Yung Chou's Slides (PDF)
About This Video
Jamie Schmidtke from Citrix Systems is back for episode 2 in this 3-part Better Together with Microsoft and Citrix series. (1, 3) And in this show we’re covering Desktop Virtualization and the integration between Citrix XenApp, XenServer, App-V, Windows Server and System Center 2012 Configuration Manager.
Downloads
Click here to learn more about Microsoft and Citrix
If you're interested in learning more about the products or solutions discussed in this episode, click on any of the below links for free, in-depth information:
Resources:
Blog Posts:
Videos:
Virtual Labs:
Microsoft and Citrix Relationship Manager, Jamie Schmidtke joins us on this show as we talk about how the two tech giants have teamed up to provide the best in class solutions for their customers and end-users. Tune in as we discuss private and public cloud technologies as well as virtualization and management solutions which in the end provide a seamless and flexible anywhere, everywhere and on any device work environment.
Downloads:
Click here to learn more about Microsoft and Citrix. If you're interested in learning more about the products or solutions discussed in this episode, click on any of the below links for free, in-depth information:
This is the last article of my 3-part blog post series for facilitating experienced Windows system administrators to get productive on Windows Server 2012 with a keyboard and a mouse as the input device. Part 1 and Part 2 are focusing on basic user operations with the new Metro UI. To conclude the series, here are two important facts that one should know when running Windows Server 2012.
Again, I want to underscore that Windows Server 2012 is designed with cloud computing in mind, and together with System Center 2012 as the foundation of Microsoft private cloud solutions. For those who are working for becoming a Microsoft private cloud expert, it is imperative to master Windows Server 2012 and System Center 2012 to develop technical depth in implementing and operating of a private cloud.
11. Wireless Support
The same with Windows Server 2008, a default installation of Windows Server 2012 does not add the wireless feature. In addition to network connectivity, wireless should also be considered as a security setting in corporate security policies applicable to a production server. To acquire wireless capability, go through Add Roles and Features wizard in Server Manager to add the feature as shown below.
A best practice to manage this setting is according to your corporate security policy with a GPO, such that wireless capability of a server is defined, predictable, and consistent in a target environment.
Worth mentioning here is that, Windows Server 2012 supports wireless in Hyper-V, while Windows Server 2008 does not. The following depicts that Hyper-V Virtual Switch Manager now recognizes both the physical and the wireless network connectivity in a typical OS instance with an onboard wire and a wireless connections.
And with the employment of a wireless connection in Virtual Switch Manager, Windows Server 2012 automatically creates logical bridging devices and displayed them in Network and Sharing Center as the screen capture shown below.
12. Error Message - “Not accessible – Verify earlier versions of Windows run the Management WTR package”
When adding an earlier version of Windows server to manage in Server Manager of Windows Server 2012, the operation may fail with the error message as shown below. This is due to an inconsistency of the management framework among versions of Windows servers.
To resolve the issue, run as administrator on a target Windows server to:
There is some reference of similar Server Manager remote management issues. Additionally, James Bannan also has a blog post summarizing this scenario well. Notice once the above three items are implemented, a server will become online, while not with performance counters started. On the Server Manager UI, right-click the target server to start performance counters and the server becomes online and manageable, as shown below:
Additional Resources:
[To Part 1, 2]
This is part 2, a continuation of the 3-part series of getting productive on Windows Server 2012, should you not have a touch device readily available. The user operations walked through here are fundamental and for most Windows users this post will be an easy read. However, if not already, one should read part 1 first.
Windows Server 2012 is designed with private cloud and System Center 2012 in mind. While the IT industry is transitioning into cloud computing and embracing consumerization of IT, as an IT professional, the two are my career priorities in the foreseeable future.
3. Settings of Current Screen
On any screen, use the combined keys, Windows Logo key + i, to bring up Settings options for the current screen. Or a user can also move cursor to UR/LR, i.e. the upper right or lower left corners of the computer screen, to bring up the Charms (as shown in part 1) in which Settings option is available as well.
On the right is a sample setting of the Start screen. Notice the lower portion highlight the characteristic settings of the PC, i.e. current OS instance. Click “More PC settings” at the bottom to bring up the PC Setting screen to personalize Lock and Start screens, add user account pictures, etc.
The upper area displays the settings of current page. Notice that by default, “Show administration tools” is configured as “Yes” in the Settings of Start screen as shown on the right. This enables administration tools to appear on the Start and Apps screens. When this is set to “No”, administration tools will not appear in Start, Apps, and search results.
4. Search from the Start Screen
Typing something on the Start screen, regardless where the cursor is, will instantaneously invoke the search function, use what has just been typed to form a pattern, and list out those applications, if any, matched the pattern. Searching from the Start screen is similar to the desktop search of a Windows Server 2008 desktop. The following two screen captures show after typing “fir” on the Start screen, the Search identified one application, “Windows Firewall,” and five Settings related entries matched the pattern.
For accessing a known application like the Run dialog or command prompt, one quick way is to directly type “run” or “cmd” on the Setting screen following by hitting the Enter key.
5. Windows Explorer
Within Windows Explorer, a user can right-click a folder from the navigation tree to pin the folder to the Start screen as illustrated below.
And right-click an application, here myApp.exe, with the Shift key pressed at the same time will provide options to run as administrator or a different user from the one currently logged on, in addition to pinning the app to the Start screen or the taskbar.
An interesting observation is that in Windows Server 2012 a user apparently pins objects directly to either Start screen or taskbar, and not to the desktop. That means we may start to see many clean and roomy Windows Server 2008 desktops now. And a user may become more selective on what to pin and where. As an option, a user can still create a shortcut and place it on the desktop.
6. Metro Style Apps
In Windows Server 2012 Beta, there are only a handful Metro style apps included with a default installation. There are however many more Metro style apps included in a default install of Windows 8. A Metro style app when open and not in use is sent to the background, becomes inactive, and frees its resources. Notice that similar to a cell phone, tablet PC, or other mobile computing device, it is not necessary to close a Metro style app when not in use. And there are routines to operate on Metro style apps.
Placing the cursor at the UL corner will show the thumbnail of those Metro style apps currently inactive, and right-click from the UL corner will display the option to close or snap a Metro style app, when applicable, as shown on the right. Also moving the cursor to the top edge of the screen so the cursor turns into a hand followed by dragging the app to the bottom edge will also close the Metro style app. This as it appears is similar to swipe across the bottom edge of the screen on a touch device for closing an app.
7. Server Manager
This is the logical hub for configuring and administering both the local and remote Windows servers. By default, Server Manager starts automatically at logon. This setting is in Manage/Server Manager Properties of the upper right menu bar as the following screen capture shows. Notice under Tools is where administration tools are listed including Event Viewer, Task Scheduler, Windows PowerShell ISE, etc.
The menu bar displays a Red Flag, when applicable, indicating some process/task failure and a need for operator’s attention. The welcome screen also highlight 3 orange tiles with Quick Start, What’s New, and Learn More information. Thou shalt not miss them. To hide these tiles, the setting is in View.
