CONTENT PROVIDED BY CONTENT SPONSORED BY

Hyper-V Sneak PeakGet a look at the next version of Microsoft's hypervisor and explore new developments in Microsoft's cloud technologies.

> Hyper-V Sneak Peek: Windows Server vNext Edition Page 1

> Microsoft's Scale-Out File Server Overcomes SAN Cloud Barriers Page 9

> What Admins Need to Know About Azure Page 19

> What's New and Cool in Hyper-V Page 29

Hyper-V Sneak Peak

1

Hyper-V Sneak Peek: Windows Server vNext Edition The Microsoft hypervisor gets a major makeover. See what’s on the way. By Paul Schnackenburg

The preview version of Windows Server vNext is out, giving us an indication of some of what’s coming in Hyper-V. I’ll cover the following features in this article:

•Anewconfigurationfileformat/version•Anewtypeofcheckpoint•Mixed-modeclustersthatcanbeupgradedonarollingbasis• IntegrationservicesupdatedthroughWindowsUpdate•SecureBootforLinux•Hot-addingNICsandmemory

Configuration Files and Version UpgradesIt turns out that Hyper-V has had a versioning for virtual machine (VM)configurationfiles,withtheoriginalreleaseinWindowsServer2008beingversion1,allthewayuptoWindowsServer2012R2(5.0).ThiswashandledbyHyper-Vunderthecovers,andconfigurationfilesforVMswereupgradedautomaticallywhentheVMmovedtoanew host, with no administrator input necessary. The next version of

Hyper-V has had a versioning for VM configuration files, with the original release in Windows Server 2008 being version 1.

2

Hyper-V Sneak Peak

You can cross-version live migrate a VM from a 2012 cluster to a vNext cluster.

WindowsServer(hereaftercalledvNext)willbringversion6,butitalsounderstandsversion4and5.

Thismeansyoucancross-versionlivemigrate(LM)aVMfroma2012clustertoavNextcluster(butnotviceversa),similartohowyoucanLMfrom2012to2012R2today.

ThenewversionalsointroducesanewVMfileformat:.VMCXforconfigurationdata,and.VMRSforruntimestatedata.Thesenewfiletypesshouldbemoreresilienttostorageissues,comparedtothecurrentXML-basedfiles.ConvertingaVMfromversion5to6iseasy,buttheVMdoeshavetobeturnedoff.Here’sthecommand:

Update-VmConfigurationVersion nameofVM

Notethatthisisaone-waytrip;youcan’tdowngradetheconfigura-tionfiles.Onceupgraded(asshowninFigure 1),theVMwillonlyruninvNext.Theupgradeonlytakesafewseconds.IftheVMhasonlinecheckpoints,they’llbeconvertedtoofflinecheckpointsaspart of the upgrade process.

Cluster Rolling Upgrades Upgradingtotakeadvantageofnewfunctionalityispainful,andMicrosoftfeltyourpain.BetweentheWindowsServer2012and2012R2versionsofHyper-V,Microsoftattemptedtohelpbyofferingcross-versionlivemigration.Itallowedyoutostanda2012R2clusternexttoyour2012clusterandmigrateVMsfromtheoldtothenew.

Thishasproblems,though.Oneisthatit’soneway;ifthereareissueswiththeVMaftertheupgrade,youcan’tmoveitbackeasily.There’salsoahighavailability(HA)gap,astheVMhastobeturned

Figure 1. Upgrading a VM configuration version only takes a few seconds.

3

Hyper-V Sneak Peak

intoanon-HAVMbeforethemigration.Finally,theneedtohaveanew cluster next to the old one might necessitate the procurement of new hardware, potentially slowing down the upgrade process.

Goingfrom2012R2tovNextisgoingtobeamucheasierprocess,duetomixed-modeclusters.ActiveDirectoryadministratorsarefamiliar with this process of gradually introducing new version nodesthatpretendtobetheoldversionuntilallnodeshavebeenupgraded and the functional level updated.

Forthistowork,allVMswillrunwiththeoldversion5format(andyou’reblockedfromcreatingversion6VMsbythecluster)until you’ve upgraded all cluster nodes and then run this Windows PowerShellcmdlet(functionallevel8is2012R2,9isvNext):

Update-ClusterFunctionalLevel

NotethatnodesherereferstobothHyper-VhostsandScaleoutFileServer(SOFS)clustermembers.Theupgraderequiresdrainingthenode of load, evicting it from the cluster, reformatting and clean installingthenewOS,thenaddingthehostbackintothecluster.There’snowaytoupgradetheOSinplace.

Ifyou’reupgradinganSOFScluster,you’lldefinitelywanttobackupyourdatafirst.Beawarethatsomeoperations,suchasprovisioningnew storage or changing the size of existing storage, aren’t recom-mended while the cluster is in mixed mode. The assumption is that you’reonlygoingtobeinthisin-betweenstageforashortperiodoftime.Notethatonly2012R2tovNextissupportedformixed-modeclusters;Microsoftdidn’thavetimetoincludethecodein2012,butitdidpreparetheplumbingforthistoworkin2012R2beforeitshipped.

You’llstillneedtoshutdowneachVMtoupgradetheconfigurationfiles,butasthey’llrunfinewiththeoldversion,thiscanbescheduled into a change management window. While the cluster is inmixedmodeitshouldbemanagedfromvNexthosts.

Speakingofclusters,thereareotherimprovementssuchasleavingVMsonanode(ifthey’restillrunningandhavenetworkconnectivity)ifthere’sashortnetworkoutage,whichwouldcauseafailoverinaWindowsServer2012R2Hyper-Vcluster.Ifthereareintermittent

If you’re upgrading an SOFS cluster, you’ll definitely want to back up your data first.

4

Hyper-V Sneak Peak

issueswithahost,itwillbequarantinedandVMspreventedfrommigratingthere.Thesetypesofchangesaredesignedtomakeclusters“smarter”andlesslikelytocauseissuessimplybecauseofclustering itself.

Integration Services UpdatingThere’s a trend in enterprises to separate infrastructure administrators andapplication/VMadministrators.Withthisseparation,theformerhasnorightstotheVMsrunningontopoftheirhosts,whiletheapplicationadminsdon’tevenknowthedetailsoftheunderlyingfabric.Thispresentsaproblem,aseachreleaseofHyper-VmandatesanupdatetotheintegrationservicesinsideeachVM.

ThisissuehasbeenaddressedwithachangetointegrationservicesupdatingthroughWindowsUpdate.Sowhetheryou’reusingConfigurationManager,WindowsServerUpdateServices(WSUS)orWindowsUpdate,you’llreceiveanyneededupdatesthesamewayanyotherpatchesreachyourVMs.Havingtheintegrationservicesversion matching the host Hyper-V version is also no longer a requirementforMicrosoftsupport;you’lljustneedthelatestversionforyourVMOS.

