Swiss IT Professional and TechNet Blog : Virtualization

Swiss TechNet Seminars - Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7

mepprecht — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 11:00:00 GMT

For the RTM Releases of Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7, we are offering the appropriate Swiss TechNet seminars. The new features and functions will be discussed and Demo’d.

Presentation language will be in German.

28 August 09	Windows 7 – alles, was Sie als IT Professional über die finale Version wissen müssen (Repeated on 6 November)
09 September 09	Windows Server 2008 R2 unter der Lupe
15 September 09	Hyper-V in Windows Server 2008 R2
06 November 09	Windows 7 – alles, was Sie als IT Professional über die finale Version wissen müssen (Repeat of 28 August)

Virtualizing Free Linux Distributions in Windows Server 2008 R2

mepprecht — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 13:45:14 GMT

Jason Perlow, a ZDnet columnist who has been writing about Open Source for over 10 years, was so intrigued by the new capabilities in Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V and Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 that he spent the last week installing various Linux distros (CentOS, Scientific Linux, OpenSUSE) atop Hyper-V R2. The result is a detailed article on ZDnet documenting the step-by-step instructions for each distro.

http://blogs.zdnet.com/perlow/?p=10830

Microsoft Connection Days

mepprecht — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 11:46:55 GMT

At five locations in Switzerland from 28 September up to 8. October 2009, Microsoft Connection Days (ex Partner Days), an event for Partners and IT professionals will be held.

This year, Microsoft Partners and now IT Professionals will have the opportunity, under one roof, to network and make interesting contacts. Five IT professional topics will be available for you to obtain the latest information about cloud computing (key note), Windows 7, Office/Exchange 2010, Windows Server R2 and Hyper-V R2, SQL Server and Online Services (BPOS).

Swiss IT Pro User Group – Virtualization (VMware and Microsoft)

mepprecht — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 13:17:29 GMT

Subject: Virtualization - What's New (VMware / Microsoft)

Language: German
When:       Tuesday 7 July 2009, 17:45 - 21:00
                (Small Apéro 17:45 - 18:15)

Where:      Digicomp Academy AG (Zürich)
                Limmatstrasse 50
                CH-8005 Zürich

Registration here

Session #1: Hyper-V v2.0 - Was ist Neu?

Der Hyper-V V 2.0 in Windows Server 2008 R2 beinhaltet viele Neuerungen für die Virtualisierung. Mittels Live Migration, also dem Verschieben von Virtuellen Maschinen auf andere Hosts im laufenden Betrieb und ohne Unterbrechung, wird der Hyper-V nun in der Lage sein weitere neue Data Center Szenarien zu unterstützen.

Session #2: Update VMware vSphere 4

Manage Virtualized Services (Cloud): Wie überwache ich die Performance und Verfügbarkeit von Applikationen in der virtuellen Infrastruktur und wie flexibel kann ch auf sich ändernde Bedürfnisse reagieren?

Windows Server 2008 Product Activation in a Virtual Environment

mepprecht — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 10:57:48 GMT

OEM-, ROK- and FPP Licenses

Windows Server 2008 OEM-, ROK- and FPP Products are supplied with 2 license keys, one Product Key and a Virtual Key.

Importantly, you must use the Product Key for the Physical System (Parent Partition) and the Virtual Key for the Guests (Child Partitions).

If a Product Key is used in a Child Partition, then you may need to activate the Child Partition again if you move the VM to another physical server.

As to how many Child Partitions that can be activated with a Virtual Key depends on the Windows Server Edition and the definitive resource is http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/949748

Volume Licenses

Volume License Keys do not differentiate between Parent and Child Partitions and only 1 key is supplied. It is recommended that a KMS Server is used to manage Volume Licenses which will re-activate the system automatically if needed. How to setup a KMS server is documented here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc303280.aspx

Hyper-V R2 – News from Tech Ed USA

mepprecht — Wed, 13 May 2009 15:47:19 GMT

Yesterday at Tech Ed USA, we announced the following relating to Hyper-V R2 (Hyper-V release that will ship with Windows Server 2008 R2):

Support for 64 physical processors per server
Support for 512 virtual processors per server
Support for 384 Concurrently Running Virtual Machines per server (Highest Density of VM’s per server on the market)
Live Migration
Processor Compatibility for Live Migration. This allows you to move a virtual machine up and down multiple processor generations from the same vendor.

