Free online event with live Q&A with the networking team: http://aka.ms/SftDnet
Wednesday, March 19th from 8am – 1pm PST
Are you exploring new networking strategies for your datacenter? Want to simplify the process? Software-defined networking (SDN) can streamline datacenter implementation through self-service provisioning, take the complexity out of network management, and help increase security with fully isolated environments. Intrigued? Bring specific questions, and get answers from the team who built this popular solution! Windows Server 2012 R2 and System Center 2012 R2 are being used with SDN implementations in some of the largest datacenters in the world, and this Jump Start can help you apply lessons learned from those networks to your own environment. From overall best practices to deep technical guidance, this demo-rich session gives you what you need to get started, plus in-depth Q&A with top experts who have real-world SDN experience. Don't miss it!
Register here: http://aka.ms/SftDnet
Check out the www.MicrosoftVirtualAcademy.com for other free training and live events.
Free online event with live Q&A: http://aka.ms/virtDC
Wednesday, February 19th from 9am – 5pm PST
If you're new to virtualization, or if you have some experience and want to see the latest R2 features of Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V or Virtual Machine Manager, join us for a day of free online training with live Q&A to get all your questions answered. Learn how to build your infrastructure from the ground up on the Microsoft stack, using System Center to provide powerful management capabilities. Microsoft virtualization experts Symon Perriman and Matt McSpirit (who are also VMware Certified Professionals) demonstrate how you can help your business consolidate workloads and improve server utilization, while reducing costs. Learn the differences between the platforms, and explore how System Center can be used to manage a multi-hypervisor environment, looking at VMware vSphere 5.5 management, monitoring, automation, and migration. Even if you cannot attend the live event, register today anyway and you will get an email once we release the videos for on-demand replay!
Topics include
• Introduction to Microsoft Virtualization
• Host Configuration
• Virtual Machine Clustering and Resiliency
• Virtual Machine Configuration
• Virtual Machine Mobility
• Virtual Machine Replication and Protection
• Network Virtualization
• Virtual Machine and Service Templates
• Private Clouds and User Roles
• System Center 2012 R2 Data Center
• Virtualization with the Hybrid Cloud
• VMware Management, Integration, and Migration
Register here: http://aka.ms/virtDC
Also check out the www.MicrosoftVirtualAcademy.com for other free training and live events.
On August 27, MVA continues its monthly series of free Q&A sessions led by Microsoft technical evangelists. This month, we’re following-up to our 5 Star Rated course, Windows Azure for IT Professionals Jump Start by inviting Microsoft Technical Evangelist David Tesar to answer any questions you may have about the product.
Space is limited: Register now.
The live, audience-led discussion is geared toward IT professionals that are interested in Windows Azure. Attendees can get answers to their questions on technical capabilities, get advice for using products in a live environment; and learn from their peers in the industry and Microsoft expert David Tesar.
This MVA Live Q&A session will focus on topics covered in the previous Windows Azure courses posted on MVA. Prepare for this event by taking the following courses and testing your knowledge with the module self-assessments:
Cisco Cloud Networking and Services Platform team is excited to announce the availability of Cisco Nexus 1000V for Microsoft Hyper-V as a part of our hypervisor-agnostic cloud networking strategy. This represents a major milestone for the Nexus 1000V platform which already has more than 7000 customers.
We are also shipping Virtual Services Gateway (VSG) and Virtual Network Management Center ( VNMC) for Hyper-V. With this introduction, enterprise and cloud provider customers will be able to extend Nexus experience to Hyper-V virtual environments. Learn More
Cisco Nexus 1000V for Microsoft Hyper-V Solution Highlights
· Advanced NX-OS features and associated partner ecosystem to Windows Server 2012
· Consistent operational model across hypervisors (vSphere & Hyper-V)
· Innovative network services architecture (via vPath) to support secure multitenant environments
· Tight integration with Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) and System Center Operations Manager (SCOM) as well as support for PowerShell
Cisco Nexus 1100 Cloud Services Platform also supports Nexus 1000V for Hyper-V to host VSM and VSG virtual appliances.
