David Ziembicki on Infrastructure Architecture

Worldwide Telescope is the coolest application I've seen in a very, very long time. I urge everyone to go check this out, I don't think you'll ever look to the sky in the same way again. While it didn't quite make me cry like Scoble, I guarantee it will evoke a sense of amazement as you explore around the universe. For a quick dive into some fantastic imagery, be sure to go through the Collections under the Explore menu, the Hubble set is my favorite so far. Right click at any point and learn about what you are looking at. The best overall feature and the one that I think will change the way astronomy is taught is the Guided Tours feature. Simply awesome!

From a competitive point of view, I can't resist from also urging you to bring up WorldWide Telescope, and the Sky product from those "search guys" side by side. The difference is night and day; they are light years apart (okay enough astronomical metaphors)...

On a serious note, the two applications running side by side sum up the entire debate around SaaS, Software + Services, etc. In fact I won't even comment on it really, go use both apps side by side and see which you prefer. This is great example of the power of software (the WWT client) plus Services (the imagery and data).

Today Microsoft announced a new program for students called DreamSpark that's all about getting our developer tools into the hands of students. Best of all, its free! Here is a Channel8 interview with Bill Gates on the program and here is a link to information about the program itself. The program includes Visual Studtio, Expression Studio, XNA Game Studio and some other ancillary items. If you are a student, enjoy! If not, please forward this info to any students you know who would be interested.

Windows Server 2008 officially was officially signed off for RTM today! The press release is here.

Haven't posted in quite some time due to vacation, holidays, and extremely busy customer schedule but will soon get back to regular posts.

At TechEd in Barcelona today, we made several major announcements. It's important to look at the details but to really see the scope and impact you need to step back a bit and look at the big picture these announcements describe. In my view there are four key points:

1. Microsoft is listening to customer feedback and will be providing greater support for both Windows and Non-Windows virtualization technology through the Server Virtualization Validation Program. 
2. Microsoft's advanced virtualization technology (Hyper-V) will be available from a $28 individual dedicated server all the way up to Datacenter edition in Windows 2008
3. The combination of the System Center suite with Windows Server 2008 and Hyper-V is going to be the most comprehensive physical and virtual infrastructure and management platform
4. Most importantly, the points above illustrate a major evolution of Microsoft products and strategy toward heterogeneous computing environments.

Think of the scenarios the above points imply: Use System Center to manage non-Microsoft virtualization technologies (there's one or two of those out there :) Use Microsoft virtualization technologies without a full Windows SKU (Hyper-V server) to run an all Linux workload. Or, and clearly what we hope to earn, a full Microsoft virtual infrastructure managed by the complete System Center suite. When you consider the power of those products and the PowerShell foundation under them, a lot of the pieces for a real, dynamic datacenter are falling into place.

Here is a summary of the announcements and some links:

Hyper-V. This is the official name of the server virtualization technology within Windows Server 2008 that was previously code-named “Viridian.” Microsoft also announced Hyper-V Server, a standalone hypervisor-based server virtualization product that complements the Hyper-V technology in Windows Server 2008 and allows customers to virtualize workloads onto a single physical server. 

Windows Server 2008 editions, pricing and licensing. Microsoft will offer customers the choice of eight versions of Windows Server 2008, each tailored to suit a variety of customer requirements. Pricing and licensing details were also disclosed. Complete details can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2007/nov07/11-12HyperVPR.mspx.

The Server Virtualization Validation Program. This new program will enable vendors to test and validate virtualization software running Windows Server 2008 and previous versions. The program will also enable Microsoft to offer cooperative technical support to customers running Windows Server on validated, non-Windows server virtualization software.

Microsoft Virtualization Solution Accelerators. This set of free guidance resources and tools can help IT professionals effectively plan and deploy virtualization technologies. The initial release includes the Infrastructure Planning and Design series and the Assessment and Planning tool beta program. Details can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/technet/solutionaccelerators.

