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Archive for category Microsoft Hyper-V

Understanding Hyper-V Snapshots

May 27

Posted by Anil Desai in Management, Microsoft Hyper-V, Virtualization | No Comments

Microsoft’s Hyper-V includes a new model for creating point-in-time views of your VMs and for quickly and easily rolling back to them.  The new architecture is much improved over the "undo disks" model used by Microsoft Virtual Server and Virtual PC.  My SearchServerVirtualization.com article, Taking Snapshots with Hyper-V explains the details.  From the introduction:

Have you ever wished you could go back in time and remember how your virtual machines (VMs) used to look? You know, like before you installed that pre-production beta patch on a mission-critical application? Or before you accidentally overwrote the passwords in a login table by leaving off the WHERE clause of an SQL UPDATE statement?

As the father of more VMs than I can count, I often feel the same way. Fortunately, Microsoft’s Hyper-V provides a useful method of creating and applying point-in-time views of the status of your VMs: the aptly-titled snapshots feature. This easy-to-use tool can create VM snapshots from the Hyper-V Management Console.

See the full article for an in-depth discussion of the benefits of snapshots and how you can use them to help manage your VMs.

Hyper-V RC1 Now Available

May 20

Posted by Anil Desai in Microsoft Hyper-V, Virtualization | No Comments

Microsoft recently made available the Release Candidate 1 (RC1) update for x64-based versions of Windows Server 2008.  To get the latest bits (in a Microsoft update installer package), go to Update for Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition (KB950049) at the Microsoft Download Center.  If you’re performing remote administration from a 32-bit edition of Windows Server 2008, you can also download the RC1 update for 32-bit machines (remember that Hyper-V itself runs only on x64 machines that have virtualization CPU extensions). 

To get more details on what is new and what has changed, see the Release Notes for the RC1 Release of Hyper-V document.  The associated Knowledge Base Article 950049 also describes issues for updating, including the incompatibility of snapshots made in previous beta/RC releases of the product.  You also want to upgrade VMs to the latest version of Integration Services (included with the update). 

Hyper-V and Clustering

May 16

Posted by Anil Desai in Backup / Disaster Recovery, Microsoft Hyper-V | No Comments

A few days ago, I did a presentation on Microsoft’s Hyper-V at the DevTeach Conference in Toronto.  One of the areas I didn’t really get to expand upon is clustering for virtualization servers.  In brief, there are two main approaches – host clustering and guest clustering.  In the Microsoft world, Hyper-V relies on the tried-and-true Microsoft Cluster Services.  So the question remains: How do you set this up?  To get step-by-step details (18 pages of it!), see the free downloadable document: Step-by-Step Guide for Testing Hyper-V and Failover Clustering.  The document walks you through the required steps and is also a great way to learn more about Hyper-V administration for high-availability.

Hyper-V vs. The Competition

May 12

Posted by Anil Desai in Microsoft Hyper-V, Virtualization | No Comments

I was recently asked to write an article that presents the case for Microsoft’s Hyper-V.  The article, Virtualization Face-Off: The Case for Hyper-V, includes some considerations that I believe will help the success of Hyper-V.  From the introduction:

It’s not always easy to defend an underdog, especially when they’re going up against the might of a large corporation that dominates its marketplace. And it’s not often that Microsoft is considered the underdog. Microsoft’s upcoming Hyper-V and associated management tools will take on VMware and the rest of the market and in doing so will very likely change users’ expectations for virtualization products.

Of course, this is bound to be a heated topic.  Feel free to voice your questions and comments here.

Understanding Hyper-V Partitions and Device Drivers

May 5

Posted by Anil Desai in Microsoft Hyper-V, Virtualization | No Comments

My recent SearchServerVirtualization.com article, Understanding Hyper-V partitions and device drivers, attempts to demystify some of the terminology related to Microsoft’s new virtualization platform.  From the article’s introduction:

As is the case with many other technologies, the virtualization space is filled with a mystifying array of terminology. Familiar definitions, such as guest, host, physical and virtual, interact within constellations of other, more product-specific terms. Microsoft’s Hyper-V has its own language that includes terms such as synthetic and emulated drivers; root, parent, and child partitions; and a smattering of others necessary for understanding and working with Microsoft’s upcoming virtualization platform. In this tip, I’ll explain the terms that are relevant to how device drivers work in Hyper-V, which should help with installation of the product, managing performance and troubleshooting any issues that might arise.

Be sure to check out the full article for all of the details.

Understanding Hyper-V Partitions and Device Drivers

May 5

Posted by Anil Desai in Microsoft Hyper-V, Virtualization | No Comments

I recently wrote a new article that helps explain the architecture of Hyper-V.   From the introduction:

As is the case with many other technologies, the virtualization space is filled with a mystifying array of terminology. Familiar definitions, such as guest, host, physical and virtual, interact within constellations of other, more product-specific terms. Microsoft’s Hyper-V has its own language that includes terms such as synthetic and emulated drivers; root, parent, and child partitions; and a smattering of others necessary for understanding and working with Microsoft’s upcoming virtualization platform. In this tip, I’ll explain the terms that are relevant to how device drivers work in Hyper-V, which should help with installation of the product, managing performance and troubleshooting any issues that might arise.

