Yung Chou on Hybrid Cloud

TechNet Radio: Virtually Speaking with Yung Chou Joined by Keith Mayer (Part 1): Greg Shields on Deploying and Managing a Service in the Cloud

2013-05-24T13:06:00Z

Yung Chou and Keith Mayer welcome Greg Shields from Concentrated Technology to the show as they discuss the differences between virtualization and cloud computing and how the two complement each other as well as how you can take the principles you learned from virtualization and apply them to the cloud. In part 1 of their series, Greg compares the old way of deploying services and shows us how to do it in System Center 2012 Virtual Machine Manager.

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Automating Windows Azure Infrastructure Services (IaaS) Deployment with PowerShell

2013-05-20T13:00:00Z

With Windows Azure PowerShell Cmdlets , the process to customize and automate an infrastructure deployment to Windows Azure Infrastructure Services (IaaS) becomes a relatively simple and manageable task. This article examines a sample script which automatically deploys seven specified VMs into three target subnets based on a network configuration file with two availability sets and a load-balancer. The entire deployment took a little more than half an hour. Assumptions The developer PowerShell script...(read more)

Window Azure Fault Domain and Upgrade Domain Explained for IT Pros (Reprised)

2013-05-14T16:40:00Z

Some noticeable advantages to run applications in Windows Azure are availability and fault tolerance achieved by the so-called fault domains and upgrade domains. These two terms represent important strategies in cloud computing for deploying and upgrading applications. System Center 2012 SP1 also has integrated the concepts into Virtual Machine Manager Service Template for deploying a private cloud. Fault Domain The scope of a single point of failure is essentially a fault domain. And the purpose...(read more)

One-Click Windows Azure VM (IaaS) Deployment with PowerShell User Experience

2013-05-09T20:48:30Z

I somehow got into writing PowerShell script in the last few days for facilitating deploying Windows Azure VMs into configured subnets for our upcoming Windows Azure IaaS Training Days. ( Here’s the shameless plug.) First I got started with Windows Azure PowerShell cmdlet and set up Windows Azure PowerShell . Then… this world is never the same anymore. I … see the light. Anyway, so this allows me to run PowerShell within a Windows Azure subscription account. It’s almost like having Microsoft datacenters...(read more)

Building Your Private Cloud Series at http://aka.ms/privatecloud

2013-05-06T13:00:00Z

Microsoft US Platform Technology Evangelists , have published a series of articles that step through building your very own Private Cloud by leveraging Windows Server 2012 , Windows Azure Infrastructure as a Service ( IaaS ) and System Center 2012 Service Pack 1 . This series presents the methodology of building a private cloud from overview, fabric concepts and construction, deployment, management, to extending it to Windows Azure and beyond. And ultimately extend existing on-premise establishments...(read more)

Hyper-V Replica Broker Explained

2013-05-05T21:00:00Z

Reference: Hyper-V Replica Explained

Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V Replica is a built-in mechanism for replicating Virtual Machines (VMs). It can replicate selected VMs in real-time or asynchronously from a primary site to a designated replica site across LAN/WAN. Here a replica site hosts a replicated VM while an associated primary site is where the source VM runs. And either a replica site or a primary site can be a Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V host or a Windows Server 2012 Failover Cluster.

Hyper-V Replica is an attractive Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery (BCDR) solution since not only conceptually easy to understand, but technically straightforward to implement, as demonstrated by the following schematic and the lab introduced later in this article. Further, with many newly added capabilities and flexibilities in Windows Server 2012 such as Storage Space, continuously available file share, Hyper-V over SMB 3.0, etc. a BCDR is no longer an academic exercise, but with Hyper-V Replica a feasible solution within reach. It is an ideal and affordable BCDR solution for small and medium businesses.

Hyper-V Replica is also applicable to a failover cluster. And this lab, http://aka.ms/ReplicaBroker, details the processes, steps, and operations in implementing Hyper-V Replica Broker in failover cluster settings. For those who are new to Hyper-V Replica, a walk-through of Hyper-V Replica essentials is available at http://aka.ms/Replica.

