Amit Pawar - Infrastructure blog : Hyper-V

Booting Hyper-V R2 from USB

apawar — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:24:46 GMT

Lot of customers have been asking me about booting Hyper-V R2 from a USB drive

There is documentation for that

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee731893(WS.10).aspx

To make this process easier there is a app for that

http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/BootHVSR2FromUSB

Is VMware costing you way too much

apawar — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 15:48:46 GMT

Head over to http://www.vmwarecostswaytoomuch.com/ to find out how you and your organisation could save with Microsoft's virtualisation solutions.

Use the ROI tool to find out how much you could be saving.

Technorati Tags: Hyper-V,VMware,Cost,TCO,ROI

Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.5 Releases/Hosting for App-V

apawar — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 03:43:18 GMT

Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V) version 4.5 has been released. Formerly known as SoftGrid, App-V 4.5 is the first Microsoft-branded release of the product. It includes new capabilities designed to help IT support large-scale virtualisation implementations across many sites and provides multiple delivery options including over-the-Internet application availability to meet your business needs.

Additionally, Microsoft Application Virtualization for Terminal Services has also been updated to the same standards and now supports Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services.

Click the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack and Microsoft Application Virtualization for Terminal Services on the Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.5. Please visit the Application Virtualization Blog or the MDOP Blog for more information and go to TechNet to download App-V Guidance Documents.

Technorati Tags: Applicaiton Virtualisation,SoftGrid,MDOP,App-V,Hyper-V,Windows Server 2008

Exchange on Hyper-V

apawar — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 03:40:26 GMT

Microsoft supports Exchange Server 2007 in production on hardware virtualisation software only when all the following conditions are true:

The hardware virtualisation software is Windows Server 2008 with Hyper-V technology, Microsoft Hyper-V Server, or any third-party hypervisor that has been validated under the Windows Server Virtualization Validation Program.
The Exchange Server guest virtual machine:
- Is running Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 with Service Pack 1 (SP1) or later.
- Is deployed on the Windows Server 2008 operating system.
- Does not have the Unified Messaging server role installed. All Exchange 2007 server roles, except for the Unified Messaging role, are supported in a virtualisation environment.
The storage used by the Exchange Server guest machine can be virtual storage of a fixed size (for example, fixed virtual hard drives (VHDs) in a Hyper-V environment), SCSI pass-through storage, or Internet SCSI (iSCSI) storage. Pass-through storage is storage that is configured at the host level and dedicated to one guest machine.
Note:

In a Hyper-V environment, each fixed VHD must be less than 2,040 gigabytes (GB). For supported third-party hypervisors, check with the manufacturer to see if any disk size limitations exist.
- Virtual disks that dynamically expand are not supported by Exchange.
- Virtual disks that use differencing or delta mechanisms (such as Hyper-V's differencing VHDs or snapshots) are not supported.
No other server-based applications, other than management software (for example, antivirus software, backup software, virtual machine management software, etc.) can be deployed on the physical root machine. The root machine should be dedicated to running guest virtual machines.
Microsoft does not support combining Exchange clustering solutions (namely, cluster continuous replication (CCR) and single copy clusters (SCC)) with hypervisor-based availability or migration solutions (for example, Hyper-V's quick migration). Both CCR and SCC are supported in hardware virtualisation environments provided that the virtualisation environment does not employ clustered virtualisation servers.
Some hypervisors include features for taking snapshots of virtual machines. Virtual machine snapshots capture the state of a virtual machine while it is running. This feature enables you to take multiple snapshots of a virtual machine and then revert the virtual machine to any of the previous states by applying a snapshot to the virtual machine. However, virtual machine snapshots are not application-aware, and using them can have unintended and unexpected consequences for a server application that maintains state data, such as Exchange Server. As a result, making virtual machine snapshots of an Exchange guest virtual machine is not supported.
Many hardware virtualisation products allow you to specify the number of virtual processors that should be allocated to each guest virtual machine. The virtual processors located in the guest virtual machine share a fixed number of logical processors in the physical system. Exchange supports a virtual processor-to-logical processor ratio no greater than 2:1. For example, a dual processor system using quad core processors contains a total of 8 logical processors in the host system. On a system with this configuration, do not allocate more than a total of 16 virtual processors to all guest virtual machines combined.

To read more go to http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc794548.aspx

Technorati Tags: Exchange,Hyper-V

Australian customers using Hyper-V

apawar — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 17:22:31 GMT

Now that Hyper-V and SCVMM have officially launched (www.getvirtualnow.com) the case studies are coming in for Australian customers

Click on this link to see a list of the Australian case studies for Hyper-V http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/search.aspx?Keywords=Hyper-V&CouTaxID=1326.

Technorati Tags: Hyper-V,Australia,Case Studies

Hyper-V has now released to manufacturing (RTM)

apawar — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 05:45:22 GMT

Hyper-V, a key feature of Windows Server 2008, has now released to manufacturing (RTM) and is available for deployment into production environments. A beta of Hyper-V was included with Windows Server 2008 and this update provides the final release.

