Jose's Briefings, Diagrams and Annotations

Updated Links on Windows Server 2012 File Server and SMB 3.0

Jose Barreto - MSFT — Fri, 18 May 2012 21:29:00 GMT

Last week we had a lot of announcements coming out, including the final names for Windows 8, Windows Server 2012 (formerly known as Windows Server "8") and SMB 3.0 (simply a rename of “SMB 2.2" to better convey the fact that we have significant improvements in this release). I also noticed there are quite a few articles out there about the new capabilities of the Windows File Server (both on TechNet and in the many Microsoft-related blogs) and it's sometimes hard to find the details about a related scenario or feature.

In this post, I'm providing a reference to the most relevant content related to the beta release, especially in what relates to the File Server, the SMB 3.0 features and its associated scenarios like Hyper-V over SMB and SQL Server over SMB. It's obviously not a complete reference (there are new blog posts every day), but hopefully this is a useful collection of links for Windows Server 2012 beta users.

Summaries of SMB 3.0 features in Windows Server 2012

Windows Server Blog - SMB 2.2 is now SMB 3.0. Great overview of SMB 3.0 scenarios and features
Windows Server Blog - Taking Server Application Storage to Windows File Shares.
Storage and Continuous Availability Enhancements in Windows Server 8
High-Performance, Continuously Available File Share Storage for Server Applications
SMB 3 Security Enhancements in Windows Server 2012 (Includes SMB Encryption)

Articles on File Storage for Application Servers

Articles on SMB Scale-Out

Articles on SMB Direct (SMB over RDMA) and SMB Multichannel

Articles on Failover Clustering related to File Server Clusters

How to Enable CSV Cache - Used by Scale-out File Servers
How to Configure an Alias for a Clustered SMB Share with Windows Server 2012
Draining Nodes for Planned Maintenance with Windows Server 2012

Articles on File Server Management

Private Cloud Solution Architecture

White Papers

Videos

Windows Server 8 - Storage Changes - Thomas Pfenning talks about Storage and Availability in Windows Server 2012
New Server form factors, Continuous Availability - John Loveall shows the new Cluster-in-a-box systems.
Microsoft Management Summit keynote - Brad Anderson on System Center 2012 and Windows Server 2012
How Microsoft Secures Sensitive Data Using File Classification Infrastructure - Nir Ben Zvi talks about FCI
SNIA’s Storage Developer Conference - SDC 2011 content (slides and videos) now available for download
Links to //build/ sessions on Storage, Networking and Hyper-V - Links to //Build to both videos and PowerPoint files

Knowledge Base articles (Support KBs) about Windows Server 2012 SMB 3.0

Protocol Documentation

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Change tracking:

04/24/2012: Original post
05/01/2012: Update: Added links to two SNW Spring 2012 presentation
05/03/2012: Update: Added links to protocol documentation, blog post on SMB Encryption and private could blog post
05/18/2012: Update: Added links to SDC presentations, plus blogs on basics of SMB PowerShell and SMB PowerShell

The basics of SMB PowerShell, a feature of Windows Server 2012 and SMB 3.0

Jose Barreto - MSFT — Thu, 17 May 2012 23:20:00 GMT

1. Overview

1.1. Introduction

Windows Server 2012 provides Windows PowerShell cmdlets and WMI objects to manage SMB File Servers and SMB File Shares.

These new tools are aimed at both System Administrator and Developers.

1.2. Benefits

SMB PowerShell cmdlets allow an IT Administrator to

Use the PowerShell command line to manage and monitor File Servers and File Shares.

Write scripts that automate common File Server administrative tasks, providing consistent automation.

Leverage existing PowerShell skills.

Integrate with related PowerShell-managed components (network, block storage, cluster).

WMI objects allow a Developer to

Use a simpler API to manage and monitor File Servers and File Shares

Leverage existing skills to use WMI classes for management

Integrate with related WMI-managed components (network, block storage, cluster).

Allow for consistent automation of file-server related processes and policies, including change control.

These cmdlets and objects were designed with the following goals in mind:

Administrator-friendly: Consistent set of cmdlets which supersedes the existing NET.EXE tool.

Scripting-friendly: Integrates with other PowerShell-managed components.

Cluster-aware: Manage both standalone and clustered file servers.

Developer-friendly: Enable developers, superseding the related Win32 Net APIs.

GUI-friendly: Predictable response time, to allow use by a GUI like Server Manager.

Remotable: Able to manage a remote File Server by specifying its name.

Properties-aware: Allows getting and setting SMB share properties.

Settings-aware: Allows getting and setting SMB server and SMB client configuration settings.

Network Interface-aware: Expose information on the network interfaces used the SMB Client and Server, as well as their interactions with SMB Multichannel.

1.3. Requirements

You do not need to install any roles or features in order use the SMB PowerShell and WMI objects in Windows Server 2012.

Certain parameters and settings might be restricted to specific configurations, like the ones related to File Server clusters.

1.4. Supported Configurations

SMB PowerShell and WMI objects are supported in all configurations in Windows Server 2012.

Certain parameters and settings might be restricted to specific configurations, like the ones related to File Server clusters.

2. Configuration

2.1. Installing

The SMB PowerShell cmdlets and WMI objects are available by default in Windows Server 2012.

There is no need to install components, roles, role services or features.

The SMB cmdlets are packaged into two modules called SmbShare and SmbWitness.

These modules are automatically loaded whenever you refer to any of the cmdlets included. No upfront configuration is required.

Optionally, you can load these modules manually using the following PowerShell cmdlet:

Import-Module Smb*

2.2. Enumerating cmdlets

You can list all cmdlets in the SMB PowerShell modules using the Get-Command cmdlets.

For instance, to get a list of cmdlets in the SMB modules sorted by Noun and Verb, use the following cmdlets:

Get-Command –Module Smb* | Sort Noun, Verb

Here’s the list of SMB-related objects (nouns) and methods (verbs) available in Windows Server 2012 Beta:

SMB Share: Get, New, Set, Remove

SMB Share Access: Get, Grant, Revoke, Block, Unblock

SMB Configuration: Get, Set for Server, Client

SMB Session: Get, Close

SMB Open File: Get, Close

SMB Mapping: Get, New, Remove

SMB Connection: Get

SMB Network Interface: Get for Server, Client

SMB Multichannel Connection: Get, Update

SMB Witness Client: Get, Move

2.3. Getting help for a cmdlet

You can obtain information about any PowerShell cmdlet (including a list of parameters) by using the Get-Help cmdlet. For example, to get help for the Get-SmbShare cmdlet, use the following PowerShell cmdlet:

Get-Help Get-SmbShare

2.4. Uninstalling

The SMB PowerShell cmdlets and WMI objects are available by default in Windows Server 2012. There is no need to uninstall components, roles, role services or features.

3. SMB PowerShell cmdlets

Here are the SMB PowerShell cmdlets, grouped by area, each with a simple description and a sample command line.

3.1. SMB Shares

These cmdlets let you manage SMB shares, including creating new ones, setting their properties and removing them.

Get a list of existing file shares

Get-SmbShare
Get-SmbShare FS*

Create new file share

New-SmbShare –Name ShareName –Path C:\LocalFolder

Change the configuration of an existing file share

Set-SmbShare –Name ShareName –Description “This is a test share”

Remove a file share

Remove-SmbShare –Name ShareName

3.2. SMB Share Access

These cmdlets let you manage permissions (access control lists) for SMB shares. You can grant and revoke permissions (full, change or read) to specific accounts, as well as block and unblock access by a specific account.

Get a list of permissions for a file share

Get-SmbShareAccess –Name ShareName

Add permissions for a user, computer or group when creating the file share

New-SmbShare –Name ShareName –Path C:\LocalFolder –FullAccess Username

Grant permissions for a user, computer or group after the file share is already created

Grant-SmbShareAccess –Name Share –AccountName User –AccessRight Full

Revoke permissions for a user, computer or group

Revoke-SmbShareAccess –Name ShareName –AccountName Username

Block a specific user, computer or group from a file share

Block-SmbShareAccess –Name ShareName –AccountName Username

Unblock a specific user, computer or group from a file share

Unblock-SmbShareAccess –Name ShareName –AccountName Username

3.3. Sessions and Open Files

These cmdlets let you manage currently open sessions and files on an SMB server, including listing and forcibly closing them.

Get a list of SMB Server sessions

Get-SmbSession

Close a specific SMB Server session by session ID (use the ID as listed by Get-SmbSession)

Close-SmbSession -SessionId 4469316125633

Close a specific SMB Server session by computer (use the name as listed by Get-SmbSession)

Close-SmbSession –ClientComputerName \\192.168.101.10

Close a specific SMB Server session by user name (use the name as listed by Get-SmbSession)

Close-SmbSession –ClientUserName Domain\Username

Get a list of currently open files in the SMB Server

Get-SmbOpenFile

Get a list of currently open files by a specific user in the SMB Server

Get-SmbOpenFile –ClientUserName Domain\Username

Close a specific SMB open file by file ID (use the ID as listed by Get-SmbOpenFile)

Close-SmbOpenFile –FileID 8885213595225

Close a specific SMB open file by user name (use the name as listed by Get-SmbOpenFile)

Close-SmbOpenFile –ClientUserName Domain\Username

3.4. Client Connections and Mappings

These cmdlets let you view current connections and manage drive mappings on an SMB client.

View a list of the SMB connections currently used by an SMB client

Get-SmbConnection

View a list of drives mapped by an SMB client

Get-SmbMapping

To map a new driver to a remote file share

New-SmbMapping -LocalPath X: -RemotePath \\FileServer\Share

To remove an existing mapping

Remove-SmbMapping -LocalPath Y:

3.5. Network interfaces

These cmdlets let you view the network interface configuration used by SMB Multichannel on an SMB client or SMB server. They also manage current SMB Multichannel connections on the SMB client.

List the network interfaces available to the SMB server, along with its capabilities

Get-SmbServerNetworkInterface

List the network interfaces available to the SMB client, along with its capabilities

Get-SmbClientNetworkInterface

List the connections currently in use by SMB Multichannel

Get-SmbMultichannelConnection

List the connections currently in use by SMB Multichannel to talk to a specific server (use the name as listed by Get-SmbMultichannelConnection without any parameters)

Get-SmbMultichannelConnection -ServerName \ServerName

Force SMB Multichannel to immediately recalculate its policy and react to potential changes in network topology

Update-SmbMultichannelConnection

Force SMB Multichannel to immediately recalculate its policy for a specific server and react to potential changes in network topology (use the name as listed by Get-SmbMultichannelConnection without any parameters)

Update-SmbMultichannelConnection -ServerName \ServerName

3.6. Client and Server Configuration

These cmdlets let you view and change configuration parameters for the SMB server and SMB client.

View the current SMB client configuration settings

Get-SmbClientConfiguration

To change an SMB client configuration setting, like SMB Signing

Set-SmbClientConfiguration -RequireSecuritySignature $true

View the current SMB server configuration settings

Get-SmbServerConfiguration

To change an SMB server configuration setting, like SMB Signing

Set-SmbServerConfiguration -RequireSecuritySignature $true

3.7. Witness

These cmdlets let you view the SMB Witness connections in an SMB Scale-Out configuration. You can also move clients to a different server in the cluster.

Lists the SMB Witness clients currently connecting to the SMB Server

Get-SmbWitnessClient

Move an SMB client in a Scale-Out File Server to another File Server cluster node

Move-SmbWitnessClient -ClientName ClientX -DestinationNode ServerY

4. Troubleshooting

Here are troubleshooting tips for SMB PowerShell.

4.1. Access is denied

Many SMB PowerShell cmdlets require administrator permissions.

Make sure you are logged on as a user with Administrative permissions.

Also make sure you’re running an elevated PowerShell prompt (use the option to “Run as Administrator” when launching PowerShell).

4.2. Cmdlet help is brief and offers no details

During the beta phase, there is limited cmdlet help. While at least a list of parameters is provided, other details may be missing.

Updated help information will be published to the Internet.

You can update the help text for your SMB PowerShell cmdlets using the following PowerShell cmdlet:

Update-Help Smb*

4.3. Failed to Update Help

During the beta phase, it’s possible you get an error saying “Failed to update Help for the module” while running the Update-Help cmdlets.

Here are a few common reasons:

You’re having problems with your Internet connection. Verify your Internet connection and try again.

The help for the module is not yet available on the Internet. The help will become available by the time Windows Server 2012 is finalized.

4.4. Running cmdlets against a remove file server

SMB PowerShell supports running cmdlets against a remote file server.

You simply have to add the parameter CimSession to your cmdlet.

For instance, to remove the Share1 SMB share on server “FS1” from another server, use the following cmdlet:

Remove-SmbShare –CimSession FS1 –Name Share1

5. Comparing with older technologies

5.1. SMB PowerShell and the NET.EXE tool

For IT Administrators, the new SMB PowerShell supersedes the older NET.EXE tools for all share-related operations.

Here’s a table that compares the old NET.EXE command lines with the new PowerShell cmdlets:

NET.EXE command Equivalent SMB PowerShell

NET SHARE Get-SmbShare
New-SmbShare
Set-SmbShare
Remove-SmbShare

NET FILE Get-SmbOpenFile
Close-SmbOpenFile

NET SESSION Get-SmbSession
Close-SmbSession

NET USE Get-SmbMapping
New-SmbMapping
Remove-SmbMapping

NET CONFIG Get-SmbServerConfiguration
Set-SmbServerConfiguration
Get-SmbClientConfiguration
Set-SmbClientConfiguration

5.2. SMB WMI classes and the older NET APIs

For Developers, the new SMB WMI supersedes the older Win32 NET API.

Here’s a table that compares the old NET API and the SMB WMI classes:

Net API call SMB PowerShell

NetShareEnum
NetShareGetInfo Get-SmbShare

NetShareSetInfo Set-SmbShare

NetShareAdd New-SmbShare

NetShareDel
NetShareDelEx Remove-SmbShare

NetFileEnum
NetFileGetInfo Get-SmbOpenFile

NetFileClose Close-SmbOpenFile

NetSessionEnum
NetSessionGetInfo Get-SmbSession

NetSessionDel Close-SmbSession

6. Additional SMB PowerShell samples

You can find additional examples of SMB PowerShell cmdlets in the following blog posts:

Windows Server 2012 Beta - Test cases for Hyper-V over SMB (includes PowerShell examples)

Let’s Build a Cloud… With PowerShell! - Part 1: Deployment and Configuration

Windows PowerShell Reference Sheet for File and Storage Services in Windows Server 2012 Beta

7. Conclusion

I hope this blog post has helped you understand the basics of SMB PowerShell. I would encourage you to try the new cmdlets with the Windows 8 Consumer Preview and the Windows Server 2012 Beta.

For additional information on the Windows Server 2012 File Server, SMB 3.0 and SMB PowerShell, see the links at Updated Links on Windows Server 2012 File Server and SMB 3.0.

The basics of SMB Multichannel, a feature of Windows Server 2012 and SMB 3.0

Jose Barreto - MSFT — Mon, 14 May 2012 15:40:00 GMT

1. Introduction

Windows Server 2012 includes a new feature called SMB Multichannel, part of the SMB 3.0 protocol, which increases the network performance and availability for File Servers.

1.1. Benefits

SMB Multichannel allows file servers to use multiple network connections simultaneously and provides the following capabilities:

Increased throughput. The file server can simultaneously transmit more data using multiple connections for high speed network adapters or multiple network adapters.

Network Fault Tolerance. When using multiple network connections at the same time, the clients can continue to work uninterrupted despite the loss of a network connection.

Automatic Configuration: SMB Multichannel automatically discovers the existence of multiple available network paths and dynamically adds connections as required.

1.2. Requirements

SMB Multichannel requires the following:

At least two computers running Windows Server 2012 or Windows 8.

At least one of the configurations below:

Multiple network adapters

One or more network adapters that support RSS (Receive Side Scaling)

One of more network adapters configured with NIC Teaming

One or more network adapters that support RDMA (Remote Direct Memory Access)

2. Configuration

2.1. Installing

SMB Multichannel is enabled by default. There is no need to install components, roles, role services or features.
The SMB client will automatically detect and use multiple network connections if a proper configuration is identified.

2.2. Disabling

SMB Multichannel is enabled by default and there is typically no need to disable it.
However, if you want to disable SMB Multichannel (for testing purposes, for instance), you can use the following PowerShell cmdlets:

On the SMB server side:

Set-SmbServerConfiguration -EnableMultiChannel $false

On the SMB client side:

Set-SmbClientConfiguration -EnableMultiChannel $false

Note: Disabling the feature on either the client or the server prevent the systems from using it.

2.3. Re-enabling

You can re-enable SMB Multichannel after you disabled it by using:

On the SMB server side:

Set-SmbServerConfiguration -EnableMultiChannel $true

On the SMB client side:

Set-SmbClientConfiguration -EnableMultiChannel $true

Note: You need to enable the feature on both the client or the server to start using it again.

3. Sample Configurations

This section provides details on how SMB Multichannel works with a few different configurations using a variety of Network Interface Cards (NIC). Please note that these are only samples and many other configurations not detailed here are possible.

3.1. Single RSS-capable NIC

This typical configuration involves an SMB client and SMB Server configured with a single 10GbE NIC. Without SMB multichannel, if there is only one SMB session established, SMB uses a single TCP/IP connection, which naturally gets affinitized with a single CPU core. If lots of small IOs are performed, it’s possible for that core to become a performance bottleneck.

Most NICs today offer a capability called Receive Side Scaling (RSS), which allows multiple connections to be spread across multiple CPU cores automatically. However, when using a single connection, RSS cannot help.

With SMB Multichannel, if the NIC is RSS-capable, SMB will create multiple TCP/IP connections for that single session, avoiding a potential bottleneck on a single CPU core when lots of small IOs are required.

3.2. Multiple NICs

When using multiple NICs without SMB multichannel, if there is only one SMB session established, SMB creates a single TCP/IP connection using only one of the many NICs available. In this case, not only it’s not possible to aggregate the bandwidth of the multiple NICs (achieve 2Gbps when using two 1GbE NICs, for instance), but there is a potential for failure if the specific NIC chosen is somehow disconnected or disabled.

With Multichannel, SMB will create multiple TCP/IP connections for that single session (at least one per interface or more if they are RSS-capable). This allows SMB to use the combined NIC bandwidth available and makes it possible for the SMB client to continue to work uninterrupted if a NIC fails.

3.3. Teamed NICs

Windows Server 2012 supports the ability to combine multiple NICs into one using a new feature commonly referred to as NIC teaming. Although a team always provides fault tolerance, SMB without Multichannel will create only one TCP/IP connection per team, leading to limitations in both the number of CPU cores engaged and the use of the full team bandwidth.

SMB Multichannel will create multiple TCP/IP connections, allowing for better balancing across CPU cores with a single SMB session and better use of the available bandwidth. NIC Teaming will continue to offer the failover capability, which will work faster than using SMB Multichannel by itself. NIC Teaming is also recommended because it offers failover capabilities to other workloads that do not rely on SMB and therefore cannot benefit from the failover capabilities of SMB Multichannel.

Note: A team of RDMA-capable NICs is always reported as non-RDMA capable. If you intend to use the RDMA capabilities of the NIC, do not team them.

3.4. Single or Multiple RDMA NICs

SMB Multichannel is the feature responsible for detecting the RDMA capabilities of NICs to enable the SMB Direct feature (SMB over RDMA). Without SMB Multichannel, SMB will use regular TCP/IP with these RDMA-capable NICs (they all provide a TCP/IP stack side-by-side with the new RDMA stack).

With SMB Multichannel, SMB will detect the RDMA capability and create multiple RDMA connections for that single session (two per interface). This allows SMB to use the high throughput, low latency and low CPU utilization offered by these RDMA NICs. It will also offer fault tolerance if you’re using multiple RDMA interfaces.

Note 1: A team of RDMA-capable teams is reported as non-RDMA capable. If you intend to use the RDMA capability of the NIC, do not team them.

Note 2: After at least one RDMA connection is created, the TCP/IP connection used for the original protocol negotiation is no longer used. However, that connection is kept around in case the RDMA connections fail.

3.5. Multichannel, RDMA and NIC Teaming compatibility

Here’s a table summarizing the different capabilities available when combining SMB Multichannel, RDMA (SMB Direct) and NIC Teaming:

For non-RDMA NICs, your best bet is combining NIC Teaming with SMB Multichannel. This will give you the best throughput, plus fault tolerance for applications using SMB and other protocols.

When using RDMA NICs, LBFO is not a good option, since it disables the RDMA capability of the NIC.

3.6. Sample Configurations that do not use SMB Multichannel

The following are sample network configurations that do not use SMB Multichannel:

Single non-RSS-capable network adapters. This configuration would not benefit from multiple network connections, so SMB Multichannel is not used.

Network adapters of different speeds. SMB Multichannel will choose to use the faster network adapter. Only network interfaces of same type (RDMA, RSS or none) and speed will be used simultaneously by SMB Multichannel, so the slower adapter will be idle.

4. Operations

Here are a few common scenarios for testing SMB Multichannel:

4.1. Compare a file copy with and without SMB Multichannel

To measure the increased throughput provided by SMB Multichannel, follow these steps:

Setup SMB Multichannel in one the configurations described earlier

Measure the time to perform a long-running file copy using SMB Multichannel

Disable SMB Multichannel (see instructions in previous topic).

Measure the time it takes to perform the same file copy without SMB Multichannel

Re-enable SMB Multichannel (see instructions in previous topic).

Compare the two results.

Note: to avoid the effects of caching, you should:

Copy a large amount of data (more data than would fit on memory).

Perform the copy twice, using first copy as a warm-up and timing only the second copy.

Restart both the server and the client before each test to make sure they operate under similar conditions.

4.2. Fail one of multiple NICs during a file copy with SMB Multichannel

To confirm the failover capability of SMB Multichannel, follow these steps:

Make sure SMB Multichannel is operating in a multi-NIC configuration.

Perform a long-running file copy.

While the file copy is running, simulate a failure one of the network paths by disconnecting one of the cables (or by disabling one of the NICs)

Confirm that the file copy continues using the surviving NIC, without any file copy errors.

Note: Make sure there are no other workloads using the disconnected/disabled path, to avoid failures in workloads that do not leverage SMB Multichannel.

5. Troubleshooting

Here are troubleshooting tips for SMB Multichannel.

5.1. Verifying if you’re using SMB Multichannel

You can use the following steps to verify you are using SMB Multichannel.

Step 1: Verify network adapter configuration

Use the following PowerShell cmdlets to verify you have multiple NICs and/or to verify the RSS and RDMA capabilities of the NICs. Run on both the SMB server and the SMB client.

Get-NetAdapter

Get-NetAdapterRSS

Get-NetAdapterRDMA

Step 2: Verify SMB configuration

Use the following PowerShell cmdlets to make sure SMB Multichannel is enabled, confirm the NICs are being properly recognized by SMB and that their RSS and RDMA capabilities are being properly identified.

On the SMB client, run the following PowerShell cmdlets:

Get-SmbClientConfiguration | Select EnableMultichannel

Get-SmbClientNetworkInterface

On the SMB server, run the following PowerShell cmdlets:

Get-SmbServerConfiguration | Select EnableMultichannel

Get-SmbServerNetworkInterface

Step 3: Verify the SMB connection

On the SMB client, start a long-running file copy to create a lasting session with the SMB Server. While the copy is ongoing, open a PowerShell window and run the following cmdlets to verify the connection is using the right version of SMB and that SMB Multichannel is working:

Get-SmbConnection

Get-SmbMultichannelConnection

Get-SmbMultichannelConnection -IncludeNotSelected

5.2. View SMB Multichannel Events

SMB Multichannel events are recorded in the SMB Client log. You can look at this log using the Event Viewer or query it using PowerShell. Here’s how to do it:

Option 1: Using Event Viewer

To view the SMB Multichannel events using Event Viewer, use the following steps on the SMB Client:

Open Server Manager

In Server Manager, click on “Tools”, then “Event Viewer”

In Event Viewer, expand the tree on the left to show “Applications and Service Logs”, “Microsoft”, “Windows”, “SMB Client”, “Operational”

Click on “Filter Current Log…” on the Actions pane on the right and enter “30700-30705” on the filter for Event IDs.

