Best Practices in Virtualizing and Managing Microsoft SharePoint with Microsoft System Center and Windows ServerSimon Skinner [MVP]

MDC-B356

Agendao Planningo Deploymento Monitoringo Protectiono Conclusion

Audience Poll (yep, this is where you raise your hands!)o I am a SharePoint Administratoro I am Hosting SharePoint o I am using System Center to Administer SP

2013o None of the above but I have an interesto We have challenges and need to find

solutionso I am in the wrong session!

What you will not hear about in this session!• VMware (now know as the ‘Other Guy’

(phew!)) • Best practices within Hyper-V• Hyper-V Clustering• Hyper-V Networking

Planning Phase

‘What’ can we Virtualize?Active Directory Domain Services *

Front-End Web Server or Application Server

The SQL Server Services, can we Virtualize that?Any Part of SQL, ADS, SharePoint 2013

Does Size Matter!

Yes, yes it does!

Clear & Simple Message coming up!In the next 2 slides we will understand what is supported, so if it’s in either of the next to slides it’s cool to do!

• Supported on:• Windows Server 2008 SP2 Hyper-V | Hyper-V Server 2008 SP2• Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Hyper-V | Hyper-V Server 2008

R2 SP1• Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V | Hyper-V Server 2012• Any 3rd Party Hypervisor Certified under SVVP• Windows Azure Infrastructure Services

• Guest OS Must Be:• Windows Server 2008 SP2 | 2008 R2 SP1 | Windows Server

2012

• All SQL Server 2012 Features Are Supported

General vSupportability Guidance

• Supported on:• Windows Server 2008 SP2 Hyper-V | Hyper-V Server 2008 SP2• Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Hyper-V | Hyper-V Server 2008

R2• Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V | Hyper-V Server 2012• Any 3rd Party Hypervisor Certified under SVVP• Windows Azure Infrastructure Services

• Guest OS Must Be:• Windows Server R2 SP1 | Windows Server 2012

• All SharePoint 2013 Features Are Supported

General vSupportability Guidance

Virtualizing SQL Server | PerformanceWith Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V, Enterprise Strategy Group tested an existing SQL Server 2012 OLTP workload that was previously vCPU limited.

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Windows Server 2012, SQL Server 2012, Single VM, 64GB of RAM

Full report is available here

With Hyper-V’s support for 64 vCPUs per VM, testing showed a 6x performance increase, with a 5x improvement in transaction response time.With these figures, customers can have confidence that Hyper-V can be used to virtualize the largest SQL Server databases and with additional features such as SR-IOV, Virtual Fibre Channel and Virtual NUMA, ensure Hyper-V drives the highest levels of performance for this key workload.

Virtualizing SharePoint | PerformanceWith Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V, ESG Labs SharePoint 2013 and their findings included that the performance, scalability, and low overhead of Hyper-V can be used to reduce costs while improving the manageability, flexibility, and availability of consolidated SharePoint 2013 workloads

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SharePoint Workload Scalability on Windows Server 2012 with Hyper-V

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8 vCPU, 12GB RAM per WFE VMFull report is available soon

A SharePoint 2013 infrastructure deployed within 5 Hyper-V VMs (3 WFE, 1 App, 1 SQL), running on a single physical server, backed by SSD-based, mirrored Storage Spaces, supported the demand of over 1.3 million heavy users (60 requests per hour), with 1% concurrency, running a lightweight, non-blocking workload), with measurably low response times throughout.

Virtualizing SharePoint | PerformanceWith Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V, ESG Labs SharePoint 2013 and their findings included that the performance, scalability, and low overhead of Hyper-V can be used to reduce costs while improving the manageability, flexibility, and availability of consolidated SharePoint 2013 workloads

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SharePoint Workload Scalability on Windows Server 2012 with Hyper-V

Web Front Ends

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esponse T

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8 vCPU, 12GB RAM per WFE VMFull report is available soon

A further test was performed, aiming to drive even higher numbers of heavy users with 3 WFEs. Testing found that 3 WFEs could support just over 2 million heavy users at 1% concurrency, with an average CPU utilization of 84% across WFEs, with measurably low response times.

Key Virtual Hardware ConsiderationsWeights & Reserves

vNUMA (SQL & IIS 8)LP:VP Ratios:SQL – N/ASP – 1:1 (Max 2:1)

Dynamic MemorySP – NoSQL - Yes

VM

Synthetic vNICDVMQ or SR-IOVIn-Guest TeamingNetwork QoS

Fixed VHDX (64TB)Separate VHDXsNo SnapshotsVirtual FCIn Guest iSCSI

Host Storage:DAS, SMB, FC, iSCSISAS, SSD etc.