We also announced wave two of System Center, including Configuration Manager (formerly SMS), Data Protection Manager, and Virtual Machine Manager. Some early media respone here and here.

 

 

If you really want to go deep on Windows Server Virtualization, check out our announcement of the publication of the Hypercall API under the Open Specification Promise. Here is the download:

Hypervisor Functional Specification

Eric Traut, a Distinguished Engineer at Microsoft and one of the key architects behind our kernel and virtualization teams gave a great presentation at the University of Illinois on our virtualization architecture. Eric gave a very detailed description of WSV and even glimpes of some components of a future windows release. The initial link was from Channel9 but there is some additional commentary here. 

 

 

Below is a link to a great virtualization webcast. I met Edwin and Jeff at TechReady this year, both good guys. Jeff is a PM on Windows Server Virtualization and Edwin is an EM with the Virtual Machine Manager team.

Abstract: 

Virtualization is a high-priority topic for many enterprise IT organizations. Virtualization technology helps to improve hardware utilization, lower power consumption, and decrease physical space requirements. Most importantly, virtualization delivers increased quality of service for key applications within organizations. In this session, we examine the Microsoft virtualization ecosystem and how to implement it with Windows Server 2008. Taking an overall view of virtualization, we cover topics including: presentation, application, and server virtualization scenarios and technologies.

Presenters:  Edwin Yuen, Engagement Manager, Microsoft Corporation, and Jeff Woolsey, Senior Program Manager, Microsoft Corporation

http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?EventID=1032351234&EventCategory=5&culture=en-US&CountryCode=US

 

As many have heard by now, a preview version of Windows Server Virtualization has shipped on the CD with Windows Server 2008 RC0! I was going to write up a post detailing the prerequisites, installation process, etc. but some others have already done a good job with that so here are the links:

http://blogs.msdn.com/virtual_pc_guy/archive/2007/09/24/windows-server-virtualization-community-technology-preview-now-available.aspx

http://blogs.msdn.com/mikekol/archive/2007/09/24/installing-viridian-ctp-on-windows-server-2008-rc0.aspx

http://blogs.technet.com/aralves/archive/2007/09/25/how-to-install-windows-server-virtualization.aspx

The biggest gotchas that we've run into internally are discussed in these blogs and the release notes. Basically they are remembering to: Ensure the proper processor requirements are met, enabling hardware virtualization in the BIOS, powering off your machine after changing the BIOS then turning it back on, installing the two WSV updates from %systemroot%\wsv after W008 is installed (I fogrot this and kept looking on the CD), hitting F5 to refresh in server manager if you don't see the role. It's basically a very straightforward install. After that, most of the concepts are similar to Virtual Server,

Enjoy!

 

The links below are to a series of cookbooks for Virtual Server by Microsoft and Partners that are detailed how-to guides for a series of topics such as management, high availability, disaster recovery, etc.

 