8. If You Need to Run, Don’t Walk
9. Run As J. Smith
From Windows Explorer, right-click with Shift key on an intended executable will allow the program to run as administrator or a different user from the one currently logged in, as shown earlier under Windows Explorer. To run as an administrator from the Start screen, right-click an intended app to get the option, as applicable. Here shown on the right, PowerShell ISE is set to run as administrator from the Start screen.
10. Desktop Experience Feature
The assumption is that there is a seldom need to personalize the desktop background of a server. Hence, a default Windows server installation does not automatically add Desktop Experience feature. And different from that in Windows Server 2008, this setting is, as illustrated below, now moved and available under User Interface and Infrastructure. As always, adding this feature followed by enabling the Theme service will enable the personalization feature for changing the background of a desktop session.
At this point, a Windows server user with the information in the first 2 parts of this blog post series should be able to get productive quickly with Windows Server 2012. In part 3, two important facts I want to bring your attention to.
[To Part 1, 3]
This 3-part article details the 12 routines that I consider a Windows Server 2008 user ought to know first to accelerate the learning and adoption of Windows Server 2012 without the need of a touch device. For those IT professionals who are working towards becoming private cloud experts, it is imperative to master Windows Server 2012 which is an essential component in establishing a private cloud. And the earlier those master Windows Server 2012 platform, the sooner those will be become leaders in the IT transformation into private cloud computing. There is everything to gain to start learning Windows Server 2012 now as opposed to later.
The content of this series is based on Windows Server 2012 Beta as of May, 2012. It is intended for those who are familiar with the administration of Windows Server 2008 (or later) to become comfortable and productive with Windows Server 2012 within an hour using conventional input devices like a keyboard and a mouse, while a touch device may not be immediately available. The 12 routines as the following are to facilitate the learning. They are certainly not complete, nor the only ways to operate Windows Server 2012.
I organize the contents into 3 parts. Part 1 will cover the first two routines mainly on the usability. The next eight in part 2 are essential user operations, and part 3 (although not about operating a non-touch device) is to highlight two important facts: the wireless support and an error message that a user is likely to experience when trying to initially connect to Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 or other earlier version of Windows servers. The three parts together should provide pertinent information sufficient for an experienced Windows server user to get productive quickly on this exciting new version of Windows Server.
In Windows Server 2012, there are the Start screen as shown above, the traditional desktop and apps, and Metro style apps. The Start screen is now the default landing screen upon logging in and the hub of all installed applications. The traditional desktop itself is now the Metro app, Desktop. And the user experience of Desktop of Windows Server 2012 is very similar with the desktop experience in Windows Server 2008. Many UI features available in the desktops of Windows Server 2008 and Windows 7 are very much applicable. For examples, shaking to minimize windows, snapping to resize or compare contents in two windows, minimizing all open windows by clicking at the lower right corner of the desktop, etc. work the same in Windows Server 2012. Nonetheless, since Windows Server 2012 is for both touch devices and those based on traditional keyboard-mouse inputs, there are new features and operations from a user experience point of view to accommodate the inputs from a touch device and keyboard and mouse within an OS instance.
1. Where Have All the Apps Gone
The first order of business in learning a new system is to find out where and what all the apps are, and make those frequently used apps easy to access for routine operations. From the get-go on the Start screen after logging on as local administrator, place cursor on the background color (i.e. not on a tile) and right-click. The All Apps click button will appear at the lower left part of the screen, as shown here:
Clicking All Apps bring up the Apps screen revealing all the apps currently installed in the system. On the Apps screen, right-click an app to mark and pin/unpin the app to desktop/taskbar, and right-click again to unmark, as needed. The following screen capture shows Resource Monitor is currently pinned to the Start screen and not to a taskbar. A user will notice that Apps screen lists out frequently used admin tools including: Control Panel, Services, Event Viewer, PowerShell, Windows Explorer, etc. which can be pinned to Start screen and taskbar for a direct access, as preferred. To get back to the Start screen at this time, mouse-click at lower left corner (LL) or simply press the Windows Logo key.
2. The Four Corners
These are what I call four "Magic Corners" on a Windows Server 2012 screen, i.e. LL UL, LR, and UR indicating lower left, upper left, lower right, and upper right corners, respectively, as shown on the Start screen earlier. Place cursor and click at each of the magic corners to toggle screens, list out inactive metro style apps, access settings of current screens, etc. These corners are to perform some essential user operations in Windows Server 2012 with a keyboard and a mouse as input devices. Apparently, mouse-clicks at LL or UL are to perform something similar to swipes across the left edge of a touch device screen, while LR and UR are for swipe actions across the right edge, for instance.
Either LL or the Windows Logo key is where to toggle between the Start screen and the last accessed app. This provides a direct and immediate access to the Start screen which is the logical hub of all the apps installed in current OS instance. When confused, just return to the Start screen and go from there.
Moving cursor to UL on a screen will give a thumbnail view of the last Metro style app accessed. And moving the cursor from UL down along the left edge of the screen will reveal all Metro style apps currently inactive. The following screen capture illustrates the steps to bring up an inactive Metro app from the Start screen.
Moving cursor to either LR or UR will bring up the so called Charms showed in transparency with the background. Moving cursor up or down at this time along the edge will highlight the Charms with a black bar and also show the current day, date, time, network, and power status. Notice Charms provides an access to the Settings options of both the current screen and the Start screen as well. Below are two screen captures of Charms showing one in transparency with the background, the other with a black bar and current time, day, date, etc displayed.
Moving cursor to the top edge changes the cursor from an arrow to a little hand, other than when on the Start screen. At this time, drag the screen down and then to the left or the right edges of the screen will, when applicable, snap the app accordingly. These operations make sense if one Imagines doing this by touching the top edge of the screen, dragging and swiping a current app to the left or the right edge of a touch device screen and snapping the app in place.
The following image shows the desktop snapped to the left with a thumbnail view of each app open on the desktop at the time, while I was actively working on PC Settings. Dragging the boundary of the two app to expand the area of desktop will snap PC Settings to the right, while the two apps remain both on the screen at the same time.
There are various ways to drag an app and snap it to the left or right, or the bottom to close it. Together with the Windows Logo key, one will be able to navigate among Metro apps and Start/Apps/Settings screens quite easily.
Knowing how to operate the four magic corners with keyboard-mouse inputs is essential for navigating among apps. The next is to know how to carry out routine user operations which Part 2 will cover. [To Part 2, 3]
[This is a cross-posting from http://aka.ms/yc.]
Highly managed systems and private cloud are the future of IT, and the future is now. In Part II of our IT Camp series, you will build a test lab with an AD domain, learn what you need to know to start or continue building a private cloud with the test lab, and witness System Center 2012 in action. We will also preview the next version of Windows Server 2012. Seating is limited so reserve your place now!
