Right now, it is in what is called extended support, the period during which you can call to get help and download security fixes.  In one year, all bets are off.  You are on your own.  No more support from Microsoft.  No more security fixes.  And logically from that, no more support from anyone else, e.g. antivirus, backup, etc.  Your apps that rely on IE 6.0 are a security risk to your company.

MICROSOFT WILL NOT EXTEND THIS DEADLINE

 

I’ve emphasized that for those people who get their IT advice from the voices in their heads and the drunk in the corner pub – you know who you are!

I really couldn’t give a flying f**k about excuses so don’t bother posting them.  Harsh?  I don’t think so.  I’m tired of the race to mediocrity in the IT business and would love to see a cleanout when things blow up and people get fired.  This deadline should be no surprise.  Microsoft has emphasised it every time they’ve talked about desktop operating systems since the release of Windows Vista.  You now have 365 days to start replacing your business applications that rely on IE 6.0, dump the 12 year old desktop OS, and join the rest of us in this decade.

I bet the ticking of that clock sounds oppressively loud now?  I bet you are wising you had started planning 2 years ago?  Maybe even 1 year ago?

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End of Support Dates For Free Hyper-V Server

I got to wondering when the end of life for support was coming for the free-to-download/use versions of Hyper-V would be.  They are free, and there’s not much reason not to be either on the current or on the most recent edition.

I searched and found:

image

Of note:

  • End of mainstream support for Hyper-V Server 2008 is 14th January, 2014.  That’s 1 year earlier than Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V.
  • Even though Hyper-V Server 2008 is still in mainstream support, it’s not supported by VMM 2012 SP1.
  • In fact, Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 RTM is also going out of mainstream support on the same date.
  • I haven’t a clue when Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 SP1 goes out of mainstream or extended support.  The note on that is … confusing:

Support ends 12 months after the next service pack releases or at the end of the product’s support lifecycle, whichever comes first. For more information, please see the service pack policy at http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/#ServicePackSupport.

I cannot assume that the Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 SP1 end dates are the same as W2008 R2 SP1.  As I’ve noted, the other dates don’t necessarily match up.  I’m asking Microsoft about this and I’ll update if I get an answer.

Before you ask:

  • Security updates will continue to the end of extended support
  • Mainstream support for Hyper-V is important because you want to get hotfixes (bug fixes) and support for managing it from newer versions of tools.

Can I Replicate Virtual Machines From iSCSI, Fibre Channel, SAS, Internal to … ?

I’m getting this question so much still.  I’m going to answer it here (as I did in the book) to make it final.

Hyper-V Replica (HVR) replicates virtual machines from one host/cluster to another/host cluster.  HVR is not physical storage replication.  It doesn’t care if you use iSCSI, SMB 3.0, Fibre Channel, Storage Pools, or SAS.  It doesn’t care if you use a JBOD, a SAN, internal disks or USB.  It doesn’t care if you’re using CSV or simple internal NTFS.  HVR is storage agnostic … it simply does not care what storage you use in the primary or the secondary sites.  The storage in the primary and secondary sites can be completely different.  You just need to be using storage that is supported by Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V (check the HCL).

That’s pretty definitive and there should be no remaining questions on this.

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Get Yourself A *Cough* Colourful Windows Wallpaper

A friend sent me this link a while back and it’s been my lock screen since.  I’m sure it’ll make a nice lock screen on Windows 8 and newer:

image

The image is by Abdellah Bouthar from www.windowsblue.com.  I haven’t been able to find the original post where it was posted.  So to be safe, I haven’t linked the image.  It isn’t too find to hard via Bing Images, and it’s plenty big enough more most screens.

100% Pure Speculation – Windows “Blue” (“8.1”) Upgrade Will Require A New License

Earlier this week, I woke up on the sidewalk to discover that I had written a blog post called “100% Pure Speculation – Will Windows “Blue” (“8.1”) Upgrade Require A New License?”.  Guess what – I ate a dodgy smelling sausage roll this morning and I think I’m losing my grip on reality.  I’m going to paraphrase Exchange MVP, Tony Redmond, from a recent episode of RunAs Radio: I’m Irish and I have a constitutional right to argue with myself.

There is ample evidence to suggest that Microsoft will in fact charge for new versions of Windows that will go GA later this year.

Consider what has started to happen with “the new Office”.  Microsoft has started the shift to a subscription model under the Office 365 banner for office and consumer products.  They obviously prefer this because they get a predictable stream of revenue every month of every year, rather than a saw tooth purchase pattern when customers buy new versions every 3-10 years.

Microsoft gets some predictability with volume license leasing programs like Enterprise Agreements and Open Value Subscription, but lots of businesses elect for the alternatives such as Select and Open … and then they buy every 3-10 years. 

That can’t suit Microsoft; they have shareholders to keep happy and they can’t continue to invest billions in R&D and product development with customers opting to skip 2 or 3 versions at a time.

If Microsoft is switching to an annual release of Windows, then can they expect people to pay up every year if they want to stay current? 

I can’t imagine businesses being OK with major migrations.  But if the “8.1” and “8.2” releases are minor (like service/feature packs) then maybe deployment wouldn’t be painful.  And lots of volume licensees have Software Assurance to stay current and avail of many other benefits.