There’s a trend in enterprises to separate infrastructure administrators and application/VM administrators.

Figure 2. Production Checkpoints also set the stage for the new backup process in Hyper-V.

5

Hyper-V Sneak Peak

Production Checkpoints AnyonewithHyper-VexperienceknowstheconvenienceofbeingabletosnapshotaVMstatebeforeimplementingapotentiallydisruptivechange.Butyoualsoknowthedangersofsnapshottingforworkloadssuchasdomaincontrollers(DCs),ExchangeServersandSQLServers:IfyouapplyacheckpointtoaVMthat’sreplicatingwithothers,it’seffectivelysentbackintime.ThatcancauseADcorruption,passwordmismatches,missinggroupmembershipsandother data loss.

TheissuewithDCswasfixedin2012withvirtualizationsafeguards,butotherworkloadsarestillindanger.

vNextbringsnewtypesofsnapshots,calledProductionCheckpoints(Figure 2).ItusestheVolumeSnapshotService(VSS)fromwithintheVM(orflushesthefilesystembuffersinLinuxVMs);becausetheVM

Anyone with Hyper-V experience knows the convenience of being able to snapshot a VM state before im-plementing a potentially disruptive change.

Figure 3. You can revert to the old style of checkpoints if necessary.

6

Hyper-V Sneak Peak

isawarethatithappened(it’smorelikeabackupoperation),applyingacheckpointwon’tdisruptworkloads.ProductionCheckpointswillbethenewdefault,althoughyoucangobacktothetraditionaltypeofsnapshotsonaper-VMbasisifneeded,asFigure 3 illustrates.

Linux SecureBoot ItturnsoutthatwhileMicrosoftheardalotofcriticismintheearlydaysofWindows8fortryingtolockLinuxoutfromevenbeinginstalledonnewcomputers,itwasjustbidingitstimebeforespread-ingthesecuritylovetothepenguin.Generation2VMshavevirtualUEFIfirmwareinsteadofalegacyBIOS;invNextthiscanbeusedtoextendSecureBoottoLinux,mitigatingtheriskofrootkitsandotherlow-levelmalware.TodaythisworksforUbuntu14.04+andSUSELinuxEnterpriseServer12;youhavetoenableitbeforeyoustarttheVMthefirsttimeusingWindowsPowerShell:

Set-VMFirmware vmname -SecureBootTemplate MicrosoftUEFICertificateAuthority.

Other ImprovementsGeneration2VMswereintroducedin2012R2,doingawaywithalllegacy-emulatedhardware;buttheyweremoreapointertothefuture,astheyweren’tsupportedinSystemCenterVirtualMachineManager2012R2servicetemplates.InvNext,youcanaddandremoveNICsinaWindows/LinuxGeneration2VMwhileit’srunning. You can also change the amount of memory assigned to a VMwhileitstaysonline.SecondLevelAddressTranslation(SLAT)processorsarenowarequirementtorunHyper-V;inearlierversionsitwasrecommended,butonlyrequiredforVDIdeployments.

IfyouaddavirtualHDDtoaVMthat’susingHyper-VReplica,replicationwillfailin2012R2.InvNext,thedrivewillbeaddedtotheVM,butputinanon-replicatingset.Ifyouneedthedrivetobeprotected, you can manually add it to the replication set. You can replicateaVMfrom2012R2tovNextandviceversa(unlessyouupgradetheVMconfigurationversion).ThiswillbeagoodwaytotestyourupgradepathifyouhavetwositeswithVMsbeingreplicatedbetweenthem;upgradeyoursecondarysitefirst,dosometestfailoversandensurethatyourVMsrunfineonvNextbeforeupgrading your primary site.

Generation 2 VMs were introduced in 2012 R2, doing away with all legacy-emulated hardware.

7

Hyper-V Sneak Peak

AnirritatingissueiswhenyouaddseveralNICstoaVMandthengointotheVMtoconfigurethem,onlytofindthatyouhavenowayoftellingwhichNICiswhich.vNextexposesthenameyou’vegiventothevirtualswitchinsideoftheVM,makingitmucheasiertopickthe right one.

Hyper-VManager(Figure 4)nowconnectsviaWinRMtoremoteservers,makingitmoreresilienttonetworkissues;youcanconnecttoserversviajusttheirIPaddress.YoucanalsostarttheManagerwithalternate credentials, as shown in Figure 5.VMswithstaticallyassignedmemorywillstillbetrackedbytheenginethatmanagesDynamicMemory,soyoucanseeintheUIhowmuchmemoryyourVMsareaskingfor,andmakeadjustmentstoyourmemorysettingsaccordingly.

SpeakingofHyper-VManager,there’sabugintheTechnicalPreviewthatmightmakesomeofyourVMsdisappearfromthelist(althoughthey’restillthereandrunning).Thisisfixedbyrunningthefollowing:

get-vm | ?{$_.heartbeat -eq “OKApplicationsUnknown”} | Disable-VMIntegrationService "Heartbeat”

Hyper-V Manager now connects via WinRM to remote servers.

Figure 4. Not much has changed in the overall look of Hyper-V Manager.

8

Hyper-V Sneak Peak

AverycoolapproachtomanagingHyper-Vclustersisviewingawholeclusterasareallybig,single,Hyper-Vhost;thisisenabledthroughWMI,andit’snotintheTechnologyPreview.

Coming Soon: Backup and StorageWindows8.1devicessuchasSurfaceProlosetheadvantageofConnectedStandbyifHyper-Visenabled;intheHyper-VclientinWindows10,ConnectedStandbywillwork.

TheothersideoftheHyper-Vcoinisbackupandstorage;therearesomereallybigchangescominginvNextintheseareas,whichI’llcover in a future article. The improvements in Hyper-V are clearly aimedatmakinglifeeasierforvirtualizationadministrators,aswellaschallengingVMwarewithinnovativefeatures.VR

Paul Schnackenburg, MCSE, MCT, MCTS and MCITP, started in IT in the days of DOS and 286 computers. He runs IT consultancy Expert IT Solutions, which is focused on Windows, Hyper-V and Exchange Server solutions.

Figure 5. The ability to connect Hyper-V Manager as another user will be very useful.

Windows 8.1 devices lose the advantage of Connected Standby if Hyper-V is enabled.

9

Microsoft's Scale-Out File Server Overcomes SAN Cloud BarriersThere are no SANs in the cloud because the venerable storage technology just doesn't scale to that level. But there are ways around it, and Microsoft shops should start with the company's Scale-Out File Server. By Paul Schnackenburg

VMware Views

There’s a revolution going on in storage.Oncethedomainofboringbutdependablestorage-areanetwork(SAN)arrays,there’snowaplethoraofchoice,includingallflashstorage(withvaryingdifferentunderlyingtechnology)

andserver-messageblock(SMB)-basedstorage.Therearethreemain,underlyingtechnologyshiftsalteringthestatusquo:

Flashstorage,eitherastheonlystoragetechnologyforveryhighperformanceworkloads,orintandemwithharddrivesfortieredstorage solutions.

