Virtual Machine Guest Clustering allows us to extend the high availability afforded to us by Windows Server 2012 Failover Clustering directly to applications running inside a set of virtual machines that are hosted on a Hyper-V Host Cluster. This allows us to support cluster-aware applications running as virtualized workloads. In this article, I’ll walk through the advantages and implementation steps for Virtual Machine Guest Clustering. Along the way, we’ll explore some new features in Windows Server 2012 Failover Clustering that enhance Virtual Machine Guest Clustering: Virtual Fibre Channel SANs, Anti-Affinity and Virtual Machine Monitoring.
There's a handy new tool available from our free CodePlex Open Source community repository that can be leveraged for basic management of Hyper-V Server 2012 and Windows Server 2012 Server Core from a local GUI console. In this article, I'll describe the capabilities of this new tool and provide the steps for download and installation ...
Yung Chou and I are back for Episode #2 in our multi-part series on how to Build Your Private Cloud using System Center 2012 SP1. Tune in today as we discuss reference architectures for scale-up and scale-out Private Cloud infrastructure designs that leverage the new Scalability, Storage Spaces, Network Teaming, VLANs, Continuously Available Scale-out Clusters and Hyper-V Virtualization capabilities present in Windows Server 2012 and our FREE Hyper-V Server 2012 enterprise-grade bare-metal hypervisor.
Traditional file sharing protocols, such as Server Message Block ( SMB ) in Windows Server 2012, are primarily designed for low-latency, high-bandwidth scenarios commonly found in Local Area Networks ( LANs ). When attempting to move file server workloads to the cloud, many IT Pros find that the unpredictable latency and limited bandwidth related to most Internet connections can make it challenging to deliver file services from the cloud in a reliable manner.
In this Do-It-Yourself ( DIY ) article, I’ll step through a configuration that leverages the BranchCache feature available in Windows Server 2012 and Windows 8 Enterprise. Once implemented, BranchCache can solve cloud networking challenges by implementing a Wide Area File Services ( WAFS ) solution that caches frequently accessed data locally, either in a Distributed Cache across local clients or on a local Hosted Cache Server.
Lab Scenario: BranchCache Accelerating Content Access from the Cloud
I think every IT Pro I’ve ever met hates tape backups … but having an offsite component in your backup strategy is absolutely necessary for effective disaster recovery. One of the new features provided in SQL Server 2012 Service Pack 1 Cumulative Update 2 is the ability to now backup SQL databases and logs to Windows Azure cloud storage using native SQL Server Backup via both Transact-SQL ( T-SQL ) and SQL Server Management Objects ( SMO ).
Backup to cloud storage is a natural fit for disaster recovery, as our backups are instantly located offsite when completed. And, the pay-as-you-go model of cloud storage economics makes it really cost effective – Windows Azure storage costs are less than $100/TB per month for geo-redundant storage based on current published costs as of this article’s date. That’s less than the cost of a couple SDLT tapes! You can check out our current pricing model for Windows Azure Storage on our Price Calculator page.
In this article, I’ll step through the process of using SQL Server 2012 SP1 CU2 native backup capabilities to create database backups on Windows Azure cloud storage ...
Today, Yung Chou and I are kicking off our multi-part series on how to build a Private Cloud using System Center 2012 SP1. Tune in as we discuss the difference between a Private Cloud and a Highly Virtualized Environment, how System Center 2012 components map to Private Cloud requirements, and how the SP1 release allows for even greater improvements to managing your datacenters and applications ...
There’s LOTS going on in March and April for IT Pros in the US Heartland! Below is a list of my upcoming events that are FREE opportunities for you to attend to learn about IT Pro news, topics and resources! Be sure to check back weekly as we add new events to the list ...
Windows Server 2012 and our completely FREE Hyper-V Server 2012 certainly have some really cost effective new storage options, with Storage Spaces and Hyper-V over SMB 3.0. However, many IT Pros have already invested in iSCSI shared storage and, as a result, many Hyper-V deployments also need to be able to leverage these existing storage investments.
iSCSI? No problem! Windows Server 2012 and Hyper-V Server 2012 include native support for a software iSCSI initiator as well as MPIO ( Multipath IO ) for resiliency and load balancing of storage IO over multiple network paths.
In this article, we’ll walk through the process of connecting Windows Server 2012 and Hyper-V Server 2012 to common iSCSI storage arrays. Because most of my IT Pro friends are running Hyper-V either on Windows Server 2012 Server Core or Hyper-V Server 2012, both options without a local console GUI, I’ll be providing my examples below in PowerShell.
