Members of the Storage product management group still receive lots of inquiries about support and compatibility of Microsoft applications with external storage.  The information most often requested is related to Exchange, SQL and file serving.  We often hear comments like: “Running applications like SQL, Exchange, or SharePoint are not supported on a SAN”.  Applications like SQL and Exchange do support block level storage and as such many deployments of these applications have been on Storage Area Networks that support Fibre Channel or iSCSI for block level access.  In these deployments, the application is deployed on a Windows server that is a host for a back-end SAN where the data stores reside.  How does one know if a specific storage array from vendor X is supported in these deployments?  This is easy to answer:  Check the Windows Server Catalog for RAID Storage.    If the Windows server hosting the applications is connected to a storage array which has a “designed for Windows” logo as can be verified in the Windows Server catalog, the applications are supported.  There are no tests for the applications themselves: the support comes from tests on Windows Server connected to a “logoed” storage array.   Be aware that the Windows Server Catalog makes no attempt to “rate” or “measure” the performance of the devices listed.  That aspect is very workload specific and end users should be working with their vendors to find out what are the best configurations for their deployments.  For Exchange specific deployments, more information can be found here.  The Exchange Solution Reviewed Program (ESRP) – Storage is a Microsoft Exchange Server program designed to facilitate third-party storage testing and solution publishing for Exchange Server. The program combines a storage testing harness (Jetstress) with solution publishing guidelines.  End users need to be aware that not all storage vendors that have Windows logoed arrays have submitted solutions to be posted on the ESRP site….the bare minimum for support does come from listing on the Windows Server Catalog.

One may ask: where do NAS devices fit in this context?  NAS devices are listed under the “Servers” in the Windows Server Catalog and as such to be supported they must be running a version of Windows.  This is very different than block level storage devices where the kernel running on the device is not part of the qualification.

For those of you running Virtual Server 2005 R2 -- and I know there's been more than 1 million downloads -- then you'll want to download beta 2 of System Center Virtual Machine Manager. And if you do so before May 24, you'll be automatically entered to win an Xbox 360 console. And that's HUGE, since Master Chief's new adventures in Halo 3 are coming out soon. And Forza Motorsport 2 for those more interested in driving (like me) than shooting.

Doug Brown, Microsoft MVP, wrote his thoughts here. Or if you're looking for a TOP 10 list, go here. 

From a design point of view, the System Center team created SCVMM so that IT pros can manage/provision both physical and virtual resources and systems from the same tool. This is a much different approach than VMware, Virtual Iron and XenSource who are focused on managing just the islands of virtualized systems. Meanwhile, traditional systems management vendors like IBM, HP, CA, BMC have created plug-ins to their management tools in order to manage VMs. But, they have yet to create the deep instrumentation that the SCVMM team has done for this version, and will do with the next version of SCVMM that will manage Windows Server virtualization (code name Viridian).

Note, with SCVMM you'll need to run WinServer 2003 SP1 or above, and either the x86 or x64 version of Virtual Server 2005 R2.

Patrick

A large percentage of corporate data is in the form of file.  Today roughly 80% of corporate networks data is unstructured.  Also the forecasted growth of unstructured data is significantly higher than structured data.  This means that file management is becoming a growing problem.  This problem is compounded by the reality of implementing concepts like Information Lifecycle Management.  This has created the need for new ways to do file management and this is what File Area Networks (FANs) is all about.  While I am not a big fan of the name FAN, I love the concept and the structure of what a FAN can be and how it can simplify customer’s file management headaches but the name FAN is too close to the SAN phraseology.   The name FAN was coined by the same folks (the Taneja Group) who created the Wide Area File Service (WAFS) name a few years ago and not surprisingly the concept of WAFS can be integrated in FAN. 

A FAN essentially enhances the standard network infrastructure (typically a pre-existing IP network) with the addition of technologies that provide centralized, heterogeneous and enterprise wide network file management and control.   Another important aspect of FAN is the ability to de-couple the logical file access from the physical file locations.  Why is this of interest to anybody outside the storage geek community?  Very simple…$$$, as FAN concepts get deployed, customers have been shown (see this article) to save money and ease their file management problems.  The Windows platform provides many of the basic FAN services like: global namespace, load balancing, replication and migration and as such Windows file serving customers have the right tools to deploy FANs in their environments and further enhanced the ROI they get from their platform’s investments.  FAN concepts are emerging and everything indicates that they will be able to help IT administrators to cope with the deluge of unstructured data taking space in the precious corporate storage resources.  Stay tuned and learn more about FANs as they may be a key element to simplify your file storage management and capacity issues.

Claude Lorenson

Here is your chance to interact with Microsoft experts in an online text based Q&A in real time.   On May 8^th, 2007, join Bill Laing-General Manager for Windows Server, Iain McDonald-Director of Windows Server Program Management, Alex Hinrichs-Group Program Manager, Joseph Landes-Director of Product Management, David Lowe-Senior Product Manager, and Ward Ralston-Senior Technical Product Manager to discuss what’s new in Windows Server “Longhorn” Beta 3.  Learn more about how Windows Server “Longhorn” provides more control, greater flexibility and increased protection. Take this opportunity to ask questions about many of the product’s new technologies such as IIS 7.0, Active Directory, Terminal Services, Server Manager and the Server Core installation option.  Add to Your Calendar