There are three main, underlying technology shifts altering the status quo.

10

Hyper-V Sneak Peak

Cloudstorage,inmanycasesimplementedasathirdtierforlong-term archiving of cold data.

Software-definedstorage(SDS),closelyrelatedtostoragevirtualiza-tion.Thistechnologyhasallthebuzzrightnow.MicrosoftenteredthearenawiththereleaseofWindowsServer2012,andfurthereditspositionwiththereleaseofWindowsServer2012R2,offeringacompleteSDSstack.

TheproblemwithSANtechnologyisthatitwasn’treallydesignedtosolvetoday’sproblems:It’scomplexandrequiresspecializedskills,it’sexpensive,anditdoesn’tscaleintoday’scloudworld.LookingatAmazonWebServicesInc.(AWS),theGoogleInc.cloudplatformandMicrosoftAzure,noneofthemrelyonSANstorage.There’ssimplynowaythatthecompaniescouldscaletheirpubliccloudofferingsiftheyhadtowireaSANswitchtotwoHostBusAdapters(HBAs)ineachserver.That’snottosaySANsaregoingaway;they’llchangeandadaptlikeanytechnology,butthey’renolongerthedefaultanswertoeveryenterprisestoragequestion.

Microsoftdoesn’tjusthaveoneironinthisfire;itoffersStorSimple,aSANarraywithhard-diskdrives(HDDs)andsolid-statedrives(SSDs),aswellasAzurestorageforlong-termstorage.Thenthere’stherecentacquisitionofInMage,forreplicationofLinuxandWin-dowsvirtualmachines(VMs)fromVMwaretoAzure.

ArecentMicrosoftsolutionfortheSANproblemisScale-OutFileServer(SOFS)inWindowsServer2012R2,whichprovidesclustered,continuouslyavailablestorage.

SOFS to the RescueWhenMicrosoftbuiltitsSANreplacementtechnologyintheformofSOFS,itreplacedthecontrollerswithWindowsServer2012R2fileservers,andtheconnectivitywitheitherordinary1Gbpsor10GbpsEthernetNICs,orfaster,SMBDirectNICs.ThedrivesarehousedinsimplerenclosureswithnoRAIDbuiltin;justpowersuppliesandexternalSASconnectivity.TheSOFSrolemanagesthepermissions,dataprotectionanddataflowifyou’reusingSSDs(thetiering).

The problem with SAN technology is that it wasn’t really designed to solve today’s problems.

11

Hyper-V Sneak Peak

SoMicrosoftismatchingSANcapabilities,butdoingsooncommodityhardware, running on Windows Server. Table 1 shows a feature comparison.

Software Building BlocksTherearenumerousabilitiesthatmakeSOFSsuchakillertechnology.ThefirstisthehumbleSMBprotocol.ThishasbeeninWindowsServerformany,manyyearsandishowmostofusaccessfilesharesonserverstoworkondocuments.

InWindowsServer2012,Microsoftsetouttoproduceanewversionoftheprotocol(SMB3.0),capableofstoringnotjustWord,ExcelandCADdocuments,butalsothehugefilesassociatedwithdatabasesandVMs.

Therealsoneededtobecontinuousavailabilitybuiltin—notjusthighavailability(whichhassomeamountofdowntime).IfWord,forinstance,temporarilylosesconnectiontoafileonashare,itjustkeepsworkingandrecovers,aslongastheoutageisn’ttooextensive.Butforadatabaseorvirtualharddrive(VHD),suchadisconnectionwouldalmostcertainlyleadtodatacorruption.SMB3.0(and3.02inWindowsServer2012R2)comeswithtransparentfailover,whichprovides extremely fast shifting of data access from one node to another, in case of a node failure (provided you have at least two nodesinyourcluster,ofcourse).

There are numerous abilities that make SOFS a killer technology.

Table 1. Windows Scale-Out File Server and Fibre Channel/iSCSI SAN Array Feature Comparisons

FC/iSCSI SAN array Windows SOFS Cluster with Storage Spaces

Storage tiering Storage tiering (new in 2012 R2)

Data deduplication Data deduplication (improved 2012 R2)

RAID resiliency Two/three way mirroring, single/dual parity

Disk pooling Disk pooling (Storage Spaces)

High availability Continuous availability

Persistent write back cache Persistent write back cache (new in 2012 R2)

Copy offload SMB copy offload

Snapshots Snapshots

FC, FCoE, iSCSI for fast connectivity 10 Gbps, SMB Multichannel, SMB Direct (56 Gbps +)

Table 1. Windows Scale-Out File Server and Fibre Channel/iSCSI SAN Array Feature Comparisons

12

Hyper-V Sneak Peak

There’salsoSMBMultichannel,inwhichSMBautomaticallytakesintoaccountallpathsbetweenanapplicationserverandtheSOFSnode,andusesthemsimultaneously.IfoneNICfails,thetrafficsimplycontinuesovertheremaininglinks.There’snoneedtoconfigureMultipathI/O(MPIO),becausemultichannelisautomatic.Infact,it’ssoautomaticthatyoumightneedtoexcludenetworkinterfaceswhereyoudon’twanthighloadsofstoragetrafficsaturatingthelink.SMBScale-OutprovidessimultaneousaccesstodatafilesthroughallnodesintheSOFScluster,resultinginbetterloadbalancingandnetworkbandwidthutilization.

SMBDirectbuildsonnewerRemoteDirectMemoryAccess(RDMA)networkcards;thesewereoriginallydevelopedforthenetworkneeds of high-performance computing clusters used in simulations andmanipulationoflargedatasets.Thesearen’trequiredforSOFS;ordinary10Gbpsor1GbpsNICswillworkjustfine.Butforexceptionalperformance,lowlatencyandzero-hostCPUimpact,they’re the answer.

TheotherfundamentaltechnologyinthisstackisStorageSpaces.Thisisabuilt-instoragevirtualizationtechnologythatallowsyouto

SMB Direct builds on newer (RDMA) network cards.

Figure 1. A tiered Storage Space in Windows Server 2012 R2.

13

Hyper-V Sneak Peak

pooldisks(HDDandSSD)togetherandthencarveoutvirtualdisksfromthepoolswithspecificcapabilities.AnexampleisshowninFigure 1.

OneimportantcharacteristicofavirtualdiskontopofaStorageSpace is the data protection scheme: Two- and three-way mirroring, as well as single- and dual-parity, is supported. The latter supports thefailureoftwodisks,whereasthree-waymirroring(anddualparity)cansupportthefailureofawholeenclosure,becausethedata is mirrored to another enclosure.