Features and Functionality
Capability
Features
Switching
L2-Switching, PVLANs, QoS, ACLs, port security etc.
Security
DHCP snooping, Dynamic ARP Inspection, and IP source guard
Monitoring
NetFlow, packet statistics, SPAN, and ERSPAN
Manageability
SNMP, NetConf, syslog, REST-APIs etc.
Virtual services
vPath architecture to enable services like VSG etc.
Note: Nexus 1000V feature-set will be consistent across all hypervisors
More Information
Nexus 1000V for Hyper-V with Microsoft SCVMM integration w/ live demo
Resources
· Cisco Nexus 1000V for Hyper-V internal field portal: http://savtg.cisco.com/go/1000vhyper-v/
· Cisco Nexus 1000V for Hyper-V external cisco.com page: http://www.cisco.com/go/1000v/hyper-v/
· Cisco Nexus 1000V Public Community: https://communities.cisco.com/community/technology/datacenter/nexus1000v/
· Cisco-Microsoft partnership page: http://www.cisco.com/go/microsoft/
Hyper-V in Windows Server 2012 includes a new capability called “Hyper-V Replica”. Hyper-V Replica allows administrators to replicate their virtual machines from a primary server/cluster to a replica server/cluster. I have been asked many times , how much bandwidth we need for the Hyper-V replica.
And I usually gave a typical consultant answer: It depends … which is true, but not satisfying.
The Capacity Planner for Hyper-V Replica guides the IT administrator to design the server, storage and network infrastructure which is required to successfully deploy Hyper-V Replica.
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/confirmation.aspx?id=39057
would be good to get some feedback from you on real life scenarios and how accurate the planning tool is
Willy
During my project I tried to find out which System Center 2012 SP1 products support SQL Server 2012 AlwaysOn functionality . I took me quite some time after browsing all products for supported configuration I finally found following technet article http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj628198.aspx which provides exactly the information I was looking for.
In System Center 2012 SP1, SQL Server 2012 AlwaysOn is supported in the following components:
SQL Server AlwaysOn is not supported with Data Protection Manager (DPM) and Configuration Manager.
A Word document describing SQL Server 2012 AlwaysOn can be found at SQL Server 2012 AlwaysOn: Multisite Failover Cluster Instance.
Hope this helps saving some time
A Product Line Architecture (PLA) is a set of rules and architectural patterns that provide a method for predictable and supportable deployments
These documents provides specific guidance for developing fabric architectures (compute, network, storage, and virtualization layers) of an overall private cloud solution. Using PLA allows you to have a clear decision path across the full scope and will avoid running into some unknown or new issues during the deployment. These PLA delivers the highest quality deployment by following proven design principles. The
Benefits of using the PLA include:
As I am working for large National Cloud project for a Government very high Security standard and a lot of requirements for security, compliance and auditing coming up every day.
As Microsoft we are using following building blocks to build an Architecture for a Microsoft Private Cloud
Security components for Private Cloud can be found under following link
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/6642.a-solution-for-private-cloud-security.aspx
Are you struggling to keep critical services running in your Datacenter in accordance to agreed upon SLAs? Are you finding it difficult to control and manage various and heterogeneous environments and keep them from growing out of control? If so, how would you like to learn how Microsoft manages its own Datacenter which host over 400 services accessed by millions of customers daily?
Join Wilfried Schadenboeck (Datacenter Solutions Architect) from Microsoft's World Wide Cloud Center of Excellence for Modern Datacenter as he discusses how Microsoft approached running some of the largest Datacenters in the World. He covers the principles that govern the management and operations of these Datacenters and how these learning's drive innovations within the Microsoft System Center family of products. Now is the time to rethink your approach to managing Datacenters to leverage the capabilities that not only enhance IT Service Management but Infrastructure Deployment and Application Management as well.