There is a hands-on part of the program and the format is “keep up with the presenter if you can”. We will be going through the content and you can follow along, if you like. In the lab, we will be setting up the server infrastructure that will be needed to deploy System Center 2012 basic components. This will include AD infrastructure and virtual machines that you can use to later install System Center or other workloads. If you want to participate in Hands-On, please notice the following:
CAMP REQUIREMENTS: Please bring your laptop with the following minimum requirements:
Download and install Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 and optionally System Center 2012 to facilitate your learning. And for those who want to experience the next version of Windows, download the consumer preview of Windows Server 2012.
Register now and save your seat for these FREE, full-day events in your local area.
Register Now!
Additional resources:
Today cloud computing facilitated by virtualization continues emerging as the service delivery vehicle for IT to shorten go-to-market while facing unpredictable data patterns and workloads. The increasing complexities and growing user expectations make system management on the center stage of a cloud computing solution. In addition to automation, we now need a self-service model to fundamentally reduce the cost structure of required training and on-going maintenance. Besides processes and procedures, we now need work-flows and orchestration. The requirements for a management solution are now the abilities to identify and manage resources deployed to heterogeneous virtualization platforms in hybrid scenarios of cloud computing with predictability and repeatability. A single and unified platform with a consistent user experience to manage all IT resources including physical, virtualized, private cloud, and public cloud resources becomes critical for increasing efficiency and reducing TCO at the same time. From a deployment point of view, the abilities to deploy: OS to bare metal, virtual machines to virtualization host groups, and services to a private cloud signify the arrival of deployment as a service. And VMM 2012 implements and proves this concept.
Deployments, from bare metal to a service to a target private cloud, can now be available on demand with VMM2012 private cloud fabric. And IT professionals must recognize that it is no longer about configuring servers and setting up networks, it is all about delivering a requested application to target users on demand, i.e. as a service, with security and governance to timely and even proactively respond to a market opportunity.
Installing OS to Bare Metal
VMM 2012 introduces the concept of private cloud fabric. When adding a Hyper-V host to fabric from the admin console of VMM 2012, as shown above, one noticeable option is to provision a physical computer as highlighted below.
This capability enables VMM 2012 to identify hardware, install OS, enable Hyper-V role, and add the machine to a target host group with streamline operations in a highly automated fashion. VMM 2012 can now deploy an application as a service to a target private cloud on demand by applying an associated service template, so long a request is within its SLA and the authorized and available physical capacities are sufficient.
Notice that PXE capability plays a key role and is an integral component of the Server pool, one of the three resource pools encompassing private cloud fabric. PXE servers are to be put in place as part of remote management infrastructure to support bare metal deployment. Target hardware will need to have Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) supporting an out-of-band management protocol like IPMI, DCMI, or SMASH. The hardware specifications for remote management are beyond the scope of this article. They are briefly mentioned here for completeness.
Deploying Service to Private Cloud
In VMM 2012, deployment operations are amazingly simple. To deploy an application architecture with a running instance of a target application as a service to a target private cloud can now be simplified and easily carried out with a few mouse-clicks from with VMM 2012 admin console or System Center App Controller 2012. The below screen capture shows a self-service user using App Controller to deploy StockTrader as a service to a target private cloud. The magic is in the so called Service Template. The concepts, processes, and operations to deploy a Service Template is detailed in part 3 of the blog post series, System Center Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) 2012 as Private Cloud Enabler.
Beginning of ITaaS
There is no doubt that from bare metal to a private cloud, a management platform like VMM 2012 offers many advantages including simplicity in operations, consistency in user experience, predictability of a deployment to increase IT efficiency and reduce TCO at the same time in the long run. In this article, I single out VMM 2012 since it is an enabler of private cloud and covers much of infrastructure management. Let's however be clear. A comprehensive and agile private cloud solution must address the entire subject domain of system management in cloud computing. And that encompasses application management, service delivery automation, and infrastructure management. To form a comprehensive management solution, there are additional components in System Center 2012 including: Configuration Manager, Data Protection Manager, Operation Manager, Orchestrator, Service Manager, etc. to fully address all three areas. VMM 2012 is nonetheless a strategic starting point, a beginning of the long-waited delivery of IT as a Service.
Building a private cloud is the next step for enterprise IT. A 7-year research with 15,000 data points, as shown below, provides overwhelming evidences and concludes a noticeable increase in efficiency with significant reduction of TCO by moving IT from Basic into Rationalized stage in the IO (Infrastructure Optimization) model. And cloud, or more specifically private cloud computing, offers a roadmap to facilitate enterprise IT transforming from Basic or Standardized into Rationalized. A transition from a traditional infrastructure-focused deployment model into a cloud-ready, cloud-enabled, and service-centric delivery vehicle in enterprise IT is imminent, if not already happening.
Microsoft private cloud solutions are based on Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 (or Hyper-V Server 2008 R2) and System Center 2012 to fundamentally prepare enterprise IT with a technically sound and financially sustainable architecture. For IT professionals, there are quality and free training resources for developing technical depth on current platform and Windows Server 8. For IT decision making, there is a private cloud assessment tool to facilitate what-if analysis. Above all, IT professionals must recognize the sense of urgency and get in, or be left out. Because in enterprise IT, old-school infrastructure was then and gone, while building a private cloud is now and beyond. Enterprise IT is no longer just about managing servers, networks, and storage; instead enterprise IT is about shortening go-to-market by delivering services, i.e. ITaaS. This is not only transforming IT, but the survival of a business with IT support.
Download the above references: Cost Study and Forrester's paper.
(This article is a cross-posting from http://aka.ms/yc.)
A private cloud delivers business functions as services, while virtualization virtualizes computing resources supporting the private cloud. They are two different concepts, address different issues, and operate at different levels in enterprise IT. A private cloud goes far beyond virtualization and virtualization is not a private cloud. To conclude this two-part series as listed below, here are the specifics regarding a private cloud vs. virtualization.
An essential part of a private cloud is virtualization that offers opportunities in reducing infrastructure costs, increasing operational efficiency, and improving deployment flexibility. A server instance deployed with a VM offers many advantages over one deployed with a physical machine. And VMs facilitate the implementations of resource pooling, rapid elasticity, and hence a private cloud. Notice that the benefits of virtualization including lower costs, higher efficiency, flexible deployment, etc. however do not translate themselves directly to "capacity on demand" which is much more and what a private cloud delivers.
Virtualization Is Not a Private Cloud
In addition to missing the five essential characteristics as criteria, it is not required to deliver virtualization with SaaS, PaaS, or IaaS. Namely, virtualization is not necessarily presented as a "service" while a private cloud always is. What virtualization offers is to virtualize resources without specifying how the virtualized resources are made available to users. In other words, virtualization introduces a mechanism to facilitate implementations of some, but not all, of the private cloud requirements. To equate virtualization to a private cloud is to mistakenly present part of a solution as the solution itself.