To view only errors:

Click on “Filter Current Log…” on the Actions pane on the right and click on the checkbox labeled “Errors”.

Option 2: Using PowerShell

To view the SMB Multichannel events using PowerShell, use the following cmdlet on the SMB Client:

Get-WinEvent -LogName Microsoft-Windows-SMBClient/Operational |
? { $_.Id -ge 30700 –and $_.Id –le 30705 }

To list only errors, use the following cmdlet:

Get-WinEvent -LogName Microsoft-Windows-SMBClient/Operational |
? { $_.Id -ge 30700 –and $_.Id –le 30705 –and $_.Level –eq 2 }

5.3. View SMB Performance Counters

There are several Performance counters related to SMB in Windows Server 2012. To view SMB-related performance information, follow these steps:

Open Server Manager

In the Tools menu, open Performance Monitor

In Performance Monitoring, click on “Performance Monitor” on the tree on the left.

Switch to the Report View by pressing CTRL-G twice (or using the icon on the toolbar)

Add performance counters to the view by pressing CTRL-N (or using the icon on the toolbar)

The following Performance Counters are useful when looking at activities related to SMB, SMB Direct and Network Direct:

Counter Name Shows information for

SMB2 Server Shares Shares on the SMB Server

SMB2 Server Sessions Sessions on the SMB Server

SMB2 Client Shares Shares on the SMB Client

6. Number of SMB Connections per Interface

SMB Multichannel will use a different number of connections depending on the type of interface:

For RSS-capable interfaces, 4 TCP/IP connections per interface are used

For RDMA-capable interfaces, 2 RDMA connections per interface are used

For all other interfaces, 1 TCP/IP connection per interface is used

There is also a limit of 8 connections total per client/server pair which will limit the number connections per interface.

For instance, if you have 3 RSS-capable interfaces, you will end up with 3 connections on the first, 3 connections on the second and 2 connections on the third interface.

We recommend that you keep the default settings for SMB Multichannel. However, those parameters can be adjusted.

6.1. Total Connections per client/server pair

You can configure the maximum total number of connections per client/server pair using:

Set-SmbClientConfiguration –MaximumConnectionCountPerServer <n>

6.2. Connections per RSS-capable NIC

You can configure the number SMB Multichannel connections per RSS-capable network interface using the PowerShell cmdlet:

Set-SmbClientConfiguration -ConnectionCountPerRssNetworkInterface <n>

6.3. Connections per RDMA-capable NIC

It is even less likely that you’ll need to adjust the number of connections per RDMA-capable interface.

That can be configured via a registry key using the following PowerShell command:

Set-ItemProperty -Path ` "HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanWorkstation\Parameters" `
ConnectionCountPerRdmaNetworkInterface -Value <n> –Force

6.4. Connections for other types of NIC

For NICs that are not RSS-capable or RDMA-capable, there is likely no benefit of using multiple connections. In fact, this will likely reduce your performance.

How, for troubleshooting purposes, there is also a registry key to change the default settings of 1 connection per setting.

That can be configured via a registry key using the following PowerShell command:

Set-ItemProperty -Path ` "HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanWorkstation\Parameters" `
ConnectionCountPerNetworkInterface -Value <n> –Force

7. Conclusion

I hope this blog post has helped you understand the basics of SMB Multichannel. I would encourage you to try it out in any of the configurations shown.

For additional information on the Windows Server 2012 File Server, SMB 3.0 and SMB Direct, see the links at Updated Links on Windows Server 2012 File Server and SMB 3.0.

Update on 5/14: Minor content update

Windows Server 2012 Beta with SMB 3.0 – Demo at Interop shows SMB Direct at 5.8 Gbytes/sec over Mellanox ConnectX-3 network adapters

Jose Barreto - MSFT — Fri, 11 May 2012 20:20:00 GMT

The Interop conference happened this week in Las Vegas (see http://www.interop.com/lasvegas) and Mellanox showcased their high-speed ConnectX-3 network adapters during the event. They showed an interesting setup with Windows Server 2012 Beta and SMB 3.0 that showed amazing remote file performance using SMB Direct (SMB over RDMA). The short story? 5.8 Gbytes per second from a single network port. Yes, that’s giga bytes, not giga bits. Roughly one DVD per second. Crazy, right?

It’s really not a complicated setup, with a single SMB Server and a single SMB client connected over one network port. The unique thing here is the combination of Intel Romley motherboards each with two CPUs each with 8 cores, the faster PCIe Gen3 bus, four FusionIO ioDrive 2 drives rated at 1.5 Gbytes/sec each and the latest Mellanox InfiniBand ConnectX-3 network adapters. Here's what the different configurations look like:

To better compare the different networking technologies, I worked with Mellanox to gather information on traditional (non-RDMA) 10Gbps Ethernet, QDR InfiniBand (32 Gbps data rate) and FDR InfiniBand (54 Gbps data rate). All done with the same network adapter, just using different cables. You can see in the picture below the back of the server showing the four FusionIO cards and the ConnectX-3 card with two cables connected (the top connector with a QSFP to SPF+ adapter for the 10GbE SFP+ cable and the bottom one using an the InfiniBand FDR cable with a QSPF connector). Both are passive copper cables, but fiber optic versions are also available.

The results on the table below speak for themselves. The remote throughput is nearly identical to the local throughput for 512KB IOs at 5,792 Mbytes/sec. The results for smaller 8KB IOs is also impressive, showing over 340,000 IOPS on the remote system. Note that these are 8KB IOs, typically used by real workloads like OLTP systems. These are not tiny 512-byte IOs, so commonly used to produce large IOPS numbers but that do not match common workloads. You also can’t miss how RDMA improves the numbers for % Privileged CPU utilization, fulfilling the promise of low CPU utilization and low number of cycles per byte. The comparison between traditional, non-RDMA 10GbE and InfiniBand FDR for the first workload shows the most impressive contrast: over 5 times the throughput with about half the CPU utilization.

Here is some of the output for Performance Monitor in each configuration, for the anyone looking for the nasty details (you can click on the pictures to see a larger version).

Configuration \ Workload	512KB IOs, 8 threads, 8 outstanding	8KB IOs, 16 threads, 16 outstanding
Non-RDMA (Ethernet, 10 Gbps)
RDMA (InfiniBand QDR, 32 Gbps)
RDMA (InfiniBand FDR, 54 Gbps)
Local

Note: You’ll find slight differences in the bandwidth and IOPS numbers between the two tables. The first table (with the blue background) is more accurate, since it shows a 60-second average and it uses base 2 for the bandwidth (multiples of 1024). The second table (with the performance monitor screenshots) shows instant values with base 10 (multiples of 1000).

If you want to try this scenario in your own lab, all you need is similarly configured machines and Windows Server 2012 Beta (available as a free download). For a complete list of required hardware for the InfiniBand configuration and step by step instructions on how to make this happen, see this blog post on Deploying Windows Server 2012 Beta with SMB Direct (SMB over RDMA) and the Mellanox ConnectX-2/ConnectX-3 using InfiniBand – Step by Step.

I also delivered a short presentation at the conference covering this demo. The presentation is attached to this blog post (see link to the PDF file below).

-----

Update on 5/7: Added picture of the server.
Update on 5/11: Presentation attached to this blog post.

File Server team sessions at TechEd 2012 Europe

Jose Barreto - MSFT — Wed, 09 May 2012 14:29:00 GMT

If you're planning to attend the TechEd 2012 Europe event in June, here are the scheduled sessions with speakers from the File Server team:

Code	Title	Speaker(s)	Day	Time	Track	Level
WSV328	The Path to Continuous Availability with Windows Server 2012	Gene Chellis, Jim Pinkerton	Wed	10:15 AM	Windows Server	300
SIA207	Windows Server 2012 Dynamic Access Control Overview	Matthias Wollnik, Rutwick Bhatt	Wed	2:45 PM	Security & Identity	200
WSV308	Standards Support and Interoperability in Windows Server 2012: Storage, Networking, and Management	Gene Chellis, Jeffrey Snover, See-Mong Tan, Wojtek Kozaczynski	Wed	2:45 PM	Windows Server	300
VIR306	Hyper-V over SMB: Remote File Storage Support in Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V	Jose Barreto	Wed	10:15 AM	Virtualization	300
WSV314	Windows Server 2012 NIC Teaming and SMB Multichannel Solutions	Don Stanwyck, Jose Barreto	Thu	08:30 AM	Windows Server	300
SIA401	Windows Server 2012 Dynamic Access Control Deep Dive for Active Directory and Central Authorization Policies	Matthias Wollnik, Joseph Isenhour	Wed	5:00 PM	Security & Identity	400
SIA03-LNC	Q&A with the Active Directory team	Samuel Devasahayam, Matthias Wollnik, Brian Puhl	Thu	1:30 PM	Security & Identity	200
WSV310	Windows Server 2012: Cluster-in-a-Box, RDMA, and More	John Loveall, Jose Barreto	Wed	12:00 PM	Windows Server	300

If you’re not registered, there’s still time. Visit the registration page for details.

If you’re already registered, you can use the My Agenda Page to add the sessions to your schedule with one click.

You can also see the File Server team sessions at TechEd 2012 North America.

File Server team sessions at TechEd 2012 North America

Jose Barreto - MSFT — Wed, 02 May 2012 01:40:00 GMT

If you're planning to attend the TechEd 2012 North America event in June, here are the scheduled sessions with speakers from the File Server team:

Code	Title	Speaker(s)	Day	Time	Track	Level
WSV328	The Path to Continuous Availability with Windows Server 2012	Gene Chellis, Jim Pinkerton	Mon	4:45 PM	Windows Server	300
SIA207	Windows Server 2012 Dynamic Access Control Overview	Gunjan Jain, Nir Ben Zvi	Mon	4:45 PM	Security & Identity	200
WSV308	Standards Support and Interoperability in Windows Server 2012: Storage, Networking, and Management	Gene Chellis, Jeffrey Snover, See-Mong Tan, Wojtek Kozaczynski	Tue	3:15 PM	Windows Server	300
VIR306	Hyper-V over SMB: Remote File Storage Support in Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V	Jose Barreto	Tue	3:15 PM	Virtualization	300
WSV314	Windows Server 2012 NIC Teaming and SMB Multichannel Solutions	Don Stanwyck, Jose Barreto	Tue	5:00 PM	Windows Server	300
WSV334	Windows Server 2012 File and Storage Services Management	Fabian Uhse, Mathew Dickson	Wed	10:15 AM	Windows Server	300
SIA316	Windows Server 2012 Dynamic Access Control Best Practices and Case Study Deployments in Microsoft IT	Brian Puhl, Matthias Wollnik	Wed	10:15 AM	Security & Identity	300
WSV322	Update Management in Windows Server 2012: Revealing Cluster-Aware Updating and the New Generation of WSUS	Erin Chapple, Mallikarjun Chadalapaka	Wed	1:30 PM	Windows Server	300
WSV303	Windows Server 2012 High-Performance, Highly-Available Storage Using SMB	Claus Joergensen, Gene Chellis	Wed	3:15 PM	Windows Server	300
WSV330	How to Increase SQL Availability and Performance Using Window Server 2012 SMB 3.0 Solutions	Claus Joergensen, Gunter Zink	Thu	8:30 AM	Windows Server	300
WSV410	Continuously Available File Server: Under the Hood	Claus Joergensen	Thu	10:15 AM	Windows Server	400
WSV310	Windows Server 2012: Cluster-in-a-Box, RDMA, and More	John Loveall, Spencer Shepler	Thu	1:00 PM	Windows Server	300

If you’re not registered, there’s still time. Visit the registration page for details.

If you’re already registered, get this list of sessions on the North America TechEd 2012 page, which includes the ability to add the sessions to your schedule with one click.

You can also see the File Server team sessions at TechEd 2012 Europe.

Deploying Windows Server 2012 Beta with SMB Direct (SMB over RDMA) and the Mellanox ConnectX-2/ConnectX-3 using InfiniBand – Step by Step

Jose Barreto - MSFT — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 15:24:00 GMT

1) Introduction

We have covered the basics of SMB Direct and some of the use cases in previous blog posts and TechNet articles.

If you haven’t seen those, here are a few pointers:

Windows Server 2012 Beta SMB Overview

High-Performance, Continuously Available File Share Storage for Server Applications Technical Preview

Deploying Fast and Efficient File Servers for Server Applications

Windows Server 2012 beta - Test cases for Hyper-V over SMB (includes PowerShell examples)

Building Your Cloud Infrastructure: Converged Data Center with File Server Storage

However, I get a lot of questions about specifically which cards work with this new feature and how exactly you set those up.

This is one of a few blog posts that cover specific instructions for RDMA NICs.

In this blog post, we’ll cover all the details to deploy the Mellanox ConnectX-2 and ConnectX-3 adapters, using the InfiniBand “flavor” of RDMA.

2) Hardware and Software

To implement and test this technology, you will need:

Two or more computers running Windows Server 2012 beta

One or more Mellanox ConnectX-2 or ConnectX-3 adapters for each server

One or more Mellanox InfiniBand switches

Two or more cables required for InfiniBand (typically using QSFP connectors)

Mellanox states support for Windows Server 2012 SMB Direct and Kernel-mode RDMA capabilities on the following adapter models:

Mellanox ConnectX-2. This card uses Quad Data Rate (QDR) InfiniBand at 32 Gbps data rate.

Mellanox ConnectX-3. This card uses Fourteen Data Rate (FDR) InfiniBand at 54 Gbps data rate.

You can find more information about these adapters on Mellanox’s web site.

Important note: The older Mellanox InfiniBand adapters (including the ConnectX-1 adapters and the InfiniHost III adapters), won't work with SMB Direct in Windows Server 2012.

Here are some examples of configurations you can use to try the Windows Server 2012 Beta:

2.1) Two computers using QDR

If you want to setup a simple pair of computers to test SMB Direct, you simply need two InfiniBand cards and a back-to-back cable. This could be used for simple testing like one file server and one Hyper-V server. If you want the most affordable InfiniBand solution, you can use a single-port QDR card, which operates at 32Gbps data rate. Here are the parts you will need:

Qty

Part#

Description

Links

2

MHQH19B-XTR

ConnectX-2, Single port, QSFP connector, QDR InfiniBand

More info

1

MC2206130-001

QSFP to QSFP cables, 1m (3ft)

More info

2.2) Eight computers using QDR

If you want to try a more realistic configuration with InfiniBand, you could setup a two-node file server cluster connected to a six-node Hyper-V cluster. In this setup, you will need 8 computers, each with an InfiniBand card. You will also need a switch with at least 8 ports (Mellanox offers an 8-port model). Using QDR speeds, you’ll need the following parts:

Qty

Part#

Description

Links

8

MHQH19B-XTR

ConnectX-2, Single port, QSFP connector, QDR InfiniBand

More info

8

MC2206130-001

QSFP to QSFP cables, 1m (3ft)

More info

1

MIS5022Q-1BFR

IS5022 InfiniBand Switch, 8 ports, QSFP, QDR

More info

2.3) Two computers using FDR

You may also try the faster FDR speeds (54Gbps data rate). The minimum setup in this case would again be two cards and a cable. Please note that the QDR and FDR cables are different, although they use similar connectors. Here’s what you will need:

Qty

Part#

Description

Links

2

MCX353A-FCBT

ConnectX-3 adapter, Single port, QSFP, FDR InfiniBand

More Info

1

MC2207130-001

QSFP to QSFP cables (FDR), 1m (3ft)

More Info

Please note that you will need a system with PCIe Gen3 slots to achieve the rated speed in this card. These slots are available on newer system like the ones equipped with an Intel Romley motherboard. If you use an older system, the card will be limited by the speed of the older PCIe Gen2 bus.

2.4) Ten computers using dual FDR cards

If you’re interested in experience great throughput in a private cloud setup, you could configure a two-node file server cluster plus an eight-node Hyper-V cluster. You could also use two InfiniBand cards for each system, for added performance and fault tolerance. In this setup, you would need 20 FDR cards and a 20-port FDR switch (Mellanox sells a model with 36 FDR ports). Here are the parts required:

Qty

Part#

Description

Links

20

MCX353A-FCBT

ConnectX-3 adapter, Single port, QSFP, FDR InfiniBand

More Info

20

MC2207130-001

QSFP to QSFP cables (FDR), 1m (3ft)

More Info

1

SX6036

InfiniBand Switch, 36 ports, QSFP, FDR

More Info

3) Download and update the firmware and driver

Windows Server 2012 Beta includes an inbox driver for the Mellanox ConnectX-2 and ConnectX-3 cards. However, Mellanox provides updated firmware and drivers for download. You should be able to use the inbox driver to access the Internet to download the updated driver.

The latest Mellanox drivers can be downloaded from: http://www.mellanox.com/content/pages.php?pg=products_dyn&product_family=129&menu_section=34. The package is provided to you as a single executable file. Simply run the EXE file to update the firmware and driver. This package will also install Mellanox tools on the server.

· Run the setup package: C:\MLX\MLNX_VPI_win8_beta.exe (you can choose between complete or custom setup types)

· The installer will detect if you have at least one card with an old FW, then you will reach to the below dialog

Note 1: For more detailed information on how to install the package, refer to the Mellanox WinOF for Windows 8 Quick Start Guide

Note 2 : This package does not update firmware for OEM cards. If you using this type of card, contact your OEM.

Note 3: Certain Intel Romley systems won't boot Windows Server 2012 Beta when an old Mellanox firmware is present. You will need to update the firmware of the Mellanox card using another system before you can use that Mellanox card on the Intel Romley system. That issue might also be addressed in certain cases by updating the firmware/BIOS of the Intel Romley system

4) Configure a subnet manager

When using an InfiniBand network, you are required to have a subnet manager running. The best option is to use a managed InfiniBand switch (which runs a subnet manager), but you can also install a subnet manager on a computer connected to an unmanaged switch. Here are some details:

4.1) Best option – Using a managed switches with a built-in subnet manager

For this option, make sure you use managed switches. These switches come ready to run their own subnet manager and all you have to do is enable that option using the switch’s web interface. See the example below:

4.2) Using OpenSM with a single unmanaged switch

If you don’t have a managed switch, you can use one of the computers running Windows Server 2012 Beta to run your subnet manager. When you installed the Mellanox tools on step 3, you also installed the OpenSM.EXE tool, which is a subnet manager that runs on Windows Server. You want to make sure you install it as an auto-starting service.

Although the installation program configures OpenSM to run as a service, it misses the parameter to limit the log size. Here are a few commands to remove the default service and add a new one that has all the right parameters and starts automatically. Run them from a PowerShell prompt running as Administrator:

SC.EXE delete OpenSM
New-Service –Name "OpenSM" –BinaryPathName "`"C:\Program Files\Mellanox\MLNX_VPI\IB\Tools\opensm.exe`" --service -L 128" -DisplayName "OpenSM" –Description "OpenSM" -StartupType Automatic
Start-Service OpenSM

Note 1: This assumes that you installed the tools to the default location: C:\Program Files\Mellanox\MLNX_VPI

Note 2: For fault tolerance, make sure you have two computers on your network configured to run OpenSM. It is not recommended to run OpenSM in more than two computers connected to a switch.

4.3) Using OpenSM with two unmanaged switches

For complete fault tolerance, you want to have two switches and have two cards (or a dual-ported card) per computer, one going to each switch. With SMB Multichannel, you get fault tolerance in case a single card, cable or switch has a problem. However, each instance of OpenSM can only handle a single switch. In this case, you need two instances of OpenSM.EXE running on the computer, one for each card, working as a subnet manager for each of the two unmanaged switches.

In order to identify the two ports you have on the system (either on a single dual-ported card or in two single-ported cards). To do this, you need to run the IBSTAT tool from Mellanox, which will show you the identification for each InfiniBand port in your system (look for a line showing the port GUID). Here’s a sample with the two port GUIDs highlighted:

PS C:\> ibstat
CA 'ibv_device0'
        CA type:
        Number of ports: 2
        Firmware version: 0x20009209e
        Hardware version: 0xb0
        Node GUID: 0x0002c903000f9956
        System image GUID: 0x0002c903000f9959

        Port 1:
                State: Active
                Physical state: LinkUp
                Rate: 40
                Base lid: 1
                LMC: 0
                SM lid: 1
                Capability mask: 0x90580000
                Port GUID: 0x0002c903000f9957

        Port 2:
                State: Down
                Physical state: Polling
                Rate: 70
                Base lid: 0
                LMC: 0
                SM lid: 0
                Capability mask: 0x90580000
                Port GUID: 0x0002c903000f9958

Once you have identified the two port GUIDs, you can run the following commands from a PowerShell prompt running as Administrator:

SC.EXE delete OpenSM
New-Service –Name "OpenSM1" –BinaryPathName "`"C:\Program Files\Mellanox\MLNX_VPI\IB\Tools\opensm.exe`" --service -g 0x0002c903000f9957 -L 128" -DisplayName "OpenSM1" –Description "OpenSM for the first IB subnet" -StartupType Automatic
New-Service –Name "OpenSM2" –BinaryPathName "`"C:\Program Files\Mellanox\MLNX_VPI\IB\Tools\opensm.exe`" --service -g 0x0002c903000f9958 -L 128" -DisplayName "OpenSM2" –Description "OpenSM for the second IB subnet" -StartupType Automatic
Start-Service OpenSM1
Start-Service OpenSM2

Note 1: This assumes that you installed the tools to the default location: C:\Program Files\Mellanox\MLNX_VPI

Note 2: For fault tolerance, make sure you have two computers on your network, both configured to run two instances of OpenSM. It is not recommended to run OpenSM in more than two computers connected to a switch.

5) Configure IP Addresses

After you have the drivers in place, you should configure the IP address for your NIC. If you’re using DHCP, that should automatically, so just skip to the next step.

For those doing manual configuration, assign an IP address to your interface using either the GUI or something similar to the PowerShell below. This assumes that the interface is called RDMA1, that you’re assigning the IP address 192.168.1.10 to the interface and that your DNS server is at 192.168.1.1.

Set-NetIPInterface -InterfaceAlias RDMA1 -DHCP Disabled
Remove-NetIPAddress -InterfaceAlias RDMA1 -AddressFamily IPv4 -Confirm:$false
New-NetIPAddress -InterfaceAlias RDMA1 -AddressFamily IPv4 -IPv4Address 192.168.1.10 -PrefixLength 24 -Type Unicast
Set-DnsClientServerAddress -InterfaceAlias RDMA1 -ServerAddresses 192.168.1.1

Note: If your NICs are showing as "Disconnected", you're probably missing a subnet manager. See Step 4 above for details.

6) Verify everything is working

Follow the steps below to confirm everything is working as expected:

6.1: Verify network adapter configuration

Use the following PowerShell cmdlets to verify Network Direct is globally enabled and that you have NICs with the RDMA capability. Run on both the SMB server and the SMB client.

Get-NetOffloadGlobalSetting | Select NetworkDirect
Get-NetAdapterRDMA

6.2: Verify SMB configuration

Use the following PowerShell cmdlets to make sure SMB Multichannel is enabled, confirm the NICs are being properly recognized by SMB and that their RDMA capability is being properly identified.

On the SMB client, run the following PowerShell cmdlets:

Get-SmbClientConfiguration | Select EnableMultichannel
Get-SmbClientNetworkInterface

On the SMB server, run the following PowerShell cmdlets:

Get-SmbServerConfiguration | Select EnableMultichannel
Get-SmbServerNetworkInterface
netstat.exe -xan | ? {$_ -match "445"}

Note: The NETSTAT command confirms if the File Server is listening on the RDMA interfaces.