All the technical information on here: http://blogs.technet.com/virtualization/archive/2009/05/12/tech-ed-windows-server-2008-r2-hyper-v-news.aspx

Server Virtualization Battle Continues……

mepprecht — Mon, 11 May 2009 00:10:17 GMT

In the past week, a number of “anonymous” and unfounded accusations have been going around over Microsoft’s Hyper-V Server Virtualization product.

For an understanding on the lack of credibility that those claims have, and who is behind them, have a look at the 2 blog entries from Jeff Woolsey, Microsoft’s Hyper-V Product Manager. Look at the posts here and here.

Is VMWare so scared we are taking market share?

Invitation to IT Pro Momentum

mepprecht — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 15:24:02 GMT

Wanting to do Projects with New Technologies? It sounds exciting, but does have an element of risk.

Why does one want to be an Early-Adopter of new Technology?

Generally, new technologies have new, and marked improvements in features. In most cases, real-world problems and requirements are solved by a new version of software, and sometimes things are just easier and faster than in the past.

How and we (Microsoft) help you?

The IT Pro Momentum Program was designed with that in mind. By Invite, you get access the the Project Portal where you can profile your projects, and have access to Exclusive Information, Training, Product Downloads and Support.

Is such a program for me?

It depends on how many of the following questions you can answer to your satisfaction:

Does new Technology Interest me?
Do I want, and need Support during the Evaluation of the various Products?
Am I not scared to try out the Products and Solutions (in a test environment at least) with Beta Products?
Do I want to give feedback about the Products to the Development Teams (bugs, features and new ideas), and also my experiences in deploying the product?

Target Audience

Targeted with this program are Small and Medium Sized Business (SME) and Microsoft Partners that do not have regular and dedicated contact/support from Microsoft. For Large Enterprises, other programs like TAP (Technology Adoption Program) and RDP (Rapid Deployment Program) are more suitable, but do not exclude you from IT Pro Momentum.

What will I as a participant get?

It depends on the stage of you Project.

Evaluation Phase
You get access to technical content and dedicated forums. You also have access to Online Trainings.
Planning Phase
You receive a 1 year subscription to TechNet Plus and access to the product setups.
Pilot Phase
You have the opportunity to request free help from Microsoft Support up to a a maximum of 1 year for the product you are Piloting to help you quickly solve issues that you have.
Deployment Phase
You project is virtually complete and here comes our ask of you.

What do we (Microsoft) gain from this?

Firstly, we want to hear from and about you and your Projects you are planning to, or currently working on, and help you where possible. For some, it may be very interesting to be profiled, either on a Blog or a Case Study, to show the world and your colleagues what you achieved. At the same time, share your experiences with the community and prove your competency.
Secondly, we have customers who have deployed, and are happily using our Products!

Products and Technologies for the Year 2009 in IT Pro Momentum (Not product shipping dates and is subject to change)

How do I get invited (or have questions)?

Contact Michael Epprecht, IT Pro Evangelist, Microsoft Switzerland via e-mail or the Contact Form.
If you are not based in Switzerland or Lichtenstein, we will pass your request onto the responsible IT Pro Evangelist in your region if IT Pro Momentum is offered in your region.

Heidihosts.ch – Modern Hosting Solutions using Microsoft Technologies

mepprecht — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 10:58:34 GMT

Hosted services have always been a favorite for Companies and Individuals. The trend of "Services On Demand" has been growing consistently for Internet Based Services and will grow exponentially in the next few years.

Microsoft is committed to it’s Software + Services (SaaS) strategy, for example http://www.officelive.com or http://www.microsoft.ch/online. Both solutions are based on Windows Technologies and have proven Availability and Performance. For many customers in Switzerland these 2 solutions may be a limitation as the data centers are currently not based in Switzerland.