SharePoint Farm Resiliency

Node 1 Node 2…

…Node 64

Centralized Storage(iSCSI, FC, SMB

3.0

Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V provides best in class cluster scalability with support for up to 64 physical nodes and 8,000 virtual machines per cluster.Microsoft fully supports all components of a highly available virtualized SharePoint farm, including the SQL, Application and Web Front End servers. MAC Address Spoofing used with Software NLB.This includes the ability to Live Migrate virtualized SharePoint 2013 servers.In addition, features such as Cluster Aware Updating ensure host clusters are patched effortlessly, whilst maintaining the continuous availability of the mission critical SharePoint 2013 workload.

SharePoint

Farm

Best practice guidance for virtualization

Best Practices (Part One)Leave adequate memory for the Hyper-V partitions. (we recommend 4 GB of RAM or more for host computer operations.)

Do not use the parent partition for services other than Hyper-V.Do not store host computer system files on drives that are used for Hyper-V storage.Use a minimum of two physical network adapters.

Best Practices (Part Two)Do not oversubscribe the CPU on the virtualization host computer.

Do not cross Non-uniform memory access (NUMA) boundaries.

Do not use snapshots in a production environment*

Configure the Hyper-V host computer

Configure the Hyper-V host computerAvoid running programs such as anti-virus

software on the parent partition. (Run them on the child partition if they are required.)Use hardware that supports Second Level Address Translation (SLAT).

Enable Hyper-Threading (if hardware supports it)

Deployment Phase

What are our options for deployment?Manually (yuck, phooey but does work)

System Center Configuration Manager

Virtual Machine Manager 2012 SP1

We could also use Orchestrator with SCVMM

Get someone else to do it

Accelerated DeploymentThrough Virtual Machine Manager’s granular template deployment capabilities, IT Admins can standardize and accelerate deployment of VMs, apps and services into the cloud.

with Virtual Machine Manager 2012

These templates, and service templates contain specific application-level configuration options, for workloads such as SQL, and the ability to add pre/post scripts, to accelerate deployment of other key workloads.

Automating that Accelerated Deployment

o VM from Templateo Run book within SCORCHo Deploy from SCSMo Hosting readyo Client deployable

Monitoring Phase

SharePoint Server 2010

SharePoint Foundation 2010

What does the SharePoint 2013 MP Monitoring from SharePoint 2013?

o MS SharePoint Server 2013o MS Project Server 2013o Access Serviceso Business Connectivityo Security Token Serviceso Managed Meta Web Serviceo Education Serviceso Excel Service Applicationo InfoPath Form Serviceo Performance Point Serviceso Translation Services

o Sandboxed Code Serviceso Secure Store Serviceso SharePoint Server Searcho User Profile Serviceso Visio Serviceo Word Automation Service

Installing the SharePoint 2013 MP

• Use must install the SharePoint Foundation MP first

• If you download it from the SCOM Console it will put it into the correct order for you.

• If there is an upgrade the import MP wizard will identify this and upgrade for you

Configure the SharePoint 2013 MP

• Make sure the RunAs account is configured

• Ensure you have a list of the SP Servers• Allow for an hour for the MP to complete

to display all the info

Distributed Application or your SharePoint Farm

• Quick Glance to the issue• Works in near to real time• Saves time and effort• All the moving component

shown• Can be extended to show

routers, Switches, Firewalls, ADS, DNS and Server Hardware

SharePoint Health Analyzer

• SP Monitoring reflected into SCOM• If updated in SP it will update SCOM• More improved visual experience• Monitoring in a monitoring tool• Easier to distribute to support teams

Great Monitoring in SharePoint about SharePoint (Only)

With System Center you get the Whole picture!

Enhanced monitoring with all aspects covered using System Center 2012

Demo

How can I retrieve the Correlation ID events from SharePoint 2013 into SCOM?

Protection Phase

Granular Workload-Level Protectionwith Data Protection Manager 2012Through Data Protection Manager, not only can IT protect their key virtual machines, but IT can also provide centralized protection for key workloads such as SQL, SharePoint and Exchange.Data Protection Manager provides granular protection up to the latest versions of each of the key workloads, and fully supports SQL Server 2012 AlwaysOn, SharePoint 2013 farms, and Exchange 2013 Database Availability Groups.

Backing up to the Cloud is considered to be off-site.

Azure Backu

p

Conclusion All of SharePoint can be virtualized with WS Hyper-V

SQL Server 2012 is the best to date

SharePoint 2013 works best on Microsoft WS Hyper-V

Windows Server and System Center 2012!

SharePoint with System Center 2012 is protected

All of SQL can be virtualized with WS Hyper-V

System Center and Windows 2012 for SharePoint 2013

“It’s in the bag!”

Thank you!

Questions!

Track resourcesLearn more about Windows Server 2012 R2 Preview, download the datasheet and evaluation bits on http://aka.ms/WS2012R2Learn more about System Center 2012 R2 Preview, download the datasheet and evaluation bits on http://aka.ms/SC2012R2

msdn

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© 2013 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Windows and other product names are or may be registered trademarks and/or trademarks in the U.S. and/or other countries.The information herein is for informational purposes only and represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation as of the date of this presentation. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information provided after the date of this presentation. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.