6.3: Verify the SMB connection

On the SMB client, start a long-running file copy to create a lasting session with the SMB Server. While the copy is ongoing, open a PowerShell window and run the following cmdlets to verify the connection is using the right SMB dialect and that SMB Direct is working:

Get-SmbConnection
Get-SmbMultichannelConnection
netstat.exe -xan | ? {$_ -match "445"}

Note: If you have no activity while you run the commands above, it’s possible you get an empty list. This is likely because your session has expired and there are no current connections.

6.4: Verify the SMB events that confirm an RDMA connection

On the SMB client, open a PowerShell window and run the following cmdlets to view the SMB events that confirm that you have an SMB Direct connection. If there are any RDMA-related connection errors, you will also see them:

Get-WinEvent -LogName Microsoft-Windows-SMBClient/Operational | ? Message -match "RDMA"

8) Conclusion

I hope this helps you with your testing of the Mellanox InfiniBand adapters. I wanted to covered all different angles to make sure you don’t miss any relevant steps. I also wanted to have enough troubleshooting guidance here to get you covered for any known issues. Let us know how was your experience with the beta by posting a comment.

Deploying Windows Server 2012 Beta with SMB Direct (SMB over RDMA) and the Intel NetEffect NE020 card – Step by Step

Jose Barreto - MSFT — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 15:15:00 GMT

1) Introduction

We have covered the basics of SMB Direct and some of the use cases in previous blog posts and TechNet articles.

If you haven’t seen those, here are a few pointers:

Windows Server 2012 Beta SMB Overview

High-Performance, Continuously Available File Share Storage for Server Applications Technical Preview

Deploying Fast and Efficient File Servers for Server Applications

Windows Server 2012 beta - Test cases for Hyper-V over SMB (includes PowerShell examples)

Building Your Cloud Infrastructure: Converged Data Center with File Server Storage

However, I get a lot of questions about specifically which cards work with this new feature and how exactly you set those up. This is one of a few blog posts that cover specific instructions for RDMA NICs.

In this blog post, we’ll cover all the details to deploy the Intel NetEffect NE020 card, which use the iWARP “flavor” of RDMA.

2) Hardware and Software

To implement and test this technology, you will need:

Two or more computers running Windows Server 2012 beta

One or more Intel NetEffect Ethernet Adapter (NE020) card for each server

One or more 10GbE switches

Two or more cables required for the NE020 (typically using SFP+ connectors)

Intel states support for Windows Server 2012 SMB Direct and Kernel-mode RDMA capabilities on the following adapter models:

NetEffect™ Ethernet Server Cluster Adapter CX4 (Dover)

NetEffect™ Ethernet Server Cluster Adapter SFP+SR (Argus)

NetEffect™ Ethernet Server Cluster Adapter DA (Argus)

You can find more information about these adapters on Intel’s web site at http://www.intel.com/Products/Server/Adapters/Server-Cluster/Server-Cluster-overview.htm.

Important note: You should use NE020 cards with the chip version X2A1 (see picture below). If you have an old card with a X2A chip, it won't work with SMB Direct in Windows Server 2012.

3) Download and update the drivers

Windows Server 2012 Beta includes an inbox driver for the Intel NE020. However, Intel provides an updated driver for download. You should be able to use the inbox driver to access the Internet to download the updated driver.

The latest Intel NE020 driver can be downloaded from: http://www.intel.com/support/go/network/adapter/ne020/win8. The driver is provided to you as a single ZIP file that you should extract to a specific folder. It will contain a few files, including one or more SYS files with the driver itself, an INF text file with the required information to install the driver and a few supporting files.

To update to the new driver, follow these steps:

Open “Device Manager” and find the NE020 device, under “Network Adapters”

Right click the device and select “Update Driver Software”

Click on “Browse my computer for driver software”

Point to the folder where you extracted the ZIP file you downloaded

Follow the wizard to complete the installation

4) Configure IP Addresses

After you have the drivers in place, you should configure the IP address for your NIC. If you’re using DHCP, that should happen automatically, so just skip to the next step.

For those doing manual configuration, assign an IP address to your interface using either the GUI or something similar to the PowerShell below. This assumes that the interface is called RDMA1, that you’re assigning the IP address 192.168.1.10 to the interface and that your DNS server is at 192.168.1.1.

Set-NetIPInterface -InterfaceAlias RDMA1 -DHCP Disabled
Remove-NetIPAddress -InterfaceAlias RDMA1 -AddressFamily IPv4 -Confirm:$false
New-NetIPAddress -InterfaceAlias RDMA1 -AddressFamily IPv4 -IPv4Address 192.168.1.10 -PrefixLength 24 -Type Unicast
Set-DnsClientServerAddress -InterfaceAlias RDMA1 -ServerAddresses 192.168.1.1

Note: The Intel NE020 does not support iWARP with IPv6 addresses. You should disable IPv6 with this specific card if you’re planning to use the RDMA capability of the NIC. You can disable IPv6 for that interface using the following PowerShell cmdlet:

Disable-NetAdapterBinding -InterfaceAlias RDMA1 -ComponentID ms_tcpip6

5) Configure the firewall

iWARP uses TCP/IP for communications, so you need to configure the Firewall to allow that traffic. You essentially need to add a firewall rule to the SMB Server to allow incoming traffic from the SMB Direct clients. In Windows Server 2012, SMB Direct with iWARP uses TCP port 5445, in addition to the traditional 445 port used for SMB.

Here’s an example of how you would configure your firewall using a PowerShell cmdlet on the SMB server to allow access by the clients:

New-NetFirewallRule –Name SMBiWarp -DisplayName "SMB iWARP In" -Enabled True -Profile Any -Direction Inbound -Action Allow -Protocol TCP -LocalPort 5445

If you have multiple SMB servers, you will need to create and enable this firewall rule on every server that will use SMB Direct with iWARP.

Note: These instructions are for the Windows Server 2012 beta release only. We’re working to add a built-in firewall rule for iWARP before the final release. When that happens, you will be able to simply enable the pre-existing rule instead of creating a new one.

6) Allow cross-subnet access (optional)

One of the main advantages of iWARP RDMA technology is the ability to be routed across different subnets. While the most common setup is a single subnet (or maybe even single rack) deployment, you can use the Intel NE020 to connect computers across subnets. However, this capability is disabled by default on Windows Server 2012.

To enable Network Direct (and therefor SMB Direct) in this fashion, you do need to configure every system (SMB Servers and SMB Clients) to allow routing RDMA across subnets. This is done using the following PowerShell cmdlet:

Set-NetOffloadGlobalSetting -NetworkDirectAcrossIPSubnets Allow
Disable-NetAdapter -InterfaceAlias RDMA1
Enable-NetAdapter -InterfaceAlias RDMA1

Note: Disabling and re-enabling the interface makes the settings change effective without a reboot.

We recommend that you apply the configuration change above before creating any shares. If you do happen to apply it (or make any other major network configuration changes), the SMB client will re-evaluate its connections when new interfaces are detected or every 10 minutes. You can also tell SMB to update its connections immediately by using the following cmdlet on the SMB clients:

Update-SmbMultichannelConnection

7) Verify everything is working

Follow the steps below to confirm everything is working as expected:

7.1) Verify network adapter configuration

Use the following PowerShell cmdlets to verify Network Direct is globally enabled and that you have NICs with the RDMA capability. Run on both the SMB server and the SMB client.

Get-NetOffloadGlobalSetting | Select NetworkDirect
Get-NetAdapterRDMA

7.2) Verify SMB configuration

Use the following PowerShell cmdlets to make sure SMB Multichannel is enabled, confirm the NICs are being properly recognized by SMB and that their RDMA capability is being properly identified.

On the SMB client, run the following PowerShell cmdlets:

Get-SmbClientConfiguration | Select EnableMultichannel
Get-SmbClientNetworkInterface

On the SMB server, run the following PowerShell cmdlets:

Get-SmbServerConfiguration | Select EnableMultichannel
Get-SmbServerNetworkInterface
netstat.exe -xan | ? {$_ -match "445"}

Note: The NETSTAT command confirms if the File Server is listening on the RDMA interfaces.

7.3) Verify the SMB connection

On the SMB client, start a long-running file copy to create a lasting session with the SMB Server. While the copy is ongoing, open a PowerShell window and run the following cmdlets to verify the connection is using the right SMB dialect and that SMB Direct is working:

Get-SmbConnection
Get-SmbMultichannelConnection
netstat.exe -xan | ? {$_ -match "445"}

Note: If you have no activity while you run the commands above, it’s possible you get an empty list. This is likely because your session has expired and there are no current connections.

7.4) Verify the SMB events that confirm an RDMA connection

On the SMB client, open a PowerShell window and run the following cmdlets to view the SMB events that confirm that you have an SMB Direct connection. If there are any RDMA-related connection errors, you will also see them:

Get-WinEvent -LogName Microsoft-Windows-SMBClient/Operational | ? Message -match "RDMA"

8) Conclusion

I hope this helps you with your testing of the Intel NE020. I wanted to covered all different angles to make sure you don’t miss any relevant steps. I also wanted to have enough troubleshooting guidance here to get you covered for any known issues. Let us know how was your experience with the beta by posting a comment.

Preliminary performance results with Windows Server 2012 Beta and SMB Direct (SMB over RDMA)

Jose Barreto - MSFT — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 17:30:00 GMT

If you’re reading up on Windows Server 2012, you probably saw that using file storage for your Hyper-V and SQL Server data is one of our key new scenarios. You can read more about this in the TechNet article called “High-Performance, Continuously Available File Share Storage for Server Applications” at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh831399.aspx. We have already shared some preliminary data on the improved performance of the Windows Server 2012 file server and this post provides an update on those numbers.

Windows Server 2012 Developer Preview - September 2011

Back in September of 2011, we released a white paper providing a preliminary analysis of the performance of Windows Server 2012 SMB with four 10GbE adapters. This paper focused on the SMB Multichannel feature using the Windows Developer Preview. You can find it at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/hh457617. This paper shows the use of four 10GbE adapters combined via SMB Multichannel to achieve a maximum throughput of 4300 MB/sec and over 300,000 1KB IOPs.

At that time, we also shared performance data as part of the multiple presentations at the //build conference and SNIA’s Storage Developers Conference (SDC 2011). You can find details on those presentations at http://blogs.technet.com/b/josebda/archive/2011/11/27/links-to-build-sessions-on-storage-networking-and-hyper-v.aspx and http://blogs.technet.com/b/josebda/archive/2011/12/16/snia-s-storage-developer-conference-sdc-2011-content-slides-and-videos-now-available-for-download-including-smb-2-2-details.aspx. The SDC presentation on SMB Direct included details like delivering 160,000 1KB IOPs using a Mellanox ConnectX-2 QDR InfiniBand card.

Windows Server 2012 Beta – February 2012

Details on the Windows Server 2012 Beta release and its new SMB capabilities were recently posted on the Windows Server blog at http://blogs.technet.com/b/windowsserver/archive/2012/03/15/windows-server-8-taking-server-application-storage-to-windows-file-shares.aspx.

With that, many partners and customers have been asking us about the performance for File Servers and the new SMB with this new pre-release version, especially with SMB Direct. The team is hard at work testing and producing additional white papers, but we don’t have any documents planned for release this month.

In the meantime, since I’m delivering a presentation at SNW Spring and sharing some new numbers, I thought of using this blog post to share some limited performance results for a specific configuration, so we can show some of the progress we made since last September.

Windows Server 2012 Beta results – SMB Direct IOPs, bandwidth and latency

These results come from a couple of servers that play the role of SMB Server and SMB client. The client in this case was a typical server-class computers using an Intel Westmere motherboard with two Intel Xeon L5630 processors (2 sockets, 4 cores each, 2.10 GHz). For networking, it was equipped with a single RDMA-capable Mellanox ConnectX-2 QDR InfiniBand card sitting on a PCIe Gen2 x8 slot. For these tests, the IOs went all the way to persistent storage (using 14 SSDs). We tested three IO sizes: 512KB, 8KB and 1KB, all reads.

Workload	IO Size	IOPS	Bandwidth	Latency
Large IOs, high throughput (SQL Server DW)	512 KB	4,210	2.21GB/s	4.41ms
Small IOs, typical application server (SQL Server OLTP)	8 KB	214,000	1.75GB/s	870µs
Very small IOs (high IOPs)	1 KB	294,000	0.30GB/s	305µs

Here are some snapshots of the performance counters for the SMB client computer while the tests were running:

While doing large IOs (512KB, typical in data warehousing workloads), you can see good throughput with low latency. You can also see a healthy number of 8 KB IOs (common in several workloads, including online transaction processing) with even lower latency. The third line uses 1KB reads which is not a typical workload, but is commonly used to showcase high IOPs.

Please keep in mind that the results above use a single network interface. Using SMB Multichannel, we can use several interfaces at once to achieve better results, as we did in the white paper that covered four non-RDMA 10GbE cards, mentioned at the beginning of this post.

Note that the latency value on the table maps to the “Average seconds per data request” performance counter shown in the screenshots. This essentially measures the time it takes to fulfill the IO from the SMB client perspective, including the round trip time to the SMB server and the time it takes to complete the IO to disk on the SMB server side.

Even better results on the horizon

The SMB team is still working on performance tuning the software, so the work is not quite done yet. The performance team is also hard at work using the latest generation of motherboards and CPUs. For instance, we just got a hold of new PCIe Gen 3 cards for both storage and networking, including the latest InfiniBand cards that can transfer 54Gbps. They are looking into results for systems using multiple RDMA cards at once with SMB Multichannel. We’re not quite ready to release the results of those tests yet, but the numbers are better :-)

P.S.: Even better results became available after this post. Read more at http://blogs.technet.com/b/josebda/archive/2012/05/06/windows-server-2012-beta-with-smb-3-0-demo-at-interop-shows-smb-direct-at-5-8-gbytes-sec-over-mellanox-connectx-3-network-adapters.aspx

Analyzing Storage Performance using the Windows Performance Analysis ToolKit (WPT)

Jose Barreto - MSFT — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 05:47:00 GMT

Robert Smith (Platforms Field Engineer) has recently posted a new blog that cover one important area of Windows performance that few people understand well. In his blog post he talks about how to use Windows Performance Toolkit (WPT) in general and the XPerf tool in particular. Xperf.exe is the command line tool used to start, stop, and manage traces. He then goes on to outline how to use the toolkit to look into Storage and know where to start looking when you hit a performance issue.

Here's the outline of his post:

Introduction

Obtaining the WPT Tools
More About the WPT

Getting Started: Capturing Storage Performance Data

Scenarios
Considerations for Starting a Trace
Stopping a Trace

Trace Analysis

How to perform Trace Analysis
What to Look For

What are We Doing Here?

High Disk Service Times
Storport Tracing (For Storport storage devices)
High IO Times

Conclusion

If you're interested in Performance (and specially Storage Performance) and you never used the WPT or XPerf.exe before, this is a must read.

Full post at http://blogs.technet.com/b/robertsmith/archive/2012/02/07/analyzing-storage-performance-using-the-windows-performance-toolkit.aspx

Microsoft at the Storage Networking World 2012 Conference (includes Windows Server 2012 sessions)

Jose Barreto - MSFT — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 01:13:00 GMT

SNW Spring 2012 in Dallas is about a week away. Co-owned by Computerworld and Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA), SNW is a conference focused on Information Infrastructure with tracks covering:

Backup and Archiving in the Cloud
Big Data
Business Continuity
Cloud Storage
Data Center Consolidation
Data Center Networking
Data Encryption
Data Management
Data Protection
Deduplication
Energy Efficiency
Hybrid Clouds (Public and Private)
Professional Development
Protection and Recovery
Solid State Storage
Storage Management
Storage Networking
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure
Virtualization

I wanted to share the details of the sessions from Microsoft in the schedule, including a few covering Windows Server 2012:

Title: Hyper-V over SMB - Remote File Storage Support in Windows Server 8 Hyper-V
Presenter: Jose Barreto, Principal Program Manager
Date/Time: Mon, 04/02, 11:10 AM

In this session, we will cover the Windows Server “8” Hyper-V support for remote file storage using SMB 2.2. This introduces a new first-class storage option for Hyper-V that is a flexible, easy to use and cost-effective alternative to block storage. We will detail the basic requirements for Hyper-V over SMB and outline the specific enhancements to SMB to support server application storage, including SMB Transparent Failover, SMB Scale-Out, SMB Multichannel, SMB Direct (SMB over RDMA), SMB PowerShell, SMB performance counters and VSS for SMB file shares. We will conclude with a few suggested configurations for Hyper-V over SMB, including both standalone and clustered options.

Title: Data Deduplication in Windows Server "8"
Presenter: Ahmed El-Shimi, Principal Program Manager
Date/Time: Mon, 04/02, 4:05 PM

Windows Server “8” delivers a new data deduplication feature that is designed to work on primary storage without impacting workloads running on the server. By using deduplication, customers can easily save over half of their data storage capacity. While storage costs have been dropping steadily, they aren’t dropping fast enough to offset the growth of data. This makes storage efficiency a true priority for most enterprise IT departments. Data storage efficiency needs to increase wherever data is. In addition, Enterprise IT departments are rapidly consolidating file servers while making capacity scaling and optimization one of the main requirements for the platform. Deduplication is an in-box feature of Windows Server “8” that delivers the following capabilities at no additional cost: Capacity optimization delivering optimization ratios of 2:1 for general file servers and up to 20:1 for OS VHDs. Scalability and performance are delivered using a resource-efficient, and nonintrusive algorithm.

Title: SNIA Tutorial: Green Storage - the Big Picture ("Green is more than kWh!")
Presenter: SW Worth, Senior Standards Program Manager
Date/Time: Wed, 04/03, 10:45 AM

At least some of what you 'know' about "Green" IT is wrong. Re-thinking your Storage technology decisions to reflect environmental, economic, and engineering realities can make your data center more competitive. This talk will cover the three stages of any IT product life-cycle: "birth" (design/manufacture/install), "life" (operation across all load ranges, including idle and sleep), and "death/transfiguration" (recycle/disposal). Your decisions affect more than just product acquisition or operation; you own some life-cycle responsibility for your system. In cost-accounting terms, these decisions translate into capital expenses (CapEx) and operational expenses (OpEx), which combine to define TCO. Are these measures really Green, and can they guide you to the right purchase decisions? Do they encourage recycling? Do they encompass the embedded costs of greenhouse gasses (GHGs), even if your products are built in a country in another hemisphere? Do they include the costs associated with end-stage disposal of toxic metals and flame-retardant chemicals (the stuff that is in your products to make them more reliable or safer during operation)? Are the decisions you make not only good for your organization, but good for the rest of us as well? (Bonus question: do government programs like EPA ENERGY STAR or the European Code of Conduct for Data Centres lead to optimal outcomes?) One good place to focus is on understanding the differences between Power (Watts) and Energy (Watt-hours), and their respective effects on costs. The peak power your hardware or software can draw primarily affects CapEx, including data center infrastructure (e.g. UPS, PDU, CRAC, AHU) and the IT gear that it supports (e.g. Servers, Networking, and Storage). Energy consumption affects OpEx, by way of the monthly bills that the IT department probably never even sees. But what about all of the capital investment required for the generating stations, transmission lines, and distribution system? How does the utility recover their costs for that? You will learn how real-world billing and charge-back works, and what you learn should affect your architectural and operational decisions. Although this is a foundational presentation, storage examples are used extensively throughout, and provide a basis for later drill-downs on Green Storage.

Title: Windows Server “8” File Server - Advanced Networking for Fault Tolerance and Performance
Presenter: Jose Barreto, Principal Program Manager
Date/Time: Wed, 04/03, 11:40 AM

In this session, we will cover specific enhancements in the Windows Server “8” File Server to improve network fault tolerance and performance. This includes an introduction to SMB Multichannel, which allows you to use multiple network interfaces simultaneously for fault tolerance and higher throughput. It also covers SMB Direct, which introduces support for high speed, low latency and reduced CPU utilization using RDMA-capable network interfaces. We will conclude with a few suggested configurations for Windows Server “8” File Servers leveraging these new technologies.

There are obviously many other sessions at the event and you can find all the details at http://www.eiseverywhere.com/ehome/SNWS2012/56399
I am looking forward to seeing you there…

Windows Server 2012 Beta – Hyper-V over SMB – Quick Provisioning a VM on an SMB File Share

Jose Barreto - MSFT — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 14:45:00 GMT

One of the preferred methods for creating VMs in a shared environment is to have one or more base VHDs that you use as a template for new VMs. While having a base VHD is a constant, there are a few different methods to choose when you implement your provisioning process for new VMs. This post looks at the provisioning options available when using SMB file shares as shared storage for your VMs.

Option 1 – Differential VHD

You can easily provision new VMs using differential VHD, which creates a second VHD file that contains the difference between your new VM and the base. Creating a differential VHD is practically instantaneous. However, the base needs to remain unchanged during the lifetime of the differential VHDs. If you need to apply a change to the base, you essentially need to create a new version of it and you need to keep the previous one around for as long as there are differentials based on it. You could end up with several generations of base VHDs. This might be a great choice if you don’t keep your VMs around for a long time.

Here’s how you would do it:

New-VHD -Path \\FS\VMSHARE\VM7.VHDX -ParentPath \\FS\VMSHARE\BASE.VHDX
New-VM VM7 -Path \\FS\VMSHARE\VM7 -VHDPath \\FS\VMSHARE\VM7.VHDX -Memory 1GB
Start-VM VM7

Option 2 – Copy the base VHD

Another approach is to simply create a copy of the base VHD and use that copy as the VHD for your new VM. This will give you a completely separate VHD for every new VM, independent of the base VHD. However, this option will typically use more disk space and take longer to complete, since most base VHD files are a few gigabytes in size. The delay in the provisioning of a VM, while acceptable in some scenarios, might be a nuisance for your users, especially if you are using a self-service portal for provisioning. If you use this approach, though, you can change the base VHD at any time, without having to worry about dependencies by previously created VMs. This could be a great choice if your base changes frequently and your VMs will live for a long time. This is also a good choice if your system can leverage the new ODX (offloaded data transfers) capability, which will greatly accelerate the copy process.

Here’s how you would do it:

Copy-Item \\FS\VMSHARE\BASE.VHDX \\FS\VMSHARE\VM8.VHDX
New-VM VM8 -Path \\FS\VMSHARE\VM8 -VHDPath \\FS\VMSHARE\VM8.VHDX -Memory 1GB
Start-VM VM8

Option 3 – A little bit of both

In Windows Server “8” Beta, due to the ability to perform online VHDs merges and re-parent VHDs, there is a third way to do this. It essentially involves creating a snapshot before you start the VM, copying the base VHD while the VM is already running and then merging the snapshot with its own copy of the base. The end result gives you a quick provisioning process, where the VM starts almost immediately, but it become completely independent of the base VHD just a few minutes later. The down side of this solution is that the provisioning process gets a bit more complex, and you will have some extra work to do in the first few minutes of the VM lifecycle. Here are the details on how to do it…

Step 1 – Create the VM using the base

Start with a file share that contains the base VHD you want to use. Create a new VM using the base VHD. The base is a read-only file, so don’t start the VM just yet!

Dir \\FS\VMSHARE\
New-VM VM9 -Path \\FS\VMSHARE\VM9 -VHDPath \\FS\VMSHARE\BASE.VHDX | FL Name, State
Get-VMHardDiskDrive VM9 | Get-VHD | FL Path, VhdType, ParentPath

Step 2 – Snapshot and start

Create a temporary snapshot of the VHD file. Verify it succeeded. Now you can start the VM and hand it over to the end user, just a few seconds into the process.

Checkpoint-VM VM9
Dir \\FS\VMSHARE\
Get-VMHardDiskDrive VM9 | Get-VHD | FL Path, VhdType, ParentPath
Start-VM VM9

Step 3 – Copy the base

Now make a copy of the read-only base VHD into a unique instance for the VM. That might take a while, but that’s OK. The user is already happily using the VM. You can use whatever tool you want to copy the file. This could also leverage ODX (offloaded data transfers) if available on that system.