Thisisn’tthesoftwareRAIDofyesteryear,whichmirroredonedriveto another; Storage Spaces divides data into strips, which are spread acrossseveraldiskssothatasinglediskfailuredoesn’tleadtodataloss. This parallelization of the load is used all through Storage Spaces,usingthecombinedthroughputofmanydrivestoprovideexceptional performance. See Figure 2 for an example.

AlsonewinWindowsServer2012R2istheautomaticrebalancingofnodes and volumes. If a cluster has three nodes and six cluster sharedvolumes(CSVs),eachnodewill“own”two.Ifonenodeis

Storage Spaces divides data into strips, which are spread across several disks so that a single disk failure doesn’t lead to data loss.

Figure 2. A mirrored virtual disk on top of two solid-state drives and three hard-disk drives.

14

Hyper-V Sneak Peak

restartedorcrashes,itsloadwillbedividedamongtheremainingnodes; when another node is added, the load is transparently rebalancedagain.

WindowsServer2012introduceddatadeduplication,whichanalyzesdataatrest,identifiesblocksthatholdthesameinformationandreplacesallbutonwithapointertothatcopyofthedata.Dependingonthedatatype,youcanreclaim40percentto50percentofinformationworker(IW)documentsorupto90percentofVHDlibrarydiskspace.

Moreimportant,WindowsServer2012R2addedtheabilitytodothededuplicationonrunningHyper-VVMVHDandVHDXfiles,butonlyforvirtualdesktopinfrastructure(VDI)deployments.ThiscuriouslimitationpartlystemsfromthefactthatMicrosoftwouldliketoseelotsoffieldtestingbeforeallowingordinaryservervirtualizationtouseit.And,partly,it’sbecausededuplicationworksbestinhigh-read,low-writescenarios.Ifalotofdataischangingfrequently,deduplica-tionwon’tbeveryefficient.Thatsaid,deduplicationworksjustfineforlabandtestenvironmentsforanyVMworkload,notjustVDI.

Tiering UpWindowsServer2012R2addedamissingfeatureinthequesttomatchSANtechnologyfeature-for-feature:tiering.SSDtechnologyprovides fantastic read performance and great write performance, butisexpensivepergigabytecomparedtoHDDs.Thesolutionistofillyourbayswithmostlylarge,slowHDDsandaddafewSSDs.

Tieringwillautomatically“heatmap”storageblocks,identifyingwhichblocksarehitthemostandmovingthosetotheSSDtier,whilemovingcolderdatatotheHDDtier.Inthiswayyoucancombinethebestofbothtechnologiesforoverallperformance.Youcanalsopinparticularfiles(thinkthemasterdiskinaVDIimplementation)toatiermanually.There’saminimumnumberofSSDsrecommended,dependingonyourdataprotectionstrategyandnumberofenclosures.

Arelatedtechnologyiswrite-backcache,whichusessomeoftheSSDstoragetoabsorbintermittentincomingwritestothevirtualdisk,soasnottointerruptthemainworkload’sdataflow.

Windows Server 2012 R2 added a missing feature in the quest to match SAN technology feature-for- feature: tiering.

15

Hyper-V Sneak Peak

AnotherusefulfeatureinWindowsServer2012istheimprovementstotheCHKDSKcommand.Insteadofvolumeshavingtobeofflineforlongperiodsoftime(manyhoursinthecaseoflargevolumes),diskcheckingisnowdonewhilethevolumeisonline,followedbyashort(offline)phasewhereproblemsarerepaired.SOFS,togetherwithCSVs,improvesonthisevenfurtherthroughthefixingphasebeingperformedfromoneclusternode,whiletheotherscancontinueaccessingthedata,resultinginzerodowntimeCHKDSK.

Finally,CSV,thelayerontopofNTFSthatallowssimultaneousreadandwriteaccessfrommultiplenodestodatafiles,makesitpossibletostorethedisksofmanyVMsonthesamevolume,whilestillallow-ingindividualVMstolivemigratebetweendifferentHyper-Vhosts.

Hardware Building BlocksTheotherpartoftheoverallstoryistheSerial-AttachedSCSI(SAS)enclosuresthathousethedrives.UnlikeaSANorotherstorageenclo-sures,thesedon’thaveRAIDcontrollersorothercomplicatedsmarts;simplyasetofSAS(6Gbpsor12Gbps)connectionsand2.5-inchor3.5-inchslots.Enclosuresaresizedfrom24to84bays;thefulllistofenclosurescertifiedtoworkwithWindowsServerisavailablehere.

SAShasexperiencedslowadoptionduetoalackofoptions,asalmostnoneofthemajorstoragevendorshaveenclosurestooffer(exceptionsareDellInc.—itsPowerVaultswererecentlycertified—andFujitsu).Thisismostlikelybecausetheydon’twantsimpler,morecost-effective solutions encroaching on their high-cost, proprietary solutions.DataONStorageisonevendorwithseveraldifferentsizesandtypesavailable.

TheconnectionbetweenWindowsServerandtheboxisenclosureawareness,whichallowstheOStounderstandthestateoffansandbeabletoblinkdrivesforidentificationandsimilartasks.Makesuretheenclosureyou’relookingatsupportsSCSIEnclosureServices(SES),andthatyouinstallthelatesthotfix(support.microsoft.com/kb/2913766)toimproveWindowsServerenclosuresupport.

IfyouwanttouseSMBDirect,you’llneedremotedirectmemoryaccess(RDMA)-capablenetworkcards.VendorsincludeiWARP (10GbpsNICs)fromChelsio,andInfiniband(56Gbpsandup)fromMellanoxandROCE.

SAS has experienced slow adoption due to a lack of options.

16

Hyper-V Sneak Peak

Convergednetworking,whichusesseveralhigh-speedNICsforseveraldifferenttypesoftraffic,isbecomingmorepopular.NewinWindowsServer2012R2istheabilitytoprioritizebetweendifferenttypesofSMB3trafficonthesameinterface,withsettingsforLiveMigration,Hyper-Vanddefault(anyotherSMBtraffic).ThetwobigMicrosoftworkloadswhereSOFSshines:storingHyper-VVHDsandVHDXesforrunningVMs;SQLServer.

Thelatterprovidesalotofflexibilitybecauseyoucansimplysetupanewdatabaseserver,connectittoashareonanSOFScluster,discon-necttheoldserverandconnectthedatabasefilestothenewserver.Imaginehowmucheasierdisasterrecoveryandupgradescanbe.

IfyourcompanyalreadyhasaSANinvestmentthatyouwanttocontinueusing,SOFSalsohasitsplace.Ifyouneedtoaddmorecomputecapacity—whichcouldbeamajorinvestment,becauseyou’dhavetopurchasenewHBAsforeachhostandmaybeevenanewFCswitch—there’sabetterway.PutanSOFSclusterwithtwoorthreehostsinfrontofyourSAN(sotheonlywiringneededisbetweentheSOFSnodesandtheSAN),thenpresentfilesharestoyourcomputenodes.NotethattheCSVrebalancingmentionedearlieristurnedonbydefaultforStorageSpaces,butturnedoffbydefaultwhentheSOFSisbackedbyaSAN.