Name	Description
Microsoft® Virtual Server 2005 R2 Service Pack 1 and Microsoft® System Center Virtual Machine Manager	The goal of this cookbook is to provide the steps and guidance necessary for you to successfully install and configure Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1 and System Center Virtual Machine Manager. You may then create and manage virtual machines, and perform P2V migration. http://download.microsoft.com/download/2/b/9/2b99fd0d-5437-40d7-a430-23e31cac7ece/Deployment_Cookbook.SCVMM_FINAL.doc
Backup and Recovery using Microsoft® Virtual Server 2005 R2 Service Pack 1 and Acronis® True Image 9.1 Enterprise Edition	The goal of this cookbook is to guide you through installing Acronis server imaging solutions for workgroups and installing Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1. The cookbook covers creating a virtual machine (to serve as a standby for recovery) and restoring the contents of a server representing your production workload to the waiting virtual machine. http://download.microsoft.com/download/2/b/9/2b99fd0d-5437-40d7-a430-23e31cac7ece/Deployment_Cookbook.VS_Acronis_FINAL.doc
Microsoft® System Center Data Protection Manager 2007, Microsoft® Virtual Server 2005 R2 Service Pack 1, and Microsoft® System Center Virtual Machine Manager	The scenario presented in this cookbook will take you through the steps necessary to install Virtual Server and SCVMM, and then convert a workload to a virtual machine. This cookbook also includes the steps necessary to install DPM and to back up a running virtual machine, as well as information about monitoring and reporting using DPM. http://download.microsoft.com/download/2/b/9/2b99fd0d-5437-40d7-a430-23e31cac7ece/Deployment_Cookbook.SCVMM_DPM_FINAL.doc
Quick Migration with Virtual Server Host Clustering Windows Server® 2003 Enterprise Edition & Microsoft® Virtual Server 2005 R2 Service Pack 1	This cookbook describes a simple configuration in which you use Virtual Server 2005 R2 to configure one guest operating system, and configure a server cluster that has two servers (nodes). With this configuration, you can migrate workloads easily from one node to the other http://download.microsoft.com/download/2/b/9/2b99fd0d-5437-40d7-a430-23e31cac7ece/Deployment_Cookbook.Quick_Migration_FINAL.doc
Mobile User Access of Applications. Terminal Server running on virtual machines using Microsoft® Virtual Server 2005 R2 Service Pack 1	In this cookbook we will install Terminal Server on a virtual machine and access the terminal server remotely. We will also show how to install Remote Desktop Web Connection and how to configure Windows® Firewall to allow remote clients to access the terminal server. http://download.microsoft.com/download/2/b/9/2b99fd0d-5437-40d7-a430-23e31cac7ece/Deployment_Cookbook.Terminal Services Presentation Virtualization_Final.doc
Hosted Backup and Recovery Solutions for Service Providers using DPM and VS	This cookbook will provide procedural, step-by-step guidance to an IT Generalist audience providing data backup and recovery to customers as a hosted solution using Virtual Server and System Center Data Protection Manager 2007 http://download.microsoft.com/download/5/0/4/5049f4b0-7ad1-4f34-8018-ef96af052a2c/Deployment_Cookbook.DPM_hosted_solution_FINAL.docx
Simple Offsite Backup and Recovery of virtual machines using DPM and VS	This cookbook will provide procedural, step-by-step guidance to an IT Generalist audience for backing up and restoring virtual machines running in an offsite location using Virtual Server and System Center Data Protection Manager 2007 http://download.microsoft.com/download/5/0/4/5049f4b0-7ad1-4f34-8018-ef96af052a2c/Deployment_Cookbook.DPM_hosted_solution_FINAL.docx
Simple Onsite Backup and Recovery of virtual machines using DPM and VS	This cookbook will provide procedural, step-by-step guidance to an IT Generalist audience for backing up and restoring running virtual machines using Virtual Server and System Center Data Protection Manager 2007 http://download.microsoft.com/download/f/b/d/fbd28458-c41c-4414-b530-869af4e49014/Deployment_Cookbook.DPM_onsite_backup_FINAL.doc
High Availability with VS and WS03R2 Enterprise Server Clustering	This cookbook will provide procedural, step-by-step guidance to an IT Generalist audience for implementing high availability of server workloads using Windows Server 2003 Server Clustering and Virtual Server using Intel-based hardware. http://download.microsoft.com/download/4/9/e/49e943a6-060b-4a1b-89eb-3962b748d200/Deployment_Cookbook.Host_Clustering_FINAL.doc
Application Isolation and Operation in BO Using VS	This cookbook will provide procedural, step-by-step guidance to an IT Generalist audience for isolating and operating applications on separate virtual machines in branch offices using Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1, in an Intel-based hardware environment for regulatory compliance and improved legacy workload performance. http://download.microsoft.com/download/4/d/b/4db13d05-f000-46c9-9767-5d07b3ad8609/Deployment_Cookbook.VS_branch_office_FINAL.doc

If you want to learn more about SQL 2008, here is a great list of resources.