Microsoft would hardly be the first to charge for new annual versions.  Apple does it in the desktop space with MacOS.  Each point release costs a small amount of money and it seems to sell well.  This model also allows Apple to only support the last few years of the OS.  That keeps support costs down; another reason to make the change.  But this would have to be gradual because there are previously posted end of life statements going out beyond 2020!

VMware also does this in the server space through their support contract.  Get the support and you’re entitled to upgrades.  That seems to sit well with their customers. 

Oh – Windows Server 2003 R2 and its CALs required a new purchase.  The same was also true with Windows Server 2008 R2 (& CALs) and Windows 7.  And it was also done with ConfigMgr 2007 R2 and ConfigMgr 2007 R3 and their management licenses.

So:

  • Microsoft has been trying for years to shift us to subscription licensing via SA with limited success
  • Microsoft has already started a new shift to annual & monthly subscriptions with Office
  • Competitors already sell business software for PCs and servers with a subscription style renewal or micropayment
  • Microsoft has a history of doing this with minor releases for desktop and server before
  • That sausage roll may have had hallucinogenic ingredients

So it would not surprise me if Microsoft charged for “Windows Server 2012 R2” and “Windows 8.1”. 

OK, a dragon is asking me if I want to retake the Iron Throne.  It’s time for me to wrap up.

Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V Live Migration Does Not Support Passthrough Disks

The KB article that I reported on was incorrect.  I’ve since posted a correction that shows you what the KB article should have said.
I’ve seen lots of posts online where people complain the Live Migration fails on WS2012 Hyper-V when a VM has a pass-through disk.  It’s official, Live Migration in WS2012 Hyper-V does not support pass-through disks (what VMware calls Raw Device Mapping).

Changes and improvements in Windows Hyper-V Server 2012 no longer support pass-through disks if Live Migration is to be used.
I, for one, applaud this.  I’ve been quite vocal about disliking passthrough disks.  If you need the flexibility and the fastest storage performance then use fixed virtual hard disks.  A fixed virtual hard disk is almost the same speed as the underlying LUN and you’re probably getting lots of IOPS by stacking disks in a LUN or disk group.  Half the Internet (if not more) runs like this, so stop thinking that your mission critical app for 100 users needs to be special – especially if you’re guessing … and I know you haven’t done an assessment.  You know who you are.

The default format of virtual hard disk in WS2012 is VHDX.  If you need volumes bigger than 2040 GB (just under 2 TB) then VHDX scales out to 64 TB.  Seriously, just use VHDX and stop applying inappropriate and limited VMware practices to Hyper-V.

How Would I “Attend” TechEd/MMS If I Was An IT Manager?

I attended TechEd for the first time in 2004.  It was a last second freebie from Microsoft.  We had just signed a decent sized Enterprise Agreement, we were bullish on Microsoft software, and they were keen to get us to deploy MOM and SMS.  There was a last minute, no-refunds, cancellation and I was offered the ticket.  I went and I took copious notes, much of which I started testing in the lab and implementing.  In fact, there was more than I could learn by myself.  We really needed SharePoint, SQL, developers, networking, and more people there.

After that first trip, I told my boss (and he agreed) that traditional MSFT courses were useless to me.  I learned lots from TechEd.  And that’s how I wanted to use my annual training allowance.

Oh – I did my first pass on the TechEd North America schedule builder today.  One time slot had 9 sessions that I want to attend!!!!

How would I tackle a conference like MMS or TechEd now as an IT manager with a decent sized team? 

  • Firstly, I’d send several people.
  • Each person would be given an assignment: e.g. you learn Active Directory, you learn Office365, you learn ConfigMgr, etc.
  • I’d set up a single OneNote document for the conference and share it to each attendee
  • Each person would record their session notes on their tablets (Windows 8 Enterprise, of course) in their own section in the OneNote document.  They can open new pages for each session.

This way everyone records their notes.  I as a boss have visibility that people aren’t out in the bars when they should be in sessions Smile  And I’d also ensure that the entire team has read rights to the document so they can learn, even if they aren’t at the conference.  That can be supplemented with downloading the sessions to a nice depduped WS2012 file share when they are released on Channel 9 Smile

Irish Government To Run Cyber Security Tests

According to Silicon Republic, the Irish government is to run some cyber war games to test their responses and resilience to digital attacks. 

That’ll be interesting; a few years ago the Irish government decided to implement a very unpopular and ineffective DNS-based copyright (and potentially censoring) system that drew the attention of a certain Guy-Fawkes-mask wearing hacktivist group.  In no time at all the hackers posted admin passwords from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), a group you’d expect to have superior security.  I saw the list, and it was not much better than “Monkey” or “Password1” … actually “Password1” might have been one of them!

Hopefully the results of the tests will result in real changes to practices and design.  I’m sceptical; I reckon tests/results will be moulded to minimise “bad results” and a knock on image.  Plus an admin who uses “Password1” in a so-called-secure environment is the sort who won’t want to change. 

Folks from efficient countries will think I’m being a cynic – people who live in Ireland know exactly what I mean (e-voting machines where the admin password was in the publicly available help button, a 10 year SAP project that exceeds departmental budgets, digital ticketing for public transport that makes us want to use paper stripe cards like most Euro cities, and so on).

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