SOFS Non-Use CasesWhileStorageSpacesandSOFSisdefinitelyagoodchoiceifyou’relookingtobuildoutstorageforSQLServerorHyper-V,therearesomesituationswherethesolutiondoesn’tfit(yet).OneisforExchangestorage.It’sbuiltaroundtheconceptofseveralcopiesofyourdatabasesondifferentservers,eachhousedonlarge-capacity,7200RPMlocaldisksineachserver.

AnotherisstorageforIWdocuments.SOFSisdesignedforverylargefiles(VHDandSQLdatabases)thatareopencontinuouslyandthatcan’thaveinterruptionoftheIOflow.Word,ExcelandothertypesofIWapps,ontheotherhand,havesmallfilesthatareopenedandclosedregularly.IfyoudouseSOFSforIWdocumentstorage,performancewillbeworse—around10percentworse—thanifyoustoredthemontraditionalfileclusters.Abetteroptionistorunvirtualfileservers,storetheirVHDXfilesontheSOFSandpresent

If your company already has a SAN investment that you want to continue using, SOFS also has its place.

17

Hyper-V Sneak Peak

filesharestotheusers;theVMscanbeclusteredusingguestclusteringforhighavailability.

SOFSisanenterprisetechnology,disaggregatingthestoragefabricfromthecomputefabric,allowingyoutoscaleeachindependentlyformaximumflexibility.Ifyouhaveasmallerenvironment,cluster-in-a-box(CiB)solutionsshouldbemoresuitable.Alternatively,youcouldconnectseveralHyper-VhoststosharedSASstoragewithCSV,butwithouttheoverheadofaseparateSOFScluster.

Aswithdatadeduplication,it’sverylikelythatwhenStorageSpaces,CSVandSOFShavebeeninwidespreaduseforafewyears,additionalworkloadswillbeaddedtothelistofrecommendedandsupported ones.

Configuration Tips and TricksWhenplanningyourSOFSimplementation,rememberthatthemaximumnumberofnodesiseight,withtwo,threeandfournodesbeingpopularchoices.You’llalsowanttocreateanumberofCSVsina three-node cluster; three or six volumes are good choices. If you onlyhaveoneCSV,alltheSMBclientswillbeconnectedthroughonenode, resulting in non-optimized performance.

The other issue that often gets lost in the planning phase is the conceptofcolumns.Thenumberofdisksinyourpool,alongwiththedataprotectionschemeselected,affectsthenumberofcolumnspervirtualdisk.Ifatalaterstageyouattempttoaddmorediskstoyourpooltoexpandcapacity,youhavetoaddenoughdiskstomatchthenumberofcolumnsforthatparticularvirtualdisk.

Ifyou’relookingtobuildatestlaborproof-of-conceptwithSOFSandStorageSpaces,makesureyouselectanenclosurefromthehardwarecontrollist(HCL),alongwithcertifiedSASharddrivesandSASSSDs(ifyou’regoingtotesttiering).MakesuretoupdateyourNICdrivers,aswellasthefirmwareonallnetworkingcomponents,asthiswillfixmanyissues.Also,makesureReceiveSideScalingisavailableandturnedoninyourNICs.

If two physical servers and a storage enclosure are outside your budget,considerasetupwithvirtualizednodesanddisksonAzure,

SOFS is an enterprise technology, disaggregating the storage fabric from the compute fabric.

18

Hyper-V Sneak Peak

whichyoucanfindinstructionsforusinghere. If you have a Hyper-V host, a setup found here allows you to test everything on a single machine(neitheraresupportedinproduction).

Managing StorageSOFSandStorageSpacesaredesignedtolowerthecapexthroughlow-costenclosures,industry-standardSASconnectivityandclusternodesrunningoncommodityservers.Buttheothersideoftheequationisopex,andhereMicrosoft’sansweristohaveoneinterfacetomanageallstorage.SystemCenterVirtualMachineManager2012R2canprovisionbaremetalmachineswithanOS,thenconfigureStorageSpacesandSOFSautomatically.

ThesameinterfacecanbeusedtomanagethestorageandtheSMBfilesharesthatwillhouseVMs.VirtualMachineManagercanalsomanageSANarrays(withtherightplug-in),andautomaticallyprovisionstorageandunmaskLUNstovirtualizationhosts,throughStorageManagementAPI.

There’snodoubtthatifyou’reaMicrosoftshopusingSQLServerand/orHyper-V,youshouldtakealookatSOFSandStorageSpaces.It’seasiertomanage,definitelycheaperthantraditionalSANsforcapacity,whileatthesametimeprovidingequalorbetter performance. VR

System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2012 R2 can provision bare metal machines with an OS, then configure Storage Spaces and SOFS automatically.

19

Microsoft’s Azure cloud serviceisgrowingquickly;sofast,infact,thatifyouhaven’tbeenkeepingupwithitonaregularbasis,you’llbefarbehindafterjustafewmonths.That’swhyI’mhere:I’llcatchyou

uponthelatest,tohelpyouunderstandwhatAzureoffersnow,aswellasprovidebusinessandITcontextforwhyyoumightconsiderusing particular services.

Note that this article will only cover what’s new in Azure, and not the basics of what it offers. If you’re not familiar with that, you’ll need to get up to speed to make the most of this discussion.

Compute Services for Web SitesIfyou’renotinthebusinessofrunningWebservers,butneedaWebsite,AzureWebsitehostingisagreatoption.It’snotjustfor.NETFrameworksites,either;theservicesupportsJavaaswellasMySQLbackenddatabases.AkeysellingpointforAzureovertheothermultitudeofhostingprovidersoutthereistheglobalscale

What Admins Need to Know About AzureIf you haven't looked at or used Microsoft Azure lately, you're missing out. See what it offers, and find out if it will benefit your business. By Paul Schnackenburg

VMware Views

If you’re not in the business of running Web servers, but need a Web site, Azure Web site hosting is a great option.

20

Hyper-V Sneak Peak

(permittingmultiplecopiesofyoursiteclosertoyourcustomers),the rich development environment (it supports almost all modern languages)andthebreadthoftheserviceasatrueWebapplicationplatform.

There is a new tier to give you plenty of options for how you scaleyoursites;andyoucannowconnectyourWebsitestoInfrastructure-as-a-Service(IaaS)virtualmachines(VMs)youhaverunninginyourvirtualnetwork.BackgroundservicesintheformofscriptscannowmanageyoursiteusingWebjobs,andsecuritycanbeenhancedusingtheModsecurityWebApplicationFirewallwithbothfreeandcommercialrulesets.

AzureSearchasaServiceisaveryinterestingaddition,essentiallyenablingsearchonasite(orthroughamobileapp)withverylittlecodingrequired.Itincludesgeospatialawareness,auto-completeandscoringprofilestocontrolresults.ProtectingyourWebsitecontentisnoweasierwithBackupandRestore,butthemostexcitingadditionisprobablyHybridConnections.