Copy-Item \\FS\VMSHARE\BASE.VHDX \\FS\VMSHARE\VM9.VHDX
Dir \\FS\VMSHARE\

Step 4 – Re-parent to the copy

After the copy is done, you can “re-parent” your snapshot while your VM is running. This is new in this release. After this operation, the VM is no longer using the original base VHD.

Get-VMHardDiskDrive VM9 | Set-VHD -ParentPath \\FS\VMSHARE\VM9.VHDX
Get-VMHardDiskDrive VM9 | Get-VHD | FL Path, VhdType, ParentPath

Step 5 – Merge the snapshot

The last step is to remove the temporary snapshot, which will merge it into the VHD you created for this unique VM instance. Note that this operation is also done while the VM is running, which is also new in this release.

Remove-VMSnapshot VM9
Get-VMHardDiskDrive VM9 | Get-VHD | FL Path, VhdType, ParentPath
Dir \\FS\VMSHARE\
Get-VM VM9 | FL Name, State, Uptime

Reviewing the output of the entire set of commands

PS C:\> Dir \\FS\VMSHARE\

    Directory: \\FS\VMSHARE

Mode                LastWriteTime     Length Name
----                -------------     ------ ----
-a---         3/14/2012   7:53 PM 8996782080 BASE.VHDX

PS C:\> New-VM VM9 -Path \\FS\VMSHARE\VM9 -VHDPath \\FS\VMSHARE\BASE.VHDX | FL Name, State

Name             : VM9
State            : Off

PS C:\> Get-VMHardDiskDrive VM9 | Get-VHD | FL Path, VhdType, ParentPath

Path                    : \\FS\VMSHARE\BASE.VHDX
VhdType                 : Dynamic
ParentPath              :

PS C:\> Checkpoint-VM VM9
PS C:\> Dir \\FS\VMSHARE\

    Directory: \\FS\VMSHARE

Mode                LastWriteTime     Length Name
----                -------------     ------ ----
d----         3/14/2012   7:54 PM            VM9
-a---         3/14/2012   7:55 PM 8996782080 BASE.VHDX
-a---         3/14/2012   7:55 PM    4194304 BASE_2691830B-9046-4818-930E-D7D7C41A7028.avhdx

PS C:\> Get-VMHardDiskDrive VM9 | Get-VHD | FL Path, VhdType, ParentPath

Path                    : \\FS\VMSHARE\BASE_2691830B-9046-4818-930E-D7D7C41A7028.avhdx
VhdType                 : Differencing
ParentPath              : \\FS\VMSHARE\BASE.VHDX

PS C:\> Start-VM VM9
PS C:\> Copy-Item \\FS\VMSHARE\BASE.VHDX \\FS\VMSHARE\VM9.VHDX
PS C:\> Dir \\FS\VMSHARE\

    Directory: \\FS\VMSHARE

Mode                LastWriteTime     Length Name
----                -------------     ------ ----
d----         3/14/2012   7:54 PM            VM9
-a---         3/14/2012   7:55 PM 8996782080 BASE.VHDX
-a---         3/14/2012   7:57 PM 205520896 BASE_2691830B-9046-4818-930E-D7D7C41A7028.avhdx
-a---         3/14/2012   7:57 PM 8996782080 VM9.VHDX

PS C:\> Get-VMHardDiskDrive VM9 | Set-VHD -ParentPath \\FS\VMSHARE\VM9.VHDX
PS C:\> Get-VMHardDiskDrive VM9 | Get-VHD | FL Path, VhdType, ParentPath

Path                    : \\FS\VMSHARE\BASE_2691830B-9046-4818-930E-D7D7C41A7028.avhdx
VhdType                 : Differencing
ParentPath              : \\FS\VMSHARE\VM9.VHDX

PS C:\> Remove-VMSnapshot VM9
PS C:\> Get-VMHardDiskDrive VM9 | Get-VHD | FL Path, VhdType, ParentPath

Path                    : \\FS\VMSHARE\VM9.VHDX
VhdType                 : Dynamic
ParentPath              :

PS C:\> Dir \\FS\VMSHARE\

    Directory: \\FS\VMSHARE

Mode                LastWriteTime     Length Name
----                -------------     ------ ----
d----         3/14/2012   7:54 PM            VM9
-a---         3/14/2012   7:55 PM 8996782080 BASE.VHDX
-a---         3/14/2012   7:57 PM 8996782080 VM9.VHDX

PS C:\> Get-VM VM9 | FL Name, State, Uptime

Name             : VM9
State            : Running
Uptime           : 00:01:45

PS C:\>

Conclusion

As you see, the VM was running since Step 2, seconds into the whole process. It took us a few minutes to copy the base and merge the snapshot, but the end user was happily using the VM after just a few seconds into the process.

Windows Server 2012 Beta Scale-Out File Server for SQL Server 2012 - Step-by-step Installation

Jose Barreto - MSFT — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 18:20:00 GMT

1. Introduction

1.1. Overview

In this document, I am sharing all the steps I used to create a Windows Server 2012 Beta demo, so you can experiment with some of the new technologies yourself. You only need a single computer (the specs are provided below) and the ISO file with the Windows Server 2012 Beta available right now as a free download. For the SQL part, you will need the SQL Server 2012 evaluation version, which is also available as a free download.

The demo setup includes 5 virtual machines: one domain controller, one iSCSI target, two file servers and a SQL server. You need the iSCSI target and two file servers because we’re using Failover Clustering to showcase SMB Transparent Failover and SMB Scale-Out. We’ll also use multiple Hyper-V virtual networks, so we can showcase SMB Multichannel. Here’s what it should look like:

This will probably require a few hours of work end-to-end, but it is a great way to experiment with a large set of Microsoft technologies in Windows Server 2012 Beta, including:

Hyper-V
Networking
Domain Name Services (DNS)
Active Directory Domain Services (AD-DS)
iSCSI Target
iSCSI Initiator
Failover Clustering
File Servers
PowerShell

Follow the steps and let me know how it goes in the comment section. If you run into any issues or found anything particularly interesting, don’t forget to mention the number of the step.

1.2. Hardware

You will need the following hardware to perform the steps described here:

Computer capable of running Windows Server 2012 Beta and Hyper-V (64-bit, virtualization technology) with at least 8GB of RAM
An 8GB USB stick, if you’re installing Windows Server from USB and copying the downloaded software around (you can also burn the software to a DVD)
Internet connection for downloading software and updates (DHCP enabled)

1.3. Software

You will need the following software to perform the steps described here:

Windows Server 2012 Beta (provided as an ISO file). Download from http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/hh670538.aspx
SQL Server 2012 Evaluation (provided as an ISO file). Download from http://www.microsoft.com/sqlserver/en/us/get-sql-server/try-it.aspx

1.4. Notes and disclaimers

This document does not include a screenshot for every single step in the process. I focused the screenshots on specific decision points where defaults are not used or the course of action is not clear.
The text for each step also focuses on the specific actions that deviate from the default or where a clear default is not provided. If you are asked a question or required to perform an action that you do not see described in these steps, go with the default option.
Obviously, a single-computer solution can never be tolerant to the failure of that computer. So, the configuration described here is not really continuously available. It’s just a simulation.
The configuration described here is for demo, testing or learning. You would definitely need a different configuration for a production deployment.
A certain familiarity with Windows administration and configuration is assumed. If you're new to Windows, this document is not for you. Sorry...
There are usually several ways to perform a specific configuration or administration task. What I describe here is one of those many ways. It's not necessarily the best way, just the one I personally like best at the moment.

2. Install Windows Server 2012 Beta

2.1. Preparations

Format a USB disk using Windows 8 Consumer Preview or Windows Server 2012 Beta.
Copy the contents of the Windows Server 2012 Beta ISO file to the USB disk.
To read the files from within the ISO file using Windows 8 Consumer Preview or Windows Server 2012 beta, just double click the ISO file to mount it.
Make sure the computer BIOS is configured for Virtualization.
Each computer BIOS is different, so you need to find the right settings.

2.2. Install the OS

Use your computer’s BIOS option to boot from the USB disk.
After “Windows Setup” starts from the USB disk, enter the required information to install the OS:
Select language, time and currency format and keyboard. Then click “Next”.
Click “Install Now”.
Select the “Windows Server 8 Beta Datacenter - Server with a GUI” option and click “Next”.
Accept the license agreement and click “Next”.
Select the “Custom: Install Windows only” option.
Select the install location for Windows Server and click “Next”.
Wait for the installation to complete. This will take a few minutes.
After the installation is completed, the OS will boot.
Type the administrator password twice, then click on “Finish”.

2.3. Rename the computer

2.3.PS. Using PowerShell

Rename-Computer DEMO-HV0 -Restart

2.3.GUI. Using Server Manager

In Server Manager, click on “Local Server” on the list on left.
Click on the default name next to “Computer Name”.
Click on “Change”.
Enter “DEMO-HV0” as the new Computer Name and click “OK”.
Accept the option to restart the computer.

2.4. Enable Remote Desktop

Log in using the Administrator account and enable Remote Desktop.
After completing this step, you will be able work from a Remote Desktop connection.

2.4.GUI. Using Server Manager

In Server Manager, click on “Local Server” on the list on left.
Click on the “Disabled” item next to “Remote Desktop”.
Select the option to “Allow connections from computers running any version…”
Click “OK” multiple times until you’re back to the “Local Server” screen.

3. Configure the Hyper-V Host

3.1. Install the Hyper-V role to the server

Install the Hyper-V role and the required management tools. The computer will restart.

3.1.PS. Using PowerShell

Install-WindowsFeature Hyper-V, Hyper-V-PowerShell, Hyper-V-Tools -Restart

3.1.GUI. Using Server Manager

In Server Manager, click on “Dashboard” on the list on left.
Click on the “Add Roles and Features”, which is option 2 under “Configure this local server”.
On the “Before You Begin” page, just click “Next”.
On the “Installation Type” page, click “Role-base or feature-based installation” and click “Next”.
On the “Server Selection” page, select your server and click “Next”.
On the “Server Role” page, select “Hyper-V”.
On the “Add features that are required for Hyper-V” dialog, click “Add features”, then click “Next”.
On the “Features” page, just click “Next”.
On the “Hyper-V” page, just click “Next”.
On the “Create Virtual Switches” page, just click “Next”.
On the “Virtual Machine Migration” page, just click “Next”.
On the “Default Stores” page, just click “Next”.
On the “Confirmation” page, click “Restart target machine automatically if needed”, click “Yes” to confirm and then click “Install”.
The role will be installed and the computer will restart in the end.

3.2. Create the VM switches

Create one external virtual network (VM switch that is connected to the external network interface).
Create three internal virtual networks (VM switches used just to communicate between the VMs).

3.2.PS. Using PowerShell

Get-NetAdapter

Rename-NetAdapter –InterfaceDescription *Gigabit* -NewName External
New-VMSwitch –Name External -NetAdapterName External
1..3 | % { New-VMSwitch -Name Internal$_ -SwitchType Internal }
Get-VMSwitch
Get-NetAdapter

Note: If you’re connected via “Remote Desktop” to the server, you might temporarily lose the connection when you create the External VMSwitch.
If using DHCP on that interface, you will be able to reconnect. If you’re using static IP addresses, you should run this step locally, not via “Remote Desktop”.

3.2.GUI. Using Hyper-V Manager

In Server Manager, click on “Tools” in the upper left and select “Hyper-V Manager”
In Hyper-V Manager, click on the server name (DEMO-HV0) on the pane on the left
On the task pane on the right, click on the “Virtual Switch Manager”
Use the “New virtual switch” option to add 1 network named “External”, select “External” for type and select your physical NIC. Click “Apply” to confirm.
Use the “New virtual switch” option to add 3 networks named “Internal1”, “Internal2” and “Internal3”, each of type “Internal”.
After creating the four new NICs, you should see the four new NICs in Server Manager, under Local Server:

3.3. Rename the network adapters

You should now configure the 4 virtual network interfaces on the parent.
This includes renaming them to the names of the switches and configuring static IP addresses for the 3 internal NICs (the external NIC should be DHCP enabled, so it does not need IP address configuration).

3.3.PS. Using PowerShell

1..3 | % {Rename-NetAdapter –InterfaceDescription Internal$_ -NewName Internal$_}
Rename-NetAdapter –InterfaceDescription External -NewName VirtualExternal
Get-NetAdapter

3.3.GUI. Using Server Manager

In Server Manager, click on “Local Server” on the list on left.
In the properties pane on the right, scroll to see the list of “Wired Internet Connections” (there will be 4 of them, as we showed in the previous Server Manager screenshot).
Click on the “Ipv4 address…” link next to one of the interfaces, the “Network Connections” window will show.
Select the interface that shows as “Enabled” and click on “Rename this connection” to rename it to “External”.
Rename the 3 interfaces on an “Unidentified network” to “Internal1”, “Internal2” and “Internal3”
Close the “Network Connections” and refresh the “Local Server” view. You should see the results below:

3.4. Assign static IP addresses for the Hyper-V host

In this step, you will assign a static IP address to the 3 internal virtual NICs on the parent partition.
These NICs initially use the default setting (DHCP), but there is no DHCP server for the internal network.
The table below shows the desired configuration for each interface.

Machine

Virtual
External

Internal1

Internal2

Internal3

Parent

DHCP

192.168.101.100

192.168.102.100

192.168.103.100

Note 1: The VirtualExternal network does not need any further configuration, since the default is already to use DHCP.
Note 2: The preferred DNS IP address for all 3 internal interfaces should be set to 192.168.101.1 (that will be the IP address of the DNS server we will configure later).

3.4.PS. Using PowerShell

1..3 | % {
Set-NetIPInterface –InterfaceAlias Internal$_ -DHCP Disabled
Remove-NetIPAddress –InterfaceAlias Internal$_ -AddressFamily IPv4 -Confirm:$false
New-NetIPAddress –InterfaceAlias Internal$_ -AddressFamily IPv4 -IPv4Address "192.168.10$_.100" -PrefixLength 24 -Type Unicast
Set-DnsClientServerAddress –InterfaceAlias Internal$_ -ServerAddresses 192.168.101.1
}

Get-NetIPAddress –AddressFamily Ipv4 | FT

Note: The static IPv4 address has to be added twice because you need to add both to the active configuration and to the persistent configuration that is re-applied when you reboot.

3.4.GUI. Using Server Manager

In Server Manager, click on “Local Server” on the list on left.
In the properties pane on the right, scroll to see the list of Ethernet interfaces (there will be 4 of them)
Click on the “Ipv4 address…” link next to one of the interfaces, the “Network Connections” window will show
On the list of network connections, right click the Internal1 interface and click “Properties”
On the “Internal1 Properties” window, select “Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)” and click “Properties”.
On TCP/IPv4 Properties window, select the option to “Use the following IP address”.
Enter the IP address 192.168.101.100 and the subnet mask 255.255.255.0 (as shown below).
Select the option “Use the following DNS server address”, enter 192.168.101.1 and click “OK”
Repeat this for the Internal2 and Internal3 networks, making sure to use the correct IP address (see table shown in item 3.4) and use the same Preferred DNS server IP address.
Close the “Network Connections” and refresh the “Local Server” view.

4. Create the Base VM

4.1. Preparations

Create a folder for your ISO files at C:\ISO and a folder for your VMs at C:\VMS
Copy the Windows Server 2012 Beta ISO file to C:\ISO

4.2. Create a Base VM

Create a new VM that will be used as the base image for our 5 VMs.
Store it in the C:\VMS folder and attach the Windows Server 2012 Beta ISO file to it.

4.2.PS. Using PowerShell

MD C:\VMS
New-VHD -Path C:\VMS\BASE.VHDX -Dynamic -SizeBytes 127GB
New-VM -Name Base -VHDPath C:\VMS\BASE.VHDX -SwitchName External -Memory 1GB
Set-VMDvdDrive –VMName Base -Path C:\ISO\WindowsServer8-Beta-64bit-English.iso
Start-VM Base

4.2.GUI. Using Hyper-V Manager

In Windows Explorer, create a new C:\VMS folder.
In Server Manager, click on “Tools” in the upper left and select “Hyper-V Manager”.
In Hyper-V Manager, click on the server name on the pane on the left.
On the task pane on the right, click on “New”, then click on “Virtual Machine…”.
On the “Before you begin” page, just click “Next”.
On the “Specify Name and Location” page, use “Base” for the name, and “C:\VMS” for location. Click “Next”.
On the “Assign Memory” page, use “1024” MB and click “Next”.
On the “Configure Networking” page, use “External”.
On the “Connect Virtual Disk” page, select the option to “Create a virtual hard disk”.
Use “Base.vhdx” for name, “C:\VMS” for location and “127” GB for size. Click “Next”.
On the “Installation Options” page, select the option to install from DVD, select the option to use an ISO file and enter the path to the Windows Server 2012 beta ISO file on your C:\ISO folder. Click “Finish”.
In Hyper-V Manager, right-click the VM and select “Start”

4.3. Install Windows Server 2012 Beta on the VM

In Server Manager, click on “Tools” in the upper left and select “Hyper-V Manager”.
In Hyper-V Manager, click on the server name on the pane on the left.
On the list of VMs, right-click the VM called “Base” and click on “Connect…”
Follow the instructions on the screen, as you did in item 2.2.
Set a password, but don’t install any roles.
Don’t bother renaming the computer, since we’re sysprep’ing the VM anyway.

4.4. Sysprep the VM

After you have the OS installed on the VM, sign in and run C:\Windows\System32\Sysprep\Sysprep.exe
Select the options to run the OOBE, generalize and shutdown:
After Sysprep completes, the VM will be shut down.

4.5. Remove the base VM

Remove the BASE VM, leaving just the BASE.VHDX.
You should have a new base VHD ready to use at C:\VMS\BASE.VHD. Its size should be around 9GB.

4.5.PS. Using PowerShell

Remove-VM Base

4.5.GUI. Using Hyper-V Manager

In Hyper-V Manager, click on the server name on the pane on the left
On the list of VMs, right-click the VM called “Base” and click on “Delete”

5. Configure the 5 VMs

5.1. Create 5 new differencing VHDs using the Base VHD

5.1.PS. Using PowerShell

1..5 | % { New-VHD -ParentPath C:\VMS\BASE.VHDX –Path C:\VMS\VM$_.VHDX }

5.1.GUI. Using Hyper-V Manager

In Hyper-V Manager, click on the server name on the pane on the left.
On the task pane on the right, click on “New”, then click on “Hard disk…”
On the “Before you begin” page, just click “Next”.
On the “Choose disk format” page, select “VHDX” and click “Next”.
On the “Choose disk type” page, select “Differencing”.
On the “Specify Name and Location” page, use “VM1.VHDX” for name and “C:\VMS” for location. Click “Next”.
On the “Configure disk” page, use “C:\VMS\BASE.VHDX” for the location of the parent VHD.
After this, you will have a new differencing VHD at VM1.VHD that’s 4MB in size.
Since we’re creating 5 VMS, copy that file into VM2.VHD, VM3.VHD, VM4.VHD and VM5.VHD.

5.2. Create 5 similarly configured VMs

You should create five VMs as follows:

VM

Role

Computer Name

External

Internal 1

Internal 2

Internal 3

VM1

DNS, DC

DEMO-DC.DEMO.TEST

DHCP

192.168.101.1

N/A

N/A

VM2

iSCSI Target

DEMO-IT.DEMO.TEST

DHCP

192.168.101.2

N/A

N/A

VM3

File Server 1

DEMO-F1.DEMO.TEST

DHCP

192.168.101.3

192.168.102.3

192.168.103.3

VM4

File Server 2

DEMO-F2.DEMO.TEST

DHCP

192.168.101.4

192.168.102.4

192.168.103.4

VM5

SQL Server

DEMO-DB.DEMO.TEST

DHCP

192.168.101.5

192.168.102.5

192.168.103.5

Note 1: Each VM will use one of the VHD files we created in the previous step.
Note 2: Each VM will use 1GB of memory.

5.2.PS. Using PowerShell

1..5 | % { New-VM -Name VM$_ -VHDPath C:\VMS\VM$_.VHDX -Memory 1GB -SwitchName External}
1..5 | % { Add-VMNetworkAdapter VM$_ –SwitchName Internal1 }
3..5 | % { Add-VMNetworkAdapter VM$_ –SwitchName Internal2 }
3..5 | % { Add-VMNetworkAdapter VM$_ –SwitchName Internal3 }

5.2.GUI. Using Hyper-V Manager

In Hyper-V Manager, click on the server name on the pane on the left.
On the task pane on the right, click on “New”, then click on “Virtual Machine…”
On the “Before you begin” page, just click “Next”.
On the “Specify Name and Location” page, use “VM1” for the name, and “C:\VMS” for location. Click “Next”.
On the “Assign Memory” page, use “1024” MB and click “Next”.
On the “Configure Networking” page, use “External”.
On the “Connect Virtual Disk” page, select the option to “Use an existing virtual hard disk”.
Use “C:\VMS\VM1.vhdx” for name. Click on “Finish”.
In Hyper-V Manager, click on the server name on the pane on the left.
On the list of VMs, right-click the VM you just created (VM1) and click on “Settings…”
On the “Settings for VM1” window, select “Add Hardware”, then “Network Adapter”.
Select the “Internal1” interface and click OK.
Repeat the process for VMs 2 to 5.
For VMs 3 to 5, make sure to add networks Internal2 and Internal3 as well Internal1.

5.3. Start the 5 VMs

5.3.PS. Using PowerShell

Start-VM VM*

5.3.GUI. Using Hyper-V Manager

In Hyper-V Manager, click on the server name on the pane on the left
In Hyper-V Manager, multi-select VMs 1 to 5, right click them and click on “Start”

5.4. Complete the mini-setup for the 5 VMs

Using Hyper-V manager, multi-select VMs 1 to 5, right click them and click on “Connect…”
Let the mini-setup complete, and configure each of the five VMs.
You will be prompted for a product key (you can skip that), license agreement, clock/language/region settings and a password.

5.5. Change the computer name for each VM

Change the computer name for each VM, using the names defined in item 5.2
The examples below are for VM1 (the DNS and Domain Controller).
You should repeat this for each of the 5 VMs.
At this point, you can also use this opportunity to enable Remote Desktop for each VM.
This would be done for each VM as you did for the host in item 2.4, if you want to access the VMs remotely.

5.5.PS. Using PowerShell (for VM1, for instance)

Rename-Computer DEMO-DC -Restart

5.5.GUI. Using Server Manager (for VM1, for instance)

In Server Manager, click on “Local Server” on the list on left.
Click on the default name next to “Computer Name”.
Click on “Change”.
Enter the new computer name as “DEMO-DC”.
Click “OK” accept the changes.
Click “OK” to acknowledge that you need to restart to apply changes.
Click “Restart Now”.

5.6. For each VM, configure the networks

In this step you will configure the network for each VM as shown on the table in item 5.2
We first rename the Network Connections in each guest for easy identification.
The External network is identified as being the only one with a DHCP address.
The remaining networks are renamed to Internal1, Internal2 and Internal3.
For internal networks static IPs are configured, with mask 255.255.255.0 and DNS set to 192.168.101.1.
The Internal 1 network will be used for DNS, Active Directory and the iSCSI Target.
The External network is useful for downloading from the Internet and remotely connecting to the 5 VMs.
You could configure a DHCP server for the internal interfaces.
However, due to the risk of accidentally creating a rogue DHCP server in your network, fixed IPs are used.