Beside the approach Microsoft takes to design Modern or Modular Datacenters which is very advanced and innovative, there exists some de-facto standards from the industry.
BICSI 002 (www.bicsi.org) , updated in 2011, sets forth requirements, recommendations and additional information that should be considered when working with critical systems, like the electrical, mechanical, and telecommunication networks, as well as other significant needs, such as site selection, security, and building needs.
To accomplish the delivery of these diverse subjects within a single volume, BICSI 002 integrated the key concepts and requirements from other documents and standards, from ISO, IEC, TIA, ASHRAE, NFPA and others, while providing reference to specific documents where more considerations or information is available. This feature, unique to BICSI 002, provides a comprehensive document, which covers following areas on datacenter design:
1 Introduction 2 Scope 3 References 4 Definitions, Acronyms, Abbreviations, And Units Of Measurement 5 Space Planning 6 Site Selection 7 Architectural 8 Structural 9 Electrical Systems 10 Mechanical 11 Fire Protection 12 Security 13 Building Automation Systems 14 Telecommunications 15 Information Technology 16 Commissioning 17 Data Center Maintenance Annex A: Design Process (Informative) Annex B: Reliability And Availability (Informative) Annex C: Referenced Documents (Informative)
After some break I am planning to re-activate my blog. So in the near future you will see here entries on daily learning's and issues on designing a Microsoft Private Cloud platform based on real life experience from one of the biggest National Cloud projects these days. So stay tuned and learn with me
The IT Pro Evangelism team, Microsoft Learning and the Microsoft Virtual Academy are pleased to announce the next Jump Start course Microsoft Virtualization for VMware Professionals on Wednesday, January 30th from 8am – 5pm PST.
This live online event is designed for IT Pros that are evaluating different hypervisors or are experienced in VMware looking to get up-to-speed on how Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V and System Center 2012 SP1 compares with VMware vSphere 5.1 and VMware’s Private Cloud.
Join Microsoft virtualization experts and VMware Certified Professionals Symon Perriman & Matt McSpirit in a demo-rich learning experience with a live Q&A.
Register here: http://aka.ms/vmJS.
Even if you cannot make the live event, sign up so that you receive a notification when the recordings are posted to the Microsoft Virtual Academy in a few weeks.
· Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V vs. VMware vSphere 5.1
o Introduction & Scalability
o Storage & Resource Management
o Multi-tenancy & Flexibility
o Backup & High-Availability
· System Center 2012 SP1 vs. VMware’s Private Cloud
o Introduction & Overview of System Center 2012
o Application Management
o Cloud on your Terms
o Foundation, Hybrid Clouds & Costs
Yesterday during the official launch of Windows 2012 Server , we announced the final scalability details on Windows 2012 and Hyper-V 3.0.
===========================================================================
Windows Server 2012 Standard/Datacenter Editions with Hyper-V Enabled
Windows Server 2008 R2
Windows Server 2012
Improvement Factor
Logical Processors Per Host
64
320*
5x
Physical Memory per Host
1 Terabyte
4 Terabytes*
4x
Virtual Processors per Host
512
2048*
Virtual Machines per Host
384
1024*
2.7x
Virtual Processors per VM
4
16x
Memory per VM
64 Gigabytes
Maximum Virtual Disk
~2 TB
64 TB*
32x
Nodes in a Cluster
16
64*
Virtual Machine in a Cluster
1,000
8,000*
8x
*= Industry Leading
Get ready for Windows Server 2012 with the Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit 7.0. The latest version of the MAP Toolkit adds several new planning scenarios that help you build for the future with agility and focus while lowering the cost of delivering IT. Download MAP 7.0 and begin planning your server deployments today!