HybridConnectionsisn’tlimitedtoWebsites,andcanbeusedwithotherAzureservices.Thisessentiallymakesitpossibletohostpartofyourapplication(theWebfrontend,forexample)inAzurewhilekeepingthebackenddatabaseon-premises,forregulatoryorcompliancereasons.It’sasecurepoint-to-pointconnectionrequiringnochangetothenameresolution,anditcantransportanyHTTP/HTTPSandTCPtraffic.Ican’temphasizeenoughhowimportantthissimpleservicecouldprovetobe;itcouldbethekillerappforhelpingenterprisesmovetoahybridcloudmodel.

Compute Services: Virtual MachinesAsexpected,runningyourownVMsinAzureisoneofthebiggestareasofinterestformanybusinesses.InlateSeptember,thenew“D”seriesofVMswereadded,whichofferupto800GBoflocalSSDstorage.NotethatthisisonlyfortemporarystorageontheD:drive,andnotpersistentdata(butthat’slikelycomingsoon).TherearealsotwonewbigVMsizes—A8andA9—withfasterprocessors,largeramountsofmemoryand40Gb/sRDMANICs.There’salsoanewBasictierofVMs,suitablefordevandtest.It’snotmeantformuchmorethanthat,asitdoesn’tsupportloadbalancingandautoscaling.

Azure Search as a Service is a very interesting addition, essentially enabling search on a site with very little coding required.

21

Hyper-V Sneak Peak

BusinessthathaveadoptedSystemCenterDataProtectionManager(DPM)cannowhaveinstancesofDPMrunningonAzureVMs,forbackingupotherVMsinyourvirtualnetwork.Beawarethatthereare some limitations, since you don’t have access to the underlying fabric.You’llalsowanttooffloadlong-termarchivingofbackupstoAzurestorageinsteadofhousingitontheDPMserver(s);it’ssimilartousingAzurestorageasabackupdestinationforyouron-premisesbackupsfromDPMorWindowsServerBackup.

PerhapsthemostinterestingadditionistheMicrosoftMigrationAccelerator(MA),throughtheacquisitionofInMageinJuly.ThisenableseasymigrationofVMware,Hyper-VandAmazonWebServices(AWS)VMstoAzure.Mostimportantly,downtimeisminimal,asdataiswrittenbothtotherunningsourceVMaswellasthenew,offlineVMuntilthey’reinsyncandyou’rereadytoswapover.Alternatively,ifyou’rerunningSystemCenterVirtualMachineManager(SCVMM)youcanusetherebrandedAzureSiteRecoveryasamechanismtomigrateVMstoAzure.

TheVMextensionswereannouncedinApril,butthey’vebeenexpandedgreatlysincethen.YoucanusethemtomonitoryourVMsinAzureaswellasprotectthemfrommalware(Symantec,TrendMicroandMicrosoftsolutionsarecurrentlyavailable).

Figure 1. RemoteApp is an interesting option for cloud deployment of LOB (or in this case, Microsoft Office) applications that can be available on any device, anywhere.

You’ll want to offload long-term archiving of backups to Azure storage instead of housing it on the DPM server.

22

Hyper-V Sneak Peak

ThosewithanMSDNsubscriptioncannowspinupWindowsclientVMsinAzurefordevandtest;butnotethatthisisn’tsupportedforDesktop-as-a-Service(DaaS)scenariosforendusers.

Microsoftdoesn’tofferfulldesktopsrunninginacloudasaservice,butdoesofferRemoteApp,whichletsyouaccessapplicationsremotelyrunninginaclientVMinthecloud(seeFigure 1).MostinterestingistheabilityforITtoprepareitsownimageswithline-of-business(LOB)applicationsandhosttheseinAzure,providingremote access to the apps on any device.

DesiredStateConfiguration(DSC)istheabilitytousePowerShelltodefineaspecificconfigurationforasystemandthenpushthattooneormoresystems;recentlythiswasexpandedtoincludeAzure.

Whenitcomestopubliccloud,securityisofcoursecritical.Microsoftunderstandsthat,andprovidesatleasttwo(CloudlinkandTrendMicro)servicesthatcanencryptyourAzureVMswiththekeysstoredoutsideofAzure.

Azure for Disaster RecoveryAzureSiteRecovery(ASR)wasmentionedearlierasamechanismformigratingon-premisesVMstothecloud.Butit’smuchmorethanthat:inpreviousincarnations,theAzureservicewasjustamanagementpointforthereplicationofyourVMsfromoneprivatedatacentertoanother.ThenewserviceletsAzurefunctionasyourDRsite.Thisisverypowerfultechnology,althoughitcomeswithonemajorcaveat:SCVMMisstillrequired,soyoucan’tsimplyreplicateaVMwithHyper-VReplica.Hopefullythisabilitywillbeaddedinthenearfuture.

Virtual NetworksIaaSVMsdependonnetworkconnectivity,andtherehavebeensomemajorupdatesinthisareaofAzure.Originally,youcouldonlyhaveasingleVPNconnectionfromon-premisestoaVirtualNetwork(VNet)inAzure;nowyoucanhaveseveralforredundancy.Inthepast,eachVNetwasisolated,soifyouhaddifferentsetupsofVMsindifferentregions(sayintheUnitedStatesandEurope),theVMscouldonlycommunicatethroughtheon-premisesnetworks.It’snowpossibletolinkVNetstogetherbetweenregions.Previously,VNets,shown in Figure 2,werealsolimitedtoasingleAffinitygroupwithina datacenter; now they’re scoped to an entire region.

The new service lets Azure function as your DR site.

23

Hyper-V Sneak Peak

AnothervirtualnetworkingupgradesallowsyoutoreserveyourexternalIPaddressforVMsandcloudservices,whichshouldmakeDNSandconfigurationofyouron-premisesfirewallabiteasier.AnotherinterestingrecentfeatureistheInternalLoadBalancer(ILB),whichprovidesenhancedsecuritybyallowingyoutohostLOBapplicationsonVMsinAzureinahighly-availablemannerwithoutexposing them directly.

ExpressRoute,theabilitytosetupadirect(WAN)connectionfromyouron-premisesdatacentertoAzure,hasnowexpandedtodifferentregions through partnership with more providers; here’s a good over-viewcomparingSite-to-SiteVPNwithExpressRoute.

TrafficManagerisanAzureservicethatcandirecttraffictodifferentIaaSVMsorPlatform-as-a-Service(PaaS)CloudServicesorWebsites,depending on load or geographical distance. It can now manage end-pointsexternaltoAzure;foron-premisesserversorendpointsinotherpublicclouds,youcanassignweightstodifferententriesfor

Figure 2. Just as you wouldn’t set up a branch office without making sure the wiring and switches were in place, you should set up your virtual networks before creating VMs.