Server virtualization, also known as hardware virtualization, is a hot topic in the IT world because of the potential for serious economic benefits. Server virtualization enables multiple operating systems to run on a single physical machine as virtual machines (VMs). With server virtualization, you can consolidate workloads of underutilized server machines onto a smaller number of fully utilized machines. Fewer physical machines can lead to reduced costs through lower hardware, energy, and management overhead, plus the creation of a more dynamic IT infrastructure. To learn more about Microsoft and virtualization, please visit the Virtualization Web site, or the Virtualization TechCenter.

With Windows Server 2008, everything needed to support server virtualization is available as an integral feature of the operating system as Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V. With Hyper-V as a role, plus flexible licensing policies, it's now easier than ever to take advantage of the cost savings of virtualization through Windows Server 2008:

Microsoft has now released the final version of Hyper-V, which is now available for download. You can download the update for Hyper-V RTM here and experience the improved stability, usability and performance.

Technorati Tags: Hyper-V,Virtualisation,Virtualization

Hyper-V Release Candidate and remote management

apawar — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 09:41:25 GMT

There are two update packages for the Hyper-V Release Candidate.

Update for Windows Server 2008 (KB949219)

This package includes the following items:

• The updated version of the Hyper-V Manager console and of the Virtual Machine Connection remote connection tool for x86-based versions of Windows Server 2008

• The updated version of the Integration Services for x86-based versions of Windows Server 2008

To install the latest version of the Integration Services for x86-based versions of Windows Server 2008, you must install this package in the virtual machine and on computers that are running the x86-based version of Windows Server 2008.

Update for Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition (KB949219)

This package includes the following items:

• The updated version of the Hyper-V role
• The updated version of the Hyper-V Manager console and of the Virtual Machine Connection remote connection tool for x64-based versions of Windows Server 2008
•The updated version of the Integration Services for the following operating systems:
•Windows Server 2008, x64-based versions only
•Windows Server 2003, x86-based versions and x64-based versions
•Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1), x86-based versions only
•Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3), x86-based versions only

To install the latest version of the Integration Services for x64-based versions of Windows Server 2008, you must install this package in the virtual machine and on computers that are running the x64-based version of Windows Server 2008.

To install the latest version of the Integration Services for Windows Server 2003, for Windows Vista SP1, and for Windows XP SP3, click Insert Integration Services Setup Disk on the Action menu in the Virtual Machine Connection dialog box.

Note On a Windows Vista-based computer, the updated Integration Services are listed in Programs and Features as KB949757.

Requirements for the update

•The release version of Windows Server 2008 must be installed on the computer.
•The "Update for Windows Server 2008 (KB949219)" package requires an x86-based version of Windows Server 2008.
•The "Update for Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition (KB949219)" package requires an x64-based version of Windows Server 2008.

How to obtain the update

The following files are available for download from the Microsoft Download Center:

Update for Windows Server 2008 (KB949219), 32-bit versions

Download the Update for Windows Server 2008 (KB949219), 32-bit versions package now. (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=B7464B44-821D-4A7C-9D9C-7D74EC14437C)

Update for Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition (KB949219), 64-bit versions

Download the Update for Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition (KB949219), 64-bit versions package now. (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=DDD94DDA-9D31-4E6D-88A0-1939DE3E9898)

Note You must install the "Update for Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition (KB949219)" package on a computer that is running the Hyper-V role before you can apply the package to the Windows Server 2008 virtual machines.

You can find the Hyper-V Manager MMC here, there's versions for both x64 and x86.

These tools allow you to manage and interact with an installation of Hyper-V from your Vista computer in exactly the same manner that you do on a full installation of Windows Server 2008. Note that you need to have SP1 installed on Vista in order for this to work.

Also be aware that installing the Hyper-V management tools will create a shortcut for our MMC snap-in the "Administrative Tools" folder - which is not displayed under Vista by default. You need to enable this folder under the start menu properties to have it displayed.

Also note that you will need to enable WMI between your computer (per this article: http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa389290(VS.85).aspx).

Vista x64 Edition: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=450931F5-EBEC-4C0B-95BD-E3BA19D296B1&displaylang=en

Vista x86 Edition: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=BC3D09CC-3752-4934-B84C-905E78BE50A1&displaylang=en

Technorati Tags: Hyper-V,Windows Server 2008,Remote Management

DPM explained

apawar — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 14:21:37 GMT

So in my earlier post today I talked about System Center Data Protection Manager also known as SCDPM 2007. The flash animation below explains

how DPM can be used in a Dynamic Datacenter to backup Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1. When Microsoft releases Hyper-V later this year DPM 2007 will also be able to backup Hyper-V based Virtual Machines. One backup tool to rule the physical and the virtual world.

http://www.microsoft.com/systemcenter/dpm/flash/virtualization/index.html

Technorati Tags: Data Protection,Virtualization,Backup,Hyper-V,System Center