5.6.PS. Using PowerShell (for VM1, for instance)

## External NIC is the only one with a DHCP server
Get-NetIPAddress -PrefixOrigin “DHCP” | % `
{Rename-NetAdapter -InterfaceAlias $_.InterfaceAlias –NewName External}

## $IC – Internal Count – Number of Internal networks
$IC=0
Get-NetAdapter Wired* | Sort MacAddress | % { `
   $IC++
   Rename-NetAdapter -InterfaceAlias $_.InterfaceAlias –NewName Internal$IC
}

## $VM is the VM Number, between 1 and 5. Used as the last portion of the IP address.
$VM=1
1..$IC | % {
   Set-NetIPInterface –InterfaceAlias Internal$_ -DHCP Disabled
   Remove-NetIPAddress –InterfaceAlias Internal$_ -AddressFamily IPv4 –Confirm:$false
   New-NetIPAddress –InterfaceAlias Internal$_ -AddressFamily IPv4 -IPv4Address "192.168.10$_.$VM" -PrefixLength 24 -Type Unicast
   Set-DnsClientServerAddress –InterfaceAlias Internal$_ -ServerAddresses 192.168.101.1
}

5.6.GUI. Using Server Manager (For VM1, for instance)

This step is similar to step 3.4, but this time performed on the 5 VM.
Inside the VM, in Server Manager, click on “Local Server” on the list on left.
In the properties pane on the right, Click on the “Ipv4 address…” link next to one of the interfaces.
The “Network Connections” window will show.
As you did with the Hyper-V host, rename the NIC with the DHCP connection to “External”.
This NIC needs no further configuration.
Rename the remaining NIC to “Internal1”. (Other VMs will also have Internal2 and Internal3).
For each internal NIC, right click the Internal1 interface and click “Properties”.
On the “Internal1 Properties” window, select “Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)” and click “Properties”.
On TCP/IPv4 Properties window, select the option to “Use the following IP address”.
Enter the corresponding IP address (see table on item 5.2) and the subnet mask 255.255.255.0.
Select the option “Use the following DNS server address”, enter 192.168.101.1 and click “OK”.
Repeat this for the Internal2 and Internal3 networks using the corresponding IP address and the DNS above.
Close the “Network Connections” and refresh the “Local Server” view.

Note: If you can’t tell which Internal network is which inside the VMs with multiple Internal networks, you can temporarily set one of the adapters to “Not Connected” in the VM Settings and verify which one shows as “Network cable unplugged”.

5.7. Review VM name and network configuration

After renaming the computer, renaming the network and configuring IP addresses, review the configuration on each VM to make sure you did not miss any step. Examples are shown below for VM1 and VM3.

5.7.PS. Using PowerShell

Get-WmiObject Win32_ComputerSystem
Get-NetAdapter
Get-NetIPAddress -AddressFamily IPv4 -Store Active | Sort IfIndex | FT

5.7.GUI. Using Server Manager

In Server Manager, click on “Local Server” on the list on left.
Verify the network configuration.

6. Configure DNS and Active Directory

6.1. Install DNS and Active Directory Domain Services

Install the required DNS and Active Directory Domain Services roles to VM1 (DEMO-DC)

6.1.PS. Using PowerShell

Install-WindowsFeature DNS, AD-Domain-Services, RSAT-AD-PowerShell, RSAT-ADDS-Tools

6.1.GUI. Using Server Manager

In Server Manager, click on “Dashboard” on the list on left.
Click on the “Add Roles and Features”, which is option 2 under “Configure this local server”.
On the “Before You Begin” page, just click “Next”.
On the “Installation Type” page, click “Role-base or feature-based installation” and click “Next”.
On the “Server Selection” page, select your server and click “Next”.
On the “Server Role” page, select “Active Directory Domain Services”.
On the dialog about adding required services, click “Add Features”.
On the “Server Role” page, select “DNS Server” and click “Next”.
On the dialog about adding required services, click “Add Features”.
On the “Feature” page, just click “Next”.
On the “Active Directory Domain Services” page, just click “Next”.
On the “DNS Server” page, just click “Next”.
On the “Confirmation” page, click “Install”.
The roles will be installed.

6.2. Configure Active Directory

Create a new domain and forest for the DEMO.TEST domain.

6.2.PS. Using PowerShell

Import-Module ADDSDeployment
Install-ADDSForest `
-CreateDNSDelegation:$false `
-DatabasePath "C:\Windows\NTDS" `
-DomainMode "Win2008R2" `
-DomainName "DEMO.TEST" `
-DomainNetBIOSName "DEMO" `
-ForestMode "Win2008R2" `
-InstallDNS:$true `
-LogPath "C:\Windows\NTDS" `
-RebootOnCompletion `
-SafeModeAdministratorPassword (Read-Host -AsSecureString -Prompt "Enter Password") `
-SYSVOLPath "C:\Windows\SYSVOL"

6.2.GUI. Using Server Manager

Open Server Manager and click on the “AD DS” option on the right.
On the yellow band showing “Configuration Required for Active Directory...” click “More…”
On the “All Server Task Details”, click on the action to “Promote this server…”
The “Active Directory Domain Services Configuration Wizard” will start.
On the “Deployment Configuration” page, select “Add a new forest”.
Enter “DEMO.TEST” as the root domain name and click “Next”.
On the “Domain Controller Option”, enter the password twice and click “Next”.
On the “DNS Options” page, click “Next”.
On the “Additional Options” page, click “Next”. (NETBIOS name check takes a while)
On the “Paths” page, click “Next”.
On the “Review Options” page, click “Next”.
On the “Pre-requisites” page, click “Next”. (Pre-requisite checks takes a while)
Click “Install”.

6.3. Join the other VMs to the domain

After the Domain Controller reboots, for every one of the other 4 VMs, join the domain
You will need to provide the domain name (DEMO.TEST) and the Administrator credentials
From now on, always log on to any of the VMs using the domain credentials: DEMO.TEST\Administrator

6.3.PS. Using PowerShell (for VM2 to VM5)

Add-Computer -DomainName DEMO.TEST -Restart

6.4. Create the SQL Service account

In the Domain Controller, use Active Directory Users and Computers to create a new user account for SQL.
The account should be called SQLService and should not require change in the next logon.
Set a password for the SQLService account.

6.4.PS. Using PowerShell

New-ADUser -Name SQLService –Enabled $True -UserPrincipalName SQLService@DEMO.TEST `
-DisplayName SQLService -ChangePasswordAtLogon $False -PasswordNeverExpires $True `
-AccountPassword (Read-Host -AsSecureString "Enter password")

6.4.GUI. Using Server Manager

Open Server Manager
In the Tools menu on the upper right, select “Active Directory Users and Computers”
Right click the “Users” container on the tree on the left, then select “New”, then “User”
Enter “SQLService” as Full Name and User Logon Name, then click “Next”
Enter the password twice as required
Uncheck “user must change password at next logon” and check “Password never expires”
Click “Next”, then click “Finish”

7. Configure iSCSI

We’ll create a single Target with 3 Devices (LUNs or VHD files) and used by 2 initiators (DEMO-F1 and DEMO-F2).
The devices will include a 1GB VHD for the Cluster Witness volume and two 20GB VHDs for the data volumes.
We’ll then configure the initiators and volumes from the File Server side.

7.1. Add the iSCSI Software Target

Add the iSCSI Software Target role service to VM2 (DEMO-IT.DEMO.TEST)

7.1.PS. Using PowerShell

Install-WindowsFeature FS-iSCSITarget-Server

7.1.GUI. Using Server Manager

In Server Manager, click on “Dashboard” on the list on left
Click on the “Add Roles and Features”, which is option 2 under “Configure this local server”
On the “Before You Begin” page, just click “Next”
On the “Installation Type” page, click “Role-base or feature-based installation” and click “Next”
On the “Server Selection” page, expand “File and Storage Services”, then “File Services”
Select the “iSCSI Target Server”
On the dialog about adding required services, click “Add Features”
Click “Next”
On the “Feature” page, just click “Next”
On the “Confirmation” page, click “Install”
The role will be installed

7.2. Create the LUNs and Target

Create the 1^st LUN with the file at C:\LUN0.VHD, 1GB in size, description “LUN0”.
Create the 2^nd and 3^rd LUNs at C:\LUN1.VHD and C:\LUN2.VHD, both with 20GB.
Add those to a single target, exposed to two initiators by IP address (192.168.101.3 and 192.168.101.4)

7.2.PS. Using PowerShell

New-IscsiServerTarget -TargetName FileCluster `
-InitiatorID IPAddress:192.168.101.3, IPAddress:192.168.101.4
New-IscsiVirtualDisk -DevicePath C:\LUN0.VHD -Size 1GB
1..2 | % {New-IscsiVirtualDisk -DevicePath C:\LUN$_.VHD -Size 20GB}
0..2 | % {Add-iSCSIVirtualDiskTargetMapping -TargetName FileCluster -DevicePath C:\LUN$_.VHD}

7.2.GUI. Using Server Manager

In Server Manager, click on “File and Storage Services” on the list on left
Click on “iSCSI Virtual Disks”
On the “Tasks” menu on the right, select “New Virtual Disk…”
The “New iSCSI Virtual Disk Wizard” will start
On the “Virtual Disk Location” page, with the DEMO-IT server and “C:” volume selected, click “Next”
On the “Virtual Disk Name” page, enter “LUN0” as the Name, then click “Next”
On the “Virtual Disk Size” page, enter 1GB as the size, then click “Next”
On the “iSCSI Target” page, with the “New iSCSI target” option selected, click “Next”
On the “iSCSI Target Name” page, enter “FileCluster” as the name, then click “Next”
On the “Access Servers” page, click on “Add…”
Select “Enter a value...”, select “IP Address”, enter “192.168.101.3”, then click “OK”
On the “Access Servers” page, click on “Add…” again
Select “Enter a value...”, select “IP Address”, enter “192.168.101.4”, then click “OK”
With the two iSCSI Initiators specified, click “Next”
On the “Enable Authentication” page, click “Next”
On the “Confirmation” page, click “Create”
When the wizard is done, click “Close”.
On the “Tasks” menu on the right, select “New Virtual Disk…”
The “New iSCSI Virtual Disk Wizard” will start
On the “Virtual Disk Location” page, with the DEMO-IT server and “C:” volume selected, click “Next”
On the “Virtual Disk Name” page, enter “LUN1” as the Name, then click “Next”
On the “Virtual Disk Size” page, enter 20GB as the size, then click “Next”
On the “iSCSI Target” page, with the “Select Existing iSCSI target” option selected, click “Next”
On the “Confirmation” page, click “Create”
When the wizard is done, click “Close”.
Repeat the steps above to create a LUN2 with 20GB and add to the same target.

7.3. Configure the iSCSI Initiators

Now we shift to the two File Servers, which will run the iSCSI Initiator.
We’ll do this on VM3 and VM4 (or DEMO-F1 and DEMO-F2).
Make sure to log on using the domain administrator (DEMO\Administrator), not the local Administrator.
You will then start the iSCSI Initiator, configuring the service to start automatically.
You will then connect the initiator to the iSCSI Target we just configured on DEMO-IT

7.3.PS. Using PowerShell

Set-Service MSiSCSI -StartupType automatic
Start-Service MSiSCSI
New-iSCSITargetPortal -TargetPortalAddress 192.168.101.2
Get-iSCSITarget | Connect-iSCSITarget
Get-iSCSISession | Register-iSCSISession

7.3.GUI. Using Server Manager

Open Server Manager
In the Tools menu on the upper right, select “iSCSI Initator”
Click on “Yes” on the prompt about automatically starting the iSCSI Initiator.
Enter “192.168.101.2” on the Target field and click the “Quick Connect…” button next to it.
Verify the status shows as “Connect” and click on “Done”
Click on the “Volume and Devices” tab and click on the “Auto Configure” button.
Verify that three volumes show up on the Volume List.
Click “OK” to close the iSCSI Initiator.

7.4. Configure the disks

In only one of the two file server nodes, configure the three disks (the iSCSI LUNs).
They first need to be onlined, initialized and partitioned (we’re using MBR partitions, since the disks are small).
Then you will format them and assign each one a driver letter (W:, X: and Y:).
Drive W: will be the used as witness disks, while X: and Y: will be data disks for the file server cluster.

7.4.PS. Using PowerShell

1..3 | % {
$d = “-WXY”[$_]
Set-Disk -Number $_ -IsReadOnly 0
Set-Disk -Number $_ -IsOffline 0
Initialize-Disk -Number $_ -PartitionStyle MBR
New-Partition -DiskNumber $_ -DriveLetter $d –UseMaximumSize
Initialize-Volume -DriveLetter $d -FileSystem NTFS -Confirm:$false
}

7.4.GUI. Using Server Manager

Open the Disk Management tool
Online all three offline disks (the iSCSI LUNs)
Initialize them (you can use MBR partitions, since they are small)
Create a new Simple Volume on each one using all the disk space on the LUN
Quick-format them with NTFS as the file system
Assign each one a drive letter (W:, X: and Y:)

8. Configure the File Server

8.1 Install the required roles and features

Now we need to configure VM3 and VM4 as file servers and cluster nodes

8.1.PS. Using PowerShell (From both VM3 and VM4)

Install-WindowsFeature File-Services, FS-FileServer, Failover-Clustering
Install-WindowsFeature RSAT-Clustering -IncludeAllSubFeature
Install-WindowsFeature RSAT-File-Services -IncludeAllSubFeature

8.1.GUI. Using Server Manager

For both DEMO-F1 and DEMO-F2, from Server Manager, select Add Role and check File and Storage Services.
Next, select Add Feature and check Failover Clustering

8.2. Validate the Failover Cluster Configuration

8.2.PS. Using PowerShell (From VM3, DEMO-F1)

Test-Cluster -Node DEMO-F1, DEMO-F2

8.2.GUI. Using Server Manager

On VM3 (DEMO-F1), open Server Manager.
On the Tools menu on the upper right, select “Failover Cluster Manager”
In Failover Cluster Manager and click on the option to “Validate a Configuration…”
The “Validate a Configuration Wizard” will start. Click “Next”
Add the two file servers: DEMO-F1 and DEMO-F2. Then click “Next”
Select the option to “Run all tests”. Click “Next”. Click “Next” again to confirm.
Let the validation process run. It will take a few minutes to complete.
Validation should not return any errors.
If it does, review the previous steps and make sure to address any issues listed in the validation report.

8.3. Create a Failover Cluster

8.3.PS. Using PowerShell (From VM3, DEMO-F1)

New-Cluster –Name DEMO-FC -Node DEMO-F1, DEMO-F2

8.3.GUI. Using Server Manager

On VM3 (DEMO-F1), open Server Manager.
On the Tools menu on the upper right, select “Failover Cluster Manager”
In Failover Cluster Manager and click on the option to “Create a Cluster…”
The “Create a Cluster Wizard” will start. Click “Next”
Add the two file servers: DEMO-F1 and DEMO-F2. Then click “Next”
Enter the Cluster Name: DEMO-FC. Then click “Next”
Click “Next” again to confirm.
Click “Finish” after the cluster is created.

8.4. Configure the Cluster Networks

For consistency, you should rename the Cluster networks to match the names used previously.
You should also configure the Internal networks to be used by cluster, but not the External one.

8.4.PS. Using PowerShell (From VM3, DEMO-F1)

(Get-ClusterNetwork | ? Address -like 192.168.101.* ).Name = "Internal1"
(Get-ClusterNetwork | ? Address -like 192.168.102.* ).Name = "Internal2”
(Get-ClusterNetwork | ? Address -like 192.168.103.* ).Name = "Internal3”
(Get-ClusterNetwork | ? Name -notlike Internal* ).Name = "External"
(Get-ClusterNetwork Internal1).Role = 3
(Get-ClusterNetwork Internal2).Role = 3
(Get-ClusterNetwork Internal3).Role = 3
(Get-ClusterNetwork External).Role = 1

8.4.GUI. Using Server Manager

In Failover Cluster Manager, expand the nodes until you find the “Networks” node.
For each network, right-click the name and click “Properties”.
Enter the name Internal1, Internal2, Internal3 or External, according to their IP addresses.
For the External network, make sure “Allow cluster…” is selected and “Allow clients…” is *not* checked.
For all Internal networks, select “Allow cluster…” and check the “Allow clients…” checkbox.

8.5. Add data disks to Cluster Shared Volumes (CSV)

Add the disks to the list of Cluster Shared Volumes.

8.5.PS. Using PowerShell (From VM3, DEMO-F1)

Get-ClusterResource | ? OwnerGroup -like Available* | Add-ClusterSharedVolume

8.5.GUI. Using Server Manager

In Failover Cluster Manager, expand the nodes until you find the “Storage” node.
Select the two disks currently assigned to “Available Storage”.
Right click the two selected disks and click on “Add to Cluster Shared Volumes”

8.6. Create the Scale-Out File Server

Create a Scale-Out File Server.

8.6.PS. Using PowerShell (From VM3, DEMO-F1)

Add-ClusterScaleOutFileServerRole -Name DEMO-FS

8.6.GUI. Using Server Manager

On the Failover Cluster Manager, select the main node on the tree (with the cluster name)
On the actions menu on the right, select “Configure Role…”
The “High Availability Wizard” will start. Click “Next”
On the “Select Role” page, select “File Server” and click “Next”
On the “File Server Type” page, select “File Server for scale-out application data” and click “Next”
On the “Client Access Point” page, specify the name of the service as DEMO-FS
On the “Confirmation” page, click “Next”.
Click “Finish” after the configuration is completed.

8.7. Create the folders and shares

In this step, you will create two shares: one for database files and one for log files

8.7.PS. Using PowerShell (From VM3, DEMO-F1)

MD C:\ClusterStorage\Volume1\DATA
ICACLS.EXE C:\ClusterStorage\Volume1\DATA --% /grant DEMO.TEST\Administrator:(CI)(OI)F
ICACLS.EXE C:\ClusterStorage\Volume1\DATA --% /grant DEMO.TEST\SQLService:(CI)(OI)F

MD C:\ClusterStorage\Volume2\LOG
ICACLS.EXE C:\ClusterStorage\Volume2\LOG --% /grant DEMO.TEST\Administrator:(CI)(OI)F
ICACLS.EXE C:\ClusterStorage\Volume2\LOG --% /grant DEMO.TEST\SQLService:(CI)(OI)F

New-SmbShare -Name DATA -Path C:\ClusterStorage\Volume1\DATA `
-FullAccess DEMO.TEST\Administrator, DEMO.TEST\SQLService

New-SmbShare -Name LOG -Path C:\ClusterStorage\Volume2\LOG `
-FullAccess DEMO.TEST\Administrator, DEMO.TEST\SQLService

8.7.GUI. Using Server Manager

On the Failover Cluster Manager, select the Roles node on the tree on the left.
Click on the DEMO-FS role and then click on “Add Shared Folder” on the actions menu on the right.
The “New Share Wizard” will start.
On the “Select Profile” page, select “SMB Share – Server Application” and click “Next”
On the “Share Location” page, select “C:\ClusterStorage\Volume1” as the location. Click “Next”.
On the “Share Name” page, enter “Data” as the share name, click “Next”.
On the “Other Settings” page, just click “Next”
On the “Permissions” page, click on “Customize permissions…”
Click on “Add”, then click on “Select a Principal”.
Enter “DEMO\Administrator”, click on “Check Names” and then click “OK”.
Click “Full Control” and click “OK”.
Click on “Add”, then click on “Select a Principal”.
Enter “DEMO\SQLService”, click on “Check Names” and then click “OK”.
Click “Full Control” and click “OK”.
Click “OK”, then click on “Next”, then click on “Create”
Click on “Close” after the wizard finishes creating the share.
Repeat the process for a share called “LOG” on Volume2.

9. Configure the SQL Server

9.1. Mount the SQL Serve ISO file

Copy the SQL Server 2012 ISO file to the C:\ISO folder.
Mount that in the DVD for VM5, DEMO-DB.

9.1.PS. Using PowerShell

Set-VMDvdDrive –VMName VM5 -Path C:\ISO\SQLFULL_ENU.iso

9.1.GUI. Using Hyper-V Manager

In Server Manager, click on “Tools” in the upper left and select “Hyper-V Manager”
In Hyper-V Manager, click on the server name on the pane on the left
Right-click VM5 and click on “Connect…”
In the “Media” menu, select “DVD Drive” and then “Insert Disk…”
Point to the SQL Server 2012 ISO file under the C:\ISO folder.

9.2. Run SQL Server Setup

From VM5 (DEMO-DB), run SQL Server 2012 setup from the DVD.
In the “SQL Server Installation Center”, click on “Installation”, then select “New SQL Server stand-alone…”
Let it verify the SQL Server Setup Support Rules pass and click “OK”
Select “Evaluation” under “Specify a free edition” and click “Next”
Review the licensing terms and click “Next”
“SQL Server 2012 Setup” will start. Let it verify Setup Support Rules pass and click “Next”.
In the “Setup Role” page, select “SQL Server Feature Installation” and click “Next”.
In the “Feature selection” page, select only the “Database Engine Services” and the “Management Tools”.
Use the default directories. Click “Next”.
In the “Installation Rules” page, click “Next”.
In the “Instance Configuration” page, click “Next”
In the “Disk Space Requirements” page, click “Next”.
In the “Server Configuration” page, enter “DEMO.TEST\SQLService” as the account name for the SQL Server Database Engine and the SQL Server Agent, set them both to start automatically. Click “Next”
In the “Database Engine Configuration” page, click on “Add Current User”.
Click on the “Data Directories” tab. Enter “\\DEMO-FS\DATA” as the “Data Root Directory”.
Fix the two path for Log directories to use “\\DEMO-FS\LOG” instead of the data folder.
You will be prompted to confirm the right permissions are assigned on the share. Click “Yes”.
On the “Error reporting” page, click “Next”
On the “Installation Configuration Rules” page, click “Next”
On the “Ready to Install” page, click “Install”
The installation will complete.

9.3. Create a database using the clustered file share

On the SQL Server VM, open SQL Server Management Studio.
On the “Connect to Server” window, accept the default server name and authentication. Click “Connect”.
Right click the main node, select Properties and click on the “Database Settings”.
Verify that that the “Database default locations” point to the file shares entered earlier.
Click “OK” to close the “Server Properties”.
Expand the tree on the left to find the Databases node.
Right-click “Databases” and select “New Database…”
Enter “Orders” as the database name and note the path pointing to the clustered file share.
Scroll the bar to the right to see the Path column:
Click “OK” to create the database.

10. Verify SMB features

10.1. Verify that SMB Multichannel is working

Use PowerShell to verify that SMB is indeed using multiple interfaces.

10.1.PS. Using PowerShell (from VM5, DEMO-DB)

Get-SmbConnection
Get-SmbMultichannelConnection

10.2. Query the SMB Sessions and Open Files

Use PowerShell to verify sessions and open files.

10.2.PS. Using PowerShell (from VM3, DEMO-F1 or VM4, DEMO-F2)

Get-SmbSession
Get-SmbOpenFile | Sort Path
Get-SmbOpenFile | Sort Path | FT Path

10.3. Transparently move SQL Client between file server nodes

Use SMB Transparent Failover and Witness to move the SMB Client (SQL Server) between the two File Server cluster nodes.

10.3.PS. Using PowerShell (from VM3, DEMO-F1 or VM4, DEMO-F2)

Get-SmbWitnessClient | FT ClientName, NetworkName, FileServerNodeName
Move-SmbWitnessClient -ClientName DEMO-DB -DestinationNode DEMO-F1
Get-SmbWitnessClient | FT ClientName, NetworkName, FileServerNodeName

10.4. Survive the loss of a client NIC

Observe that SMB Multichannel will protect the SQL Server from the failure of a NIC.

10.4.PS. Using PowerShell (from VM5, DEMO-DB)

Get-SmbMultichannelConnection
Disable-NetAdapter -InterfaceAlias Internal3 –Confirm:$false ; Start-Sleep 20

Get-SmbMultichannelConnection

Enable-NetAdapter -InterfaceAlias Internal3 ; Start-Sleep 20
Get-SmbMultichannelConnection

11. Shut down, startup and install final notes

Keep in mind that there are dependencies between the services running on each VM.
To shut them down, start with VM5 and end with VM1, waiting for each one to go down completely before moving to the next one.
To bring the VMs up, go from VM1 to VM5, waiting for the previous one to be fully up (with low to no CPU usage) before starting the next one.
You might want to also take a snapshot of the VMs after you shut them down, just in case you want to bring them back to the original state after experimenting with them for a while.
If you do, you should always snapshot all of them, again due to dependencies between them. Just right-click the VM and select the “Snapshot” option.
As a last note, the total size of the VHD files (base plus 5 diffs), after all the steps were performed, was around 19 GB.

12. Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed these step-by-step instructions. I strongly encourage you to try them out and perform the entire installation yourself. It’s a good learning experience.

Windows Server 2012 Beta - Test cases for Hyper-V over SMB (includes PowerShell examples)

Jose Barreto - MSFT — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 15:20:00 GMT

This blog posts lists a few of the common test cases for the new "Hyper-V over SMB" scenario in Windows Server 2012 Beta.

If you are not familiar with this new scenario in Windows Server 2012 Beta, please read the following TechNet articles before proceeding:

All commands shown in this blog post should be run using Windows PowerShell. In these instructions specific server names and user accounts are used consistently:

Dom is the name of the Active Directory Domain
Dom\HVAdmin is the user that will manage Hyper-V hosts and VMs
FS1 and FS2 are File Servers or File Server cluster nodes
HV1 and HV2 are Hyper-V hosts or Hyper-V cluster nodes
HVC is the name of the Hyper-V cluster itself (the Hyper-V cluster name object)
FST is a File Server cluster for general use (also known as File Server cluster)
FSO is a File Server cluster for scale-out application data (also known as scale-out File Server cluster)

Configure a Standalone File Server

Install Windows Server 2012 Beta.
Add the File and Storage Services role.

Install-WindowsFeature File-Services, FS-FileServer

Configure the network interfaces. If using SMB Multichannel, make sure two NICs of the same type and speed are configured.

Get-NetAdapter
Get-SmbServerNetworkInterface

Configure a Failover Cluster with a File Server

Install Windows Server 2012 beta on two servers.
Add the File and Storage Services role and the Failover Clustering feature to both of them.

Install-WindowsFeature File-Services, FS-FileServer, Failover-Clustering
Install-WindowsFeature RSAT-Clustering -IncludeAllSubFeature

Configure the network interfaces. If using SMB Multichannel, make sure two NICs of the same type and speed are configured on different subnets.

Get-NetAdapter
Get-SmbServerNetworkInterface

Form a Windows Failover Cluster using the two servers.

New-Cluster –Name FSC -Node FS1, FS2

Create a File Server Cluster to host the continuously available SMB 2.2 file share.

Add-ClusterFileServerRole -Name FST -Storage “Cluster Disk 1” –StaticAddress 192.168.101.22/24, 192.168.102.22/24

Configure a Failover Cluster with a Scale-Out File Server

Install Windows Server 2012 beta on two servers.
Add the File and Storage Services role and the Failover Clustering feature to both of them.

Install-WindowsFeature File-Services, FS-FileServer, Failover-Clustering
Install-WindowsFeature RSAT-Clustering -IncludeAllSubFeature

Configure the network interfaces. If using SMB Multichannel, make sure two NICs of the same type and speed are configured on different subnets.

Get-NetAdapter
Get-SmbServerNetworkInterface

Form a Windows Failover Cluster using the two servers.

New-Cluster –Name FSC -Node FS1, FS2

Create a Scale-Out File Server Cluster to host the continuously available SMB 2.2 file share.

Add-ClusterSharedVolume “Cluster Disk 2”
Add-ClusterScaleOutFileServerRole -Name FSO

Configure a server to run Hyper-V

Install Windows Server 2012 beta.
Add the Hyper-V role and tools.

Install-WindowsFeature Hyper-V, Hyper-V-PowerShell, Hyper-V-Tools

Configure the network interfaces. If using SMB Multichannel, make sure two NICs of the same type and speed are configured that are not connected to a VMSwitch.

Get-NetAdapter
Get-SmbClientNetworkInterface

Configuring a file share for Hyper-V over SMB (standalone server or a File Server cluster)

Create a folder for storing VM data

MD X:\VMS

Set the required file system permissions and remove inheritance

ICACLS.EXE X:\VMS --% /Grant Dom\HVAdmin:(CI)(OI)F
ICACLS.EXE X:\VMS --% /Grant Dom\HV1$:(CI)(OI)F
ICACLS.EXE X:\VMS --% /Grant Dom\HV2$:(CI)(OI)F
ICACLS.EXE X:\VMS --% /Grant Dom\HVC$:(CI)(OI)F
ICACLS.EXE X:\VMS /Inheritance:R

Create an SMB file share with the required permissions

New-SmbShare -Name VMS -Path X:\VMS –FullAccess Dom\HVAdmin, Dom\HV1$, Dom\HV2$, Dom\HVC$

Note: If the syntax using "--%" looks strange to you, review my post on using PowerShell to run command line tools.

Configuring a file share for Hyper-V over SMB (Scale-Out File Server cluster)

Create a folder for storing VM data

MD C:\ClusterStorage\Volume1\VMS

Set the required file system permissions and remove inheritance

ICACLS.EXE C:\ClusterStorage\Volume1\VMS --% /Grant Dom\HVAdmin:(CI)(OI)F
ICACLS.EXE C:\ClusterStorage\Volume1\VMS --% /Grant Dom\HV1$:(CI)(OI)F
ICACLS.EXE C:\ClusterStorage\Volume1\VMS --% /Grant Dom\HV2$:(CI)(OI)F
ICACLS.EXE C:\ClusterStorage\Volume1\VMS --% /Grant Dom\HVC$:(CI)(OI)F
ICACLS.EXE C:\ClusterStorage\Volume1\VMS /Inheritance:R

Create an SMB file share with the required permissions

New-SmbShare -Name VMS -Path C:\ClusterStorage\Volume1\VMS -FullAccess Dom\HVAdmin, Dom\HV1$, Dom\HV2$, Dom\HVC$

Creating a new VM on an SMB Share

Create a VHDX file on an SMB file share

New-VHD -Path \\FST\VMS\VM1.VHDX -Fixed -SizeBytes 20GB

Create a VM using the file share

New-VM -Path \\FST\VMS -Name VM1 -VHDPath \\FST\VMS\VM1.VHDX -SwitchName External -Memory 1GB

Start the VM

Start-VM VM1

Verify that the connection is established with the right version of the protocol (dialect)

Get-SmbConnection

Verify that SMB Multichannel is properly using multiple paths

Get-SmbMultichannelConnection

Attach an ISO file with the Windows Server 2012 image

Set-VMDvdDrive VM1 -Path \\FST\Library\WS8.ISO

Install Windows Server 2012 as the guest OS.

Failing one of multiple NICs while VM is running

With a VM running, confirm that multiple paths are being used

Get-VM VM1 | Format-Table Name, Path, State
Get-VMHardDiskDrive VM1 | FT VMName, Path
Get-SmbConnection
Get-SmbMultichannelConnection

Start a long-running file copy workload inside guest OS
Disable one of the network adapters being used by the connection

Disable-NetAdapter –InterfaceAlias Network1

After 30 seconds, verify that only the surviving network paths are being used, the VM is running and the workload is not interrupted

Get-VM VM1 | FT Name, Path, State
Get-SmbMultichannelConnection

Re-enable the network adapter

Enable-NetAdapter –InterfaceAlias Network1

After 30 seconds, verify that all the network paths are again being used, the VM is running and the workload is not interrupted

Get-VM VM1 | FT Name, State
Get-SmbMultichannelConnection

Live Storage Migration of VM from DAS to an SMB share

Confirm there is a VM running using local storage

Get-VM VM1 | FT Name, Path, State
Get-VMHardDiskDrive VM1 | FT VMName, Path

Start a long-running file copy workload inside guest OS
Live Storage Migrate the VM to an SMB file share

Move-VMStorage –VMName VM1 –DestinationStoragePath \\FST\VMS

Confirm there is a VM running using an SMB file share and the workload is not interrupted

Get-VM VM1 | FT Name, Path, State
Get-VMHardDiskDrive VM1 | FT VMName, Path

Live Storage Migration of VM from one SMB share to another

Confirm there is a VM running using one file share

Get-VM VM1 | FT Name, Path, State
Get-VMHardDiskDrive VM1 | FT VMName, Path

Start a long-running file copy workload inside guest OS
Live Storage Migrate the VM to another file share

Move-VMStorage –VMName VM1 –DestinationStoragePath \\FSO\VMS

Confirm there is a VM running using the other file share and the workload is not interrupted

Get-VM VM1 | FT Name, Path, State
Get-VMHardDiskDrive VM1 | FT VMName, Path

Planned Live Migration within a Hyper-V cluster using an SMB share

Confirm there is a VM running in a cluster node using an SMB file share

Get-VM VM1 | FT Name, Path, State
Get-VMHardDiskDrive VM1 | FT VMName, Path
Get-ClusterGroup VM1 | FT Name, OwnerNode, State

Start a long-running file copy workload inside guest OS
Live Migrate the VM to another node

Move-ClusterVirtualMachineRole -Name VM1 -Node HV2 –VmMigrationType Live

Confirm there is a VM moved to another cluster node and the workload is not interrupted

Get-ClusterGroup VM1 | FT Name, OwnerNode, State

Unplanned failover of Hyper-V cluster using an SMB share

Confirm there is a VM running in a cluster node using an SMB file share

Get-VM VM1 | FT Name, Path, State
Get-VMHardDiskDrive VM1 | FT VMName, Path
Get-ClusterGroup VM1 | FT Name, OwnerNode, State

Pull the power plug on the Hyper-V cluster node running the VM
Confirm that the VM moved to another cluster node

Get-ClusterGroup VM1 | FT Name, OwnerNode, State

Planned Live Migration between standalone hosts using an SMB share

Confirm there is a VM running (on HV1)

Get-VM VM1 | FT Name, Path, State
Get-VMHardDiskDrive VM1 | FT VMName, Path

Start a long-running file copy workload inside guest OS
Live Migrate the VM to HV2

Move-VM –Name VM1 –DestinationHost HV2

Confirm that the VM moved (on HV2) and the workload is not interrupted

Get-VM VM1 | FT Name, Path, State

Live Migration of VM on DAS with Live Storage Migration to an SMB share

Confirm there is a VM running using local storage in HV1

Get-VM VM1 | FT Name, Path, State
Get-VMHardDiskDrive VM1 | FT VMName, Path

Start a long-running file copy workload inside guest OS
Live Virtual Machine Migrate the VM to HV2 and the storage to an SMB file share

Move-VM –Name VM1 -DestinationHost HV2 –DestinationStoragePath \\FST\VMS

Confirm there is a VM running in HV2 using the file share and the workload is not interrupted

Get-VM VM1 | FT Name, Path, State
Get-VMHardDiskDrive VM1 | FT VMName, Path

Live Migration of VM on an SMB share with Live Storage Migration to another SMB share

Confirm there is a VM running on HV1 using one file share in FST

Get-VM VM1 | FT Name, Path, State
Get-VMHardDiskDrive VM1 | FT VMName, Path

Start a long-running file copy workload inside guest OS
Live Virtual Machine Migrate the VM to HV2 with VM's storage migrated to another file share

Move-VM –Name VM1 -DestinationHost HV2 –DestinationStoragePath \\FSO\VMS

Confirm there is a VM running in HV2 using the other file share and the workload is not interrupted

Get-VM VM1 | FT Name, Path, State
Get-VMHardDiskDrive VM1 | FT VMName, Path

Save and Resume a VM on an SMB share

Confirm there is a VM running using an SMB file share

Get-VM VM1 | FT Name, Path, State
Get-VMHardDiskDrive VM1 | FT VMName, Path

Save the VM

Save-VM VM1

Confirm the VM is saved

Get-VM

Resume the VM

Resume-VM VM1

Confirm the VM is restored

Get-VM VM1 | FT Name, Path, State

Create a Hyper-V Snapshot for a VM on an SMB share

Confirm there is a VM running using an SMB file share with no snapshots

Get-VM VM1 | FT Name, Path, State
Get-VMHardDiskDrive VM1 | FT VMName, Path
Get-VMSnapshot VM1

Create a VM snapshot

CheckPoint-VM VM1

Confirm the VM is snapshotted

Get-VMSnapshot VM1

Remove the VM snapshot

Remove-VMSnapshot VM1

Confirm the VM has no snapshots

Get-VM VM1 | FT Name, Path, State
Get-VMHardDiskDrive VM1 | FT VMName, Path
Get-VMSnapShot VM1

Create a Hyper-V Replica of a VM on an SMB share

Make sure HV1 and HV2 are two unclustered Hyper-V hosts
Configure HV2 as the replica Server

Set-VMReplicationServer –ReplicationEnabled $true –ReplicationAllowedFromAnyServer $true –DefaultStorageLocation \\FSO\VMS –AuthType Integrated –IntegratedAuthenticationPort 80
New-NetFirewallRule -Name AllowPort1 -DisplayName AllowPort1 -Direction Inbound -Action Allow -Protocol TCP -LocalPort 80

Confirm there is a VM running on HV1 using \\FST\VMS

Get-VM VM1 | FT Name, Path, ReplicationState
Get-VMHardDiskDrive VM1 | FT VMName, Path

Create a Hyper-V Replica of the VM on HV2

Set-VMReplication VM1 –ReplicaServerName HV2 –ReplicaServerPort 80 –AuthenticationType Integrated
Start-VMInitialReplication VM1

Confirm the VM is replicating

Get-VM VM1 | FT Name, Path, ReplicationState
Get-VMReplication VM1

VM storage throughput using single NIC

Confirm there is a VM running using an SMB file share, using a single NIC

Get-VM VM1 | FT Name, Path, State
Get-VMHardDiskDrive VM1 | FT VMName, Path
Get-SmbMultichannelConnection

Create load on the server for 10 minutes
Confirm the throughput of the storage
Use Performance Monitor inside the Guest OS (Physical Disk counters)
Use Performance Monitor on the Host OS (SMB2 Client Shares counters)

VM storage throughput using dual NICs

Confirm there is a VM running using an SMB file share, using dual NICs

Get-VM VM1 | FT Name, Path, State
Get-VMHardDiskDrive VM1 | FT VMName, Path
Get-SmbMultichannelConnection

Create load on the server for 10 minutes
Confirm the throughput of the storage
Use Performance Monitor inside the Guest OS (Physical Disk counters)
Use Performance Monitor on the Host OS (SMB2 Client Shares counters)

VM storage throughput using SMB Direct and a single RDMA NIC

Confirm there is a VM running using an SMB file share, using a single NIC that is RDMA-capable

Get-VM VM1 | FT Name, Path, State
Get-VMHardDiskDrive VM1 | FT VMName, Path
Get-SmbMultichannelConnection

Create load on the server for 10 minutes
Confirm the throughput of the storage
Use Performance Monitor inside the Guest OS (Physical Disk counters)
Use Performance Monitor on the Host OS (SMB2 Client Shares counters)

VM storage throughput using SMB Direct and dual RDMA NICs

Confirm there is a VM running using an SMB file share, using dual NICs that are RDMA-capable

Get-VM VM1 | FT Name, Path, State
Get-VMHardDiskDrive VM1 | FT VMName, Path
Get-SmbMultichannelConnection

Create load on the server for 10 minutes
Confirm the throughput of the storage
Use Performance Monitor inside the Guest OS (Physical Disk counters)
Use Performance Monitor on the Host OS (SMB2 Client Shares counters)

Planned move of File Share between cluster while VM is running (File Server cluster)

Confirm there is a VM running using an SMB file share (on the Hyper-V host)

Get-VM VM1 | FT Name, Path, State
Get-VMHardDiskDrive VM1 | FT VMName, Path

Move the file share between nodes (on the File Server cluster)

Get-ClusterGroup FST | FT Name, OwnerNode, State
Move-ClusterGroup FST
Get-ClusterGroup FST | FT Name, OwnerNode, State

Confirm there is a VM continues to run uninterrupted (on the Hyper-V host)

Get-VM VM1 | FT Name, Path, State

Move of Hyper-V host to a different File Server cluster node while VM is running (Scale-Out File Server cluster)

Confirm there is a VM running using an SMB file share (on the Hyper-V host)

Get-VM VM1 | FT Name, Path, State
Get-VMHardDiskDrive VM1 | FT VMName, Path

Move the file share between nodes (on the File Server cluster)

Get-SmbSession
Get-SmbWitnessClient | FT ClientName, FileServerNodeName, State
Move-SmbWitnessClient -ClientName HV1 -DestinationNode FS2
Get-SmbWitnessClient | FT ClientName, FileServerNodeName, State

Confirm there is a VM continues to run uninterrupted (on the Hyper-V host)

Get-VM VM1 | FT Name, Path, State
Get-VMHardDiskDrive VM1 | FT VMName, Path

Unplanned failover of File Server node while VM is running (all File Server types)

Confirm there is a VM running using an SMB file share (on the Hyper-V host)

Get-VM VM1 | FT Name, Path, State
Get-VMHardDiskDrive VM1 | FT VMName, Path

Pull the power plug on the File Server cluster node currently in use
Confirm there is a VM continues to run uninterrupted (on the Hyper-V host)

Get-VM VM1 | FT Name, Path, State

Host-based backup of a VM using VSS for SMB File Shares

Confirm there is a VM running using an SMB file share

Get-VM VM1 | FT Name, Path, State
Get-VMHardDiskDrive VM1 | FT VMName, Path

Confirm with VSS that the provider for SMB file shares and the writer for Hyper-V are available

VSSADMIN.EXE List Providers
VSSADMIN.EXE List Writers

Create a VSS backup from the Hyper-V host using a VSS Requester

DISKSHADOW.EXE

Set Context Persistent
Begin Backup
Add Volume \\FST\VMS
Create
End Backup

Using Windows PowerShell to run old command line tools (and their weirdest parameters)

Jose Barreto - MSFT — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 07:35:00 GMT

Introduction

For a while now, I have let go of the old CMD.EXE command line and moved over to POWERSHELL.EXE for good.
As you probably know, you can run any old command from the new Windows PowerShell.
However, there are times when the name or the syntax of old tools might create issues.
But it can all be solved.

Problem 1: Name conflicts

One common issue is when an alias for a PowerShell cmdlet conflicts with the name of an old tool.
Say, for instance, you like the old “Service Control” tool called SC.EXE.
SC.EXE is very flexible and I can understand why you might still like it (no excuses for using even older NET.EXE for managing services, though :-).
If you want to query the status of the SMB Server service, for instance, you can use this with CMD.EXE:

C:\>SC QUERY LANMANSERVER

SERVICE_NAME: LANMANSERVER
        TYPE               : 20 WIN32_SHARE_PROCESS
        STATE              : 4 RUNNING
                                (STOPPABLE, PAUSABLE, IGNORES_SHUTDOWN)
        WIN32_EXIT_CODE    : 0 (0x0)
        SERVICE_EXIT_CODE : 0 (0x0)
        CHECKPOINT         : 0x0
        WAIT_HINT          : 0x0

If you try the same thing in PowerShell, you get this:

PS C:\> SC QUERY LANMANSERVER
Set-Content : Access to the path 'C:\QUERY' is denied.
At line:1 char:1
+ SC QUERY LANMANSERVER
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+ CategoryInfo : PermissionDenied: (C:\QUERY:String) [Set-Content], UnauthorizedAccessException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : GetContentWriterUnauthorizedAccessError,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.SetContentCommand

That’s because SC is the alias for the Set-Content cmdlet. Which takes priority over the SC.EXE file.

Solution 1A: Use the .EXE extension

To overcome the issue, you can simply refer to the old tool including the .EXE extension.
This eliminates the ambiguity and will make the same command line work with both CMD.EXE and PowerShell unchanged.
This also makes it clear to whoever is using your scripts that this is an old .EXE tool, not a PowerShell alias.

PS C:\> SC.EXE QUERY LANMANSERVER

Solution 1B: Use CMD /C

Another way to make it work is to run CMD.EXE itself and pass your command to it, in quotes.
This works, although it’s not as efficient, since you essentially run an instance of CMD.EXE just to execute your command.

PS C:\> CMD /C "SC QUERY LANMANSERVER"

Solution 1C: Use a PowerShell equivalent

In many cases, there is a PowerShell cmdlet to do exactly what your old tool does.
In this specific case, you can use the Get-Service cmdlet:

PS C:\> Get-Service LANMANSERVER | FL

Name                : LANMANSERVER
DisplayName         : Server
Status              : Running
DependentServices   : {Browser}
ServicesDependedOn : {SamSS, Srv}
CanPauseAndContinue : True
CanShutdown         : False
CanStop             : True
ServiceType         : Win32ShareProcess

Problem 2: Special PowerShell characters

Sometimes, the parameters of an old tool use characters that have special meaning to PowerShell.
Let’s say you want to change the permissions on a folder to allow all users to have "Full" access. With CMD.EXE, you could use:

C:\>ICACLS.EXE C:\TEST /GRANT USERS:(F)
processed file: C:\TEST
Successfully processed 1 files; Failed processing 0 files

The command above works fine from CMD.EXE, but when you try running it in PowerShell, you get an error:

PS C:\> ICACLS.EXE C:\TEST /GRANT USERS:(F)
The term 'F' is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet, function, script file, or operable program. Check the spelling
of the name, or if a path was included, verify that the path is correct and try again.
At line:1 char:34
+ ICACLS.EXE C:\TEST /GRANT USERS:(F)
+                                  ~
    + CategoryInfo          : ObjectNotFound: (F:String) [], CommandNotFoundException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : CommandNotFoundExceptionn

A related issue might happen while trying to grant permission to a computer object, which has a name ending with a $.

PS C:\> ICACLS.EXE C:\TEST /GRANT COMPUTERNAME$:(F)
At line:1 char:39
+ ICACLS.EXE C:\TEST /GRANT COMPUTERNAME$:(F)
+                                      ~~
Invalid variable reference. '$' was not followed by a valid variable name character. Consider using ${} to delimit the
name.
    + CategoryInfo          : ParserError: (:) [], ParentContainsErrorRecordException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : InvalidVariableReference

The problem is that the parenthesis and dollar sign have a special meaning to PowerShell.
Similar conflicts occur with other common characters like the curly brackets.
Again, there are at least a few different ways to overcome the issue.

Solution 2A: Use CMD /C

As with the first problem, you can run CMD.EXE itself and pass your command and its parameters in quotes.
Efficiency aside, this will work fine, since PowerShell will not try to parse the string in quotes.

PS C:\> CMD.EXE /C "ICACLS.EXE C:\TEST /GRANT USERS:(F)"
processed file: C:\TEST
Successfully processed 1 files; Failed processing 0 files

Solution 2B: Use the PowerShell escape character

For this solution, you first need to identify exactly what characters you are using have special meaning to PowerShell.
Then you need to precede each one with a backtick or grave accent (`), which is the PowerShell “escape character”.
The main issue with this solution is that it makes your scripts harder to write and read. And you must know exactly what characters to escape.
In our example, we need to do that for the “(“ and the “)” characters:

PS C:\> ICACLS.EXE C:\TEST /GRANT USERS:`(F`)
processed file: C:\TEST
Successfully processed 1 files; Failed processing 0 files

Solution 2C: Use the new PowerShell v3 “--%” syntax

PowerShell v3 (included in Windows Server “8” Beta), has another option to solve this issue.
You simply add a the --% sequence (two dashes and a percent sign) anywhere in the command line and PowerShell will not try to parse the remainder of that line.
For our example, you could use:

PS C:\> ICACLS.EXE --% C:\TEST /GRANT USERS:(F)
processed file: C:\TEST
Successfully processed 1 files; Failed processing 0 files

Or you could use:

PS C:\> ICACLS.EXE C:\TEST --% /GRANT USERS:(F)
processed file: C:\TEST
Successfully processed 1 files; Failed processing 0 files

Solution 2D: Use a PowerShell equivalent

Using a PowerShell equivalent is obviously also an option for problem 2.
In the case of ICACLS.EXE, you can use the Set-ACL cmdlet.
You can find an example of how to use Set-ACL in this other blog post.

Mixing it up

With the tips shown here, you can safely enjoy the flexibility of PowerShell combined with your old command line tools.
You might learn a few tricks and start combining the old and the new in entirely new ways.