Traffic Manager is an Azure service that can direct traffic to different IaaS VMs or Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) Cloud Services or Web sites.

24

Hyper-V Sneak Peak

morefine-grainedcontrol.IfyouwanttobeabletotracetrafficfromyourPaaSorIaaSVMs,youcanaddreverseDNSrecords.

Azure StorageAzurestorageisusedbymanydifferentservices;buildingcomplexapplicationsontopoftheseservicescanmakeithardtopinpointissues,especiallysincepubliccloud,byitsverynature,hidesalotoftheunderlyingfabricfromyou.Storageperformancecanbeespeciallytricky,soyoumightwanttocheckoutthisMicrosoftguide,withstep-by-stepinstructionsformonitoring,diagnosingandtroubleshooting.It’sworthnotingthatthesizeofsingleBLOBstoragehasbeenincreasedfrom200to500TB.

AusefuladditiontostorageistheintroductionofAzurefiles;it’sessentiallyafilesharehostedbyAzurethatyoucanaccessfromVMsandcloudservices.Relatedtothat,Azurebackupretentionrangeshavebeensignificantlyincreased.

Redis CacheRediscacheisanopensourcecacheanddatastore.Microsoftmaintains an open source port for Windows Server, and has made it availableinAzure,callingitAzureRedisCache.Microsoftstatesinitsdocumentationthat“RedisCachehelpsyourapplicationbecomemore responsive even as user load increases and leverages the low latency,high-throughputcapabilitiesoftheRedisengine.Thisseparate cache layer allows your data tier to scale independently for moreefficientuseofcomputeresourcesinyourapplicationlayer.”

AutomationThetruevalueofusingpubliccloudbecomesapparentwhenyoucanautomatetasksusingscriptsandrunbooks,aswellasglobalassets.Thatautomationnowmakesauthenticationeasierifyou’reusingAzureActiveDirectory,becauseyoucancallServiceManagementAutomation(SMA)fromWindowsPowerShell.

RelatedtothisareAzureResourceGroupsandtheAzureResourceManager,whichactascontainersforseveraldifferentpartsofanAzureservice.TheycanincludeWebsites,VMsandcloudservicesthatcanbedeployedandmanagedasasingleunit.AnexampleisahighlyavailableSharePoint2013farmwithActiveDirectoryandthe

Redis cache is an open source cache and data store.

25

Hyper-V Sneak Peak

SQLback-endthatcanbedeployedwithafewclicksinawizardinthenewportal(moreonthisinabit).There’salsonewsupportinVisual Studio for creating these deployment templates.

SQL in AzureMicrosoftSQLServer2012introducedAlwaysOnforhighlyavailabledatabaseservices;itwasfurtherenhancedinSQLServer2014.TemplatesforAzurewererecentlyreleasedthatletyoueasilybuildanAlwaysOnSQLsetupinAzureIaaS.Anotherpopularapproachishavingyouractivedatabaseon-premiseswithanAvailabilityGroupcopyrunninginAzurefordisasterrecovery.

Ifyoujustwantdatabaseasaservice,itbecamemoreattractivewiththeadditionofeasyauditingofdatabaseactivity.Foranexam-pleoftheadvantagesofferedbyAzure,notethatthePremiumtierofdatabaseservicesnowoffersuptofourgeo-distributedsecondarycopiesofyourdatabases,alongwithGeorestoreandautomaticpoint-in-timebackupsofyourdatabases(considertheon-premisesinfrastructurerequiredforsimilarfunctionality).

Azure Active DirectoryAzureActiveDirectory(AzureAD),seeninFigure 3, is another crucial(andfree)serviceforITprostoexploreanduse.Identitymanagement in today’s world of devices and cloud services is possiblythemostimportantskillyoucaninvestin.

Youcanusedirectorysynchronizationoritsmorecapablereplace-ment,AzureActiveDirectorySynchronizationServices(AzureADSync),incombinationwithActiveDirectoryFederationServices,toreplicateyouron-premisesuseraccountstoAzure.Oncethere,theycanbeusedtograntaccesstoyourin-houseWeb-basedapplicationandotherMicrosoftSaaSapplicationssuchasOffice365,Intuneandothers.Moreimportant,itcanbeusedtoenablesinglesign-on(SSO)tothird-partycloudapplicationssuchasSalesforce,Box,DropBoxandsoon.BackinMaythelistofenabledapplicationswasabout1,200;bylatefall,thelisthadgrowntomorethan2,400applications.

ButhowdoyouknowwhichSaaSapplicationsyourusersareactuallyusing?NumeroussourcesconfirmthatITdepartmentsregularlyunderestimate“shadowIT”cloudusage.Afreeservice

Microsoft SQL Server 2012 introduced Always On for highly available database services.

26

Hyper-V Sneak Peak

fromMicrosoftcalledCloudAppDiscoverycomeswithasmallagenttoinstalloneachPCinyournetwork;asitgathersdata,youcanrunreportstotargetextensivelyusedapplicationsandbringthemundermanagement.

UsingthisAzureADfunctionletsyounotonlyprovideSSOtomanycloudservices,butalsoprovisionanddeprovisionaccountsautomatically.SowhenJaneleavesthecompany,youonlyneedtodisableheraccountinActiveDirectoryon-premises(asyoudotoday—right?);thatchangeisreplicatedtoAzureADandheraccessisrevokedtoallcloudappsforwhichshe’dbeenauthorized.Itcanalso provide access to corporate Twitter and other social media accountswithouttheusersknowingthepassword.

ThepremiumversionofAzureADoffersgroupmanagement;self-service password reset and self-service group management; multifactor authentication;ForefrontIdentityManagerlicensesandmore.There’salsoanewBasicAzureADtierthatincludesfeatureslikegroup-basedaccess management; self-service password reset for cloud applications; acustomizableenvironmentforlaunchingenterpriseandconsumercloudapplications,andanenterprise-levelSLAof99.9percentuptime.

Figure 3. Built-in reports alone are worth the admission price of Azure Active Directory.

The premium version of Azure AD offers group management.

27

Hyper-V Sneak Peak

DockerJustwhenITprosthoughtthey’dgottenservervirtualizationdownpat,anothernewtechnologycropsup.Containers,themostfamousofwhichisDocker,encapsulatesapplicationssotheycanbedeployedonanyavailableserver,virtualizingtheapplicationratherthantheapplicationandOS.Microsofthasannounceditsownforthcomingcontainertechnology,butfornowAzurefullysupportsusingDockeronLinuxVMs.

Media ServicesThis platform service for encoding, storing and streaming video fromthecloudgotitstrialbyfireduringtheSochiOlympics,wherevideo footage was encoded and served to millions of viewers (in the UnitedStates)inrealtime.Encryptionforcontentprotectionisnowbuilt-in,livestreamingisinpreview,andDynamicStreamingoverHTTP(DASH)—anemergingstandardforvideostreamingwithvirtuallyeverymajorvideoproviderbehindit—isalsoinpreview.The service used to charge for input and output of media; now only output data is charged for.