New capabilities allow you to:
· Understand your readiness to deploy Windows Server 2012 in your environment
· Determine Windows 8 readiness
· Investigate how Windows Server and System Center can manage your heterogeneous environment through VMware migration and Linux server virtualization assessments
· Size your desktop virtualization needs for both Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) and session-based virtualization using Remote Desktop Services
· Ready your information platform for the cloud with the SQL Server 2012 discovery and migration assessment
· Evaluate your licensing needs with usage tracking for Lync 2010, active users and devices, SQL Server 2012, and Windows Server 2012
For a comprehensive list of features and benefits, click here.
Assess Windows Server 2012 readiness
MAP 7.0 assesses the readiness of your IT infrastructure for a Windows Server 2012 deployment. This feature includes detailed and actionable recommendations indicating the machines that meet Windows Server 2012 system requirements and which may require hardware updates. A comprehensive inventory of servers, operating systems, workloads, devices, and server roles is included to help in your planning efforts.
Determine Windows 8 desktop readiness
MAP 7.0 assesses the readiness of your IT environment for your Windows 8 desktop deployment. This feature evaluates your existing hardware against the recommended system requirements for Windows. It provides recommendations detailing which machines meet the requirements and which machines may require hardware upgrades.
Key benefits include:
· Assessment report and summary proposal to help you to understand the scope and benefits of a Windows desktop deployment.
· Inventory of desktop computers, deployed operating systems, and applications.
Virtualize your Linux servers on Hyper-V
MAP 7.0 extends its server virtualization scenario to include Linux operating systems. Now, MAP enables you to gather performance data for Linux-based physical and virtual machines and use that information to perform virtualization and private cloud planning analysis for both Windows and Linux-based machines within both the Microsoft Private Cloud Fast Track scenario, as well as the traditional Server Virtualization and Consolidation scenario.
Key features allow you to:
· Incorporate non-Windows machines into your virtualization planning.
· View consolidation guidance and validated configurations with preconfigured Microsoft Private Cloud Fast Track infrastructures, including computing power, network, and storage architectures.
· Get a quick analysis of server consolidation on Microsoft Private Cloud Fast Track infrastructures to help accelerate your planning of physical to virtual (P2V) migration to Microsoft Private Cloud Fast Track.
· Review recommended guidance and next steps using Microsoft Private Cloud Fast Track.
More features and benefits.
Download MAP 7.0.
under http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsserver/hh968267.aspx you can find a lot of Virtual labs for:
1. Active Directory Deployment and Management Enhancements
2. Configuring a Highly Available iSCSI Target
3. Configuring Hyper-V over Highly Available SMB Storage
4. Getting Started with Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V Replication
5. Implementing Storage Pools and Storage Spaces
6. Introduction to DirectAccess in Windows Server 2012
7. Introduction to IIS 8
8. Introduction to iSCSI Diskless Boot Deployment
9. Introduction to Windows PowerShell Fundamentals
10. What’s New in Windows PowerShell 3.0
11. Managing Branch Offices
12. Managing Network Infrastructure
13. Managing Windows Server 2012 with Server Manager and Windows PowerShell 3.0
14. Managing Your Network Infrastructure with IP Address Management
15. Online Backup Service
16. Using Dynamic Access Control to Automatically and Centrally Secure Data
Enjoy !
You want to assess your IT capabilities with regards to Private Cloud Computing ?
The “Microsoft Customer Assessment Tool for private cloud” is a free Online tool which helps to assess your Cloud Readiness based on your Priorities.
http://cloudassessmenttool.com/
The tool will provide with a final report that provides you:
This tool is just a quick Assessment and does not replace a complete planning exercise to build a strategy how you can move to the Cloud, but nevertheless it is a good entry point.
Cloud Computing is not a product or solution we can implement, it is a strategy you build on and it requires People, Processes & Technology !
So lets get started with the self assessment tool!
1.) open http://cloudassessmenttool.com/ in your Brower
2.) in the first part you define your drivers, why you want to move to a Private Cloud and what are your obstacles.