You can find the entire article at SearchServerVirtualization.com: Understanding Hyper-V partitions and device drivers.

Screencasts: Installing and Managing Microsoft Hyper-V

Apr 18

Posted by Anil Desai in Microsoft Hyper-V, Virtualization | No Comments

One of the best ways to learn about any product is by using it and/or watching it in action.  For those of that are curious about Hyper-V, but don’t necessarily have the time or hardware to setup a test environment, a couple of free screencasts might be the next best thing.  Here are links to a couple of videos based on the pre-release versions of Hyper-V (each is around 10 minutes long).

Installing Hyper-V

The following screencast will talk you through the steps required to get up and running with Microsoft’s virtualization services in Hyper-V. The demonstration will use the release version of Windows Server 2008, which includes a beta of Hyper-V. You’ll learn about prerequisites, system requirements and using Server Manager to install and verify the Hyper-V server role.

You can view the screencast on SearchServerVirtualization.com: Installing Microsoft Hyper-V: A screencast

Creating and Managing VMs with Hyper-V

Once you have installed Hyper-V on Windows Server 2008, you’ll need to perform several steps to create, configure, and start your virtual machines. This screencast will walk through those steps, including Hyper-V server settings, virtual machine virtual hardware configuration settings and basic virtualization operations.

You can view the screencast on SearchServerVirtualization.com: Creating and managing virtual machines with Microsoft Hyper-V: Screencast. 

RunAs Radio: Virtualization / Hyper-V Discussion

Mar 27

Posted by Anil Desai in IT Tips, Management, Microsoft Hyper-V, Systems Admin | No Comments

Earlier this morning, I had the privilege of chatting with Richard Campbell and Greg Hughes, hosts of RunAs Radio.  The discussion focused on Microsoft’s Hyper-V, and the importance of virtualization management/automation.  It’s a fairly fast-paced conversation and is around 30 minutes long.  The show will be available shortly (and for free) at http://runasradio.com/default.aspx?showNum=52. 

DevTeach Conference Sessions

Feb 13

Posted by Anil Desai in Databases / SQL Server, Microsoft Hyper-V, Virtualization | 1 Comment

I’m going to be speaking at the DevTeach Conference in Toronto, Canada.  The conference runs from May 12 – 16, 2008.  I’ll be giving two presentations on virtualization and one on SQL Server.  Here are the topics and descriptions:

Evaluating Virtualization Tools and Technologies

There’s far more than one way to implement virtualization. For example, Microsoft has several different products which are designed to help solve organizations’ largest IT challenges. This presentation will cover information about presentation virtualization (Citrix and Windows Terminal Services), application virtualization (Virtuzzo and Microsoft SoftGrid), and server virtualization (including products from VMware, Microsoft, and other vendors). The goal is to help IT professionals determine the best solution(s) for implementing virtualization in their environments.

Windows Server 2008’s Hyper-V: Inside and Out

One of the most compelling features of Windows Server 2008 is its completely new virtualization feature. This presentation will provide details related to the architecture of Hyper-V and what it means to IT departments. Details related to deploying and managing VMs will be presented, with a focus on virtual hard disk and virtual network management. Attendees will also learn how to automate virtualization using WMI and Windows PowerShell.

SQL Server Data Protection and High Availability

SQL Server includes numerous features for protecting important data and ensuring high-availability. This presentation will provide live demonstrations of implementing backup and recovery plans, log-shipping, database mirroring, Fail-Over clusters and database snapshots. The presentation includes recommendations for choosing the best approach given a set of requirements. Presentation scripts and sample code will also be made available.

You can also find more details on the dozens of other presentation topics on the DevTeach Sessions page.

Creating VMs with Hyper-V

Jan 17

Posted by Anil Desai in Microsoft Hyper-V, Virtualization | No Comments

If you’re itching to get your hands (or at least your eyes) on Hyper-V, you can read more about the process of using it’s new management tools from a SearchServerVirtualiztion.com tip I recently wrote.  The article is available for free (registration might be required).  From the introduction to Creating Microsoft Hyper-V virtual machines:

Can you think of a better past time than to start working (or playing) with some upcoming beta software? OK, I can too, but it still beats most aspects of getting back to the daily grind. If you have already installed Hyper-V on a compatible machine, you can get started with creating and configuring new virtual machines (VMs). I’ll present the steps required to configure the server and to create and import VMs.

Also, check out my upcoming screencasts on the same topics.

Free Microsoft Learning Course on Hyper-V

Jan 4

Posted by Anil Desai in Management, Microsoft Hyper-V | No Comments

The Microsoft eLearning web site includes a wide variety of different online training courses.  I have used many of these to keep up-to-date with new releases and product features.  Best of all, there are many courses that are available for free.  One such course is Clinic 5935: Introducing Server Virtualization in Microsoft Windows Server 2008 (RC0). 