Private Cloud Priorities
The term, cloud, denotes the abilities to exhibit the five essential characteristics with one of the three possible delivery methods of a service as stated in the 5-3-2 Principle of Cloud Computing and NIST SP-800-145. When one claims having a “cloud” solution, we can easily verify it with a few simple questions: Can a user self-serve? How accessible? Is it delivered with (or at least a flavor of) SaaS, PaaS, or IaaS? Is it elastic? Does it have a self-servicing component?
Specific to a private cloud, there are however different priorities on the five essential characteristics. One of the five essential characteristics remain becomes optional in a private cloud setting. Either on premises or hosted by a 3rd party, a private cloud is expected to exhibit self-service, resource pooling, and elasticity of cloud computing. In addition, even if chargeback is not technically or politically realistic in an enterprise setting, analytics must be put in in place to provide insight of resource consumption and usage patterns. This is due to self-servicing and elasticity can make a workload very dynamic and statistical data based on analytics are imperative for planning capacities based on realistic and meaningful data. These concepts are illustrated as below:
As mentioned earlier in this article, virtualization is not a private cloud, but an important technical component of a private cloud. A private cloud on the other hand encompasses much more than just virtualizing resources.
From a private cloud’s view point, two of the five essential characteristics of cloud computing become optional. They are ubiquitous access and consumption-based chargeback model. This is absolutely not to suggest the two are not applicable. They very much are for any solution qualified with the term, cloud, including a private cloud. There are however legitimate reasons to consider the two differently regarding a private cloud.
Restricted Access
Ubiquitous access in cloud computing implies anytime, anywhere, any device accessibility to a service. While considering a private cloud, there are scenarios in which general accessibility may not be the intent. The required data confidentiality, integrity, and availability of a private cloud may prevent a service owner from offering a general access. Instead, business requirements may demand, in addition to user credentials, a further restricted access based on a combination of isolation at various layers including a device type, IP address range, port designation, domain membership, constrained delegation, protocol transition, etc. Namely, accessibility of a private cloud should be based on corporate information security policies and not necessarily an architecturally defined requirement. The concept of information security can be best summarized with the so-called C-I-A triad as shown above.
Feasibility of Charging Back
While transitioning into cloud computing, a realistic approach for enterprise IT is to build a private cloud by first transforming the existing infrastructure components and applications into a target cloud environment. With infrastructure components and an application architecture already put in place, a chargeback model may not always be technically feasible or administratively necessary. To charge back, show back, or sponsor an application without a consumption-based cost morel is up to an organization’s priorities and therefore not necessarily an architectural requirement of a private cloud.
The Essence of Charge-Back Model
Nonetheless, a chargeback mechanism signifies not only the ability to recover costs, but the critical need of designing analytics into a service. By offering self-service and elasticity in a private cloud, the resource utilization can become very dynamic and unpredictable. The ability to monitor, capture, and process utilization data for capacity planning for supporting anytime readiness of a service has become imperative.
System Management Now Even More Critical
There is no question that virtualization is an enabling technology in transforming enterprise IT into a cloud environment. The reality is that virtualization is one component of a private cloud solution. Virtualization is nonetheless unequivocally not a private cloud itself. What a decision maker must recognize is that, for building a private cloud, virtualization, resource pooling, elasticity, and self-service model are to be architected as a whole with consistency, compatibility, and integration. Such that the architecture can fundamentally realize the 5-3-2 Principle of Cloud Computing with a predictable and maximal ROI in the long run. The discovery, deployment, configuration, and management of a target resource from bare medal to runtime are all to be based on a common management platform and implemented with a comprehensive system management solution. Further, a consistent user experience in managing physical, virtualized, as well as cloud resources is critical to warrant a continual and increasing cost reduction of on-going technical support and training.
A Private Cloud Delivers ITaaS
Above all, a private cloud solution offers a technical architecture to strategically advance go-to-market which has become increasingly critical to the survival of a business facing the unpredictable workloads supported by proliferation of mobile devices and triggered by instant data storms in a highly connected business computing environment. IT professionals must not confuse virtualization with a private cloud. The former is a technically centric and an important piece of private cloud puzzles for virtualizing resources. While the latter focuses on servicing customers with on-demand accessibility and always-on readiness of a target application. The 5-3-2 Principle of Cloud Computing and this two-part series reveal what a private cloud is about. And that is to strategically build a go-to-market vehicle, such that enterprise IT can fulfill business needs and exceed user expectations. With a private cloud, IT can leverage business opportunities generated by market dynamics and offer a user experience with anytime, anywhere, on any device productivity. The ability of acquiring IT capabilities on demand with a private cloud is in essence a reality of "IT as a Service."
[This article is a cross-posting from http://aka.ms/yc.]
Virtually speaking about Cloud Computing series by Yung Chou includes
In today’s episode, Yung Chou outlines steps that you can take to become a private cloud expert in your organization. Using Microsoft’s System Center 2012, Yung describes how you can deliver IT as a service, by creating private clouds as well as how to manage your IT environment in a more agile way.
Video: WMV | MP4 | WMV (ZIP) | PSP Audio: WMA | MP3
Are you ready for Private Cloud? Take a free 10-minute assessment
Blogs:
How does cloud computing apply to me? The million dollar question on every IT Pro’s lips is the topic of discussion for today’s episode of Virtually Speaking and Sr. IT Pro Evangelist Yung Chou is here to help answer it. From why you should care, to how you can make it work for you in your career and business be sure to listen in on this very informative session.
Private Cloud is the future of IT, and the future is now. Spend the day at our IT Camp and learn about Microsoft's virtualization solution, Hyper-V, the first step on your path to mastering Private Cloud.
You'll embark on an interactive journey as you learn the foundation of cloud services, Hyper-V, through architecture, networking, virtual hard drives, and virtual machines.
A full day of lecture, demo and hands-on labs our free IT Camp will give you the jumpstart you need on Private Cloud. Seating is limited so reserve your place now!
We also highly recommend all attendees download and familiarize yourself with System Center 2012 to facilitate your learning on the many scenarios that we will walk through in our technical demos and hands-on labs throughout "The Future of IT" series of events. Free download here.
For more information or to register, visit > www.technetevents.com OR CALL 1-877-MSEVENT
This webcast builds on your understanding of Microsoft System Center 2012 Virtual Machine Manager. We do an architectural review and highlight the requirements, steps, and operations to construct a private cloud from a service standpoint, including constructing fabric and deploying a private cloud with a service template. By attending this webcast, you will get all the information and skills you need to construct a simple, yet realistic private cloud for self-training and evaluation and to become the next private cloud expert in your company.
Download WMV Download | WMA
Call to Action
What exactly is a private cloud? In this episode of Virtually Speaking, Sr. IT Pro Evangelist Yung Chou spends some time explaining the components that make up a private cloud, various virtualization solutions as well as how virtualization itself is merely a key enabler of IT as a Service.
In this installment of Virtually Speaking, Yung Chou dives deeper into explaining the basics of cloud computing and how it works. Tune in as Yung goes through the 5 -3-2 principal of cloud computing as he examines the various service delivery models that are available as well as how each scenario can impact your business.