Mobile ServicesBuildingtheback-endapplicationandservicesformobileapps(Android,iOS,WindowsPhoneandothers)isnoweasierinAzurewithofflinesupportforAndroid,aswellasSSOinthe.NETFrameworkback-end.

HDInsight: Hadoop on AzureIfyourbusinesshasanykindoflargedatasetsyouwanttoanalyze,usingHadoopformanagingthatdataistheanswer.Andunlessyouhappentohavealotofspareservers,enlistingthepubliccloudtohelpyouisthebestwaytogo.InJune,theHDInsightservicetransitionedtoHadoop2.4,whichcanprovideupto100timestheperformanceimprovementsovertheearlierversionforqueryresponsetimes.ApacheHBase,aNoSQLdistributeddatabase,isnowalso fully implemented as part of the service.

The New Azure Management PortalThealternativeWeb-basedGUIforAzurewasmoreprimitive,andonlyafewserviceswereavailable.Thishasimprovedconsiderably,as you can see in Figure 4,withmanymoreservicesnowvisible.But

This platform service for encoding, storing and streaming video from the cloud got its trial by fire during the Sochi Olympics.

28

Hyper-V Sneak Peak

thebestthingaboutthenewAzureManagementPortalisthecustomization:Youcanadjustitsothatitshowsexactlytheinformationyoucareaboutmost.

ThenewportalalsoaddressespossiblythesinglebiggestmissingfeatureofAzurewhenitcomestoenterpriseadoption:RoleBasedAccessControl.Nomore,though,asit’snowavailable.

Get Ahead of the CurveThere’snodoubtthatMicrosoftistakingadvantageofitsentrench-mentinenterprisedatacenterstoofferauniqueroadmapwherebusinessescanpickandchoosewhatservicestostartmovingtothecloudontheirownterms.ThisissomethingthatVMwareInc.,AWSInc.andGoogleInc.can’toffer.Butyoucan’ttakeadvantageifyouhaven’tjoinedtheclub.GetatrialaccounttoAzureifyouhaven’talready,ormakesuretouseyourMSDNcreditsanddiscountsifyouhaveasubscription.Learnwhatitcando—andstartusingit.Azureisgettingbetterallthetime,andwillundoubtedlycontinuetoprogress.Youdon’twanttofallanyfurtherbehindthecurve.VR

Figure 4. Customizable, dynamic and adaptive, the improved Azure Management Portal is a great way to explore new features.

There’s no doubt that Microsoft is taking advantage of its entrenchment in enterprise datacenters to offer a unique roadmap.

29

Too many timeswhenanewmajorMicrosoftOSisreleased,other features or even separate products may overshadow someofthethingsthatreallymakemeexcited.Windows10

TechnicalPreview(thenextclientOSafterWindows8.1)andtheWindows Server Technical Preview are hot topics right now. There's alsoaSystemCenterTechnicalPreview.That'salotofsoftwaretopreview!AlsointhemixisHyper-VServerandthecorrespondingserver role.

I'vebeenplayingwiththeWindowsServerTechnicalPreviewonaHyper-Vhostforawhile,andI'mhappytosaythatit'sworthalook.

The Windows Server Technical Preview is adding a lot of Hyper-V features I'm really happy to see. I felt that the upgrade from

VMware Views

By Rick Vanover

What's New andCool in Hyper-V

The Windows Server Technical Preview is adding a lot of Hyper-V features I'm really happy to see.

30

Hyper-V Sneak Peak

WindowsServer2008R2toWindowsServer2012broughtincredibleHyper-Vimprovements,butdidn'tfeelthesamefromWindowsServer2012toWindowsServer2012R2.Youcanreadthefulllistofwhat's new in Hyper-V on TechNet;today,Iwanttotakealookatsome of my favorite new features and share why they're important to me.

Rolling Hyper-V Cluster UpgradeWithoutquestion,thebiggestandbroadestnewfeatureinHyper-VfortheTechnicalPreviewistheRollingHyper-VClusterUpgrade.ThiscapabilityoffersafamiliarconstructcalledClusterFunctionalLevel.ThispermitsaclustertohaveahostrunningtheTechnicalPreviewforaWindowsServer2012R2Hyper-Vclusterandmovevirtualmachines(VMs)tothenewhosts,permittinghostupgradesoftheolderhosts.Thisismeantasaclusterupgradetechnique;it'snotabroadbackward-andforward-compatibleadministrationtechniqueforlong-termexistence,butratheraframeworkforhowclusterswillbeupgradedgoingforward.

TherearesomeimprovementsintheHyper-VManageradministra-tiontool,aswell.FormostoftheenvironmentsIadminister,theHyper-VinstallationsaresmallandI'mfineadministeringwith

Figure 1. The Hyper-V Manager administration interface is materially unchanged, but now supports password connections for different accounts.

Without question, the biggest and broadest new feature in Hyper-V for the Technical Preview is the Rolling Hyper-V Cluster Upgrade.

31

Hyper-V Sneak Peak

Hyper-VManager.Forlargerenvironments,SystemCenterVirtualMachineManageristhewaytogo.Figure 1 shows the new Hyper-V Manager.

Integration ServicesThefinalcoolfeatureintheTechnicalPreviewI'mhappytoseeisthat Integration Services are now delivered through Windows UpdatetotheHyper-VguestVMs.Thishasbeenarealpainpointinthepast.Take,forexample,asituationinwhichthere'saWindowsServer2012R2host(withnoupdate),andaVMthat'screatedandisrunning Integration Services. Then assume that the host is updated (viaWindowsUpdate)andasubsequentVMiscreated.ThetwoVMsnowhavedifferentversionsofIntegrationServices.Troubleshootingin this scenario is no fun.

Additionalfeatures,suchashotaddofnetworkandmemory,areabigdealforcriticalproductionVMsrunningonHyper-V,andIcan'twaittogivethosealook,aswell.Ifyouhaven'tdownloadedtheTechnical Preview, you can do so now for free. Now is really the time totakealook;thenextversionofHyper-Vwillbeherebeforeyouknowit,andyoushouldbepreparedwhenitreachesgeneralavailability.

Have you started playing with the Technical Preview? If so, what Hyper-Vfeaturesdoyoulikeorlookforwardtomost?Shareyourcomments. VR

Rick Vanover (vExpert, MCITP, VCP) is a product strategy specialist for Veeam Software based in Columbus, Ohio. Rick is a popular blogger, podcaster and active member of the virtualization community. Rick’s IT experience includes system administration and IT management; with virtualization being the central theme of his career recently. Follow Rick on Twitter @RickVanover.

The final cool feature in the Technical Preview I'm happy to see is that Integration Services are now delivered through Windows Update to the Hyper-V guest VMs.