While the naming and terminology of the Hyper-V feature uses some outdated terms, all of the major technical information should still be accurate.  This is a good place to start with Microsoft’s E-Learning and to lean about Microsoft’s upcoming virtualization products.  Thanks’s to virtualization.info for the link.

Understanding Hyper-V Drivers

Jan 3

Posted by Anil Desai in Microsoft Hyper-V | No Comments

One of the more challenging aspects of getting up to speed about Microsoft’s Hyper-V technology is that of understanding enlightenments and integration components (ICs).  The terms are new, as is the underlying technology.  A recent blog post from the MSDN Blogs site helps explain the concepts.  The post is titled Hyper-V: Integration Components and Enlightenments and does what it promises.  A few block diagrams and images would be helpful. 

Hyper-V is currently available in beta form and will be supported on Windows Server 2008 later this year, but it’s never too early to start learning about its architecture.  You can expect more information to become available as the product gets closer to its final stages.

The Hyper-V Beta is Now Available

Dec 13

Posted by Anil Desai in Microsoft Hyper-V | No Comments

The Windows Server Division Blog announces the availability of a beta version of Microsoft’s Hyper-V technology.  Hyper-V was formerly known as "Viridian" and later "Windows Server Virtualization (WSv)".  Previous releases were known as Consumer Technology Preview (CTP) versions.  Generally, beta products have a higher level of quality.  To get the preview version, you’ll need to download the appropriate version of Windows Server 2008 RC1 from the Windows Server Evaluation site.  Note that you can only install the product on Windows Server 2008 Enterprise running on an x64 hardware platform.  Here are some useful links:

Overall, you can expect to see a lot more information on the product (some from me) in the near future.

Understanding Microsoft’s Hyper-V Architecture

Dec 12

Posted by Anil Desai in Microsoft Hyper-V, Virtualization | No Comments

This article was first published on SearchServerVirtualization.com. 

I recently wrote an introductory article focusing on the architecture of Microsoft’s Hyper-V technology.  From the article’s introduction:

Many IT people like to live on the cutting edge, even if it means we might need to purchase some bandages for the datacenter. Advanced is virtualization are commonplace, and it’s generally worthwhile to find out what’s coming out in the not-too-distant future. Microsoft’s upcoming virtualization product – now called Hyper-V – features a completely new virtualization architecture. Hyper-V (formerly known as “Viridian” and Windows Server Virtualization (WSv)), will be made available as a component of the Windows Server 2008 platform.

You can access the entire article on SearchServerVirtualization.com. 

Note: Some of this content has been superceded with the release of Microsoft’s Hyper-V Beta (see more recent postings in the Hyper-V category for details).

Microsoft Infrastructure Planning and Design (IPD) Guides Available

Nov 13

Posted by Anil Desai in Best Practices, Microsoft Hyper-V, Microsoft Virtual Server | 1 Comment

I recently worked with Microsoft’s Solution Accelerator team to develop a guide to designing an infrastructure to support Microsoft’s virtualization solutions.  Unlike much of the other technical information that is available online, this series focuses on the design aspect of managing technology, rather than on implementation details.  From the web site:

Infrastructure Planning and Design guides share a common structure, including:

  • Definition of the technical decision flow through the planning process.
  • Listing of decisions to be made and the commonly available options and considerations.
  • Relating the decisions and options to the business in terms of cost, complexity, and other characteristics.
  • Framing decisions in terms of additional questions to the business to ensure a comprehensive alignment with the appropriate business landscape.

These guides complement product documentation by focusing on infrastructure design options.

Each guide leads the reader through critical infrastructure design decisions, in the appropriate order, evaluating the available options for each decision against its impact on critical characteristics of the infrastructure. The IPD Series highlights when service and infrastructure goals should be validated with the organization and provides additional questions that should be asked of service stakeholders and decision makers.

You can download the files from the Infrastructure Planning and Design page (registration is optional).  The content includes the following downloads:

  • IPD Series Introduction: A brief introduction to the series and its approach.
  • Select the Right Virtualization Solution: This guide includes an overview of Microsoft’s virtualization products and technologies.  The package includes a flowchart that can be helpful in deciding how to select from among Microsoft Virtual Server 2005, Microsoft Virtual PC, Microsoft Terminal Services, Microsoft SoftGrid, and the newly-announced Hyper-V (available with Windows Server 2008).
  • Windows Server Virtualization: This guide covers details on Windows Server Virtualization (WSv, now officially "Hyper-V") and Microsoft Virtual Server.  It includes a document and slides that cover the process of selecting which workloads to virtualize.  The guide then walks through the process of translating virtual machine requirements to host infrastructure requirements.
  • SoftGrid Application Virtualization: This guide focuses on SoftGrid – recently renamed to Microsoft Application Virtualization.  It covers best practices for designing an infrastructure for simplified application deployment and maintenance.

All downloads include files in Office 2003 and Office 2007 formats and are ready for use in your own presentations or proposals.  More guides will be available in the near future, and you should be able to access beta versions of upcoming guides at Microsoft Connect.  I hope you find the content to be useful!