NOTE: In this article, I make the assumption that your iSCSI storage array is already configured and that your Hyper-V host is already physically attached and zoned into your iSCSI storage network.
Overheard at a recent IT Camp event …
I’ve been virtualizing more and more VMs on my Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V hosts lately and I’ve got lots of virtual hard disks ( VHDs ) across all my VMs. It’s been working great, but … Is there an easy way to list all VHDs that I’m using across all hosts and VMs?
I’ve been virtualizing more and more VMs on my Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V hosts lately and I’ve got lots of virtual hard disks ( VHDs ) across all my VMs.
It’s been working great, but … Is there an easy way to list all VHDs that I’m using across all hosts and VMs?
In this article, I’ll show the process for leveraging PowerShell 3.0 and the Hyper-V PowerShell module in Windows Server 2012 and our completely FREE Hyper-V Server 2012 to easily list all VHDs that are in use across all VMs and Hyper-V hosts … in just ONE line of PowerShell code!
As IT Pros, we absolutely love building with new technology! This month, my fellow IT Pro Technical Evangelists and I have been working together on an article series for Migration and Deployment of Windows 8, Windows Server 2012, Windows Azure and System Center 2012 SP1 to help get you started. Many of these articles address common questions that I’ve discussed with IT Pros at a number of events, so I’m sure you’ll find this information valuable.
In this article, I’ll provide a complete index to all articles in the series, just in case you missed any this month …
UPDATE: Last Day to Enter is TODAY! Don't miss out on your opportunity to win a Microsoft Surface ...
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Want to try out all the cool new IT Pro features in Windows Server 2012, but don’t have spare hardware to test it on?
Build your very own Windows Server 2012 Lab in the Cloud for FREE with the Windows Azure cloud platform, and Enter for a chance to win one of the following fantastic prizes:
You could win a Microsoft Surface with Windows RT!
In addition to a chance to win one of the prizes above, EVERY ENTRANT will receive up to 750 compute hours and up to 35GB cloud storage to use as you’d like each month for 90-Days as part of the Windows Azure free trial program.
Among a whole host of new management features, Service Pack 1 for System Center 2012 Configuration Manager adds the ability to now deploy and manage Windows 8 apps for enterprises. These Windows 8 apps could be internal apps that have been created by your corporate developers, or they could simply be published Windows Store apps that you have reviewed and would now like to distribute to your Windows 8 users.
In this article, I’ll step through the process of deploying internal Windows 8 apps and published Windows Store apps to users. If you’re familiar with prior releases of System Center 2012, you’ll note that this process is very similar to deploying traditional desktop apps to Windows clients – with some additional options to support the new Windows 8 app model.
At the end of this article, I’ll also provide some additional resources that I’d encourage you to leverage as part of this Migration and Deployment article series with my fellow IT Pro Technical Evangelists.
NEW HOURS! Based on popular demand, we've updated the hours for "Early Experts" Virtual Study Hall assistance - Fridays each week from 11AM to 1PM Eastern Time.
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There’s so many cool features to explore in the latest Windows infrastructure offerings that it’s hard to find time to explore all of them. Beginning February 8th through June 2013, you can block time on Fridays on a weekly basis between 11AM and 1PM Eastern Time to join a Virtual Study Hall and work through real-world hands-on activities with live Q&A assistance from a field-experienced IT Pro Technical Evangelist!
In this article, I provide the details for getting started with our Virtual Study Halls ...
Over the next several weeks, there’s lots of opportunities for getting hands-on experience with Window Azure Virtual Machines and Virtual Networks – both in-person and online! At the events below, you’ll learn about leveraging the Windows Azure cloud platform to build VMs and Virtual Networks in the cloud, have the opportunity to ask live questions, and be able to step through the tasks for yourself using our Windows Azure Free 90-Day Trial!
Get the details on how to register for these hands-on events ( US and WW ) and potentially win some fabulous prizes ( US Only ) in this article ...
In addition to building Virtual Networks on the Windows Azure cloud fabric for running Virtual Machines in the cloud, we can also securely extend those virtual networks to on-premise devices in a couple ways:
In this article, I’ll step through the configuration of Windows Azure Connect to securely connect one or more cloud-based virtual machines to one or more on-premise client or server endpoints.
Lab Scenario: Windows Azure Connect
System Center 2012 Configuration Manager SP1 ( “ConfigMgr 2012 SP1” ) offers lots of great new capabilities for IT Pros, but building a lab to evaluate, test and study ConfigMgr can be challenging if you don’t have spare hardware capacity in your data center. In this Step-by-Step Guide, I’ll walk through the steps that I used to build my ConfigMgr 2012 SP1 demo lab in the cloud on the Windows Azure platform.