Hyper-V Replica Broker

With a failover cluster of Hyper-V hosts in place, one needs to first configure a Hyper-V Replica Broker role using Failover Cluster Manager. Then enable Hyper-V Replica on the Hyper-V Replica Broker. Ordinarily, Hyper-V Replica can be enabled in the Hyper-V Settings of a Hyper-V Host. However in a failover cluster, the Hyper-V Replica configurations are grayed out in an individual Hyper-V host’s Hyper-V Settings and to be managed through the Hyper-V Replica Broker role configured with Failover Cluster Manager.

The schematic below depicts that the employment of a Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V failover cluster as a Hyper-V Replica Site is through the cluster role, Replica Broker. Instead of operating directly onto a Hyper-V host as in a non-clustered environment, the process of replicating a VM is to now specify a Replica Broker as a replica site. The Replica Broker will then place the VM onto the associated failover cluster storage accordingly.

Windows Active Directory domain is not a requirement for Hyper-V Replica which can be implemented between workgroups or domains with a certificate-based authentication without the need to establish a domain trust relationship. Active Directory is nevertheless a requirement if involving a Hyper-V host which is part of a failover cluster, and in such case all Hyper-V hosts of a failover cluster must be in the same Active Directory domain.

Step-by-Step, Screen-by-Screen Hands-On Lab

With a failover cluster of Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V hosts, we now will enable VM replication in Hyper-V Replica Broker which is a cluster role to be configured with Failover Cluster Manager. This lab assumes a Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V failover cluster is in place, and presents the processes, steps, and operations to:

Here I am making this lab guide available as a download in pdf and available with a tweet to help sharing the information. I believe the content in http://aka.ms/Replica and this lab together form a solid foundation of Hyper-V Replica for IT professionals. Enjoy it and happy replicating.

Hyper-V Replica Explained, Windows Server 2012 Style

2013-05-05T16:51:00Z

Download and build a lab with Windows Server 2012 and System Center 2012 SP1 Deploy a VM to cloud and learn Windows Azure free trial and free resources . Follow the blog post series, learn and practice to Build a Private Cloud Reference: Hyper-V Replica Broker Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V Role introduces a new capability, Hyper-V Replica, as a built-in replication mechanism at a virtual machine (VM) level. Hyper-V Replica can asynchronously replicate a selected VM running at a primary site to a designated...(read more)

TechNet Radio: (Part 13) Building a Private Cloud with System Center 2012 Service Pack 1 – Managing Your Hybrid Cloud Network

2013-05-04T13:00:00Z

We’re here for the final part in our Building a Private Cloud series and in today’s episode Keith Mayer and Yung Chou show us to manage our hybrid cloud environment with System Center 2012 SP1 App Controller . Tune in as they demo for us how to get started with this service as well as wrap up this fantastic series. [ 1:33 ] Recap: Building a Private Cloud series [ 2:38 ] How to manage a Hybrid Cloud environment with System Center 2012 SP1 App Controller? [ 11:15 ] DEMO: Hybrid Cloud Management with...(read more)

TechNet Radio: (Part 12) Building a Private Cloud with System Center 2012 Service Pack 1 – Building a Hybrid Cloud Infrastructure using Windows Azure

2013-05-03T13:00:00Z

In Part 12 of their Building a Private Cloud series, Keith Mayer and Yung Chou explore the world of hybrid cloud scenarios using Windows Azure Virtual Networks . Tune in as they walk us through some common scenarios where IT Pros may find it more appealing to deploy a hybrid datacenter solution as they explain what components are required and how to build out and configure both your cloud and local networks. [ 1:20 ] Recap: Building a Private Cloud [ 2:30 ] What is IaaS? Why would IT Pros be interested...(read more)

TechNet Radio: (Part 11) Building a Private Cloud with System Center 2012 Service Pack 1 – Dynamic Optimization of the Private Cloud Fabric

2013-05-02T13:33:00Z

Continuing their Building a Private Cloud with System Center 2012 SP1 series, Keith Mayer and Yung Chou walk us through the steps needed to dynamically optimize our virtual machines. Tune in as they show us how to set the reserve capacity for our hosts, balance VM loads, set-up auto live migrations and optimize our power consumption. [ 1:08 ] Recap: Building a Private Cloud [ 4:33 ] How important is Dynamic Optimization? [ 11:25 ] DEMO : How to optimize the utilization of our Fabric [ 12:05...(read more)