For instance, you can use the flexibility of the wildcards in Get-Service with some obscure option in SC.EXE:

Get-Service LAN* | % { $_.Name; SC.EXE SDSHOW $_.Name }

Or you can use PowerShell’s a filter with Get-Item (alias Dir) to pass a subset of files for processing by ICACLS.EXE:

DIR C:\TEST -Recurse | ? {$_.Length -ge 1MB} | % { ICACLS.EXE $_.FullName /Grant Administrator:`(F`) }

You could even loop through a few numbers and use the good old FSUTIL.EXE tool to create lots of files of different sizes for a test project:

1..100 | % { FSUTIL.EXE FILE CREATENEW C:\TEST\FILE$_.TXT ($_*10KB) }

Conclusion

At this stage, you are probably already convinced that Windows PowerShell an Administrator’s best friend.
However, you might be holding out because you have some old tool with an odd name or parameters that you though you couldn’t use with POWERSHELL.EXE.
I would highly encourage you to use these tips to stop using CMD.EXE altogether and move permanently to PowerShell as you primary shell.

Bill Laing announces Windows Server 2012 Beta - Enjoy your pre-release SMB 2.2 File Server

Jose Barreto - MSFT — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 16:58:00 GMT

Bill Laing, Corporate VP for Server and Cloud, just announced the availability of Windows Server 2012 Beta. That means you can now install this pre-release version of the OS, which brings a number of Storage and Continuous Availability enhancements. We started talking about those back in the //build conference in September, but now it’s your time to experiment with it yourself. You can read more about those enhancements in the blog post by Thomas Pfenning (General Manager, Server and Tools).

I’m obviously interested in the SMB 2.2 File Server features. After working on this for the last couple of years, I’m glad you can now enjoy the new Continuously Available File Server first hand and try the new Hyper-V over SMB scenario. More blogs posts are coming, but I would like to highlight that TechNet now includes new content on the Windows Server 2012 beta. Here are a few pointers to pages covering specifically the new version of the File Server:

That’s it for now. Grab some coffee, download the bits, read the posts and start up the machines on your test lab. This is going to be fun…

SNIA’s Storage Developer Conference - SDC 2011 content (slides and videos) now available for download, including SMB 2.2 details

Jose Barreto - MSFT — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 03:00:00 GMT

The Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) hosted the 8th Storage Developer Conference (SDC) in the Hyatt Regency in beautiful Santa Clara, CA (Silicon Valley) earlier this year. As usual, Microsoft was the underwriter of the CIFS/SMB/SMB2 PlugFest, which was co-located with the SDC event.

For developers working with storage-related technologies, this event gathers a unique crowd and includes a rich agenda. Key industry players were represented and offered presentations. It’s always worth reminding you that the SDC presentations were usually delivered to developers by the actual product development teams and frequently the actual developer of the technology either delivered the presentation or was in the room to take questions. That kind of deep insight is not common in every conference out there.

Microsoft presentations this year included:

Title	Presenter
SMB 2.2: Bigger. Faster. Scalier - Part 1	David Kruse	Principal Development Lead
SMB 2.2: Bigger. Faster. Scalier - Part 2	Mathew George	Senior Software Development Engineer
Advancements in Backup to Support Application Storage on a File Server	Molly Brown	Principal Development Lead
SMB 2.2 over RDMA	Thomas Talpey	Software Architect
SMB 2.2 over RDMA	Greg Kramer	Software Development Engineer
SMB2: Advancements for WAN	Molly Brown	Principal Development Lead
Speeding Up Cloud/Server Applications Using Flash Memory	Sudipta Sengupta	Research Scientist
Windows 8: Storage Provisioning and Management	Shiv Rajpal	Principal Development Lead
Windows 8 File System Performance and Reliability Enhancements in NTFS	Neal Christiansen	Principal Development Lead
Windows Server 8 and SMB 2.2 - Advancements in Management	Jose Barreto	Principal Program Manager
NFS High Availability in Windows	Roopesh Battepati	Principal Development Lead
Microsoft SMI-S Roadmap Update	Jeff Goldner	Principal Architect
IETF NFSv4 Working Group: What's Next?	Spencer Shepler	Performance Architect
Converting an Enterprise Application to Run on CIFS/SMB/SMB2 File Access Protocols	Kevin Farlee	Storage Engine Program Manager, SQL Server
SMB2: Advancements in Server Application Performance	Dan Lovinger	Principal Software Architect
Advancements in Hyper-V Storage	Todd Harris	Senior Software Design Engineer
Advancements in Hyper-V Storage	Senthil Rajaram	Senior Program Manager

SNIA has now released the content publicly, including video recordings for many of the talks. Check these and other presentations (all with slides and many with video recordings) at http://www.snia.org/events/storage-developer2011/2011presentations

If you like the content, be sure to mark your calendars for next year’s SDC 2012. It’s always a great event and the details are already out at http://www.snia.org/about/calendar/2012-storage-developer-conference

Links to //build/ sessions on Storage, Networking and Hyper-V

Jose Barreto - MSFT — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 05:00:00 GMT

Last month at the //Build/ conference we had a large number of presentations delivered and made available to download and stream. Several Microsoft Partners and Developers that are focused on Storage, Networking or Hyper-V have asked me for a list of links to help them find the Widows Server 8 sessions more closely related to those topics. Here is my attempt to create that list:

Sessions related to Continuous Availability:

Sessions related to Private Clouds:

Sessions related to Claims-based Access Control and Branch Cache:

Related blog posts on official Microsoft blogs:

Windows Server 8: An Introduction (blog post by Bill Laing)
Storage and Continuous Availability Enhancements in Windows Server 8 (blog post by Thomas Pfenning)
Windows Server 8 Heterogeneous Storage Support (blog post by Thomas Pfenning)
Windows Server 8 Hyper-V Overview (blog post by Mike Neil)
Windows Server 8: Introducing Hyper-V Extensible Switch (blog post by Mike Neil)
Windows Server 8: Standards-Based Storage Management (blog post by Jeffrey Snover)
Windows 8 Platform Storage – Part 1 (blog post by Rajeev Nagar)
Windows 8 Platform Storage – Part 2 (blog post by Rajeev Nagar)

Other interesting links released since the //build/ conference:

White paper on Windows 8 SMB 2.2 File Sharing Performance including details on SMB 2.2 and Multichannel with 10GbE interfaces.
Preview specifications for SMB 2.2 [MS-SMB2-Preview], SMB Direct [MS-SMBD-Preview], Content Caching and Retrieval [MS-CCRSOD] and File Server Remote RSS [MS-FSRVP].
File Server Capacity Tool 1.2 (FSCT 1.2) released, now with support for File Servers using Windows Server Failover Cluster. 64-bit and 32-bit versions.
White paper with Guidelines for Building Private and Public Clouds: Building an Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) Cloud Using Windows Server 8

Have fun reading and/or watching them… :-)

I will be speaking at the //build/ conference next month

Jose Barreto - MSFT — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 17:00:00 GMT

Just a short post to share that I will be speaking at the BUILD conference next month. The conference will happen in Anaheim-CA, from 9/13 to 9/16. You can read more at the official site: http://www.buildwindows.com. The full agenda is not published yet, but you will be able to see details (like title and abstract) when it does become public. I can guarantee you it will be interesting :-)

If you’re registered to attend, I look forward to meeting you there in person. The event is sold out, so it’s too late to register now. However, the content will be made available online, as confirmed in this blog post. Follow @bldwin on twitter for updates on the conference.

Speaking of blogs, you might also want to read the new “Building Windows 8” blog at http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8. The first post by Steven Sinofsky went online yesterday and it already has hundreds of comments… Follow @buildwindows8 on twitter to get notified of new posts there.

TechEd 2011 demo install step-by-step (Hyper-V, AD, DNS, iSCSI Target, File Server Cluster, SQL Server over SMB2)

Jose Barreto - MSFT — Fri, 20 May 2011 05:00:00 GMT

1. Introduction

1.1. Overview

As I explained in a previous blog post, I delivered a presentation this week as part of the Microsoft TechEd 2011 event. The presentation was titled “Windows Server 2008 R2 File Services Consolidation - Technology Update”. It included two demos that showed several Windows Server 2008 R2 features and also a little SQL Server 2008 R2. You can listen to a recording of this presentation at http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechEd/NorthAmerica/2011/WSV317

In this post, I am sharing the steps I used to create the demo, so you can reproduce the environment used there demo and experience with the technologies yourself. Since I wanted you to be able to do this on your own even if you’re not already running the latest version of Windows Server or SQL Server, I used evaluation versions that you can download from the web at no cost (the links are provided below). You also only need to have a single computer (the specs are provided below).

The demo setup includes 5 virtual machines: one domain controller, one iSCSI target, two file servers and a SQL server. You need the iSCSI target and two file servers because we’re using Failover Clustering to showcase high availability. We’ll also use multiple Hyper-V virtual networks (called Internal 1, Internal 2 and Internal 3), so we can simulate some of the advanced network configurations mentioned in the presentation. Here’s what it should look like:

This will require a few hours of work to complete from start to finish, but it is a great way to experiment with a fairly large set of Microsoft technologies, including:

Windows Server 2008 R2
Hyper-V
Networking
Domain Name Services (DNS)
Active Directory Domain Services (AD-DS)
iSCSI Software Target 3.3
iSCSI Initiator
File Server (SMB2)
Failover Clustering (WSFC)
SQL Server 2008 R2

Follow the steps and let me know how it goes in the comment section. If you run into any issues or found anything particularly interesting, don’t forget to mention the number of the step.

1.2. Hardware

You will need the following hardware to install the demo:

One computer capable of running Windows Server 2008 R2 and Hyper-V (64-bit, virtualization technology)
At least 8 GB of RAM - In my case, I am using a Lenovo W500 with 8GB of RAM, Intel Core2 Duo, P9600 @ 2.67 GHz
Internet connection for downloading software and updates
A USB stick, if you’re installing Windows Server from USB and copying downloaded software around (you can also burn the software to a DVD)

1.3. Downloadable software

You will need to download the following sofware to install the demo:

Windows Server 2008 R2 with SP1 Evaluation
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/dd459137.aspx
SQL Server 2008 R2 Evaluation
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/ee315247.aspx

The links above take you to the evaluation versions of the software. If you are an MSDN or TechNet subscriber, you can download from there instead.

You will also use the Microsoft iSCSI Software Target for Windows Server 2008 R2. This is now a public download. Find details at
http://blogs.technet.com/b/josebda/archive/2011/04/04/microsoft-iscsi-software-target-3-3-for-windows-server-2008-r2-available-for-public-download.aspx

1.4. Notes and disclaimers

This post does not include a screenshot for every single step in the process. I focused the screenshots on specific decision points where defaults are not used or the course of action is not clear.
The text for each step also focuses on the specific actions that deviate from the default or where a clear default is not provided. If you are asked a question or required to perform an action that you do not see described in these steps, go with the default option.
Obviously, a single-computer solution cannot be tolerant to the failure of that computer. So, the configuration described here is not really fault-tolerant. It is adequate only for demonstrations, testing or learning. You will definitely need a different configuration for a production deployment.
A certain familiarity with Windows Server administration and configuration is assumed. If you're new to Windows Server, this post is not for you. Sorry...
There are usually several ways to perform a specific Windows Server configuration or administration task. What I describe here is one of those many ways. It's not necessarily the best way, just the one of them.

2. Install the Windows Server 2008 R2 with SP1 and Hyper-V

2.1. Format a USB disk using Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2, copy the contents of the ISO to a USB stick (I used an 8 GB). If you don't have a tool to open an ISO file, you can simply burn to a DVD and copy from there.

2.2. Make sure your BIOS is configured for Virtualization:

2.3. Use the boot menu to boot from the USB drive (you can also boot from a DVD, if you burned the ISO to a DVD):

2.4. Select Datacenter edition

2.5. Select the partition to use for the install the OS

2.6. Choose an administrator password

2.7. Use Windows Update to get all the available updates

2.8. Optionally, rename the computer to CONTOSO-H0.

3. Add Hyper-V and configure Virtual Networks

3.1. From Server Manager, select Add Roles

3.2. Select Hyper-V

3.4. In the "Create Virtual Networks" page, select the physical network interface connected to the Internet:

3.5. After Hyper-V is installed, use Hyper-V manager and open the Virtual Network Manager

3.6. Configure 3 internal networks for communication between the VMs, in addition to the external one.

4. Create the Base VM

4.1. Create a folder for your ISO files at C:\ISO and a folder for your VMs at C:\VMS

4.2. Copy the Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 ISO file to C:\ISO. 9.2. Since you are both connected to the External network, you can use SMB2 to copy to the VM simply using a UNC path to a VM drive: \\CONTOSO-H0\C$. Or you can use the USB stick.

4.3. Create a new VM called BASE using C:\VMS as a location:

4.4. Select 1024MB for the amount of RAM and use the External network for Networking

4.5. Create the new VHD at C:\VMS\BASE.VHD

4.6. Start the VM, point the DVD to the Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 ISO file at C:\ISO, and perform a regular install like you did before for the physical machine.

4.7. Set a password and, install Windows Updates, like you did for the parent partition, but don’t install any roles. Don’t bother renaming it.

4.8. After you have the fully configured VM, run C:\Windows\System32\Sysprep\Sysprep.exe

4.9. Select the options to run the OOBE, generalize and shutdown:

4.10. After that, you have a new base VHD ready to use at C:\VMS\BASE.VHD which should be a little less than 8GB in size.

4.11. You should now remove the BASE VM using Hyper-V Manager. The BASE.VHD file will not be deleted.

5. Create 5 differencing VHDs

5.1. Use the “New…”, “Hard Disk…” option in Hyper-V Manager to create a differencing VHD using the base VHD you created

5.2. After this, you will have a new differencing VHD at VM1.VHD that’s less than 400KB in size

5.3. Since we’re creating 5 VMS, copy that file into VM2.VHD, VM3.VHD, VM4.VHD and VM5.VHD

5.4. You can now create five similarly configured VMs

5.5. Make sure to select to use the External network. We will manually add additional network interfaces later

5.6. When creating the VMs, make sure to select to use one of the five VHD files created previously:

5.7. After creating each VM, select the VM “Settings” and use the “Add Hardware” option to add more network adapters

5.8. For VM1 (domain controller) and VM2 (iSCSI Target), add one more network adapter (connected to the Internal 1 network)

5.9. The end result for VM1 and VM2 will be a VM with 2 network adapters, 1 external and 1 internal:

5.10. For VM3, VM4 and VM5, add 3 more network adapters (connected to the 3 internal networks)

5.11. For those VMs, the end result will be a 4 network adapters, 1 external and 3 internal:

6. Configure the 5 VMs’ names and IP addresses

6.1. You can now start all 5 VMs

6.2. Connect to each of the 5 VMs from the Hyper-V Manager, let the mini-setup complete, and set the passwords for all five

6.3. Configure the IP addresses for each network interface as shown on the table below

VM	Role	Computer Name	External	Internal 1	Internal 2	Internal 3
VM1	DNS, Domain Controller	Contoso-DC.contoso.local	DHCP	192.168.1.1	N/A	N/A
VM2	iSCSI Target	Contoso-IT.contoso.local	DHCP	192.168.1.2	N/A	N/A
VM3	File Server 1	Contoso-F1.contoso.local	DHCP	192.168.1.3	192.168.2.3	192.168.3.3
VM4	File Server 2	Contoso-F2.contoso.local	DHCP	192.168.1.4	192.168.2.4	192.168.3.4
VM5	SQL Server	Contoso-DB.contoso.local	DHCP	192.168.1.5	192.168.2.5	192.168.3.5

6.4. Rename the Network Connections in each guest for easy identification.

6.5. If you can’t tell which network is which inside the VM, temporarily set one of the adapters to “Not Connected” in the VM Settings and see which one shows as “Network cable unplugged”:

6.6. The Internal 1 network is the main network used by the DNS and Domain Controller and the iSCSI Target.

6.7. Make sure to set the subnet mask to 255.255.255.0 and the DNS to 192.168.1.1 for all 3 internal networks on all 5 computers. This will instruct them to register their names and IPs with the DNS VM.

6.8. The External network is useful only for downloading from the Internet or remotely connecting to the 5 VMs, but is not required for the demo.

6.9. To make things easier to review and demo, I disabled IPv6 on all interfaces. Everything works fine with IPv6, so you don’t need to do this.

6.10 You could configure a DHCP server for the internal interfaces. However, due to the risk of accidentally creating a rogue DHCP server in my corporate network, I used fixed IPs.

6.11. Rename each computer according to the table in step 6.3.

6.12. Make sure to set the Primary DNS suffix to “contoso.local”. You will need to click the “More…” button to set this.

6.13. Your “Full computer name” should show with the DNS suffix in the "Computer Name" tab of the "System Properties" window, as highlighted below:

6.14. After renaming the computer, renaming the network and configuring IP addresses, you VM should look like this (two examples below):

7. Configure DNS

7.1. Now, on VM1 (CONTOSO-DC), you should configure the DNS role

7.2. You will start by adding the DNS role in Server Manager:

7.3. Then you need to create a primary, forward lookup zone for the CONTOSO.LOCAL domain and 3 primary, reverse lookup zones for 192.168.1.x, 192.168.2.x and 192.168.3.x.

7.4. Allow both non-secure and secure dynamic updates (you can change to secure updates after the domain is fully configured).

7.5. After that, from all 5 VMs, open a command prompt and run “IPCONFIG /REGISTERDNS”

7.6. Then verify in DNS if all addresses are showing up in the forward and reverse zones. If not, go troubleshoot!

8. Configure the Domain Controller

8.1. Using Server Manager, select Add Role to add the Domain Controller role to CONTOSO-DC

8.2. Run DCPROMO.EXE to create a new domain called CONTOSO.LOCAL

8.3. Select the option to create a new domain in a new forest

8.4. Use CONTOSO.LOCAL as the FQDN for the forest root domain

8.5. Select the “Windows Server 2008 R2” forest functional level

8.6. Say “Yes” to the dialog about having DHCP-assigned addresses on this computer (that address in the External interface is used only for internet access)

8.7. Select the “Do not create the DNS Delegation” option

8.8. Accept the default location for the database, log files and SYSVOL.

8.9. Set a restore mode administrator password

8.10. Click OK the dialog about already having a DNS zone

8.11. Finish the Active Directory install and reboot the server

8.12. After the Domain Controller reboots, for every one of the other 4 VMs, join the domain

8.13. You will need to provide the domain name (CONTOSO.LOCAL) and the Administrator credentials

8.14. From now on, always log on to any of the VMs using the domain administrator credentials CONTOSO\Administrator

8.15. In the Domain Controller, use Active Directory Users and Computers to create a new Active Directory user account called SQLService. We’ll use that later when configuring SQL Server:

8.16. Set a password for the SQLService account and make sure to uncheck “User must change password at next logon”.

9. Configure the iSCSI Target

9.1. Copy the MSI file with the downloaded iSCSI Target file to VM2 (CONTOSO-IT)

9.2. Since you are both connected to the External network, you can use SMB2 to copy from the parent to the VM simply using a UNC path to a VM drive: \\CONTOSO-IT\C$.

9.3. Make sure to log on to CONTOSO-IT using the domain administrator credentials CONTOSO\Administrator, not the local Administrator credentials CONTOSO-IT\Administrator

9.4. Run the install file iSCSITarget_Public.MSI, using the default settings

9.5. For this demo, we’ll create a single Target with 3 Devices (LUNs or VHD files) and used by 2 initiators (CONTOSO-F1 and CONTOSO-F2)

9.6. Start by creating the 3 devices. One VHD with 1GB in size for the Cluster Witness volume and two VHDs with 20GB for the data volumes.

9.7. Create the first device with the file at C:\LUN0.VHD, 1024MB in size, description “LUN0” and no target access.

9.8. Create the second and third devices at C:\LUN1.VHD and C:\LUN2.VHD, both with 20480MB in size and no taget acess.

9.9. After that, you will have 3 devices

9.10. Next, create a single target, exposed to two initiators (the two file servers that will become the cluster nodes) by IP address (192.168.1.3 and 192.168.1.4) and using the 3 devices

9.11. Specify a target name and description

9.12. In the page for iSCSI Initiators Identifiers, click on advanced and add two initiators by IP address

9.13. Confirm the fact that you’re exposing the same target to multiple initators. That is OK if those initiators are Windows Servers running Failover Clustering.

9.14. After the target is created, use the option to add existing virtual disks to the iSCSI Target

9.15. Select all three disks created previously.

10. Configure the iSCSI Initiators

10.1. Now we shift to the two File Servers, which will run the iSCSI Initiator. We’ll do this on VM3 and VM4 (or CONTOSO-F1 and CONTOSO-F2)

10.2. Again, Make sure to log on to CONTOSO-F1 and CONTOSO-F2 using the domain administrator credentials CONTOSO\Administrator, not the local Administrator credentials

10.3. Start the iSCSI Initiator. On the first run, confirm that you want to configure the service to start automatically

10.4. Specify the IP address of your iSCSI Target (in this case, 192.168.1.2) and click on “Quick Connect…”

10.5. The configured target will be recognized and you only have to click “Done”. You initiator is configured.

10.6. After configuring the iSCSI Initiator on both nodes, in only one of the two nodes, open the Disk Management tool

10.7. Online all three offline disks (the iSCSI LUNs), then initialize them (you can use MBR partitions, since they are small)

10.8. Then create a new Simple Volume on each one using all the disk space on the LUN and quick-format them with NTFS.

10.9. Assign each one a drive letter (W:, X: and Y:) and a proper volume label (Witness, Data 1 and Data 2)

11. Configure the Roles/Services/Features of the File Servers

11.1. Now we need to configure VM3 and VM4 as file servers and cluster nodes

11.2. For both CONTOSO-F1 and CONTOSO-F2, from Server Manager, select Add Role and check File Services.

11.3. Add DFS-N and DFS-R as role services, which are covered in part of the demo (no need to create namespace or select a volume for monitoring)

11.4. Next, select Add Feature and check Failover Clustering

11.5. This is what Server Manager should look like after you install the role, role services and feature

12. Configure the Failover Cluster

12.1. On VM3 (CONTOSO-F1), open the Failover Cluster Manager and click on the option to “Validate a Configuration…”

12.2. Enter the name of each of the two file servers

12.3. Select to “Run all tests”. Let the validation process run. It will take a few minutes to complete.

12.4. Validation should not return any errors. If it does, review the previous steps and make sure to address any issues listed in the validation report.

12.5. Next you should select the option to “Create a cluster”. Here you also specify the two nodes to use.

12.6. Give the cluster a name (CONTOSO-FC).

12.7. Select only the Internal 2 and Internal 3 networks and use the IP addresses 192.168.2.10 and 192.168.3.10

12.8. After the cluster is created, you will get a confirmation:

12.9. For consistency, you should rename the Cluster networks to match the names used previously.

13. Create the Clustered File Service

13.1. You can now create a clustered file service. On the Failover Cluster Manager, right click on “Configure a Service or Application…”

13.2. On the wizard, select the “File Server” option

13.3. Specify the name of the service (CONTOSO-FS) and the IP addresses to use (192.168.2.11 and 192.168.3.11)

13.4. Select one of the Cluster Disks available (X:)

13.5. For the next step, make sure the File Service is running on the node you are connected to, or else you won’t be able to see the X: drive. If not, move the File Service to that node

13.6. After the File Service is created, create a folder X:\SQLDB and create a cluster share called SQLDB (Use the “Add a shared folder” option)

13.7. There are a number of options to configure when creating a share. For this demo, just make sure you grant the Administrator and SQLService accounts Full control for both NTFS permissions and SMB share permissions:

13.8. After creating the share, you have a fully configured Clustered File Service

14. Configure the SQL Server

14.1. Extract the SQL Server evaluation download to a folder. Copy that SQL install folder to VM5 placing it on a folder under the \\CONTOSO-DB\C$ path

14.2. Run Setup. Click OK on the dialog to install the .NET Framework.

14.3. On the SQL Server Installation Center, select the “Installation” section on the left, then select “New installation or add features to an existing installation”

14.4. In SQL Server Setup, let it verify the SQL Server Setup Support Rules pass and click OK

14.5. Select the “Evaluation” version, review the licensing terms, and click “Install” install the Setup Support files

14.6. In SQL Server Setup, let it verify the second set of SQL Server Setup Support Rules pass and click Next

14.7. In Setup Role, select SQL Server Feature Installation

14.8. On the “Feature Selection” page, select only the Database Engine and the basic Management Tools. Use the default locations.