This makes a great scenario for leveraging our Windows Azure FREE 90-Day Trial Offer to build your lab environment for FREE in the cloud for up to 90-days. Using the configuration outlined in this article, you’ll be able to build a functional lab environment that will be accessible for approximately 150 hours of compute usage each month at no cost to you under this 90-day trial offer.
Lab Scenario: ConfigMgr 2012 SP1 in the Cloud
Service Pack 1 for System Center 2012 Configuration Manager ( “ConfigMgr 2012 SP1” ) adds the ability to deploy Windows 8 operating system images. As you’ll see in this article, this OS deployment process is very similar to what many IT Pros have used in the past for deploying Windows 7 and prior operating systems with ConfigMgr 2012 RTM. However, there’s several new features to help make OS deployment easier and a couple considerations if you’re planning an upgrade of an existing RTM installation.
In this article, I’ll outline the major tasks involved with Windows 8 OS deployment in ConfigMgr 2012 SP1 and also present the new features and considerations along the way that will make our lives easier when deploying operating systems.
Earlier today, my friend and colleague, Harold Wong, did a great job outlining the requirements for installing the various editions of Windows 8 along with noting the additional requirements for key product features.
Be sure to check out Harold’s BLOG ARTICLE for the details.
Windows 8 Pro and Windows 8 Enterprise are both designed for business network environments. However, at many of my events, a common question among IT Pros relates to the specific differences between Windows 8 Pro and Windows 8 Enterprise. Below, I’ve included a chart that summarizes the key differences between the Professional and Enterprise editions for Windows 8.
The high availability afforded by Windows Server 2012 Failover Clustering is a key ingredient for managing and maintaining business critical applications. To gain familiarity with What’s New in Failover Clustering in Windows Server 2012, this article will step through an overview of new capabilities along with a Step-by-Step Guide on building a simulated Failover Cluster study lab in the Cloud on the Windows Azure platform.
In this Step-by-Step Guide, you will work through the process of building a Windows Server 2012 Failover Cluster study lab on the Windows Azure cloud platform. This failover cluster will leverage the work completed in the prior Step-by-Step Guides listed in the Prerequisites below to integrate a simulated cluster with an existing Active Directory and iSCSI storage infrastructure.
Lab Scenario: Windows Server 2012 Failover Cluster
This lab scenario will also serve as the basis for future Step-by-Step Guides, where we will be adding additional member servers and on-premise connectivity to this same Virtual Network in the Windows Azure cloud.
In today's TechNet Radio show, Wally Mead and I wrap-up our “What’s New” in System Center 2012 Configuration Manager SP1 series with discussing what’s new in Endpoint Protection. Tune in to this demo-heavy session and we’ll walk through how to install Endpoint Protection during a specific maintenance window, how to find all clients infected with malware and how to take immediate action and update antimalware definitions quicker and easier than before.
Wow! There was a ton of interest yesterday at the CincyPowerShell User Group on automating the provisioning and management of Virtual Machines in the cloud using PowerShell and the new Windows Azure PowerShell Module! In this article, I’ve provided a copy of my presentation deck, session notes and a link for downloading the PowerShell snippets I demonstrated.
Hope you enjoy!
Big data is everywhere, and the cloud is no different! Windows Server 2012 can leverage the new Storage Spaces feature and integrated iSCSI Target Server role to provide SAN-like storage capabilities when presenting storage to other servers. When studying these features in Windows Server 2012, we can provide a functional shared storage lab environment using virtual machines in the cloud. This article includes the detailed instructions for configuring this scenario on the Windows Azure cloud platform.
Lab Scenario: Adding Windows Server 2012 Storage Server
We are excited to announce the launch of the Cloud OS Trivia Challenge for IT Pros in the US!
In just a few minutes, you can learn some unique trivia facts about our latest infrastructure offerings to impress your colleagues and be entered into a chance to win some fantastic prizes, including:
Find out the details on how to PLAY TO WIN ...
In this step-by-step guide, I’ll be working through the approach of adding a new Windows Server 2012 Replica Domain Controller to the Windows Server Active Directory Forest built in the prior Step-by-Step guide referenced above. When complete, the cloud-based lab environment will resemble the below diagram with two Active Directory DCs.
Lab Scenario: Active Directory DCs on Windows Azure
In today's TechNet Radio show, we're discussing the new features in PC and mobile device management in the new wave of our cloud-based management solution: Windows Intune.
We'll be chatting with Mark Williams, Senior Program Manager on the Windows Intune team, as we cover the following new capabilities …
Tune-in to hear more about the latest release of Windows Intune and System Center 2012 ...