In today’s episode, Sr. IT Pro Evangelist, Yung Chou kicks off his new “Virtually Speaking” series as he sets a baseline understanding of what cloud computing is at its core, how it has evolved over several decades and what its true value is to IT Professionals, consumers and the technology industry as a whole.
Click here to check out TechNet Virtual Lab: System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2012 - Building a Service Template
This 5-part series listed as below highlights the steps to deploy StockTrader as a service to a private cloud using the service template. After successfully importing the StockTrader service template in VMM 2012 in Part 2, we can then customize the service template, as preferred, using Service Template Designer. Which is the scenario here.
In the admin console of VMM 2012, the Library workspace is the repository where all file-based resources including vhds, iso images, application packages, scripts, etc. are kept and made visible in the private cloud. The context sensitive UI will display utilities applicable to the type of a highlighted resource. The following illustrates a list of the resources indexed in all the associated network shares of an examined Library Server, here r2host.contoso.corp. The UI is content sensitive and presenting the utilities available for operating on Answers File which is the type of a service template.
Examine the Library workspace, in addition to Library Servers there are other containers including Templates and Profiles. And specifically Template container is where service templates are presented.
Service Template Designer
This is a new tool in VMM 2012 for authoring and examining a service template. In Library workspace, when highlighting a service template in Service Templates container, Service Template Designer becomes available in the group, Service Template Tools. Click Open Designer, as illustrated below, to load the service template into Service Template Designer.
Application Architecture Encapsulated in Service Template
When the StockTrader service template is loaded in the Designer, a visual presentation of the application architecture reveals a four-tier design signified by the four corresponding VM templates, as depicted below, including a web front-end, business service layer, operations layer, and a database back-end. The four VMs are connected with a logical network and collectively form the application architecture of StockTrader. The what ,when, why, and how to configure these VMs are specified in the VM templates. Further examination reveals that within these VM templates there are dependencies defined including: two web applications are to be configured in the Web Tier, a server app-v package is to be deployed in each of the two Mid Tier machines, and a number of dacpac packages are to be installed to the SQL Tier during VM instances creation.
Properties of the service or an examined VM template provide the configuration details with intelligence of why, when, and how to instantiate these objects.
The accessibility of a service can be directly defined in a service template. The following shows StockTrader Service Owner, a defined self-service user role, is given the access to the StockTrader service.
Within VM template properties, VMM 2012 now includes features and settings with cloud computing in mind. Scalability, memory optimization, server roles and features designation, operational intelligence and precision, SQL deployment, quota are just a few highlighted below.
These properties shown above are validated and customize, as preferred. Once done, the service template is almost ready for deployment. Almost, however not yet. Part 4 will explain.
[To Part 1, 2, 4, 5]
To deploy an application as a service to a private cloud in VMM 2012, a service template is the key. In this second article of the 5-part blog post series as shown below, let’s walk through the process to make a service template ready for use.
For those who would like to build a test lab, download Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 and System Center products including VMM 2012. There are also free eBooks and posters illustrated many important concept of virtualization.
Service Template
This is a main delivery of VMM 2012. And a noticeable differentiator from VM 2008 R2 is VMM 2012 is designed with the service concept and a private cloud in mind. A service in VMM 2012 is a set of VMs collectively delivering a business function, and they are configured, deployed, operated, and managed as a whole. And a service template is a vehicle to realize the service concept.
Physically an XML file, a service template encapsulates “everything” needed to do a push-button deployment of an application architecture with a running instance of an target application. Just imagine all the knowledge and tasks other than hardware allocations involved in an application deployment from application architecture to configurations, operations, and procedures are all orchestrated and encapsulated in this XML file. Here the hardware allocation is managed by VMM 2012 with the private cloud fabric and transparent to an application. And specifically “everything” of an application deployment I mean:
Importing into Private Cloud Fabric
To deploy an application as a service into target private cloud, first make all resources relevant to the deployment visible in private cloud fabric. And this can be easily done by simply first xcopy the StockTrader package, as shown on the right, into a library share of a VMM 2012 already configured as part of the private cloud fabric. (The information to download StockTrader is detailed at the end of Part 1.) Then in the admin console of VMM 2012, import the service template as shown above.
By default VMM 2012 refreshes a library share in 60 minutes as shown below. Depending on how often changes are introduced as well as the network topology and bandwidth, this refresh interval should be set.
As needed, an administrator can simply right-click and manually refresh a library share in VMM 2012 admin console, as shown on the left here, to index and make a newly added resource available upon refresh. Once the application package appears in the library share, we can now import the StockTrader service template. As VMM 2012 reads in the content of a service template for the first time, all resources referenced by the service template are validated against the private cloud fabric settings. For instance, when developing/testing application in a development environment, the employed credentials and network naming are often different from those in production. Individual settings must be validated against the corresponding ones in a target environment. Once validated, the application and associated resources become ready for employment in the private cloud fabric.
Recall that fabric is an important abstraction in cloud computing and signifies the ability to discover, identify, and manage computing resources. The presumption is that if a resource is added into one of the three resource pools in private cloud fabric, it can be discovered, identified, and managed by VMM 2012. And the importing process is in essence to examine a service template and flag settings for corrective actions, as applicable, such that all resources referenced by the service template are validated via an associated library servers where the resources reside.
The following illustrates the process of importing the StockTrader service template. If you want to import sensitive settings such as passwords, product keys, and application and global settings that are marked as secure, select the Import sensitive template settings check box. If you do not want to import sensitive data, you can update the references later the import process.
When VMM 2012 examines a service template, those references not properly resolved are list with yellow waning triangles. In such case, edit and validate an entry by clicking the pencil icon. Each entry with a red cross is actually an indicator that the referenced resource is validated, as shown below.
Like many Microsoft products, behind the scene, it is implemented with PowerShell. And a set of scripts associated to a series of operations with specified settings can be easily generated for later batch processing and automation. The following shows the View Scripts button available for generating PowerShell script during a service template import process.
Upon a successfully import, the service template is now listed as a resource available for deployment. Check the properties, as shown below, to reveal important information including service settings and dependencies defined in the service template.
StockTrader is a 4-tier application and in the service template properties, as illustrated below. The VHD, server app-v package, customization scripts, etc. to be installed are all listed under an associated VM template. When instantiating a VM instance, these dependencies become in effect and ensure all requirements are orchestrated and met along a deployment process.
At this time, the StockTrader service template is successfully imported and ready for use. Next is to examine the application architecture defined and configured in the service template. Life is good so far.
[To Part 1, 3, 4, 5]
To accelerate the learning of private cloud, a direct and effective way is to walk through the process of deploy one. And that is what this blog post and screencast series will deliver by detailing the essential operations and steps to deploy and manage a service deployed to a private cloud in SCVMM 2012 including:
Scenario
The process I am focusing on in this series starts from the signoff of a to-be-deployed application, here StockTrader. And in this series, I as a Private Cloud Administrator will walk through the process to “deploy” StockTrader as a service to a target private cloud. How the application was developed, configured, and packaged are not the subjects here. How it is to be deployed as a service to a target private cloud is. Deploying and managing an application as a service is an important concept and a key delivery of VMM 2012. The following further explains.