14.9. In SQL Server Setup, let it verify the Installation Rules pass and click Next

14.10. On the “Instance Configuration” page, Select the Default instance, instance ID and root directory

14.11. On the “Server Configuration” page, Specify CONTOSO\SQLService as the service account for the SQL instance (both Agent and Database Engine)

14.12. On the “Database Engine Configuration” page, specify CONTOSO\Administrator as the SQL Server Administrator (you can use the option to “Add current user”)

14.13. Use defaults for all the rest and perform the install. This will take a while:

15. Create a database using the clustered file share

15.1. On the SQL Server VM, open SQL Server Management Studio. When connecting, use a period as the Server Name to indicate the local server

15.2. Right click the main node, select Properties and use the Database Settings page to set the database default location to the UNC path to the clustered file share: \\CONTOSO-FS\SQLDB

15.3. Expand to find the Databases node and right-click to create a new database

15.4. Use Orders as the database name and note the path pointing to the clustered file share:

16. Shut down, startup and install final notes

16.1. Keep in mind that there are dependencies between the services running on each VM

16.2. To shut them down, start with VM5 and end with VM1, waiting for each one to go down completely before moving to the next one

16.3. To bring the VMs up, go from VM1 to VM5, waiting for the previous one to be fully up (with low to no CPU usage) before starting the next one

16.4. As a last note, the total size of the VHD files (base plus 5 diffs), after all the steps were performed, was around 22 GB

16.5. You might want to also take a snapshot of the VMs after you shut them down, just in case you want to bring them back to the original state after experimenting with them for a while. If you do, you should always snapshot all of them, again due to dependencies between them. Just right-click the VM and select the “Snapshot” option

17. Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed these step-by-step instructions. I strongly encourage you to try them out and perform the entire installation yourself. It’s a good learning experience.

After you perform the steps, you have a good setup to try the demos I showed during the presentation. You can find details at these additional blog posts:

The overall SQL Server over SMB2 scenario is described at
http://blogs.technet.com/b/josebda/archive/2011/02/24/sql-over-smb2-one-of-the-top-10-hidden-gems-in-sql-server-2008-r2.aspx
The script used to generate some activity on the server is shown at
http://blogs.technet.com/b/josebda/archive/2011/02/16/simple-sql-server-script-to-create-a-database-and-generate-activity-for-a-demo.aspx
The multiple network configuration and durability demo are described at
http://blogs.technet.com/b/josebda/archive/2010/09/03/using-the-multiple-nics-of-your-file-server-running-windows-server-2008-and-2008-r2.aspx
The many options for name consolidation (including DFS-N and Clustering) are described at
http://blogs.technet.com/b/josebda/archive/2010/06/04/multiple-names-for-one-computer-consolidate-your-smb-file-servers-without-breaking-unc-paths.aspx

TechEd 2011 Session WSV317: Windows Server 2008 R2 File Services Consolidation - Technology Update

Jose Barreto - MSFT — Mon, 16 May 2011 11:35:00 GMT

This week at TechEd 2011 I will be delivering a presentation about “Windows Server 2008 R2 File Services Consolidation - Technology Update”.

If you’re attending the conference in Atlanta-GA, this is session WSV317 on Wednesday at 10:15 AM, plus a repeat on Thursday also at 10:15 AM.

The presentation is divided into 5 main topics:

Overview of the main advances in File Services in Windows Server 2008 R2, compared to Windows Server 2003/2008
Examination of 3 interesting file server configurations with 24, 96 and 192 disks using the File Server Capacity Tool (FSCT)
How to consolidate file server names, a common issue when retiring multiple file servers into a single, beefier one
Leveraging multiple network interfaces on a file server to provide additional bandwidth and network fault tolerance
Implementing High Availability for File Services using Failover Clustering and Virtualization

Here’s a complete outline of the presentation:

Agenda
- Session Objectives
- Scenario Overview
File Server Scalability and Performance
- Improvements since Windows Server 2003
  - SMB2 and SMB 2.1 improvements
  - Make sure you’re running the right version…
  - CHKDSK Improvements
  - 8.3 naming disabling and stripping
  - DFS Namespace Scalability
  - Multi-threaded ROBOCOPY
  - Scalability Improvement Over Time
- Sample Configuration – 24 spindles
- Sample Configuration – 96 spindles
- Sample Configuration – 192 spindles!
File Server Name Consolidation
- The name consolidation problem
- Static DNS Entries
- Alternate Computer Names and Dynamic DNS
- DFS Consolidation Roots
- Virtual Machines
- Failover Clusters
File Server Advanced Networking
- DNS Round Robin
- SMB2 Durability
- Multiple IP addresses per cluster name
- NIC Teaming
- Sample Multi-NIC File Server Configurations
  - Standalone, single switch, single client NIC – 2nd NIC disabled
  - Standalone, single switch, single client NIC – NIC teaming
  - Standalone, single switch, single client NIC – same subnet
  - Standalone, multiple switches, single client NIC
  - Standalone, router, single client NIC
  - Standalone, multiple switches, multiple client NICs
  - Cluster, router, single client NIC
  - Cluster, multiple switches, multiple client NICs
File Server High Availability
- Multi-site DFS and Offline Files
- Single-site DFS
- Cluster - Active/Passive vs. Multi-Active
- File Server Cluster – FC SAN
- File Server Cluster – SAS Array
- File Server Cluster – iSCSI SAN
- Virtual File Server – DFS
- Virtual File Server, Host Cluster
- Virtual File Server, Guest Cluster
Review: Session Objectives

The two demos include SMB2 durability, SQL over SMB2, the Microsoft iSCSI Software Target and a Failover Cluster with Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 File Services.

Looking forward to seeing you there... And also at the Windows Server booth for File Services (WSV 13).

P.S.: You can now listen to a recording of this presentation at http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechEd/NorthAmerica/2011/WSV317
I also posted information about the demo used in this presentation at http://blogs.technet.com/b/josebda/archive/2011/05/19/teched-2011-demo-install-step-by-step-hyper-v-ad-dns-iscsi-target-file-server-cluster-sql-server-over-smb2.aspx

File Server Team sessions at TechEd 2011 this week

Jose Barreto - MSFT — Mon, 16 May 2011 11:27:00 GMT

If you're attending TechEd 2011 this week, here are sessions from the File Server team:

WSV313 - Microsoft iSCSI Software Target 3.3 for Application Storage, Diskless Boot, and More!
Speaker(s): Jian (Jane) Yan
Tuesday, May 17 at 5:00 PM, room: B101
http://northamerica.msteched.com/topic/details/WSV313

WSV317 - Windows Server 2008 R2 File Services Consolidation: Technology Update
Speaker: Jose Barreto
Wednesday, 5/18 at 10:15am, room: Georgia Ballrm 3
http://northamerica.msteched.com/topic/details/WSV317
Detailed description at http://blogs.technet.com/b/josebda/archive/2011/05/16/teched-2011-session-wsv317-windows-server-2008-r2-file-services-consolidation-technology-update.aspx

WSV317-R - Windows Server 2008 R2 File Services Consolidation: Technology Update (repeat)
Speaker: Jose Barreto
Thursday, 5/19 at 10:15am, Room: Georgia Ballrm 2
http://northamerica.msteched.com/topic/details/WSV317-R
Detailed description at http://blogs.technet.com/b/josebda/archive/2011/05/16/teched-2011-session-wsv317-windows-server-2008-r2-file-services-consolidation-technology-update.aspx

WSV318 - Windows Storage Server 2008 R2 Technical Overview
Speakers: Joel Garcia, Scott M. Johnson
Wednesday, May 18 at 3:15 PM, room: B309
http://northamerica.msteched.com/topic/details/WSV318

WSV323 - Information Governance for Unstructured Data Using the Data Classification Toolkit for Windows Server 2008 R2
Speakers: Gunjan Jain, Nir Ben Zvi
Wednesday, May 18 at 10:15 AM, room: C206
http://northamerica.msteched.com/topic/details/WSV323

Also make sure to visit the Windows Server booth for File Services (WSV 13).

Diskless server boot using the Microsoft iSCSI Software Target and a regular network card

Jose Barreto - MSFT — Wed, 04 May 2011 01:39:00 GMT

The new Microsoft iSCSI Software Target 3.3 is commonly deployed to provide data storage for servers that boot from a local hard drive. However, there are interesting cost savings and management advantages in deploying servers that have no local disk at all and get their syste and boot volumes from the iSCSI target. The iSCSI Target team has worked closely with the Windows HPC Server team to enable this specific solution, common in HPC environments.

Jian Yan, the Program Manager for the iSCSI Software Target, has a new blog post on Filecab that describes in details how to configure diskless servers and boot from the Microsoft iSCSI Target 3.3 (which is now available as a free download for Windows Server 2008 R2). This is a great, lengthy post that includes pictures, screenshot and script samples. Here's an outline:

Overview
- Terminology
- Deployment
- Boot process
Hardware/Software options
- An iSCSI boot-capable NIC
- An iSCSI boot-capable HBA
- An iSCSI boot loader
Boot Process
- Pre-boot
- Windows boot
Various deployment configurations
- Using an iSCSI boot-capable NIC or HBA
- Using a Software boot loader with DHCP and TFTP servers
- Using a Software Boot Loader without DHCP and TFTP
Step-by-step deployment guide
- Create a Golden Image
- Customize the boot loader script
- Deploy diskless clients using a Golden image

This is highly recommended reading for anyone deploying diskless servers (or anyone about to buy a few servers who wants to save some money on storage :-).

Read the post at http://blogs.technet.com/b/storageserver/archive/2011/05/04/diskless-servers-can-boot-and-run-from-the-microsoft-iscsi-software-target-using-a-regular-network-card.aspx

For details on how to download the Microsoft iSCSI Software Target 3.3, read http://blogs.technet.com/b/josebda/archive/2011/04/04/microsoft-iscsi-software-target-3-3-for-windows-server-2008-r2-available-for-public-download.aspx

For a technical presentation about the performance of the iSCSI Target in Windows diskless boot scenarios, see this SDC presentation: http://www.snia.org/events/storage-developer2010/presentations/thursday/QiangWang_Analyzing_Large-scale_Network.pdf

Using 4k sector and advanced format drives in Windows. HotFix and support info for Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7

Jose Barreto - MSFT — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 21:34:00 GMT

If you work with storage, you probably already heard about the “4K Sector Drives”, “Advanced Format Drives” and “512e drives”. These new “4K sector drives” abandon the traditional use of 512 bytes per sector in favor of a new structure that uses 4096 bytes. The migration to the new formats is eased by the use of 4K drives that simulate the old format, known as “512 Emulation Drives” or “512e Drives” or Advanced Format Drives”.

Native 4K sector drives are currently not supported with Windows. However, 512e drives (or Advanced Format Drives) are supported with recent versions of Windows, provided that you follow the guidance in the following support article: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2510009. There are specific requirements to be met and specific details for different Microsoft applications like Hyper-V, SQL Server and Exchange Server.

For Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2, the KB article above mentions the requirement to install a specific hotfix described at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/982018. Please note that most of this fix is part of Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1) or Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1, except for updates to the FSUTIL tool.

For you developers, head on over to MSDN to read on the nitty gritty details of this storage transition, and how it may impact your applications. Details are published at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh182553.aspx.

If you’re interested in these new 4K sector drives, you might also want to look at these other links:

Note: The updated version of FSUTIL is available as a download from the support KB page and, since 4/26/2011, via Windows Update labeled as "Update for Windows 7 (KB982018)".

-----

After I posted this blog, MikeH asked on FileCab: Is there any way I can figure out if the installed drive uses 4K or emulation mode?

Answer: You can recognize "Advanced Format" drives (also known as 512e or 512 emulation) by using FSUTIL FSINFO NTFSINFO <drive> and looking at the "Bytes per Sector" and "Bytes Per Physical Sector". Those drives will show 512 bytes per sector but 4096 (4K) bytes per physical sector. For more details, read the section titled "Issue 6" at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/982018.

FSCT test results detail the performance of Windows Server 2008 R2 File Server configurations - 23,000 users with 192 spindles

Jose Barreto - MSFT — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 23:36:00 GMT

1. Introduction

The File Server Capacity Tool (FSCT) is a free download from Microsoft that helps you determine the capacity of a specific file server configuration (running Windows or any operating system that implements the SMB or SMB2 protocols). It simulates a specific set of operations (the “Home Folders” workload) being executed by a large number of users against the file server, confirming the ability of that file server to perform the specified operations in a timely fashion. It makes it possible to verify, for instance, if a specific file server configuration can handle 10,000 users. In case you’re not familiar with FSCT’s “Home Folders Workload”, it simulates a standard user’s workload based on Microsoft Office, Windows Explorer, and command-line usage when the file server is the location of the user’s home directory.

We frequently use FSCT internally at Microsoft. In fact, before being released publicly, the tool was used to verify if a specific change to the Windows code has any significant performance impact in a file server scenario. We continue use FSCT for that purpose today.

Recently, the File Server Team released a document (available at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=89a73dd0-ed31-4cc2-aa7d-2fded8a023ab) with results from a series of FSCT tests. These tests were performed in order to quantify the file server performance difference between Windows Storage Server 2008 (based on Windows Server 2008) and Windows Server 2008 R2. It was also an exercise to analyze the capacity (in terms of FSCT “Home Folders” users) of some common File Server configurations using between 24 and 192 disks.

2. Comparing Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2 with 24 spindles

The document includes details about how the tests were performed, what specific hardware configurations were used and what was the CPU, memory, disk and network utilization in each case. It organizes the results by operating system, showing results for all Windows Storage Server 2008 (based on Windows Server 2008) configurations, then the results of all Windows Server 2008 R2. However, I find it even more interesting to compare two identical hardware configurations running the two different versions of Windows. You can clearly see how the software improved over time. For instance, you see below how a 24-spindle configuration went from supporting 4,500 FSCT users to supporting 7,500 FSCT users. Note how Windows Server 2008 R2 was able to squeeze more out of the server, with increased CPU, memory, disk and network utilization:

FSCT Test Results	TESTBED-C [24 HDD – R10]	TESTBED-F [24 HDD – R10]
Max users supported	4,500	7,500
CPU utilization	12%	28%
Memory utilization	34%	65%
Disk utilization	106 MB/sec	193 MB/sec
Network utilization	114 MB/sec	208 MB/sec
Test date	05/02/2010	02/21/2010
Hardware Configuration	TESTBED-C [24 HDD – R10]	TESTBED-F [24 HDD – R10]
Platform	White box Hardware	White box Hardware
Operating system	Windows Server 2008 *	Windows Server 2008 R2
Processor	(1) Intel X5560 (2.8GHz)	(1) Intel X5560 (2.8GHz)
Memory	16GB	16 GB
Disk drives	(24) 72GB SFF SAS 15K	(24) 72GB SFF SAS 15K
LUNs	(2) x 12 HDD (RAID-10)	(2) x 12 HDD (RAID-10)
Disk array	(1) FC array	(1) FC array
Disk controller	(1) Dual port 8Gb FC HBA	(1) Dual port 8Gb FC HBA
Network adapters	(1) 10GbE	(1) 10GbE

* This is actually Windows Storage Server 2008, which is built on Windows Server 2008.

This table provides an interesting snapshot of many items that matter to capacity planning. For instance, you can see how we’re not really hitting bottleneck on CPU, storage or network. My conclusion here is that we’re bound by the random access performance of the individual drives (random IOPs) and we would need to add more spindles to achieve more users per server. If your goal is to provide a “Home Folders” file service to around 5,000 users and want to save money, you could go the other way and decide to tweak TESTBED-F and use a system with less RAM (since we’re not hitting that) or even configure the system with dual 1GbE network interfaces instead of 10GbE (since dual 1GbE can provide you with a around 220MB/sec). However, if you do want to change the configuration, you would need to run the tests again, since there could be other interactions when you change the hardware like that.

3. Comparing Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2 with 96 spindles

In a similar fashion, a 96-spindle configuration went from supporting 9,500 FSCT users to an impressive 16,500 FSCT users. Again, nothing was changed in the hardware to achieve that improvement. It was just a matter of going from Windows Storage Server 2008 (based on Windows Server 2008) to Windows Server 2008 R2 (and effectively using SMB2 version 2.1 instead of SMB2 version 2.0).

FSCT Test Results	TESTBED-A [96 HDD – R10]	TESTBED-E [96 HDD – R10]
Max users supported	9,500	16,500
CPU utilization	16%	48%
Memory utilization	37%	17%
Disk utilization	238 MB/sec	419 MB/sec
Network utilization	260 MB/sec	457 MB/sec
Test date	05/03/2010	02/15/2010
Hardware Configuration	TESTBED-A [96 HDD – R10]	TESTBED-E [96 HDD – R10]
Platform	White box Hardware	White box Hardware
Operating system	Windows Server 2008 *	Windows Server 2008 R2
Processor	(2) Intel X5560 (2.8GHz)	(2) Intel X5560 (2.8GHz)
Memory	32GB	72 GB
Disk drives	(96) 72GB SFF SAS 15K	(96) 72GB SFF SAS 15K
LUNs	(8) x 12 HDD (RAID-10)	(8) x 12 HDD (RAID-10)
Disk array	(1) FC array + (3) enclosures	(1) FC Array + (3) Enclosures
Disk controller	(2) Dual port 8Gb FC HBA	(2) Dual Port 8Gb FC HBA
Network adapters	(1) 10GbE	(1) 10GbE

* This is actually Windows Storage Server 2008, which is built on Windows Server 2008.

Again, you would need to look deep to understand your bottleneck here. While FSCT will provide you with a lot of performance counters, you need a human to figure out what is holding you back. Clearly it’s not memory or CPU. Your network also is not at max capacity yet (in theory, you could hit at least twice what is being used by the TESTBED-E using 10GbE). So, again, the bottleneck here has to be the storage. As I mentioned before, If your goal is to configure a system to provide service to around 10,000 users, you could probably play with TESTBED-E’s configuration a bit (use less memory, use just one processor instead of two, reduce the number of disks) to shrink the overall acquisition cost a little while keeping the performance at a good level for that number of users. Again, you would need to rerun FSCT with that new configuration to be sure.

4. Running Windows Server 2008 R2 with 192 spindles

The document also includes a 192-spindle configuration using Windows Server 2008 R2. This is one of the most impressive FSCT results I have ever seen. In this test, a single file server was able to successfully handle 23,000 FSCT users running the “Home Folders” workload simultaneously. I wonder if you could find a similar NAS appliance configuration out there able to handle this number of FSCT users... Here are the results:

FSCT Test Results	TESTBED-D [192 HDD – R0]
Max users supported	23,000
CPU utilization	63%
Memory utilization	23%
Disk utilization	601 MB/sec
Network utilization	650 MB/sec
Test date	02/14/2010
Hardware Configuration	TESTBED-D [192 HDD – R0]
Platform	White box Hardware
Operating System	Windows Server 2008 R2
Processor	(2) Intel X5560 (2.8GHz)
Memory	72 GB
Disk drives	(192) 72GB SFF SAS 15K
LUNs	(16) x 12 HDD (RAID-0)
Disk array	(2) FC Array + (6) Enclosures
Disk controller	(4) Dual Port 8Gb FC HBA
Network adapter	(2) 10GbE

In this configuration, it is much harder find the bottleneck. We have a good amount of free memory, but we’re hitting a fairly high CPU utilization for a file server workload. Both the storage and the network are fairly busy as well at around 600 MB/sec. Also note that we’re using RAID-0 here, so this configuration is not realistic for a production deployment.

5. Charts and Diagrams

Each of the configurations includes also a chart with the throughput (in FSCT scenarios per second), CPU utilization and total number of FSCT users the configuration can handle, as you can see below. These charts were created using Microsoft Excel and the text results provided by FSCT. For example, here’s the chart for the 192-spindle configuration:

The document also provides information about the hardware used in each of the configurations, including disks, arrays, storage fabric, server, network and clients used to generate the load. There is enough information there to allow you to reproduce the tests in your own environment or lab. For instance, here’s a diagram of the 192-spindle configuration:

6. Table of Contents

This blog post provides just a sample of the information contained in the document. Here is the full table of contents:

Overview
- FSCT Terminology
- Server Tuning Information
- Windows Storage Server 2008
- Windows Server 2008 R2
TESTBED-A (WSS08, Dual Socket, 32GB RAM, (96) SAS 15K HDD, RAID-10)
- FSCT Test Results (9500 users with 16% CPU utilization)
- Hardware Configuration
TESTBED-B [WSS08, Dual Socket, 16GB RAM, (48) SAS 15K HDD, RAID-10]
- FSCT Test Results (6500 users with 11% CPU utilization)
- Hardware Configuration
TESTBED-C [WSS08, Single Socket, 16GB RAM, (24) SAS 15K HDD, RAID-10]
- FSCT Test Results (4500 users with 12% CPU utilization)
- Hardware Configuration
TESTBED-D [W2K8R2, Dual Socket, 72GB RAM, (192) SAS 15K HDD, RAID-0]
- FSCT Test Results (23000 users with 63% CPU utilization)
- Hardware Configuration
TESTBED-E [W2K8R2, Dual Socket, 72GB RAM, (96) SAS 15K HDD, RAID-10]
- FSCT Test Results (16500 users with 48% CPU utilization)
- Hardware Configuration
TESTBED-F [W2K8R2, Single Socket, 16GB RAM, (24) SAS 15K HDD, RAID-10]
- FSCT Test Results (7500 users with 28% CPU utilization)
- Hardware Configuration
Conclusion
References

7. Conclusion

As you can see, the document is rich in detail. If your work is related to planning, sizing or configuring file servers, it could be very useful.

I would highly recommend downloading the full document from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=89a73dd0-ed31-4cc2-aa7d-2fded8a023ab

I would also encourage you to experiment with FSCT yourself. You can start at http://blogs.technet.com/b/josebda/archive/2009/09/16/file-server-capacity-tool-fsct-1-0-available-for-download.aspx

NET.EXE command	Equivalent SMB PowerShell
NET SHARE	Get-SmbShare New-SmbShare Set-SmbShare Remove-SmbShare
NET FILE	Get-SmbOpenFile Close-SmbOpenFile
NET SESSION	Get-SmbSession Close-SmbSession
NET USE	Get-SmbMapping New-SmbMapping Remove-SmbMapping
NET CONFIG	Get-SmbServerConfiguration Set-SmbServerConfiguration Get-SmbClientConfiguration Set-SmbClientConfiguration

Net API call	SMB PowerShell
NetShareEnum NetShareGetInfo	Get-SmbShare
NetShareSetInfo	Set-SmbShare
NetShareAdd	New-SmbShare
NetShareDel NetShareDelEx	Remove-SmbShare
NetFileEnum NetFileGetInfo	Get-SmbOpenFile
NetFileClose	Close-SmbOpenFile
NetSessionEnum NetSessionGetInfo	Get-SmbSession
NetSessionDel	Close-SmbSession

Counter Name	Shows information for
SMB2 Server Shares	Shares on the SMB Server
SMB2 Server Sessions	Sessions on the SMB Server
SMB2 Client Shares	Shares on the SMB Client

Qty	Part#	Description	Links
2	MHQH19B-XTR	ConnectX-2, Single port, QSFP connector, QDR InfiniBand	More info
1	MC2206130-001	QSFP to QSFP cables, 1m (3ft)	More info

Machine	Virtual External	Internal1	Internal2	Internal3
Parent	DHCP	192.168.101.100	192.168.102.100	192.168.103.100