3.) in the second part, you will need to provide the best answer to infrastructure related questions.
4.) in the third part, you will need to provide the best answer to your current processes & capabilities
5.) in the fourth part, you will need to provide answers about your Business Applications. And remember it is all about the APP.
6.) the last menu provides you information about your business and in what part of the world you are living
So now we have entered all data :) . As we said in the beginning, this is just a quick Self Assessment !
And the outcome of the Self Assessment will be shown on the screen as below and you will be able to download or send via email a more detailed report.
Some basic and initial recommendation based on the data you entered. More Details can be found when you download the Report as shown on the bottom of the graphic.
Under the next Steps you can also download the report or send the report via email.
Again as we said in the beginning, this is just a quick Self Assessment, if you want a more detailed Assessment through Microsoft and Microsoft Partners you can request it here via the next Steps.
Comparison from Microsoft point of view.
Happy to discuss different views & opinions :)
The table below lists Microsoft’s competitive advantages over VMware for private cloud solutions.
Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V
vSphere 5
Operations Manager
vCenter Operations Manager Suite (vCOPs), vFabric APM
Virtual Machine Manager
vCenter
Orchestrator
vCenter Orchestrator
Configuration Manager
vCenter Operations Manager Suite (vCOPs), vCenter Configuration Manager
The below table shows the comparison between Windows 2012 Hyper-V RC and VMware 5.0 Ent Plus Edition
To learn more about VMST 2012, click here. To download the tool, click here.
VMST 2012 streamlines the process of keeping your offline virtual machines, templates and VHDs up-to-date with the latest operating system and application updates, without introducing vulnerabilities into your IT infrastructure. VMST 2012 helps you effectively manage the workflow of updating your offline virtual machines according to their individual needs.
Using features in VMST 2012, customers can service:
VMST 2012 is designed to work with Microsoft® System Center 2012 - Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) and with the following technologies:
Thank you again for your interest in this beta review program. Please share this message with anyone who wants to learn more about Virtual Machine Servicing Tool 2012.
The following links showing short videos and explain Hyper-V Extensible Switch of Windows Server 2012
Hyper-V Extensible Switch, Part I – Introduction
Hyper-V Extensible Switch, Part II – Understanding the Control Path
Hyper-V Extensible Switch, Part III – The Ins and Outs of the Data Path for Capture and Filter…
TechEd Europe 2012 in Amsterdam. Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V delivering over 1 million IOPs from a single virtual machine.
Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V delivering over 1 million IOPs from a single virtual machine
http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Ch9Live/Channel-9-Live-at-Tech-Ed-North-America-2012/Straight-Talk-about-Hyper-V-and-Beyond-with-Jeff-Woolsey
Hardware Config:
•Industry Standard 4 Socket Server
–80 Logical Processors (10 cores + SMT)
–256 GB of physical memory
–Direct Attached Storage
–5 LSI HBA with 40 SSDs
•VM configured with:
–64 Virtual Processors
–64 GB of memory
•IOmeter
–4k, Random IO, Queue Depth =32, 40 concurrent threads
Industry Leading IO Performance
•VM storage performance on par with native
•Performance scales linearly with increase in virtual processors
•Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V can virtualize over 99% of the world’s SQL Server.
http://technet.microsoft.com/library/hh831531
Guest operating system (server)
Notes
Integration services do not require a separate installation because they are built-in.
Windows Server 2008 R2 with Service Pack 1 (SP 1)
Datacenter, Enterprise, Standard and Web editions. Install the integration services after you set up the operating system in the virtual machine.
Datacenter, Enterprise, Standard and Web editions. Upgrade the integration services after you set up the operating system in the virtual machine.
Windows Server 2008 with Service Pack 2 (SP 2)
Datacenter, Enterprise, Standard and Web editions (32-bit and 64-bit). Install the integration services after you set up the operating system in the virtual machine.