Notice that in VMM 2012 a service means specifically a set of VMs which collectively delivers a business function. At operational level, this set of VMs can be configured, deployed, and managed as a whole, i.e. one entity. This is achieved in VMM 2012 by employing a service template. By predefining the application architecture with the content, configurations, deployment operations, and procedures of an intended application in a VMM 2012 service template, we can now essentially deploy an application architecture with a running instance of an intended application, i.e. deploy an application as a service. And by managing the instance of a service template, we are now managing all associated resources of a running instance of an intended application which may encompasses multiple VM instances in multiple tiers.
StockTrader
This is an end-to-end sample application based on Windows Communication Foundation and ASP.NET. StockTrader is designed as a high-performance application that can seamlessly scale out across multiple servers with load-balancing and failover at the service-request level. In addition, the application can be deployed to Windows Azure Platform, a private cloud, or a hybrid environments with securely communication between Windows Azure instances and on-premise services. It illustrates many of the .NET enterprise development technologies for building highly scalable, rich "cloud-connected" applications.
The StockTrader application package I downloaded from http://connect.microsoft.com (find more details at the end of in this blog post) includes pre-baked syspreped vhd images, application code, scripts, app-v packages, and a service template which defines the multi-tier application architecture, the operations and procedures, the dependencies and intelligence, etc. with VM templates. We will use the provided service template to deploy StockTrader as a service to a target private cloud.
From a consumer’s point of view, regardless where and how StockTrader is deployed, it is a web application. The cloud connotation is relevant to mainly a service provider to signify the ability to deploy, exhibit, and manage an application with the 5-3-2 principle of cloud computing or NIST SP 800-145.
Lab Environment
The test lab is a simple environment including a windows domain with a VMM 2012 and a Hyper-V host as members. This lab is the starting point of a private cloud environment. It is a test lab, not an idea nor a realistic representation all components/functions needed to deliver a comprehensive private cloud solution. A comprehensive private solution including configuration management, deployment vehicle, process automation, service/help desk, virtual machine manager, self-service portal, etc. is what System Center 2012 delvers. For those who would like to build a test lab similar with mine, here is the hardware and software information:
Hardware
You will need 64-bit hardware to build a Windows domain with a domain controller, a SCVMM 2012 server, and a Hyper-V host to get started with a simple yet realistic enough test lab. The Hyper-V host need to have access to the hardware since it needs to be a root/parent partition run virtual machines. A great poster to help you better understand Hyper-V is available at http://aka.ms/free. The rest two, a domain controller and a SCVMM 2012 box, can be physical or virtual machines. And as needed, other System Center 2012 family members can be later added into the environment to form a comprehensive private cloud solution. Having a SCVMM 2012 server and a Hyper-V host into a Windows domain is the beginning and the essentials to start building a private cloud solution.
I set up the environment with my laptop where the booted Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1, i.e. the root partition, is a Hyper-V host as a member of the contoso.corp domain which includes a domain controller and a SCVMM 2012 server are both virtual machines and each running as guest OS. The following are the hardware information.
As far as the hardware is concern, RAM is a significant resource in virtualization and where I will spend my money.
Software
[To Part 2, 3, 4, 5]
Download WMV Download | WMA | MP3
If you attended one of our Live Private Cloud TechNet events delivered recently in the major metros along the US east coast, hopefully we’ve inspired you to build out your own private cloud test environment with downloadable evaluation products. This is the 2nd episode of our post-event conference call as a follow-up to further discuss building private cloud with Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 and System Center 2012. For those who are interested, there are also additional information, free ebooks, and posters available to better understand some of the enabling technologies of cloud computing.
Amid the many benefits of having the NIST SP 800-145 as a tool to facilitate the understanding, the classification and some definitions of the four deployment models are redundant and inconsistent. Particularly, the definition of “community cloud” is a redundant of that of a private cloud, the deployment models are defined with 2 set of criteria, and “hybrid cloud” is a confusing, ambiguous, and extraneous term.
SP 800-145 is the de facto standard in IT industry of describing what cloud computing is with five essential characteristics, three delivery methods, and four deployment models. The five essential characteristics well specify the qualifications and expected behaviors of an object qualified with the term, cloud. The three delivery methods signify the essence of cloud computing centered on the concept of a “service.” Both the characteristics and the delivery methods in SP 800-145 form a solid foundation and present a conceptual model envisioning what cloud computing is and about. SP 800-145 gets inconvenient where the four deployment models including public, community, private, and hybrid clouds are defined, as shown below.
The Premise
Reviewing the definitions of the first three deployment models, there is a common theme. Among public, community, and private clouds, the classification is based on the intended audiences whom a cloud with its resources is dedicated to. Namely, a public cloud is intended to be consumed by the general public and a private cloud is dedicated to a single organization, i.e. for a targeted group of users. SP 800-145 classifies a private cloud and a public cloud with consistent criteria.
It is important to recognize that building a cloud with owned hardware does not default it as a private cloud of the owner’s, while a cloud with accessibility via Internet or operated by an internet service provider does not automatically make it a public cloud either. Again, the intended audiences determine it is a private or public cloud. Although many seem to default a private cloud as an on-premise deployment to owned hardware, this is nonetheless not a requirement of a private cloud.
Further “public” here does not suggest that it is free or accessible anonymously. It simply means the cloud is dedicated for the general public to consume, while there can be business or administrative restrictions imposed. Microsoft Office 365 available based on a subscription and Hotmail requiring a Live ID to sign are vivid examples of public cloud offerings with restrictions.
Inconvenience #1: The classification of “community cloud” is extraneous.
A community cloud according to 800-145 is a cloud for a specific community of consumers from organizations. As far as a member of the associated community is concerned, a community cloud is indeed a private cloud for that particular community. The number of the organizations and the administrative boundaries encompassing a community are irrelevant since from a private cloud’s view point, an authorized user is an authorized user regardless which organization one belongs to. A cloud for a community of users from either various departments, business units within a company or business partners from companies in many parts of the world is essentially a private cloud dedicated for that community.
Inconvenience #2: Using two sets of criteria to define cloud deployment models roots inconsistency and ambiguity.
As defined in SP 800-145, a hybrid cloud is a composition of infrastructures, yet at the same time a private cloud and a public cloud are defined according to their intended audiences. The change of criteria in classifying a hybrid cloud roots inconsistency and ambiguity in the deployment models presented in SP 800-145. Forming a concept with two sets of criteria is simply a confusing way to describe an already very confusing subject like cloud computing.
Inconvenience #3: "Hybrid cloud" is an ambiguous, confusing, and frequently misused term.