Wow, some big news over on the Windows Virtualization Team Blog! SCVMM is released to manufacturing. The pricing model is very reasonable and is priced per physical host with management of an unlimited number of VMs. There is a midmarket solution available at a very low price. The biggest news of all howvers is that the roadmap for the next versions of SCVMM is to include full supoprt for managing bot Microsoft and non-Microsoft virtualization technologies. That's right: Virtual Server, Windows Server Virtualization, Xen, and that other small virtualization company VMWare ;) That is going to be an a great management story when you combine all the System Center components running on a Powershell foundation with the ability to manage the entire virtualization ecosystem.

Robert Larson has a good post on an issue that is cropping up quite a bit for folks upgrading to Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1 who don't read the fine print of the release note :) The gist of it is make sure you shut down (not save state, actually shut down) your VMs before running the upgrade. The Save State functionality is not compatible between versions so you have to shut the VMs before you upgrade or they will not be able to start and you'll have to discard the saved state which could result in data loss.

http://blogs.technet.com/roblarson/archive/2007/08/23/upgrading-to-virtual-server-2005-sp1-why-can-t-i-start-my-vms.aspx

 

This is a very interesting article on a theory by Sun's CTO Greg Papadopoulos that over the intermediate term, computing and data centers are going to consolidate so much that eventually a very large percentage of all computing will be done in massive data centers owned by a very few large companies such as Google, IBM, Microsoft etc. I agree with quite a bit of this theory and though Microsoft isn't mentioned in the article, I think it is clear that we will be a major player in this space. Our current major services such as Hotmail, Live ID, SkyDrive, etc are only the very beginning. Sun as usual leaves out any mention of the client. I strongly believe that Microsoft has a much clearer overall vision that encompasses the massive back end consolidtion that is happening but also leverages the massive computing power at the edge which is comprised of the hundreds of millions of PCs in the world. To not address and utilize this power is a tremendous waste of resources and very short sighted. Unfortunately a lot of commentators gloss over our Software + Services message vision as an attempt to protect shrink-wrapped software sales. This also is very short sighted. The increasng power and decreasing cost of PCs and devices continues to be an amazing human achivement. The winners in the technology industry over the next 15 years will be those that provide the best combination of cloud-based services and rich client devices and applications. Microsoft is one of the few that is on this path. Interstingly and on a smaller scale, Apple is a great example of this as well.

I hadn't taken note of the market share numbers in a while but check out the results from the most recent Netcraft survey. They state the following:

 "Microsoft continues to increase its web server market share, adding 2.6 million sites this month as Apache loses 991K hostnames. As a result, Windows improves its market share by 1.4% to 34.2%, while Apache slips by 1.7% to 48.4%. Microsoft's recent gains raise the prospect that Windows may soon challenge Apache's leadership position." ... "But if Microsoft continues to gain share at its current pace, it could close the gap on Apache sometime in 2008."

That is a substantial change especially considering that the percentages remained essentially stable through all of 2004 and 2005 with Apache leading by 30-40 points. Getting the gap down to 14 points is a significant achievment. Remember also that IIS used to be a toxic term in the late '90s and earlier this decade.

With the major improvements coming in IIS7 on Windows 2008, IIS may well become the leading web server platform in the very near future. That's a turn around that I don't think the team gets enough credit for. 

It is very cool application virtualization technology. Check out this post for details:

http://blogs.technet.com/softgrid/archive/2007/08/02/inside-the-grid-part-1.aspx

This is the first in what will be a series of posts from the team so be sure to subscribe to their feed. There is a lot of development in this area that I heard about two weeks ago at TechReady like further improvements to the core technology, sorting out some overlapping functionality with other products, and further integrating it with System Center.