Windows Server 2008
Windows Home Server 2011
Edition information is not applicable. Install the integration services after you set up the operating system in the virtual machine.
Windows Small Business Server 2011
Essentials and Standard editions. Install the integration services after you set up the operating system in the virtual machine.
Windows Server 2003 R2 with Service Pack 2 (SP2)
Standard, Web, Enterprise, and Datacenter editions (32-bit and 64-bit). Install the integration services after you set up the operating system in the virtual machine.
Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 2
CentOS 6.0 – 6.2
Download and install Linux Integration Services v3.2.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.0 –6.2
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP2
Guest operating system (client)
Windows 8 Release Preview
Windows 7 with Service Pack 1 (SP 1)
Ultimate and Enterprise editions (32-bit and 64-bit). Upgrade the integration services after you set up the operating system in the virtual machine.
Windows 7
Windows Vista with Service Pack 2 (SP2)
Business, Enterprise, and Ultimate, including N and KN editions. Install the integration services after you set up the operating system in the virtual machine.
Windows XP with Service Pack 3 (SP3)
Professional. Install the integration services after you set up the operating system in the virtual machine.
Windows XP x64 Edition with Service Pack 2 (SP 2)
For IT professionals looking for an early, high-level view of Windows Server 2012, there's no better resource than the Microsoft Press e-book. Based on the beta release, this guide introduces its new features and capabilities, with scenario-based insights demonstrating how the platform can meet the needs of your business.
Introducing Windows Server 2012 (Based on Beta)
http://go.microsoft.com/FWLink/?Linkid=251464
if you are a fan of eReaders, you can download this book in ePub and Mobi format for free as well.
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/microsoft_press/archive/2012/06/04/free-ebook-introducing-windows-server-2012.aspx
EPUB
Introducing Windows Server 2012 EPUB ebook
MOBI
Introducing Windows Server 2012 MOBI ebook
The Windows Azure Training Kit includes a comprehensive set of technical content including hands-on labs and presentations that are designed to help you learn how to use the latest Windows Azure features and services.
June 2012 Update The June 2012 update of the Windows Azure Training Kit includes over 42 hands-on labs and 18 presentations. Some of the updates in this version include:
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=8396
You can download CTP2 and the supporting documentation from the following links.
Download
Location
Installation packages for all components
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=254659
Documentation for all components
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=254803
What’s included in CTP2:
Component
What’s New
App Controller
· Ability to migrate a VM from VMM to Azure
· Support for using Service Provider Foundation to create and operate VMs in VMM
· Azure IaaS enhancements: Ability to deploy VMs from an image or disk, start and stop VMs, and add VMs to a service
Data Protection Manager
· Improved backup performance of Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V over CSV 2.0 deployments
· Protect Hyper-V over remote SMB share
· Protect Windows 8 de-duplicated volumes
· VM Live Migration: Uninterrupted data protection
APM enhancements, including:
· Support for IIS8
· Monitoring of WCF, MVC and .NET NT services
· Azure SDK support
Orchestrator & Service Provider Foundation
· Supports existing System Center and 3rd-Party Integration Packs
· Service Provider Foundation, which provides a rich set of web services that manage VMM:
o Create, change, and operate VMs
o Manage VMM Self-service User Roles
o Manage multiple VMM stamps and aggregate results from multiple stamps
o Integration with App Controller to use hosted capacity
Service Manager
· Ability to apply price sheets to VMM Clouds
· Create VM chargeback reports
· Ability to pivot by Cost Center, VMM Clouds, and Price sheets
Server App-V
· Support for applications that create scheduled tasks during the packaging process
· Ability to create virtual application packages from applications installed natively on a remote server
· Improved support for network virtualization
· Ability to convert VHD to VHDX and to use VHDX as a base operating system image
· Support for the Windows Standards-Based Storage Management Service, thin provisioning of logical units, and discovery of SAS storage
· You can now create Add-Ins that extend the VMM console.