A hybrid cloud is a composition of two or more distinct cloud infrastructures (private, community, or public) as stated in SP 800-145. That is to say that a hybrid cloud can be a composition of private/private, private/community, private/public, etc. From a consumer’s point of view, they are in essence a private cloud, a private cloud, and a public or private cloud respectively. Regardless how a hybrid cloud is constructed, if it is intended for public consumption it is a public cloud, and if for a particular group of people it is then a private cloud according to SP 800-145. Essentially the composition of clouds is still a cloud and it is an either public or private cloud, and cannot be both at the same time.
For many enterprises IT professionals, a hybrid cloud means an on-premise private cloud connected with some off-premise resources. Notice these off-premise resources are not necessary in reality a cloud. In such case, it is simply a private cloud with some extended boundaries. A cloud is a set of capabilities and must be referenced in the context of the delivered application. Just placing a VM in the cloud or referencing a database placed in the cloud does not make the VM or the database itself a public cloud application.
The key is that a hybrid cloud is a derived concept of clouds. Namely, a hybrid can be integrations, modifications, extensions, or a combination of all of cloud infrastructures. A hybrid is nevertheless not a new concept or a different deployment model and should not be classified as a unique deployment model in addition to the two essential ones, i.e. the public and private cloud models. A cloud is either public or private and there isn’t a third kind of cloud deployment model based on the intended users.
“Hybrid cloud” is perhaps a great catchy marketing term. For many, a hybrid seems to suggest it is advanced, leading edge, and magical, and therefore better and preferred. The truth is "hybrid cloud" is an ambiguous, confusing, and frequently misused term. It confuses people, interjects noises into a conversation, and only to further confirm the state of confusion and inability to clearly understand what cloud computing is.
Among the members of System Center 2012 release, App Controller is probably getting more attention than the others in the suite. And the reason is probably because App Controller directly answers the need to have a single pane of glass to manage both public and private clouds. A single pane of glass means seamless integration of multiple components, aggregate of information form multiple sources, fewer passwords to manage, less training needed, fewer helpdesk calls made, more user productivity, higher satisfaction, and on and on and on. The long-term impact upon operational proficiency and excellency, and user satisfaction in an enterprise setting can be very significant. It will be premature to conclude this series without going over App Controller.
Therefore, in this last article of this 5-part series on VMM 2012 as listed above, I would like to offer a quick overview of this interesting add-on to VMM 2012. Here I want to encourage you to download System Center 2012 trials available from this download Page, practice and experiment, get a head start in becoming the next private cloud expert in your organization.
A View of All
For public cloud, private cloud, and something in between, App Controller has a lot to offer to both a cloud administrator and a self-service user. App Controller is an add-on of VMM 2012 and a web-based interface configured as a virtual directory in IIS. A connection between App Controller and applications deployed to Windows Azure Platform in public cloud requires internet connectivity, certificates, Windows Azure subscription ID and credentials. To connect to a private cloud, a self-service user will log in the associated VMM 2012 server with AD credentials. The access control is a role-based model by Windows Authorization Manager, i.e. AzMan. So what a self-user can see or do are all trimmed and predefined.
The following shows App Controller connecting with two private clouds (PetShop and StockTrader) deployed by VMM 2012 and two subscriptions (Bata Test and Yung Chou’s production account) of Windows Azure Platform in public cloud. In this setting with App Controller, I was able to deploy and manage StockTrader as a private cloud in VMM 2012, at the same time publish and administer Windows Azure applications in public cloud, both requiring and with secure channels.
In addition to the ability to connect to a private cloud and a public cloud at the same time, another distinct feature of App Controller is to enable an authorized user to deploy a service to a private cloud in VMM 2012 without the need to reveal the underlying private cloud fabric. Technically this is such a complex infrastructure can be easily presented with convoluted processes and confusing settings. Instead, a UI gracefully designed with a keep-it-simple approach offers a quite remarkable user experience.
Notice in the App Controller UI, fabric is not visible despite a logon is with VMM admin privileges. This allows a cloud administrator to enable service owners to deploy applications to private clouds based on their needs in a self-servicing fashion, while still having a total control of how the infrastructure is configured and managed which is abstracted by the fabric. This is a great story.
Service Upgrade with App Controller
Personally I find the upgrade of a service with App Controller most exciting. To upgrade a service running in a private cloud deployed by VMM 2012, a self-service user can simply apply a new service template to an intended instance of the service. Technically it can be operationally carried out in a few mouse clicks. Depending on the Upgrade Domain and Fault Domain (similar to what are in Windows Azure Platform) of the service and what kind of updates are made to the service, there may or may not any service outage required. Here just to highlight the process, the following captures the App Controller screen for a self0service user to confirm upgrading a running instance of the StockTrader service from release 2011.11 to 2011.11.24.
Notice that in VMM 2012, the self-service model for deploying a private cloud is via VMM 2012 admin console or App Controller. The formal is a Windows application, while the latter is a web-based interface. There is also a self-service portal one can install for just VM-based deployment.
Closing Thoughts
VMM 2012 is a begging of a new era. Infrastructure and deployment can no longer be the excuses for IT to prolong, delay, and procrastinate. The expectation now is not what or if, but how fast IT can deliver it. The establishments already deployed may not be reconfigured, reengineered, or replaced as quickly as people would like to see. The mindset of IT pros must change from “how I may not be able to deliver” to “ what is your need and how fast I will make it happen” with a sense of urgency. And we need to validate our deliveries with the emerging trends in the industry and the long-term economic climate we are all facing. Five years ago, many thought virtualization would be relevant to only enterprise IT, while today virtualization has become a core skillset and no longer a specialty. Those who still believe private cloud is remote and not applicable, may wake up tomorrow and realize everything is moving and changing towards cloud much faster and in a bigger scope than anticipated. Private cloud is a high technical subject and there is however no easy way to learn it. Invest time and learn it the old-fashioned way by getting hands dirty is what I have done and will continue doing. Start today. Start now. Build your own lab, deploy your own cloud. And you are then on a road to become the next private cloud expert in your organization.
[To Part 1, 2, 3, 4]
(Download SP1)
Windows Server 2008 Active Directory Feature Components Poster
Hyper-V Component Architecture Poster
(Download Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 SP1)
Windows 2008 R2 Remote Desktop Services Architecture Poster
IT Professional Career and Certification Roadmap Poster
(Additional information)
SQL Server 2008 R2 System View
Exchange Server 2010 Architecture Poster
Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Workload Architecture Poster
SharePoint 2010: SharePoint Developer Platform Wall Poster
SharePoint Foundation 2010 Technical Diagrams
SharePoint Online Solution Development Overview Poster
A key feature delivered by VMM 2012 is the ability to deploy an application based on a service template which enables a push-button deployment of a target application infrastructure. VMM 2012 signifies a direct focus, embedded in product design, on addressing the entire picture of a delivered business function, rather than presenting fragmented views from individual VMs. VMM 2012 makes a major step forward and declares the quintessential arrival of IT as a Service by providing out-of-box private cloud product readiness for enterprise IT.