There is a solution: Heidi Hosts. Modern Microsoft Technologies (Windows Server 2008 with Hyper-V), Swiss Location, solutions for Students, Companies and also Developers all in one place. Interesting is that the lady used in the advertising can be added as a Friend on Facebook :)

http://blogs.technet.com/chitpro-de/archive/2009/04/23/heidihosts-ch-modernste-hostingl-sung-mit-microsoft-technologien.aspx

Virtualizing SharePoint – Real World Experiences

mepprecht — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 07:00:00 GMT

If you are thinking about (or have already) Virtualized Microsoft Office SharePoint Server, have a look the the Virtualization blog for some really good real-world experiences and guidance.

http://blogs.technet.com/virtualization/archive/2009/04/06/Series-on-virtualizing-SharePoint.aspx

Secure your Virtualized Server Environment with the Hyper-V Security Guide

mepprecht — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 20:43:14 GMT

A new Solution Accelerator just released by Microsoft - Hyper-V Security Guide.

The guide provides authoritative guidance that relates to the following strategies for securing virtualized environments:

Hardening Hyper-V. Providing prescriptive guidance for hardening the Hyper-V role. Measures include reducing the attack surface of a server running Hyper-V, properly configuring secure network and storage devices.
Delegating Virtual Machine Management. Common delegation scenarios and detailed steps guide you through using Authorization Manager (AzMan) and System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 (VMM 2008) to separate virtual machine administrators from virtualization host administrators.
Protecting Virtual Machines. Providing prescriptive guidance for securing virtual machine resources. Covering best practices and also detailed steps for protecting virtual machines by using a combination of file system permissions, encryption, and auditing. Included are resources for hardening and updating the operating system instances running within your virtual machines

You can download the guide from the Microsoft Download Center

Microsoft Mythbusters: Top 10 VMware Myths

mepprecht — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 15:21:04 GMT

Have a look at this 11 minute Video on Busting the top ten myths about VMware virtualization from Microsoft

http://www.microsoft.com/video/en/us/details/f8c3314f-c82d-4f8d-8b19-6a59733670f8?vp_evt=eref&vp_video=Microsoft+Mythbusters%3a+Top+10+VMware+Myths

Have you tried Hyper-V yet?

Server Virtualization – Platform Performance

mepprecht — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 12:38:38 GMT

Virtualization Review published a comparative performance test of three hypervisors: VMware ESX 3.5, Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V and Citrix XenServer.

The results?
Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V won 4 of the 11 tests, XenServer won the other 7 by a narrow margin, and ESX won 0.

For a good commentary on the results, and a bit of easy-read analysis, see the Microsoft Hyper-V blog here

White Paper – SQL Server Consolidation at Microsoft

mepprecht — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 21:49:00 GMT

A new white paper has been published on how Microsoft IT has used Virtualization (naturally Hyper-V) and consolidation to reduce cost, server sprawl and at the same time improve scalability, standardization and uptime in the SQL Server environments.

It is an interesting read, with some really detailed designs and metrics, that you can base your designs on.

You can find the white paper here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd557540.aspx

One key take-away is that the underlying storage really must perform well. Storage performance is one of those topics that has been highlighted many times in the past, but never receives the attention it deserves. No matter how good your design, unless the storage performs optimally, you will never good SQL Server performance.

SQL Server 2008 Infrastructure and Planning Design Guide

mepprecht — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 18:19:00 GMT

The Infrastructure Planning and Design (IPD) guide for SQL Server 2008 has been released here.

This guide is one in a series of planning and design guides that clarify and streamline the planning and design process for Microsoft infrastructure technologies. ‘Each guide in the series addresses a unique infrastructure technology or scenario. These guides include the following topics:

Defining the technical decision flow (flow chart) through the planning process.
Describing the decisions to be made and the commonly available options to consider in making the decisions.
Relating the decisions and options to the business in terms of cost, complexity, and other characteristics.
Framing the decision in terms of additional questions to the business to ensure a comprehensive understanding of the appropriate business landscape.

The guides in this series are intended to complement and augment the product documentation.

The series of guides cover Windows Server, to Virtualization, Desktop Optimization, System Center, Exchange and other mainstream Infrastructure products and technologies.