In this fourth article of the 5-part series on VMM 2012,
I further explain the significance of employing a service template.
This is in my view the pinnacle of VMM 2012 deliveries. The idea is apparent, to deliver business functions with timeliness and cost-effectiveness by standardizing and streamlining application deployment process. of Here I focus on the design and architectural concepts of a service template to help a reader better understand how VMM 2012 accelerates the process of a private cloud with consistency, repeatability, and predictability. The steps and operations to deploy and administer a private cloud with a service template will be covered in upcoming screencasts as supplements to this blog post series.
The term, service, in VMM 2012 means a set of VMs to be configured, deployed, and managed as one entity. And a service template defines the contents, operations, dependencies, and intelligence needed to do a push-button deployment of an application architecture with a target application configured and running according to specifications. This enables a service owner to manage not only individual VMs, but the business function in its entirety delivered as a (VMM 2012) service. Here, for instance, a service template developed for StockTrader is imported and displayed in the Service Template Designer of VMM 2012 as below revealing
Application Deployment as Service via IaaS
Since VMM 2008, Microsoft has offered private cloud deployed with IaaS. Namely a self-service user can be authorized with the ability to provision infrastructure, i.e. deploy VMs to authorized environment, on demand. While VMs can be deployed on demand, what is running within those VMs when and how is however not a concerned of VMM 2008.
VMM 2012 on the other hand is designed with service deployment and private cloud readiness in mind. In addition to deploying VMs, VMM 2012 can now deploy services. As mentioned earlier, a service in VMM 2012 is an application delivered by a set of VMs which are configured, deployed, and maintained as one entity. More specifically, VMM 2012 can deploy on demand not only VMs (i.e. IaaS), but VMs collectively configured as an instance of a defined application architecture for hosting a target application by employing a service template. As VMs are deployed, an instance of a defined application architecture is automatically built, and a target application hosted in the architecture becomes functional and available. VMM 2012 therefore converts an application deployment into a service via IaaS.
The Rise of Service Architect
Importantly, a service template capturing all relevancies of an application deployment is an integral part of the application development and production operations. A seasoned team member (whom I call Service Architect) with a solid understanding of application development and specifications, private cloud fabric construction, and production IT operations is an ideal candidate for authoring service templates.
Context and Operation Models
In a private cloud setting, enterprise cloud admin constructs fabric, validates service templates, and acts as a service provider. Service owners are those self-service users authorized to deploy services to intended private clouds using VMM 2012 admin console and act as consumers. Therefore, while enterprise IT constructs fabric and validates service templates, a service owner deploys services based on authorized service templates to authorized private clouds on demand. Notice a self-service user can access authorized templates and instances of VMs and services, private clouds, VM instances, etc. A self-service users nevertheless does not see the private cloud fabric in VMM 2012 admin console or App Controller.
Setting the context at an application level, a service owner deploys a service based on an authorized service template to an authorized private cloud on demand. And here a service owner acts as a service provider. At the same time, an authorized end user can access the application’s URL and acts as a consumer. In this model, an end user does not know and there is no need to know how the application is deployed. As far as a user is concerned, the user experience of accessing a private cloud is similar to accessing a web application.
Standardization, Consistency, Repeatability, and Predictability
What are specified in a service template including static definitions and pre-defined criteria of the what, how, when, and inter-dependency and event-driven information to automate the deployment process of an application. To be able to deploy an application multiple times with the same service template in the same environment, there is also instance information like machine names which are generated, validated, and locked down by VMM 2012 right before deployment when clicking Configure Deployment from Service Template Designer. The separation of instance information from static variables and event-driven operations among VMs of an application included in a service template offers an opportunity to standardize a deployment process with consistent configurations, repeatable operations, and predictable outcomes.
Service Template is in essence a cookie cutter which can reproduce content according to predefined specifications, in this case the shape of a cookie. A service based on a VMM 2012 service template can deployed multiple times on the same fabric, i.e. the same infrastructure, by validating the instance information in each deployment. This is similar to using the same cookie cutter with various cookie dough. The instances are different, the specifications are nonetheless identical.
Upgrading Service
Deployment with a service template can greatly simplify an upgrade scenario of an already deployed application. First, the production application infrastructure of StockTrader can be realistically and relatively easily mimicked in a test environment by configuring and deploying the same service template to a private cloud for development, such as an isolated logical network of 192.168.x.x subnet defined in the Network pool of the private cloud fabric. in VMM 2012. A new release, 2011.11.24 for example, of the application based on a service template (Release 2011.11) can then be developed and tested in this development environment.
Once the development process is concluded and the service template of Release 2011.11.24 is ready to be deployed, a cloud administrator can then import the service template and associated resources, as applicable, into the private cloud fabric, followed by validating the resource mapping so all references in Release 2011.11.24 are pointing to those in production. To upgrade an application from Release 2011.11 to Release 2011.11.24 at this point is simply a matter of applying the production instance to the service template of Release 2011.11.24. It is quite straightforward form VMM 2012 admin console by right-clicking the instance to be upgrades and setting a target template as show below.
This process is wizard-driven. Depending on how an application’s upgrade domain is architected, current application state, and the natures of changes, application outage may or may not be necessary. The following highlights a process of replacing a service template from Release 2011.11 to Release 2011.11.24 on an instance of StockTrader service.
There are different ways that a new service template can be applied to a running instance. For an authorized self-service user, the above process can also be easily carried out with App Controller, which I will detail in Part 5 of this blog post series.
Retiring Service
In VMM 2012, deleting a running service will stop and erase all the associated VM instances. Nevertheless, the resources referenced in the service template are still in place. To delete a service template, all configure deployments and deployed instances must be deleted first.
Archiving Services
As private clouds are built and services are deployed, releases of services can be documented by archiving individual service templates with associated resources. Notice this is not about backing up instances and data associated with the instances of an application, but to as preferred keep records of all resources, configurations, operations, and intelligence needed to successfully deploy the application.
With the maturity of virtualization and introduction of cloud computing, IT is changing with an increasing speed and the industry is transforming as we speak. VMM 2012 essentially substantiates the arrival of IT as a Service in enterprise IT. While the challenges are overwhelming, the opportunities are at the same time exciting and extraordinary. IT professionals should not and must not hesitate anymore, but get started on private cloud and get started now. Be crystal clear on what is cloud and why virtualization is far from cloud. Do master Hyper-V and learn VMM 2012. And join the conversation and take a leading role in building private cloud. With the strength of a new day dawning and the beautiful sun, there is no doubt in my mind that a clear cloudy day is in sight for all of us.
[To Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Have questions about Microsoft's Private Cloud solutions? If you attended one of the Live Private Cloud TechNet events, hopefully we’ve inspired you to build out your own test environment with our downloadable evaluation products. If you did, you may have some follow-up questions after the event. If you didn't attend an in-person event, but have questions regarding Private Cloud Computing all are welcome to join us during this fun, interactive, Q&A online session.
Yung Chou on Windows Technologies - Site Home - TechNet Blogs